Orlando's second chance mate

chapter 2

THORNE ROSE CLAN

ASTRA

If the day before was bad, Astra knew today would be worse. It was a gamma training day.

Being branded the pack's abomination didn't exempt her from its rules. As a gamma, she had to train, clinging to the faint hope it might one day grant her a position in another pack, far from the Thorne Rose Clan.

No matter the suffering, she worked hard, graduating with excellent marks, dreaming of becoming a renowned gamma one day.

An alarm ripped her from sleep. 6 a.m. She had overslept.

Oh, no. Her mother would skin her alive for being late with breakfast. But then, a chilling thought followed... why hadn't her mother woken her with the usual bucket of cold water?

Her heart hammered, she scrambled up, hurrying through a rushed bath before scanning her worn-out clothes. She chose a red knee-length satin dress, a ghost of a smile touching her lips. How she missed the days when her mother would buy her pretty things.

Over the last seven years, everything had changed. No food saved for her, beatings from her elder brother, taunts from her twin, silence from her little sister, and utter invisibility to her father. She was a ghost in her own home.

Twirling in front of her broken mirror, she winced. Bruises marred her face and neck. Her healing was slowing, a terrifying sign of Adolphina's fading strength. Her appearance was terrible, but her wolf's state was catastrophic.

With a sigh and a silent prayer to the goddess, she hurried downstairs—and stopped dead.

Her mother was in the kitchen. Ignoring the heated stare, Astra joined in, her hands trembling as she worked. The silence stretched, thick and heavy. Just as she dared to hope the snarky remarks wouldn't come, her mother turned.

"So, you can kill your sister's wolf and send other children into a coma, but you can't wake up on time to make breakfast? What are your siblings supposed to eat?"

Astra froze, bracing for a blow. It never came.

Holding her breath, she slowly turned to face her mother's inquisitive stare.

"What are you waiting for? A beating? There's no need for that," her mother said, a cruel smirk twisting her lips. "You're not having breakfast this morning."

Astra's heart sank. So that was the plan all along.

"What are you still standing there for? Set the table. Your father will be down soon."

Setting the table under her family's hostile gaze, Astra felt her hunger pang sharply. She headed back to the kitchen, hoping to steal a crust of bread, but her mother followed.

"Get ready for training. Stop standing there like I'm punishing you for no reason. You didn't wake up on time. Remember?"

Arguing would only earn her a slap. Silently, Astra headed upstairs to change into her uniform: blue joggers with the academy's logo—two howling wolves—on the back. The fabric hung off her thinning frame. Stuffing her gamma history notes into her backpack, she headed down but froze at the sound of her parents arguing.

"If you hadn't spoiled her, given her everything, would she have thought a spell to kill other wolves was a good idea?" her mother's voice was sharp.

"Stop it, Louisa. Astra was the best of our daughters—in academics, in training, at home. I only encouraged her. Can you deny she was the only one who truly helped you?"

"I'd prefer a daughter who doesn't help me but doesn't kill, over one who helps but takes pleasure in destroying others!" her mother shot back, her words turning Astra's blood to ice. "She is a monster, Norton. The sooner you accept it, the better."

Astra couldn't listen anymore. She fled, ignoring the stares, and burst out into the morning air. Once on the path to the academy, she stopped, tears gathering in her eyes. Hungry, frustrated, and utterly broken, one thought echoed in her mind:

Was she really a monster?

---

The constant growl of her stomach was a painful reminder she hadn't eaten in over twenty-four hours. She veered off the path to hunt, luckily catching a rabbit. The small meal gave Adolphina a flicker of strength.

She arrived at the academy to find the gamma-in-command hadn't arrived yet. Relief washed over her. Trying to make herself invisible, she headed for her desk.

A familiar, hated scent hit her nostrils a second before she was slammed against a nearby wall.

"I knew I'd find you here." Marlon, the future Alpha of the Thorne Rose Clan, stood before her.

Dressed in the joggers of the Alpha Academy, he was devastatingly handsome with his red hair, brown eyes, and pale skin. He was every she-wolf's dream, but he was Astra's living nightmare.

She tried to pry his hand from her neck, but he only slammed her harder into the wall. Tears filled her eyes as she struggled to breathe.

"I'm here to remind you," he spat, his grip tightening, making her healing wounds scream in protest, "that while you're here, jumping around, my sister is lying unconscious in a hospital bed."

He threw her to the ground. She landed hard, a sickening c***k echoing from her ribs. She opened her mouth to plead, to apologize for a crime she couldn't remember.

I—"

"Shut up before I break pack law and kill you where you stand," he thundered.

She started to sob, helplessness washing over her.

"Oh, look. The little murderer has feelings. She can even cry," he taunted, bending down to her level. "I wish I could see more of these tears for what you did to my sister." He sneered, then stood and walked away, leaving her dusty, humiliated, and broken on the floor.

How long could she endure this?

Then, a faint whisper from Adolphina reached her soul. "Mate... We could... be safe... if we met our mate."

Of course. The Mate Ceremony was tonight and she was of age. A mate would be bound by the goddess to protect her.

A newfound hope, fragile but fierce, ignited within her. Dragging herself up, she headed to training. Whatever it took, she would be at that ceremony tonight.