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I sighed, not liking when she blocked me. She was my best friend. The only one that knew about my gift and how broken it was. I was never able to train it, so my premonitions would come only seconds before they came true, and usually too late for me to stop them. It was frustrating, mainly because they gave me splitting migraines after the vision ended. Everyone thought I was weak, and they weren’t really wrong. My ”gift” could cripple me, but thankfully, being reduced to nothing more than a slave, no one cared enough to give me a second glance. Omegas living in the pack house were not allowed to go to the pack doctor to get medical attention, so my secret was safe.
I sighed and tried to wash myself as well as I could. My small room was basically a half bath that no one used in the omega quarters. My bed was under the sink, and the toilet was on the other end of the ”room.” A few changes of clothes and a wash rag were neatly hung from the side of the metal slab I used as a mirror. The sink was broken, and the tap hadn’t worked in years, so I used a pot of water for washing. I originally had a place to sleep with the other omegas, but as I have to sleep during the day because I wake up so early, they allowed me this small area of privacy so I could rest while they flitted about their duties.
I pulled my raven black hair into a bun and sighed. Time to get to work.
Chapter two
Celeste
Itwasonlythreein the morning. The entire pack house was sleeping, but I preferred it this way. Blood Moon Pack wasn’t all bad, but the pack house was reserved for the ranked families and unmated warriors. Everyone in this house was cruel and heartless.
The days when I could avoid seeing any of them by finishing my tasks before they awoke were the only good days I could remember having. The rest were filled with beatings, spitting and groping. I could only thank the Goddess that raping a minor was punishable by death, even in this miserable place, and no one had tried yet, at least not with me. By werewolf law, a werewolf was only considered of age once they got their wolf. Another reason I was glad they thought I was younger than I was.
My days started the same. I turned on all the ovens and started proofing the absurd amount of croissants, biscuits and other baking required for the day. I cleaned the common areas while the proofing was happening. One could confuse the warriors for werepigs, as I was guaranteed to find bottles, plates, broken items and occasionally even body fluids from the ones that managed to drink enough alcohol to get themselves drunk. Werewolf metabolism was so quick that drinking enough to get to that level of drunk took talent.
After cleaning, the baked goods went into the oven while I got the batches of breakfast ready. Three types of eggs, bacon, sausages, hash browns, cut fruit, waffles, pancakes, toasts, shakshuka, bagels and spreads. They all went into commercial style buffet bars on either side of the dining room area. Once breakfast and baking were complete, I began preparations for lunch and dinner. Today, that was marinating steak, peeling and cutting potatoes, slicing onions and slicing and prepping garlic bread. I filled the giant rotisserie oven so that lunch would be ready in time.
Cooking was always my favorite thing to do. Creating something delicious from the ingredients and hearing the positive comments on the food was the only joy I found in this place. Most of the other girls could barely manage to put together sandwiches, so it was up to me to get them set up for the other shifts. Over the years, we found that this reduced the bad moods of Alpha Geoff, and we could avoid a few beatings. Occasionally, I was even allowed to experiment with new recipes. I was always on shift for special dinners. Alpha Geoff demanded it, and the girls were happy to help as long as they didn’t have to do it themselves.
Once my prepping was done and the kitchen was cleaned up, I could do whatever I wished with the rest of my day as long as I was not needed to help another omega with their shift if they were sick. I wouldn’t be needed again until evening duties and dinner prep started. Hearing the first movement upstairs as the first of the warriors woke up for their shift change, I finished my cleaning quickly, pocketed a croissant and a couple slices of fruit and made it back to my room to clean and nap.
“Celeste! Wake up! The alpha has requested all the omegas in the kitchen! Hurry!”
I groaned. When the alpha spoke with the omegas, it was usually to let us know that something was not done how the luna and her daughter wanted, and one of us would end up with a beating. Occasionally, Sandra would cry to her father with lies about being disrespected for the fun of it, and everyone got a beating.
I rushed to the kitchen, trying to smooth my bed hair as I ran. My curly hair was not easy to control.
“Nice of you two to join us,” the luna scoffed.
“We are having guests next week,” Alpha Geoff growled. “As you all know, Sandra received her wolf two months ago. All unmated alphas, betas, gammas and their unmated sons will be arriving for the full moon to see if they are mated to my daughter, as they are the only ones worthy of being her mate.” He puffed his chest out proudly. I suppressed a roll of my eyes.
Werewolves could only find their mate during a full moon. When the moon was at its peak was the only time the mate bond could snap into place. It is said the Moon Goddess herself helped place the connection she forged at the time of our birth. This was also when she-wolves were most fertile, so pregnancies were usually planned around a full moon. This also made it difficult to have unplanned pregnancies with a full-fledged she-wolf, though not unheard of.
