Chapter 1 - Before truth
Ava POV
I woke up bright and early, forcing myself out of bed to take a shower before school. My feet dragged across the cold floor as I entered the bathroom. The mirror greeted me with a reflection I barely recognized — a hollow version of who I used to be. Once happy. Now, just a collection of fading bruises and memories I wanted to erase.
I turned on the shower, letting the water drown out the echoes of last night.
---
Flashback
I had just gotten home from school, my stomach empty and growling. I headed straight to the fridge, hoping to find something — anything — to eat.
But it was empty. Again.
“Dad?” I called, even though I already knew what was coming.
He appeared from the living room, stumbling. Drunk. His eyes bloodshot, his breath reeking of liquor.
“What do you want, little bitch?” Steve snarled.
“Where’s the food?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.
He didn’t answer. He just smiled — that cruel, devilish smile — and took a step closer.
The first hit came fast.
I tried to defend myself, but it never mattered.
Flashback end.
---
I washed myself clean — or at least tried to. Scrubbing away the dirt, the tears, and the memories clinging to my skin. The water was scalding, but it didn’t burn nearly enough.
When I stepped out of the shower, I wrapped myself in a towel, avoiding the mirror. But eventually, I had to look.
Baggy clothes. A messy bun. Layers of makeup to cover the bruises.
As if hiding them could make them disappear.
As if pretending it never happened could make it less real.
I grabbed my bag, slung it over my shoulder, and left the house without looking back.hurried to school, trying to walk as fast as I could so no one would notice the limp. Every step was a reminder of last night, but I forced myself to keep going.
By the time I arrived, the campus was still quiet, only a few students milling around. I was almost at my classroom door when I heard voices.
“Ava!”
I froze.
Levi, Amy, Lee, and Blake were heading straight towards me. My friends. The ones I didn’t want to see me like this.
I turned to face them, forcing a smile, trying to hide the pain radiating through my body. Amy didn’t buy it. She rushed in for a hug — Amy, my best friend, a baiter werewolf, a gorgeous badass who never knew how to be gentle when she was worried.
Her arms wrapped around me, and I couldn’t stop the sharp breath that escaped my lips.
Levi and Blake noticed immediately.
Blake, a fellow baiter, and Levi, a gummer — the pack’s scout, always on edge — both tensed up. Their eyes darkened, sensing something was wrong. Their attention snapped to Amy, then back to me, noticing how I winced from the impact of her embrace.
The gravel beneath their feet shifted as they subtly moved into a protective stance, their instincts ready to attack anyone who dared hurt their own.
They didn’t have to ask. They already knew.The pain was too much. I nearly cried out, but I bit it back, swallowing the lump in my throat.
Amy felt it.
She pulled away, her hands gripping my shoulders gently now, her eyes scanning my face. Her expression shifted from concern to something fiercer.
“Ava… what happened?” she asked, her voice low, trembling — not from fear, but from holding back her wolf.
“Look at me,” she demanded, but it wasn’t a command. It was a plea.
I couldn’t. If I looked into her eyes, the dam would break. I couldn’t afford to fall apart. Not here. Not now.
But she knew. The way her jaw tightened, the way her hands curled into fists. She was fighting for control, her wolf snarling beneath the surface, begging to be let out.
I could feel Levi and Blake inching closer, their postures rigid, alert. The air around us thickened. Lee stayed quiet, but his sharp gaze never left me.
I wanted to tell them it was fine.
I wanted to lie.
But the tears that escaped my eyes betrayed me.
Emily’s Point of View
I felt it the moment she flinched.
My best friend. My sister. Ava was in pain — and not just the kind that fades overnight.
When I pulled back and saw the tears in her eyes, something inside me snapped.
“Ava… what happened?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. But my wolf wasn’t having it. She was pacing, growling, demanding answers.
“Look at me,” I whispered, fighting to keep control. I could feel my wolf clawing at the surface, but this wasn’t about me. This was about her.
She wouldn’t meet my gaze. She never could when she was hiding something. I knew her too well for that.
Damn it, Ava. Who did this to you?
I clenched my fists to stop them from shaking. My mind reached out, linking to Levi and Blake.
She’s hiding it again, I pushed through the link, my thoughts sharp, urgent. She won’t tell me who it is.
Levi’s voice responded first, calm but with that edge. We figured. She’s too quiet.
Blake was more direct. We need to find out. She’s not walking away from this untouched.
We’ve been friends since we were little — Ava, Levi, Blake, Lee, and me. We were family, even if not by blood. I was like their little sister, and Ava was ours too, though she never let herself believe it.
Seeing her like this, broken and trying to pretend she wasn’t, made my blood boil.
