The Alpha's Strange Birth

Clara's Point of View I was born on a night with no moon, and that meant one thing: I didn’t have a wolf. In my pack, anyone born without a wolf was considered neither wolf nor human. And because of that, the child—me—was supposed to die. My parents made a deal with Alpha Vlad. They promised to give me to him on my fifteenth birthday in exchange for their lives. The first ten years of my life were hell. I was a constant reminder of my parents' shame, and they never let me forget it. They made me work harder than anyone should. They treated me like dirt. They hated me. I wasn’t human enough to be part of the pack, but I wasn’t wolf enough to belong either. I was stuck between two worlds, neither of which wanted me. My parents didn’t love me, and neither did anyone in the pack. They often bullied me, called me weak, small, useless. And they didn’t hesitate to remind me how much of a failure I was. I had no name. No real identity. I was just... nothing. I spend my days doing all kinds of tasks—anything to make my parents happy, anything to please the pack. But nothing was ever enough. It didn’t matter how hard I worked, or how much I obeyed. I never got their approval. Never got their love. The pack would mock me, call me worthless. I was small compared to the others, and that only made them treat me worse. I was Nothing but a slave to their cruel desires. And no matter how badly they hurt me, I never bore any permanent marks. My parents always made sure of that. They didn’t want me to be too scarred when they handed me over to Alpha Vlad. As my fifteenth birthday approached, the beatings stopped. I was getting ready to be handed over. That was the only time I felt something like peace. But the trauma from the years before never truly left me. On my fifteenth birthday, I was given to Alpha Vlad. That was the first time I actually saw him. We had lived on the edge of the pack’s territory, so we weren’t close to the heart of it. We rarely went to the main pack areas. I remember how I felt that day, terrified. I was just a girl, barely fifteen, standing in a room filled with strong wolves. And there was Vlad. He was huge. Taller than anyone else in the room. His body was covered in tattoos, but the one that stood out was the wolf's head on his shoulder, with a bloody rose at the bottom. I couldn’t tell his exact age, but he seemed to be in his mid-twenties. His hair was long, black, and wild. It fell past his shoulders. His eyes, green and sharp, stared at my parents for a moment. Then they locked onto me, and for a split second, I felt like he could see right through me. A smirk twisted his lips as he stood from his chair and walked toward me. I didn’t know what to do. I was so scared. I forgot all the rules I was supposed to follow. When you meet the Alpha, you’re supposed to bow. I didn’t do it. Before I could even react, I felt a sharp sting across my cheek. The pain was instant. My ears rang as I staggered back, feeling blood trickle down my face. My legs gave way, and I collapsed to the floor. Fear gripped me as I pressed my hand to my cheek. "Seems like you have no training and no respect for your Alpha," Vlad said, his voice cold and commanding as he crouched down in front of me. I could feel the power radiating off him. I quickly lowered my gaze to the floor, my heart pounding. I had messed up. I should have bowed. I had forgotten. I felt like an i***t. The tears that threatened to fall were quickly held back. Vlad’s hand was soft at first, but he gently lifted my face to meet his gaze. His green eyes were ice-cold as he ran his fingers over the bruise on my cheek. I trembled. I didn’t know what to expect from him, but I knew it wouldn’t be good. He smirked again, tightening his grip on my face. His fingers dug into my skin, and I gasped in shock at the sudden roughness. "I’ll be happy to teach you. "Breaking people is what I’m good at," he said, and his voice was filled with a kind of cold amusement that sent chills down my spine. Then, without warning, he yanked me up off the floor. I could barely keep my balance as he dismissed my parents, the last time I’d ever seen them. That was the last time I’d ever seen anyone from the pack either. Alpha Vlad kept his word. He truly broke me. For the next five years, I was his. He used me. Tortured me. Abused me in ways I couldn’t have imagined. I was locked away in his house, never allowed to leave. Vlad’s biggest fear was losing something he owned. And I was in his possession now. He did whatever he wanted to me. He controlled everything. I was his slave. A toy to use for both pleasure and pain. No matter how much I wanted to forget, my mind wouldn’t let me. It was a constant reminder of everything he had done. Every night, every time I closed my eyes, the memories haunted me. And when he came back from his "work," the torment started all over again. It was an endless cycle. I had never been rescued. I imagined my parents being relieved, happy to finally be free of me—their wolfless daughter. I thought the pack must’ve been pleased too, knowing that I was now Alpha Vlad’s possession, his to-do with as he pleased. No one came to check on me. No one came to find me. I was all alone. No one cared. I was a slave, and it seemed like I was going to die a slave. When I was younger, I used to hope that maybe, just maybe, my mate would find me. That someone would rescue me from all this pain. But my mother had made it clear what being wolfless meant. It meant I would never find my mate. I could never connect with him because I didn’t have a wolf. Wolves rely on their pack bond to find their mates. I didn’t have that. Without a wolf, there was no way for me to identify my mate. Even if we crossed paths, I wouldn’t know him. I could never know him. But he would be able to recognize me. And that was just another cruel joke. Even if my mate came for me, there was no way for me to leave Vlad’s house. Vlad had guards everywhere. There was no escaping. I’d tried a few times. But the punishment for trying to escape was unbearable. So, I gave up. It felt like the moon goddess had abandoned me. I was nothing. Just a piece in someone else’s game. And I had no control over my fate. No choice. No will. No hope. And no love. Not now. Not ever. I would never find my mate. This was my life. I accepted it. And there was no way out. But that was before I met him. Before I saw the way his eyes stared at me, like I was something more than just another slave. Could there really be someone who cared? Or was I just fooling myself? What if I was wrong? Would I be trapped forever? Would anyone ever save me?