Cold. That was all I felt. Freezing cold. Almost like death. It was so cold, it felt hot. Burning hot. I was used to it by now, though. This cold, it was normal. It was something I felt almost every moment of my life. But this was one of those rare moments. One of the moments where I felt warmth. Not a bonfire. Not even a campfire. Just a small, lit match. Just a little light and warmth in a dark, cold place. I almost felt bad for this light. I knew that, soon, it would be smothered by the cold. But for now, I would stand by this flame and let it warm me.

I knew there wasn’t much time left for this flame. I watched it flare up, using the rest of the oxygen, before slowly dying out, leaving the faint smell of smoke in its place.

This was my life; waiting for that small match. There were so few of them, I sometimes felt the death and cold creeping into me before it showed up. I never expected anything bigger than this flame. And I never received it. I could hardly remember the last time I saw a large flame. Like the sun... The sun didn’t exist anymore. Not for me, at least.

That is, until my world started revolving again. I watched one of my small flames expand and extend, becoming something I thought I’d never see again.

My sun.

I watched as my brother drank from his bottle of whiskey again and again. That bottle seemed never-ending. But I knew that when it did end, things would turn for the worst. Brother didn’t like when his alcohol ran out. He would get very mad. Very, very mad. You would think he would go find another bottle; we had plenty. But no… He would just get upset and take it out on whoever was closest. That person happened to be me. This would explain my bruises and broken bones. Well, most of them.

You see, I am part of a pack. I am the beta’s youngest daughter. You would think that would mean luxury, yes? No. Not at all. I am the pack’s punching bag. My only brother even abuses me. I have grown used to this useless punishment. And I’ve learned that if I stay quiet, the beatings don’t hurt as much.

It wasn’t always like this. I used to have a perfect family. A mother, father, brother, and 3 sisters. That is, until we lost a piece of the family. Our mother was murdered when I was about seven years old. And I say murdered, because another wolf brutally beat her until she stopped breathing. I was the person to find her on the forest floor at 2 o’clock in the morning. And for some odd reason, my family believed I was the reason for her death. This started the beatings. They were infrequent at first. And only by close family. But soon, it spread through the whole pack. By the time I was 11, nearly every adult had hit me at least twice, and every teen at least once. Now, 5 years later, the beatings are daily, sometimes hourly.

I expected the hits now. I was never surprised. I just sit in my room and wait for them. I wait for someone to get upset. I wait for someone to have a bad day. It’s all I do now. It’s all I’m good for.

But now there’s an upside. I have to start school soon. I’m the only person in the pack that is any good with finances, but I’m getting a little out-of-date. My father wants to throw me in school and make sure I can do the only other thing I’m useful for in the pack. But school is still 2 days away. Another good thing though: no more hits where it will leave visible bruises. No hits at all for the next 2 days. My father wants to make sure everything clears away before I go out in public.

There are many rules I have to follow for school… I must keep all of my grades above B’s. I am not to invite anyone to my house. I am not to tell anyone about what happens at home. The list goes on… There’s more that I can’t do than I can do. I’m allowed to have friends. No boyfriends. No after-school activities. Nothing I have to pay for. Nothing surprising really…

It’s late. Time for bed. This’ll be my first full night of sleep without anybody waking me up just to hit me… Finally!

I woke up late, surprising myself. Usually my father would have come in to wake me. But I guess there was no point. It’s not like they can hit me today. I guess I’ll just relax for the day; get some more rest… If I can.

I spent my whole day lazing in my room. I cleaned a little, listened to some music. But I couldn’t seem to pull myself out of my depressed state. I should be happy, right? I’m not getting beaten. But I can still feel the pain. My bruises were clearly evident on my face and neck, but I could tell they were fading. They would be gone by the morning. I healed quicker than most humans. But because I don’t eat as much as I should, I don’t heal as quickly as the other wolves.

It was almost 7 in the evening before I heard anything from downstairs. It was dinner time. But I knew I wasn’t invited. I never was. That was, until there was a knock on my door.

In the coldest voice ever, I heard my brother, “Come down to eat.” And then his footsteps faded down the hallway.

I sat there, shocked. Once the fact that I could eat a real meal sunk it, I scrambled off my bed and dressed in something a little more appropriate. When I was decent, I scurried down the stairs and into the giant dining room. All talking ceased as soon as I walked into the room. I dropped my head and took a seat near the end of the table, between two of my male cousins. They were a little nicer than the rest of my family. They were twins, raised outside of the pack. Their parents had taught them to never hit a lady. So they didn’t. But they were still harsh.

When I sat, surprisingly, both boys nodded slightly at me. They were being nice. This was actually extremely shocking… I wasn’t used to any sort of affection, even this small.