No one hurts what's ours.Our Alphas — ours and Blake’s — had signed the treaty long before we were born. A pact between humans and werewolves, meant to let us live freely among them. Meant to protect the humans.
But the treaty came with chains.
If we had a problem with a human, we couldn’t handle it ourselves. We had to bring it to the Alphas. No exceptions.
Even now, with Ava standing in front of me, bruised and hiding her pain, my hands were tied.
I know who’s hurting her. I know it’s Wu. The bastard. But until Ava comes to us and says the words out loud, there’s nothing I can do.
The rage builds, but I fight to keep it down. My wolf, Sarah, isn’t as patient. She’s pacing inside me, teeth bared, ready to rip apart anyone who lays a hand on Ava.
She’s just trying to protect her, I remind myself.
But so am I.
I glance at Levi and Blake. They’re tense too, waiting, ready, but locked by the same rules. We can’t move until Ava gives us the reason we need.
And she’s too proud. Too scared.
I take a breath, forcing Sarah back, trying to stay calm.
I just need her to trust me. To tell me.
Then this ends.
Ava POV
We walked into class together, like always. From the outside, we looked like the smart kids — the ones teachers relied on, the ones other students hated for ruining the curve. No one would have guessed how much we carried beneath the surface.
School was my safe haven.
It always had been.
After my mother went missing, I learned a hard lesson — if I told anyone about what was happening at home, it would only get worse. He made sure of that.
I stopped talking the day he promised he’d hurt me more if I opened my mouth.
That was years ago.
A few weeks before my sixth birthday.
Since then, school became my escape. The one place where I could be invisible, where the bruises could be hidden beneath books and grades, where no one asked questions as long as you had the right answers.
Even my friends couldn’t break through that wall. No matter how much they wanted to help.Two more weeks.
Just two more weeks, and I’d be done. Graduate, leave for college, and finally escape this hell of a life.
That’s what I kept telling myself. Over and over. Like a mantra. Like it could protect me.
The day seemed to fly by, the hours slipping through my fingers. We were in our last class when my phone buzzed on the desk. I knew who it was before I even looked.
Dad.
Ava, meet me after school at the café you work at.
No explanation. He never gave any. My stomach twisted.
I locked the screen and shoved the phone into my bag, pushing the panic down as I finished my assignment. Acting normal. Always acting.
The bell rang, signaling the end of the day. Everyone rushed out, but I moved slower, bracing myself.
I said goodbye to my friends, forcing a smile I didn’t feel. They didn’t push, but I could feel their eyes on my back as I left.
The walk to the café was torture. Every step made my nerves stretch thinner, my body on edge, like it already knew what was waiting.
When the café came into view, I spotted him immediately.
Steve.
Drunk. Again.
Pacing outside, his movements jerky, restless. His eyes scanned the street like a predator waiting for its prey.
And today, that prey was me.
“Dad,” I called, my voice barely steady as I approached him. His pacing stopped, but he didn’t look at me. His eyes were glazed over, unfocused, like he wasn’t really there.
Before he could answer, a man rounded the corner.
“Steve, back up,” the stranger ordered, his tone sharp and dangerous. His presence made the air feel heavier.
I turned to look at him, confused, concerned — until my father’s next words shattered everything.
“I don’t have the money,” Steve muttered, his voice slurred, “but… you can have her.”
The world tilted.
“What?” I whispered, staring at him, but he wouldn’t meet my eyes.
“Again, on Bradley,” Steve said, gesturing toward the man like this was some casual transaction.
Bradley smirked, lifting his hand and snapping his fingers. Two men appeared from behind him, stepping forward with a sickening grin.
“He’s awful,” one of them muttered, shaking his head, but their eyes were on me now.
Bradley pointed directly at me. “Take her.”
Everything inside me screamed to move.
Before their hands could reach me, I turned and ran.
I didn’t look back.I ran.
I didn’t care where I was going — I just needed to get away. My heart pounded in my ears, drowning out everything else. My legs burned, but I didn’t stop. Couldn’t stop.
Then I slammed into something solid.
Arms.
I stumbled back, looking up, my breath catching in my throat.
Bradley.
He was standing right there, blocking my path, with that same devilish smile stretched across his face. The two men flanked him like shadows, grinning as if they’d already won.
“Grab her,” Bradley said smoothly, like it was nothing.
I tried to move, but hands seized my arms, iron-strong.
I struggled, kicked, twisted, but it didn’t matter.
Then I felt it — a sharp sting at the side of my neck.
A needle.
Cold spread through me. My vision blurred. The strength drained from my body in an instant.
The last thing I saw was Bradley’s smile before everything went black.
