Anteros

Serena's POV:

"Hey, you, Serena! Get over here and clean this up!" one of the she-wolves shouted at me. She was having a picnic along with other she-wolves on the lawn. They carelessly threw all their trash-- wrappers, shells, whatever food residue they discarded-- on the grass around them.

The trash can was not even that far. It was a few steps away from them. They could have thrown it properly themselves. But no, of course, they wouldn't do that because there was a lowly servant girl here. Throwing the trash was suddenly something they didn't need to do.

I had just spent an entire hour cleaning up the chewing gum that was stuck on the steps of the meeting hall. My back and my waist were already very sore. With a deep sigh, I picked up a broom and went over to sweep their garbage. But when I saw that most of their trash was on the grass, I realized I couldn't sweep it out with a broom at all.

"Hey, can you at least stop spitting the shells onto the grass? It's so hard to sweep." I gritted my teeth, trying to hold back the anger inside of me.

"Don't sweep, then. Just pick them up with your hands one by one." The she-wolf crossed her legs nonchalantly and spat another pistachio shell on to the grass, right in front of my feet.

Another she-wolf refilled the plate with more pistachios and looked at me mockingly. "Oh, whatever. Don't listen to her complaints. She can't disobey our orders anyway."

"Well then, I quit." I dropped my broom and turned around to leave.

"How dare you speak to us like that? Who do you think you are?" One she-wolf got up and blocked my way, splashing her drink on my face. The liquid dripped down and absolutely soaked my clothes.

"Do your job and pick up the trash! Or else I'm going to report you to the Alpha and tell him you're slacking off!"

It took all my inner strength to stop myself from impaling them in the mouth with my broom. They had a point. Who did I think I was? I was just an orphan anyway, adopted into the Black Moon Pack. Other than slave, I held no other status in the pack. All other werewolves were above me in rank. Anyone could boss me, scold me, beat me, and no one would bat an eye.

~~~~~~

My father was a vampire and my mother was a werewolf. That made me a hybrid. Their union was an abomination to both the werewolves and vampires, making my very existence an object of disgrace in itself. Hybrids were powerful creatures, which made them a threat to werewolves and vampires. When they discovered any living hybrid, all werewolves and vampires were mandated to kill them on sight.

My parents knew they would have to conceal my identity to the world, so they asked a reliable friend of theirs, who was a wizard, to cast a spell that hid my hybrid bloodline. To the ordinary creature, I would only look like an Omega.

Looking back at my childhood, our family had always lived deep in the forest for as long as I could remember. But one horrible day, we were discovered, and all of our peace was shattered to pieces. A group of Alphas had surrounded our house along with other werewolves. While my father was trying to fight them off in the hall, my mother took me aside to send me out through a secret passageway. I cried and begged for my parents to run away with me, so my mother had to grip my shoulders tightly. Her eyes were full of worry and fear. Her grip on me was so strong that her fingernails almost dug themselves into my skin.

"Serena, I'm sorry. But you have to listen carefully and remember everything I say. Your father has foreseen your future. Your life is going to be very hard because of who you are, more than you can even imagine, but you must hold on. One day, you're going to become a very powerful hybrid, with the power to maybe change the world. You must be careful, though. You are going to meet a terrible enemy who only wants to covet your power. He is going to hunt you down no matter the cost. And then..."

My mother's voice trailed off when we heard footsteps approaching. She shook her head and couldn't say anything more. With tears in her eyes, she wrapped me in one last embrace, holding on for as long as she could. Finally, she pushed me into the secret exit.

"Honey, you need to go now. We'll try to catch up with you. Go! Run!"

I ran but not too far away. I had found a hiding place nearby where I could watch what was going on. Through the window, I watched as the Alphas successfully subdued my parents and shoved them to the center of the hall. The Alphas all wore masks. Some looked hesitantly at my parents, as if they were arguing about something. However, one of the Alphas walked over to my parents despite what the others said. His claws glinted with a cold, murderous light.

I stifled a scream and covered my mouth. My parents fell limply to the floor, their blood staining the carpet a vibrant red.

Then, several Alphas exited the house and looked around. They were looking for me, I knew it. I couldn't afford to make a sound, but I had to go now. With tears still streaming down my face, I slowly stepped back until I was far enough to run into the darkness without alerting them.

The grey skies cried with me and poured heavy rains. Drops of rain and tears met each other on my cheeks. The path under my feet was hard to see. Countless times, I tripped into the mud and gained multiple bruises. But every time I fell, I gritted my teeth and got back up right away. Despite the physical and emotional pain that tortured me, I had to keep running. I didn't know how much longer I kept running, but all I knew was that I was exhausted. I could no longer feel my legs and my pace was slowing down. It had gotten quite dark, making it even harder for my eyes to see as each hour passed.

Once more, I stumbled and fell to the ground. But this time, I lost my consciousness.

By the time I had woken up, I found myself in the Black Moon Pack.

~~~~~~

One of my father's powers was being able to foresee the future. I still remembered those words and believed they would come true one day. However, it had been six years, and here I was still doing chores. How was I going to change the world from here?

I remembered those Alphas that came to attack my family, especially that Alpha who killed my parents. I hated them all. But because they were all wearing masks then, I couldn't recognize them. I didn't know how to avenge for my parents. Although, I had yet to come of age anyway. I was still weak and powerless, so much that I had no choice but to stay here just to live.

From that day when I woke up in the Black Moon Pack, my life had become a living hell. I realized later on that, the person who took me in was the actual murderer of my parents, and even worse, I had fallen in love with his son.