“Let me go,” I cried out against the hold of the guards who held me to the chair while Alpha Derek, the man who was supposed to be my mate, delivered assaults after assaults to my already bruised body.

I could hear the blood rushing to my head as I tried my best to glare at the monster in the form of an alpha in front of me. The haze of pain was too strong, and my body burned with each slap. The amount of beating I had taken tonight would leave me bruised for weeks.

“You deceived me. I am not your mate. I want nothing to do with you. You are a monster, Declan." The pain I felt was not enough to hide the contempt I felt for Declan. How did I ever find myself in love with him? How could I have let him put his filthy hands on me?

Declan leaned forward, so our faces were inches apart. He had an ugly glare on his face as he snarled. Regardless of the front I put, he was still an Alpha, and I couldn’t stop the whimper that escaped me at the sound of his powerful growl.

Declan’s hands gripped my arms painfully, and he jerked me forward. “I deceived you.” He scoffed, “I gave a useless mutt like you an opportunity to be a Luna, a title someone of your status could never dream of, and you dare to say I deceived you?” He growled in my face. His eyes ran over my battered frame with disgust.

“I was never interested in becoming your Luna. I thought I was your mate. I was so stupid to blindly believe you because you saved me, but it was all pretense. I thought an Alpha was a noble person and would never lie, but you are not one. You are a disgrace to all Alphas.” I spat in his face, not caring about the consequences of my actions.

I expected the blow, but expectations didn’t reduce the impact of the blow. Declan was an Alpha, and I was an Omega. The blow forced my face to the side, and I screamed in pain as it blinded my vision. I think my jaw broke from the blow.

Declan’s hands found my hair, and he yanked it back painfully. I cried out in pain while he chuckled cruelly. His eyes blazed with fury like a madman, just like how they did before he would always beat me.

“You think I’ll be moved by words from a scum like you? You are lucky that you look so much like my Cora; otherwise, your guts would line the floors of this room.”

Tears poured out of my eyes, and I was unable to hide the terror I felt for him. How did I get here? It wasn’t as though I didn’t know. Desperation placed me here. I was desperate to escape the harsh conditions I was in when Declan found me that I didn’t think twice when I accepted to become a member of his pack.

I was a werewolf without a wolf, the biggest disgrace that could happen to a pack. My former pack didn’t waste any time expelling me when they found out I had no wolf. No one had taken compassion on me, even though I was only 16. They rejoiced the day I was casted out like an abomination, even the people I had thought were my friends.

I had roamed unclaimed lands for weeks, hungry and almost at the point of death while trying to avoid the rogues. Alpha Declan had found me in the woods when I was on the verge of death. He saved me and offered me a home in his pack, and because I had never experienced kindness as genuine as his before, I didn’t think twice before accepting to become a member of his pack.

I thought the moon goddess had shown me mercy when Declan announced I was his mate. Unshifted wolves were unable to smell their mate, so I took his words for it since Alpha’s were supposed to be an institution of honour. It never occurred to me that he would lie about something as sacred as mates so I blindly believed him.

I should have known when I lived in the pack house with him for three years and he never once asked to mark me. He would always push the topic aside whenever I brought it up.

I should have suspected it when the pack members saw me as nothing more than the Alpha’s prostitute. They never gave me the respect of a Luna and instead treated me like a servant. How would they? Declan had made my life a living hell in the past year, using me as his personal punching bag, and it was something I couldn’t hide.

I would have continued to live like that because I believed I was truly Declan’s mate if I hadn’t overheard his conversation with his sister, Hera, who was also the only friend I had in this pack because she was also an omega.

“You just wanted me here because I look like your dead wife. I was just a replacement. Isn’t that why you never marked me?” I cried out. The anguish I felt as I remembered his conversation hurt more than the bruises on my skin.

“Is that why you wanted to escape?” He scoffed as if it shouldn’t be a valid reason.

“Is that not enough reason? You don’t cherish me. You would never love me like you did your dead wife. Why should I suffer at your hands when it’s not my fault she died? Did I ask to look like her?”

Declan was hosting a werewolf prince tonight, and he had been busy making sure everything was perfect. I was going to use the distractions to escape, but I was caught when one of the pack members saw me. The border patrol had wasted no time or effort capturing me.

“I don’t want to be here anymore. You are a monster, and I would rather die than be with you,” I screamed in his face. My voice had become hoarse from the crying.

Declan’s eyes narrowed, and he wrapped his hands around my neck, cutting off my air supply. I fought against his punishing grasp as black dots painted my vision and my air supply was harshly cut off by his right grip. My hands tried to fight his fingers off, but it’s no use. A weak omega like me could never overpower someone like Declan.

“I’ve never enjoyed hitting you because you look so much like my Cora." He drawled as if he felt pity or sadness for hitting me, but I knew better.

If he actually didn’t like hitting me, he wouldn’t have turned me to his punching bag to take out his frustrations on. He wouldn’t have that sick smile on his face when I tried to crawl away from his beatings.

“That’s a lie, and we both know it." I growled, or at least intended to, but it came out choked and desperate. “You never felt any guilt after beating me to the point of death these last three years.”

My fingers continued to claw at his hands, hoping he would let go, but my fingers barely scratched the surface of his rugged skin.

“This is all your fault. If you didn’t try to ruin my night by escaping when you knew I had an important guest, you would be standing beside me in a pretty dress, like a doll, but you ruined it.”

“I would rather die than stand by your side again,” I choked out, and I stopped fighting.

Declan’s eyes burned with fury, but his hold on me loosened. I fought to suck in as much air as possible, but he didn’t give me the time to do so. I’m yanked to my feet, and a hard slap that forced me to the floor is delivered across my face.

“This bitch thinks she is worth something." He sneered, and the guards that were in the room, watching while he abused me, laughed at his joke.

“You will never experience love again, Declan. Mark my words.” I didn’t know where it was coming from, but I was putting all my anger into my words as I glared at him with as much animosity as I could from my position on the floor. “From today on, your life will be marked with ruins like the ones you've placed on my skin.”

Declan roared angrily and bent down to pick me up by my hair. I cried out in pain and closed my eyes for the blows I knew were coming when someone rushed inside the room. His eyes flashed golden, a sign that his wolf wanted to tear me apart for the disrespect.

"Alpha,” he called to Declan in panic, not sparing me a single glance. “There is news concerning Prince Zyran.”

Prince Zyran was the Lycan prince that Declan was expected to host. He gave me a dirty look and threw me to the floor. My elbows grazed the ground, and I could feel new bruises form at the impact.

“Take her to the dungeons." He ordered the guards “She is to stay there until Prince Zyran leaves.” He stormed out of the room, and the guards picked me up and dragged me to the darkest part of the dungeons before throwing me into one of the cells.

“Stupid bitch. Your days are numbered." One of them smirked before he locked the door and disappeared, leaning on me in pain and alone.

Declan shouldn’t think this is the end. Even if it’s my dead body that leaves this pack, I wasn’t going to rest until I escaped.