Astrid's POV
It was my birthday.
Well, it was going to be my birthday in exactly ten minutes.
How did I know this? I put a timer on it.
One wonders why I was going through the effort of timing the exact moment I turned eighteen.
It was because I was turning eighteen. That magical birthday when wolves found their mates and everything finally slid into place in their world.
I lit the last candle and looked down on the beautiful game Darryl from the kitchens where I often cleaned had gifted me with.
It was small but it was probably the nicest thing anyone had done for an orphan like me in this big pack.
"I can't take this."
"You will," She'd harrumphed. "I know you don't like showy stuff but it's your birthday. You should have a cake at least."
I smiled at the memory of her unwillingness to let me feel alone even for a second.
The timer was already counting down and I felt butterflies in my belly at the thought of finally meeting my mate.
I was about to sit down when the door of my room suddenly barged open.
I jumped, my pulse racing from both the abruptness of the opening of the door and at the sight of my biggest tormentor.
"Well, well isn't this cute?" Lyra drawled, her voice warm and friendly making my skin crawl as she invaded my personal space.
Lyra was the daughter of my Pack's Beta. She was everything I wasn't. Tall, blond, lithe, effortlessly powerful and beautiful.
She delighted in torturing people beneath her station and I couldn't count how many beatings I had gotten because of her.
She was also drunk judging from the strong smell of booze that followed her as she stepped in.
I backed away instinctively. Without alcohol, she was very unpredictable. I couldn't telll what she would do to me now.
I shouldn't have worried because Lyra only had eyes for my cake.
She covered her mouth with an exaggerated gasp. "Little Astrid made a cute little cake for her birthday."
My cheeks burned and I hugged myself avoiding her gaze so she would take my words as a challenge.
"Please leave."
Before I could blink she slapped me tightly across my face making my ears ring.
"Who do you think you are talking to, runt?"
Hot tears ran down my cheeks as I bowed my head to her. I could not stand against her.
She was stronger than me as the Beta's daughter. Even now I could feel her dominance push against me.
"I'm sorry, Lyra."
My apology wasn't enough because the next thing I knew, she had shoved me to the ground.
"How dare you think to talk back at me?!" Lyra growled from above me.
I didn't dare move before Lyra hit me as she always did.
Suddenly I felt a charge in the air of the room and a low growl that sent shivers up my spine.
"Enough!"
I didn't look up but I would know that voice anywhere.
It was Xavier. The heir to my pack, the Moonshadow pack, my childhood friend and my crush for as far back as I could remember.
Someone touched my shoulder making me tremble. I saw Xavier's bigger, more muscular hand cover mine as he pulled me up to my feet.
Xavier was stunning. His hair was a dark coffee brown, his eyes a shade lighter but just as intoxicating, his body so beautifully built.
Those brown eyes were wide in concern as he looked at me. "Are you alright?"
My voice couldn't function properly. Was I dreaming?
"I…I'm fine."
Xavier's concerned look disappeared beneath a wicked smile that made my heart drop. "Do you think I actually care about how you feel?"
"Xavier—"
I was cut off by Xavier grabbing me at either side of my face yanking roughly towards him as he snarled at me.
"How dare an omega like you not know your place? You will call me by my rightful station."
I let my eyes fall from him along with my tears.
Ever since my thirteenth birthday had come and gone with no sign of my wolf, Xavier's behaviour towards me had changed.
Instead of protecting me, he had joined the wolf cubs continually tormenting me.