The Luna Who Burned The Pack

“You can take this worthless runt away if you will spare us!” The words hit me right in the chest and I stumbled onto the ground. My knees slam into the ground, and I feel the stones digging into my knees and drawing blood again, but the pain is nothing compared to the weight of those words. They don’t get to do this to me! The thought is loud and furious in my mind. But I am powerless against the hands holding me down. After all, I am nothing but a wolf less runt. Weak, useless, and now, sacrifice. Today is my birthday, and I thought that I would spend the day by the lake hidden deep in pack lands swimming. But my day had been thrust into the deep end the moment I woke up. The chores were divided between I and the pack omegas, but I usually got the largest share of it. I was worth even less than an omega. I had gone to throw the water i had used to mop away when someone had tripped me and I had fallen. A rock had cut my knees open, and not even one person showed any sympathy. They laughed at me, but I blocked them out because I refused to ruin my birthday for any reason. With bleeding knees, I picked myself up and pushed myself to finish the rest of my chores because if I missed even just one spot, I would be beaten badly. I tuned the pain out by telling myself that I would get out of this situation one day. Even though I knew there was no way that would happen. Even when I knew that if I left Dark Moon Pack, death awaited me. Our world was no kind place for a wolf less runt. By noon, I had finished my chores and when I saw that no one was looking, I ran to the Lake. Not many of the pack members knew about it, and even the ones who did seldom used it. Why make the journey to the lake when you could just soak in the tub? But I didn’t have any access to a tub, so this was it for me. The walk that would have taken me 30 minutes normally took me forty-five today because it was agony walking with my knees. But I matched on. The reward ahead far outmatched the pain. By the time I got to the lake, the sun was bright and warm in the sky. That was good, because it meant that the water would be warm too. I stripped unhurriedly and lowered myself into the lake. Instantly, I felt a kind of peace I couldn’t describe envelop me. The water always did that to me. It took all my worries away and for those few hours I spent in its caress. I swam until my shoulders hurt. I swam until I felt like the water would drown me in its depth, and for a moment, I contemplated letting it take me into its depths. If I let the water swallow me, then I wouldn’t have to deal with this pack, right? I wouldn’t have to be subjected to a life that was just full of pain and misery, right? I wouldn’t have to be treated less than a human because of how I was born. I was so sick and tired of this pack, but what could I do? A bad life is better than being dead. Or at least, I’ve been trying to convince myself of that for a while. But the more the days passed by, the less convinced I was of that fact. My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the harsh laughter of men. s**t! I could hear at least three overlapping voices coming towards the lake. My clothes were on the other side of the bank, and I could risk being spotted if I tried to grab them. The voices moved closer, and I did the most stupid thing ever. I sucked in a breath and dived into the depths of the pool. I was banking on it being opaque enough to hide me. Sure enough, even though the world felt muted, and I heard nothing in the depths of the water, I saw three blurry figures at the edge of the pool. My chest started to seize, and I realized I hadn’t taken in enough air. I could risk death by drowning if I stayed in its depths, so I chose life.