RHEA

"No!, please. Let me go!" I screamed in agony as the men held my wrists and tightened.

"Please!!" I screamed even more but the more I screamed, the more they tightened their grip.

"You were stealing!" one of the men yelled and I shook my head, the pain rushing through me as I tried to make them understand.

"I swear, I wasn't, please!" I shouted but the men only raised me up, their hands inching to burn my skin with the hot coal that made me squirm in fear as my eyes now burned with tears.

"What are you doing!"

Someone had screamed and immediately, the men who had held me up released me and I fell with a heavy thud, my body too weak to even catch my own fall.

"Get out from here and look after the guest,you morons!" Nico's voice pierced with disdain and the men all filed out while I started to cry.

I would never have believed that I would treated below the status of a slave in my own home. I tried to sit comfortably, nursing my now burned wrists in my other hand and not been able to even cry.

My ears picked up the sound of Nico, my father's special advisor coming towards me and relief washed inside of me.

"Those men, they hung me up like meat, I didn't do anything, I swear I wasn't stealing, I was only---" my explanation got cut off when Nico instead of listening to me, placed his hands in my low messy ponytail and gripped it with the roots of my hair.

"Arghhhhh!" A scream erupted from my lips instantly, the pain from my wrists becoming a child's play to what was going on.

I stared at Nico in confusion.

What was going on?

Why was he behaving like the others?

"Now, listen to me, you piece of evil shit!" his breathe harsh against the skin of my ears.

"Today is your sister's birthday and her claiming day, you will not cause us any problems, your work is to be her personal slave and attend to all of her orders, the moment I get word that you are causing trouble, however small I will call those men back here and have them ravage you then burn your back with coals and irons. Do you understand?" he whispered and before I could respond, he pushed my head out of his hands and I hit my head against one of the kitchen cabinets breaking several dishes while blood escaped from my head.

I knew that I was assigned as the personal slave to my younger sister but all of the times, I have worked here under unjust conditions, nico had never treated me badly infact nico had never interacted with me since the death of our mother and the ailment that now affected father.

"Get a broom and make sure the menu is ready in five minutes, don't let me come back here" he warned and walked off without looking back at me.

Shock made me stand up quickly and all of a sudden I knew that if he came back here to meet me for whatever reason then he was really going to do what he threatened and my body trembled.

I stood up on shaky legs, the sounds of fireworks blasting the sky reminding me that today wasn't just my twin sister's birthday, it was mine too and ever since our mother died, Alicia and everyone else had been convinced that I was a product of evil because of a prophecy from forty years ago.

Tears lurked like oceans in my eyes as my shaky legs navigated the way to the back where I knew the cleaning equipment were been kept and tears left my eyes.

There was no pleading I hadn't done back in the day when my mother just died, for my blind father and evil twin sister to accept me as their own and let me come home but Alicia had the wicked plan to trick me home and then announce that I would be her personal slave to place the "pack's mind at ease"so she had said but really, it was for her own benefit.

It had been rumored that the evil twin, the one that was said to bring doom to the whole pack would be cursed by the moon goddess to be wolfless, so when I got my wolf Eval, it confirmed what I already knew : Alicia was the evil twin but without proof, I couldn't accuse her, not when she had the whole pack in her paws.

I had begged Eval to allow me showcase her, at least when the people knew that I had gotten my wolf when I was 14 years old instead of now when I turn 18 years old, the people would respect and believe me but Eval refused, she advised me to keep quiet and that Alicia would kill me before I fulfilled my destiny but Alicia was going to kill me either way, destiny or not. If it wasn't because of some stupid prophecy then it would be with hard labour.

Suddenly, my body began to feel slower, hunger pangs sunk their teeth in my stomach making me pause for breathe as my eyes caught the glint of the broom but I knew that I would rather do what Nico asked of me than become entertainment for those men.

I had barely straightened up and touched the broom when suddenly, my body felt... Alive!

There was a scent in the air and Eval who was mostly inactive seemed to rise up, her body glistened under the moon light and I could feel blood rush to my cheeks.

The scent of fresh wood and rain and a sensation I couldn't explain below my belly filled my senses and suddenly, the mean, harsh words from Nico seemed to fade away into the night.

Suddenly, the broom was falling out of my hands and my body was moving towards the scent, my legs growing stronger and my strength coming up as I navigated my way towards a field of roses till I got towards the center.

"Naughty girl, tell me again" I heard a male voice growl and it felt as though he was talking to me.

"Mate" Eval whispered sweetly

A smile came up on my face as realization hit me. This could be my salvation, this was how I was going to vindicate myself! If I showed up with my mate then it would be known that I had a wolf, which would mean that I wasn't the evil child as everyone claimed.

It was only a bush of roses that separated me from my ray of hope and without thinking about the sounds that came from the other side, I leapt with joy "I have found my mat--"

My mouth stopped talking, legs halted and my eyes widened in horror.

"Mate?" he asked me but I didn't know whether to say no as he was hunched under my own sister, his hands on her waist as she was on top of him.

"You can't be fucking serious" Alicia's voice bit hard as the man pushed her off of him, coming towards me with his hands outstretched. Alicia and I were to share a mate?

"Marcus!" she shouted

"You can't possibly be mated to a maid, right? I can't share my mate with a fucking slave" she spat and the light that had been behind his eyes died instantly. While the answer to my previous question swam in front of my eyes and sorrow started to grow.

"But, I'm your sis--"I wanted to say but Alicia cackled instead.

"My evil sister you mean? You are no sister of mine, looking like that even and you can't have my mate, I won't allow that. Marcus? Your family would disown you, they would peg you for the mate of the prophesied evil twin, don't you want to be on the winning side?" she asked seductively, her hands circling his chest as my eyes begged for his support but my lips were shut.

I looked at Marcus, suddenly realizing that I knew him and he used to play with us when we were kids, the third son of the lyacntrope family and he had been rumored to be among the list of our betrothed.

Sorrow started to well up in my eyes as Marcus was taking too long to respond "Marcus?" I asked but he shook his head.

"What am I even doing? Everyone knows what you are, I can't be with a fucking maid and worse, one that is an evil twin. You disgust me, you fucking liar! Calling me your mate when we all know that you are mateless and wolfless." he spat and the tears burst out of me like a dam.

"I, Marcus chase of the lyacantrope lands hereby reject you fucking maid, Rhea Cross as my mate!" he said and in one moment the world I had dreams of crashed and died.

Alicia placed her hands on his neck, forcing his mouth to hers, kissing him like no tomorrow.

"Wait for me babe? I have a few things to sort out" Alicia whispered while my legs, once shaking resumed its weakness and I crumbled to the floor.

I didn't even know when Marcus left but when the familiar pain of my hair been pulled from my roots came upon me, I didn't have the strength to scream.

"So, tell me dear sister. How long have you had your wolf?" she asked with a murderous glint in her eyes.