Selene the Moons Reincarnation

Selene's POV

Father's palm swished through the air like a bullet and landed painfully on my face. I could taste blood in my mouth but didn't dare utter a word unless I wanted a harsher punishment.

"You insolent little swine!" he said, spit flying from his mouth and his eyes shining with disgust, "I should have sent you away when I had the chance."

I remained silent, my eyes trained on the floor. This was like every other day at home. Mother would flood me with chores and errands, leaving me with no time for anything else but still expect me to prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner. Ashley was not at home as usual, probably somewhere off with her friends partying in the woods and having fun like a teenager should. Not like me, slaving away at home because if I don't, it was as good as saying goodbye to my privilege of a roof over my head.

But I'm not complaining, far from it. I preferred staying indoors, at least to avoid the pack members that would swarm like sharks if I ever strayed far from home or tried to socialize.

"Get out of my sight," Father said, slumping back into his armchair with a bottle of beer, "Better get started on making dinner or you're dead meat."

As I scrambled to leave the room, my Father said something that made me stop dead in my tracks.

"And one more thing, I better not see you at the festival tomorrow. The Dead Moon is a once in a lifetime event and I won't have you ruin our pack's good fortune with your bad luck. Understood?"

I nodded quickly, not wanting to make him more angry then went to the kitchen. The reason for my Father's anger? Well, I had dared to go to the market as Mother asked me to and couldn't find her favorite type of fruit. That was a different brand of trouble I didn't want to think about right now as I hastily made dinner; some potato salad and braised pork. To pass time, I sang while working; it made time fly by and lightened my spirits a bit. Outside, the sun was setting fast so I doubled my speed to set the table before Mother and Ashley came home. Sure enough, the front door opened and Ashley's obnoxious voice filled the house.

"...and Steve was there, crazy right? Good thing I'd gotten rid of Rachel, if not she could've whored him right out of my arms."

I could hear Mother's annoyed sigh and didn't blame her one bit. Ashley was exhausting to listen to and she loved to talk a lot.

"Oh look, the table is barely ready for dinner and it's just standing there." It took a moment for me to realise Ashley and Mother were standing there, their hateful eyes glaring at me.

It was tough to come to terms with Mother's gradual disdain for me at first because it was Father that had practically disowned me when I failed to transform to my wolf at the ripe age. Mother had tried to hold on to hope, as I could remember from those few years of joy and childhood bliss, as she and Father often had hushed discussions at the table while glancing over at me. As time went on, however, her worried gaze turned hateful. She started to hate her own daughter as much as her husband did, maybe even worse. Only Ashley stuck by her at the time, her childish innocence untouched by their hate. As the entire pack learned of my 'disability', their distrust and hate grew and Father absolutely hated the bad attention it was bringing upon his family name. He'd tried to convince Mother to get rid of me but she couldn't agree to it, her Wolf's motherly instincts too strong to do so.

When Ashley transformed to her beautiful grey wolf at the age of 13, it all came crashing down. Like Mother and Father, she became convinced that me being wolfless was bad luck on the entire pack. Now at 20 years old, it was only a matter of time before I'm is driven into the woods, doomed to roam the wilderness forever as a lonely rogue. So I've swallowed every abuse, every hateful stare almost greedily. As long as I was under the safety of a pack, no matter how distrusting they were of her, I was content with that.

Everyone sat down to eat and I tried to retreat back to the kitchen, eager to have some leftover food hidden in a pot in the oven.

"Where are you going, Selene? Did Dad ask you to leave?" Ashley said, her high-pitched voice deliberately taunting, "Stand beside the table at least, what if I need some water? Or what if I dropped my spoon?"