Luna Luisa, the old gamma’s daughter, managed to get the alpha drunk during a full moon and seduced him. When it was discovered that she was pregnant, her father tried to make him take responsibility. It was said that he was the young, soon-to-be Alpha Geoff’s first kill.
Sandra was slightly younger than I was when Alpha Geoff took his title and challenged my father for his pack and luna. When my mother took her life, Alpha Geoff came back and took Luna Luisa as his chosen mate. The rumor was that although she was his luna, the alpha took women to bed any time he wished. It would be painful for the luna if he did, as a mate can always tell when the other is betraying the bond. It was said to be painful and heartbreaking. If she wasn’t such a bitch, I would almost feel sorry for her… almost.
Sandra was a little above-average looking but with the same dulled hazel eyes as Alpha Geoff and as rotten to the core as both of her parents. When she first shifted, people were surprised at the below-average wolf she was paired with. It was a dirty, sandy brown wolf with no distinct quality but with a better personality than her human, at least. The wolf wasn’t fast, and it wasn’t strong, but every omega was aware of how she struggled against her wolf when she attempted to beat us without reason. Not that there was an excuse for beating those weaker than you for making an honest mistake.
Sandra had spent hours each week training with one of the alpha’s best warriors for almost two months now, and the whispers going around were that she and her wolf weren’t improving. It could be that they were just lazy, or she was just weak. Either way, she would make a weak and terrible mate and even worse luna. Alpha Geoff was hoping to pair her off with an alpha or beta that could take over his pack because Luna Luisa never gave him another pup.
I would almost bet my life that none of the ranked members coming to visit would be her destined mate. Selene, the Moon Goddess, did not reward cruel wolves. Alpha Geoff never found his destined mate. I believed the Moon Goddess never granted him one. A destined mate was said to complete a soul, enhance their power and abilities and allow a pack to flourish and create a peaceful and loyal community. The Blood Moon Pack, having no destined luna was ruled through fear and cruel punishments to anyone who dared stand against it. Its members were either as cruel as the alpha or too weak to stand up and right the wrongs.
“We will have a total of twenty-five unmated males,” Alpha Geoff interrupted my thoughts. “You are to ready all thirty guest suites to accommodate any added high-ranking members that may accompany them. They will arrive the night before the full moon. I want dinner to be ready. And breakfast, lunch, dinner the day of the full moon. You also need to prepare something for after the pack run, breakfast, and lunch for the day after. I need everything to be perfect while they remain in the pack territory. Spare nothing. Celeste, you are in charge of all meals during their visit. The dinner of the full moon needs to impress. Give a list of the supplies you need to my gamma. Anything less than a five-star meal, and you will deal with me after the visitors are gone.”
“Yes, Alpha.” I bowed my head in submission at his alpha tone. It never really affected me the same as everyone else due to having alpha blood, but I learned to recognize it and pretend.
“Pick one other to help you organize. You are excused from your other duties until after the guests are gone. You will also be in charge of stocking the suites with snacks and drinks for our guests. Everyone else, I still expect every single task to be done as usual. Any faults found during the visits will be dealt with harshly after the visitors are gone. Am I understood?” he growled.
“Yes, Alpha,” we all said in unison.
Without another word, the alpha, luna and the spoiled brat left the kitchen. Before the other omegas left to continue their duties, I selected my helper. I really liked Maya. She could follow cooking instructions and would be of great help the week of the visit. Afterward, everyone returned to their duties for the day while I returned to my room to finish my nap and began planning the menu.
I generally avoided the pack house during the day if I could help it. The servants in the house were only allowed leftovers, and there was usually not a lot. Even though I cooked most of the food, I was still fairly underweight. When I started hitting puberty, my bosom didn’t seem to care and blossomed a little too enthusiastically. This made me a target to the horny unmated warriors and even some mated ones. I did my best to wear baggy clothes to avoid tempting them.
There was a small garden I maintained for Luna Luisa, and I tended to spend my afternoons there, away from everyone. It was beautiful and peaceful. It was generally used as the main location for all the parties, and I always felt like crying when trying to fix the destruction made to the garden the morning after.
Luna Luisa truly didn’t care much for it but used it as a point of pride with visiting lunas. I wasn’t allowed to work on it during their visits as she took full credit for the garden, so I would have to water it at nighttime. It was something I didn’t mind doing. In the rare instances when it coincided with a full moon, I could swear the garden was visited by the Moon Goddess herself. It was simply magical.