Dinner had been an awkward event. Nobody spoke, really… There were few side conversations, but that was about it. Nobody tried to speak to me, and I was okay with that. I hadn’t really spoken in a few years anyway. I wouldn’t have anything to say.

After dinner, everyone went their separate ways. I waited until everyone was gone before I started to make my way up the stairs. I hadn’t even made it half-way up the stairs before I heard a voice.

“Dahlia. I need to speak with you.” I flinched at the harshness of my father’s voice. Also, at the shock of hearing my name. Nobody called me that anymore. I was always referred to as ‘that girl’ or ‘the runt’. Hearing my name come out of my father’s mouth gave me a rush of hope. Maybe my life would get better from here.

I turned and silently followed my father to his office. He walked in and sat stiffly at his desk, nodding at the seat across from him. “Sit.”

Obediently, I sat, looking down and letting my long hair fall to cover my face.

After a few minutes of silence, he spoke. “You start school day after tomorrow.”

I allowed myself to look up at him and nod. Where was this going..?

There was a steel plate in front of his eyes, hiding any and all emotions. He almost looked… Blank.

“You know the rules. If you break one, you know the punishment.” Why is he going back over all of this? I knew this. What was the point? I nodded anyway, not wanting to ruin his semi-calm mood.

“If you find your mate-“ He stopped and smirked. “Like you ever will. But if you do, you are to reject him if he doesn’t reject you first.”

I felt my heart lurch. My mate? I hadn’t even thought of that. What if I did find him at this school? What would I do? I couldn’t reject him… He would get me away from all of this. Wouldn’t he? He would love me.

I saddened. Who would love me? I’m just a broken little girl who can’t take care of herself. I’m not even brave enough to find help. Why would my mate want me? Whoever he was, he deserved better than me. This thought sobered me. I was worthless. Even my mate wouldn’t want me.

I could tell my father was enjoying seeing the hurt on my face. He still had that little smug smile on his face. I couldn’t help but feel angry. How could he feel like this? He was watching his daughter, his little girl, in pain, and he just sat there and smiled. He was sick, and he knew it.

I glared lightly at him, giving him a “can-I-go-now?” look. He waved me off and I marched out of his office and straight to my room. I collapsed on my bed and let a silent tear escape.

Why did I make myself do this?

Sunday passed by very quickly. My father didn’t speak to me at all. But I didn’t care. It was Monday morning. My first day to school.

I found out that I was a junior; 11^th grade. This bothered me slightly. I had only just turned 16. Most of these kids would be a year above me. But my father wanted me to finish high school, and didn’t want me there any longer than I needed to be.

My cousin, one of the ones who sat next to me on Saturday at dinner, drove me to school. He nodded at me as I stepped out of the car, zooming away as soon as I stepped back. I gulped and turned to look at the massive school behind me. It was huge! If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought I was on a college campus.

Seeing as it was the first day of school, there were people everywhere, hugging their friends after not seeing them over summer break. Before I felt too claustrophobic, I made my way to the front office. As soon as I stepped inside, the secretary at the desk looked up and smiled a sweet smile.

“Dahlia, yes?”

I nodded, slightly confused. How did this woman know who I was?

Her smile grew slightly as she stood up. She was very pretty. She looked about 25, but I had a feeling she was much older.

When she had made her way to me, she placed her hands on my shoulders. “I’m Ellie Cole. I was a friend of your mother’s.” Her smile lessened by a fraction. But it was back fully before I could blink. “You’ve grown so much since I last saw you. You look so much like Christina…”

I flinched, fighting tears at the mention of my mother’s name. This woman, Ellie Cole, knew my mother. I didn’t want to believe it. But it had to be true. I ever so slightly remembered this woman. I could vaguely remember my mother always talking about an “El”. That must have been this woman. It couldn’t be anyone else.

I snapped out of my thoughts when Ellie stepped back to her desk. She started ruffling through her filing cabinet until she found what she was looking for. She then handed me a few pieces of paper.

“These are your schedule, locker number, map of the school, and list of things needed for the semester, though I’m sure you already have them.” She then frowned. “Your father insisted we not schedule you for gym or health at all these next two years, so don’t worry about having to take those.”

I nodded slowly. He didn’t want anyone to see my bruises. Which means my pain wasn’t over yet… If I couldn’t show my bruises, I had to have bruises to hide.

I heard the loud ringing of a bell, and the chatter outside of the office faded as students headed to their classes. I frowned. Great, I’m going to be late to my first class.

Ellie seemed to notice my distress. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. That’s only the bell for homeroom. You can still make it to your class if you go now.”

I smiled a very small smile, surprising myself. I very rarely smiled. With that, I turned and went to find my first class.

After 5 minutes of blind searching, I groaned and leaned against a wall. I was hopelessly lost. This stupid map was so unclear, it was ridiculous. How was anybody supposed to follow this?

