Possession ( Book One of the Accalia Series)

The 17th Birthday Surprise

Jasmine's POV

I moved into the forest hut today. They gave me one right across from where my parents had given their lives for me. Alpha John and Luna Leena were waiting there when I arrived. Luna Leena's smirk was all over her face. I could tell she was waiting for something — most likely for me to break down. Alpha John had the same patient expression, as if he too were waiting. They weren't going to get it.

I had gone to the clearing the day before with Sabrina, Lori, and Adam. I cried and cried. The pack members hadn't even tried to clean up the bloodstains. I just left them there as a reminder.

I made a promise to my parents in that clearing that I would never let any of them break me, no matter what. As I did, I felt the wind stir and wrap around me like a comfort. I smiled as I felt the ghost of their arms around me. I knew they would never leave me, and I intended to keep that promise.

I smiled graciously at the alpha and luna and bowed, as per custom. I looked at the site with sad eyes before looking back at them.

"Thank you for allowing me to be closer to them," I told them with a small smile.

I could feel the wind surrounding me again, pulling at me like a blanket. Maybe I was imagining things, but it helped a lot.

"This isn't a favor, little s**t. It's a punishment. Do you not care that your parents were killed here?" she sneered, putting her hand on her hip.

I bit back the urge to tell her to shut up.

"I do care, Luna. I just feel that even though they are gone, their presence is still here. Alpha, if it is okay with you, I would like to make small memorials in the clearing as a way to pay my respects, since I am not allowed to visit their graves," I told him.

He narrowed his eyes at me. Sabrina had told me I was not allowed into the graveyard, since I was now declared a runt of the pack. The graveyard grounds were for omegas or higher — but I was okay with that. Their bodies were there, but their souls were not. Their spirits were still with me, and I would cling to them as though my life depended on it.

"Fine," was all he said before walking off, leaving me with the luna.

She put her finger in my face.

"I don't know what your game is, b***h, but you will be broken. I will take utter joy in seeing you defeated. Maybe then I will have my revenge," she said before walking off.

I was left confused.

Revenge for what?

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After I was all moved in, I attempted to sleep. The hut was probably the smallest I had ever seen — small enough to fit one mattress and a small dresser. Outside was an outhouse I had been instructed to keep clean each night. I could still smell a bit of mold, but I got used to it fast enough that after a while it didn't bother me.

The day after I moved in, I made my parents' memorial using stones. I wrote their names on paper. Each day before it rained, I would put a bin over them to keep the water from getting the paper wet. Sabrina always kept me updated on the weather.

I developed a daily routine from that moment. Each day I would get up and get dressed. I was only allowed to wear white t-shirts and tan pants. I always kept my hair in a bun, per the rules. I went to the packhouse and cooked, cleaned, washed dishes, and came back to my hut. I would visit my parents' memorial, and after that, I trained with Sabrina.

We never told anyone we were training together, except for her parents. Her father would join us now and then to teach us some defensive moves he knew. It didn't take long to master them, even as someone who was still just human. The only downside was being careful not to use them against anyone, for risk of being thrown in the dungeons.

I still lived with the fear of more rogues coming. If they decided to take the forest route, I would be the first to get killed. I was sure that would be a relief to some of them. Now and then I would run into Darnell, who never missed a chance to push me down or punch my face.

I cried the first few times, but after a while, I had gotten used to his hits. Each time he saw me he tried to hit harder, and each time I took it. Eventually he gave up hitting me and turned to cutting. When I wasn't looking, he would slice my arm or my back, cutting up my white shirts. Sabrina's parents had to keep buying me new ones. It always took forever to heal, but I did heal. I had become accustomed to being cut, burned, slapped, or hit.

Luna Leena would join my brother sometimes, but both of them were always frustrated to see that I never cracked. I kept going through my day as if nothing had happened. Luna Leena was trying to get some sort of revenge on me, and I had no idea what for. As far as I was concerned, I had been a good child, and I couldn't remember doing anything to make her dislike me so much. It nagged at me, but I knew better than to ask.

Lori had stitched me up so many times she'd lost count. I was grateful to Lori, Adam, and Sabrina. They were like my second family, and I couldn't ask for better.

Oliver would ignore me for the most part. He was a mixed case. One day he would punch me. The next he would ignore me, glancing at me with pity, anger, and something else I couldn't quite name. Out of everyone, for some reason, his abuse hurt the most. Even his words — calling me a dirty slut, or a w***e, or pack trash. They cut deeper than anyone else's, but I still held my head high. I was a beta's daughter after all, no matter what my rank was now.

The pack members had seen those in leadership treating me like garbage, so they followed suit. They found new ways to hurt me, trying to please the luna, my brother, or the young alpha. Sometimes I could hear Oliver telling some of them to stop when he thought I wasn't listening. That confused me. He hated me. Why would he say that?

Weeks turned to months. Months turned to years, and my 17th birthday came.

Sabrina had already turned 18 and had found out she was mated to my brother. She walked right up to him in front of everyone and spoke:

"I, Sabrina Delmay, Omega of the Red Valley Pack, reject you, Darnell White, Beta, as my mate, for the cruelty you show toward my sister daily. I f*****g refuse you, and I will always f*****g refuse you."

She walked out, leaving him stunned, his hand clutching his chest as he fell to the ground feeling the bond shatter. Word spread through the packhouse that he had been rejected, and as usual, he decided to make me his target. He punched me until I was black and blue all over, and I ended up slumped on the kitchen floor. Everyone in the packhouse who watched laughed at my pain.

Each day I went back to my hut. I had considered setting the packhouse on fire — locking everyone inside — but I never acted on it. Each time I even thought about it, I would feel my parents' cool, familiar embrace wrap around me, and those terrible thoughts would fade.

I had also considered running away. I chose not to. I could never leave Sabrina, Lori, or Adam. I would never forgive myself if they were punished because of a choice I made, so I stayed.

I had just come back to the clearing when I felt a sharp pain pierce through my body. Sabrina and Lori had come over with food, as they usually did, and ran to me when they saw me on the ground clutching my stomach.

Lori, thinking I had been hurt again, looked for the source of the problem — but there wasn't one. At once, my head started pounding like something was forcing its way through, and I thrashed on the ground holding my head.

"s**t," Lori said.

"What is it?" Sabrina asked.

"Her wolf is breaking through, but with her injuries, she may not make it," Lori replied, bending back down to me.

She started talking but all I could hear were those words repeating over and over.

Her wolf is coming through.

Her wolf is coming through.

My wolf. My wolf was coming.

Son of a b***h.