I stood over the large basin of soapy water, my hands submerged in the grease of the Moonstone pack's midday meal. My fingers were raw from hours of scrubbing, the skin pruned and stinging from the harsh lye. The kitchen was thick with the smell of roasted meat and the damp heat of the stoves, a place where I had spent most of my waking hours for the last eleven years. I did not look up when the heavy oak doors swung open. I did not need to. I knew the weight of that stride.
"Aurora, you are being granted permission to leave the kitchen. Go and get ready. The Hollow King will be here in thirty minutes."
Alpha Leonard's voice was as cold and sharp as the blade he had used to dismantle my life. I kept my head bowed, my gaze fixed on the grey dishwater. I did not speak. I was not allowed to speak. I was not allowed to move anywhere in this vast, stone fortress except for the kitchen and the dining hall. I was twenty-four years old, and to the Moonstone pack, I was nothing more than a living curse, a ghost they kept in chains to remind them of their victory.
Leonard did not wait for a response he knew I wouldn't give. He turned on his heel and marched out, his polished boots clicking against the stone floor. I slowly pulled my hands from the water, watching the droplets fall back into the basin. My life had not always been defined by the four walls of a kitchen. Once, I had been a daughter of the Lieu family. I had been a free wolf.
I closed my eyes for a moment, and the heat of the kitchen was replaced by the cool night air of my childhood home. I remembered the way the moonlight used to spill across the wooden floors of our chambers. I remembered the laughter. My sister, Lina, used to chase me through the halls, our feet pounding against the rugs as we fought over who would get to wear the silk ribbons first. My brother, Diego, would burst through the front door, his face glowing with pride as he showed us a new training staff or a heavy broadsword he had earned.
"Aurora, look at the balance on this one," he would say, swinging it through the air with a whistle.
Then there was my mother. She was a woman of iron and grace. She didn't just teach us how to be wolves; she taught us how to survive. She would stand in the center of the courtyard, her eyes sharp as she guided us through karate forms.
"Strength comes from the ground up, Aurora," she would tell me, her hand firm on my shoulder as she corrected my stance. "Never let them see you waver."
But the wavering began on that one faithful night. I was thirteen, old enough to understand the smell of woodsmoke and blood that suddenly filled the air. Lina was only nine, her eyes wide and confused as the sounds of screaming echoed from the village below. Alpha Leonard and his packmates had breached our inner sanctum.
"Seize them!" Leonard's voice had roared through our halls. "Make sure you wipe every last breed of the Lieu family from this earth!"
My mother had appeared in our doorway then, her hair disheveled and her sword already drawn. Her face was pale, but her hands did not shake.
"Mother, what is happening?" I asked. I reached for Lina's hand, pulling her behind me.
"You have to hide," she said, her voice a low, urgent whisper. She pushed us toward the balcony of our chamber. "Go, find your father and run as far as you can. Do not stop for anyone."
"What about you, Mother?" I screamed as she shoved us out into the night air.
"I will be fine!" she called back. It was the last thing I heard her say before the sound of clashing steel drowned her out.
Lina and I ran. I held her hand so tight my knuckles turned white. We scrambled through the garden, our breath coming in ragged gasps. We collided with a tall figure in the shadows, and for a second, my heart soared. It was my father.
"Thank God, Father!" I gasped, clutching at his tunic. "There is a war happening. Please, go save Mother and Diego. They are still inside!"
My father did not answer. He didn't look at me. He simply scooped us up, one under each arm, and began walking back toward the chamber we had just fled.
"Father, why are you going back?" I cried out, kicking my legs. "We have to leave!"
Lina began to sob, her small hands beating against his back, but he remained silent. He dropped us back into the center of the room. The air was thick with the scent of ozone and iron. My father reached into a chest, pulled out his ceremonial armor, and strapped it on with methodical, freezing precision. He didn't say a single word to his daughters. He turned and walked out toward the main hall where the fighting was the loudest.
"Stay here, Lina," I whispered, my voice trembling. "I have to go get Mother."
"Please don't go!" she begged, clutching my skirt. "Please don't leave me here alone!"
"I will be back," I promised her, my heart breaking. "I will come back with Mom, Dad, and Diego. I promise."
I followed the sound of the swords. I knew my brother was fighting. The Lieu family was famous for its prowess in battle; we were built for it. But when I reached the heavy doors of the Great Hall, I stopped.
Alpha Leonard was standing over my father. Leonard held a sword to my father's throat, his face twisted into a cruel smile. My mother and Diego were being held by guards, their arms pinned behind their backs.
"Lieu," Leonard said, his voice echoing in the rafters. "If you want me to spare you, take this sword and end your family now."