I shuffled into the pack dining room to gather the last of the dishes, rubbing my hands raw and red from scrubbing against the rough weave of my sleeves.

My muscles were heavy too with exhaustion, but nobody noticed. Laughter rolled through the room, plates clinking and cutlery scraping, and still they pretended I wasn't there. I kept my head low, shoulders curled inward, drifting from table to table like a slave.

A half-eaten piece of toast slipped from a plate and landed at my feet as I walked. I bent to scoop it up before anyone saw, but a sharp bark of derisive laughter cut across the hall out of the blue.

“Look at her scurrying around like a rat,” one of the higher-ranked wolves sneered.

Heat flooded my face. I tightened my grip on the plate and kept my gaze on the floor. It wasn’t worth answering. It never was. I’d learned to swallow the humiliation.

Sadly before I could make three steps toward the door , someone instantly  seized a fistful of my hair and yanked. Pain flared along my scalp and I staggered, letting out a small, involuntary sound.

Laughter rang out, cruel and bright.

“Slut,” a male hissed in my ear. “Bet that’s why you’re always in the Alpha's room .. you practicing.”

Another vicious tug. Tears burned my eyes and anger rose in my body. My jaw clenched until the muscles ached. My hands balled at my sides. I was supposed to endure. I always did.

But today something inside me snapped.

I spun before I could think, not seeing the face, only the sneer and the hand still tangled in my hair. I hauled at his wrist and shoved.

He crashed backward into a heavy oak table with a startled yelp. Dishes clattered; a few shards skittered across the stone. Silence slammed into the room. Dozens of heads swivelled toward us, shock, outrage, a few cruel smirks.

Derick the Gamma’s obnoxious son straightened up with a snarl.

“You little bitch,” he spat, lunging but I didn't flinch.

A hot, wild thing rose in my chest, a fierce drum in my veins that no longer cared about consequences. For the first time in a long time, I didn’t shrink. I sidestepped his grab and shoved him harder, sending him sprawling into a chair.

“My name,” I said, my voice trembling but carrying, “isn’t slut. Or bitch. Or mutt.” A low, dangerous growl rumbled in my throat, part human, part something darker.

“She’s going to get in trouble,” an omega whispered behind me, fear lacing her words. I ignored her. All I felt was the heat inside me clawing outward.

With a sick, sharp crack, claws split through my fingertips black, curved and glinting under the light. My hands shook; it wasn’t fear, it was barely contained fury. A collective gasp rippled through the hall. The scent of panic hit me, the sweat, the sudden faltering bravado.

Derick’s confident stare cracked. He stumbled back, bumping into a table. For once, his mouth found no ready insult.

“The rumors are true .... you killed your mom,” he stammered, his voice uneven. “Say that again,” I said softly, something feral threading my words. My wolf was surfacing, hungry and raw.

“You ... of course killed her,” he blurted, and whatever control I had dissolved. A savage snarl tore from me. My body moved before I could reason. I launched forward and I slammed into him with enough force to knock the breath from his lungs. He toppled onto the stone, scrambling on hands and knees like the small thing.

But I didn’t stop. I was done with them saying I killed my own mother.

I stalked him, claws flashing, my wolf roaring just under skin furious, liberated and free in a way I hadn’t felt in years. The gasps and shouts folded around me like wind but I could barely register them.

I saw only his sneering face and his cruelty. “Get away from me!” Derick squealed as he crawled back, until a chair slammed behind him. I was already there, grabbing his shirt front and hauling him up as if he weighed nothing. His eyes rolled white at the rims with fear.

"I didn’t kill my own mother",

“Say it again,” I hissed, breath hot against his cheek. “I dare you.”

He whimpered. He actually whimpered.

“Alpha Alex is going to kill you this time,” he blurted.

I forced a bitter twist of a smile. “Do you think I give a damn about him?” The words rang hollow. I did care of course. I feared Alpha Alex. I would have given anything to be invisible to him but now, I could not let him see weakness.

I was really unlucky because out of the blue, a voice cut across everything cold and authoritative.

"Are you talking about me?", His voice made me to instantly freeze. I was seriously dead.

"i ... i", My blood ran cold. 

“Isn’t this the one who killed her own mother?” Alpha Alex’s tone carried through the hall. It was not a question. It was accusation.

“Punish her. Now.”

Rough hands instantly  closed on me. I went limp for a fraction, then tried to fight but my wolf, my only true companion suddenly recoiled.

A keening sound rose in my chest, low and ragged, then broke into a raw howl of pain. But instead of answering, the wolf turned its face away. The connection that had kept me anchored snapped like dry twine. Maybe it was afraid of the Alpha.

I was dragged away without anyone telling the Alpha to forgive me. But I already knew it. No one wants an Omega who killed her own mother.

I didn’t fight anymore as they hauled me toward the corridor. The hall watched, some with pity thin as a veil, others with the satisfaction of a pack glad to tidy away what they considered a stain.

With Claire inclusive