Chapter 5

Layla's POV

It is said that time flies past without leaving a trace.

Just like time, the boy flew past my life, without leaving a trace except for the silver bullet that he gave to me. 

I wore the silver bullet on my neck as the boy told me. I covered it carefully with the collar of my shirt to conceal it and secretly kissed it goodnight before I fell to sleep. 

I didn't want anyone in our pack to see it, because the connection between me and this bullet pedant was so personal and intimate. 

Nobody in my pack looked at me anyway. I was a redundant, pathetic motherless she-wolf who was less favored by my father and the Moon Goddess. 

Some werewolves even claimed that I was cursed and doomed to bring bad luck to our pack. 

It was very obvious that my aunt Rosalie was the source of this rumor, but nobody seemed to care about challenging her or defending me. 

The rumor especially went viral after my father married Rosalie. And my father's new Luna forbade anyone to refer to me as the daughter of Alpha. 

Before long, werewolves in our pack started forgetting my real identity. Instead, they started to call me "plague" and avoided talking to me, because, apparently, bad luck was contagious.

My father, who was supposed to be my sole protector, didn't even bother looking at me. Sometimes he just walked past me like I didn't even exist. 

I was forced to move out of the grand house where I used to live. They relocated me into a small shelter, just like the one where Omegas lived in our pack. Like this wasn't humiliating enough, I was assigned to work as an average Omega, helping around in the kitchen and cleaning stables. 

I thought that was it, but eventually, a new rumor started circulating in our pack. The starter was my cousin Zion. 

It all started out on the first full moon party when I turned 17. 

In our pack, a werewolf was supposed to shift into a wolf on the first full moon day in the 17th year of their life.  

But somehow, my wolf didn't surface when I was getting blessed at the Moon Goddess Temple.

It wasn't surprising to me, because I hadn't heard from my wolf ever since the day of my mother's funeral. 

But it was surprising to our pack because werewolves had zero tolerance for a freak like me. 

A stone hit my back as I was walking out of the Moon Goddess Temple. 

When I turned back, I saw Zion, surrounded by his gangs, sneering at me. 

"I told ya, she's a freak!" Zion jumped off a giant stone, holding some smaller ones in his hands. 

I immediately had a bad feeling about what was going to happen. 

"I'm not a freak. Stay away from me." I said in a low voice and picked up the pace, trying to run away from them. 

But I was pulled back by one of Zion's gangs. 

Before I knew it, Zion's well-fed face was right in front of me, looking like a giant bear staring at its prey.

"Where are you going, little cuz?" He licked his chapped lips while juggling the stones in his hands. "You know what we're going to do with a werewolf that can't shift into a wolf?"

He took a pause and displayed an intimidating smile on his ugly face. 

Then, he said in a low voice to my ear, "We throw stones at them until they bleed to death." 

I struggled to break away from the man's grip, but I couldn't. All of Zion's gangs were grow-up werewolves. It was impossible for a malnutrition little she-wolf to free myself from their hands. 

I wanted to shout for help, but I immediately canceled that stupid idea. 

Nobody would hear me because the Moon Goddess Temple was located in a remote area, far away from our town.

Besides, even if someone heard me, nobody would risk defying the son of Luna to save a useless, cursed doormat in the pack, who couldn't even shift. 

My mouth was slightly open, then closed. 

Zion noticed that and he gloated, "What?! Do you want to call for help?! Scream at the top of your lungs, little twat. Call for help from your imaginary boyfriend! See if he would come and rescue you!"

I lifted my head to stare Zion into his eyes. My eyes were flamed with hatred and pride. 

"You can take away my life, but you can't take away my dignity. I am the daughter of Alpha Derek, the only righteous heir of the Kingfisher Pack. Anyone who kills me will be severely punished by the Moon Goddess, and they will be haunted by me for the rest of their life!" 

Even though my voice was low, it was calm and steady. I knew Zion wanted to see me panicked while pleading for mercy, which was exactly why I wouldn't give it to him. 

Zion obviously didn't like the fact that I was so collected. He became agitated.

He lifted his arms in the air and barked at his gang, "What are you waiting for?! Pick up stones and throw them at this fucking bitch!"

All the members of his gang hesitated. Nobody dared to take the initiative to stone me to death. 

Zion became frustrated. He stomped his feet and yelled at his gang, "Are you all fucking deaf?! Throw stones at this fucking brat as we've agreed!"

The members of Zion's gang looked at one another. 

Eventually, one of them threw his hands up in the air and shrugged.

"Sorry, Z. We can't do it." The werewolf said. "She's right. She's the daughter of Alpha Derek. If we killed her, we would be killing the future heir of our pack." 

"Fuck you, Mick!" Zion turned crimson and furious. He grabbed the werewolf's collar and pulled him toward him, so he could yell at him. "You stupid fucking retard! I'm the future Alpha of our pack! You have to listen to what I command!" 

"Call me whatever you want, Z. I just can't do it." The werewolf named Mick surrendered. 

In despair, Zion looked at other werewolves on the site. They all withdrew and mumbled, "Mick's right, Z. We can't kill her. It's wrong and we'll be cursed."

Zion became mad. I could see bloodshot in his small eyes. 

"She's a fucking useless she-wolf! She's weak!" he roared. "Can't you see that she can't even shift into a wolf?! Do you think my father would choose her to be the heir to our pack?!"

"It would be my father Alpha Derek's judgment," I said in a plain voice. "And please don't refer to Alpha Derek as your father. You're the son of Luna Rosalie and his deceased husband. It means that you will never be able to become the next Alpha of our pack." 

"You fucking..." Just as Zion was about to jump at me, I heard a loud bang in the distance. 

Then, I saw fire and smoke coming from the direction of our town.

"Fuck, what was that?!" Zion looked frightened, jumping back to hide behind Mick.

Mick turned his face toward Zion and murmured in a monotonic voice, "I don't know, Z. It seems that... the vampires are coming!"