I slid down the wall and put my head on my knees. I give up. Why did I think I could do this? Why did I think I could be a normal person and find my way around a school?

I sat there, lost in my own thoughts, until I heard a cough from above me. My head snapped up and I saw a girl. She was gorgeous. Big blue eyes, black and pink hair, average height, skinny. She had a little friendly smile on her face.

“What’s a pretty girl like you doing out of class?” She looked sarcastic as she spoke, feeling the irony of her words.

I just stared at her, wondering why this girl was talking to me. I rarely had people spark conversations with me. And when they did, they were always just to say something rude or degrading. I continued to look at this girl with confusion spread across my face.

After a solid 15 seconds of absolute silence, the girl rolled her eyes and took a seat directly in front of me. Another 10 seconds passed before she stuck her hand out between us.

“I’m Cassandra. But please, call me Cass. And you are..?” Her smile was still on her face, waiting for me to respond.

My eyes flicked between her face and her hand. Did she want me to shake it? No one has ever shaken my hand before.

I hesitantly reached my hand out to join it with hers. We shook once and I let a tiny smile sneak its way onto my face. This girl, Cass, must have realized that I still hadn’t said anything because she cocked her head curiously to the side.

“Do you not talk?” Well, that was very bold. Either way, I shook my head slowing.

An unknown emotion flashed in her eyes, causing me to lower my head in shame. She must know who I am. How can she not? I lightly sniffed the air, confirming that she was a wolf. But she didn’t smell like our pack. Just then, I distinctly remembered my father telling me that this school contained two different packs in the area, as well as a handful of humans.

After a minute or two, I heard a soft snort from Cass. I glanced up at her and saw that she had a smirk on her face. The hurt was just starting to set in when she said, “You’re cute. I like you already.”

I blinked once, twice, three times. Confusion swept across my face once more, confused at her statement.

Cass laughed and then stood up, reaching her hand down at me. After a second of consideration, I took her hand and let her pull me to my feet. Even though I was still extremely confused, it felt nice to have someone acting civil towards me.

As we started walking down the hallway, Cass snatched the schedule that was still in my left hand, looking at it carefully. After a few seconds of reading, she smiled. “We have homeroom and three other classes together. Then you have a class with Mike, and a class with Kandi and Ryan. Cool! You won’t be alone in any of your classes! That’s good. We wouldn’t want any jerks to pick on you, now would we?”

I looked up at her, furrowing my brows. Not only did I not recognize the other names, but I was slightly confused as to why she cared if anyone picked on me. I was used to it anyway.

She smiled warmly at my expression. “My pack can get a little mean towards the new people. Surprisingly, your pack is a hell of a lot nicer than ours.” I almost chuckled at the irony of that statement. My pack, nice? Sure, maybe when hell freezes over and pigs start flying.

Before I knew it, Cass was pulling me to a stop.  “Here’s first period. Don’t worry about us being late; our teacher is a pack member of mine. He should understand that you’re new.” Before we walked into the class, I glanced at the sign next to the door. “AP Geography II.” I hate globes so much...

Our entrance into the classroom was subtle, but everyone still stared at us. One glare from Cass and most of the gazes dropped. Only the people from my pack continued to stare. I knew that they would tell my father that I was late to my first class of the day. My mood dropped down from its slight high at the thought.

Cass was pulling me over to the corner of the room near a guy with chestnut brown hair and warm brown eyes. We sat down and the guy slightly pushed Cass, scolding her playfully for being late. Cass just giggled and turned to me. “This douchebag here is Ryan.” She turned back to him. “Ryan, this is...” Her words were cut short. She turned slowly to look back at me. “You never even told me your name.”

My eyes widened at the attention from both her and Ryan. I quickly pulled out a pencil and a notebook, messily scribbling the name “Dahlia.”

Cass’s smile was bigger than I had ever seen it. “Well, nice to meet you Dahlia. That is literally the prettiest name ever.”

I blushed a deep scarlet red and lowered my head. Ryan chuckled and reached over to mess up my hair. “It is very pretty. Don’t deny it!” My blush darkened further. I wasn’t used to the compliments, so my mind was overloaded a bit.

To my relief, the teacher hushed Ryan and Cass, causing the room to fall silent. I heard Cass giggle once more before getting to work on the sheet of paper the teacher gave us.

After suffering through another class with Cass, it was time for lunch. I wasn’t used to eating lunch, so I didn’t think much about it when I walked into the lunchroom and simply sat next to Ryan. He furrowed his brows at me, mouth stuffed with pizza. He quickly swallowed. “No food, darling?”

I blushed lightly at the nickname, but then glanced down at the table and shook my head. It’s not like I had the money for it anyway. My father hadn’t given me anything for lunch. The girl across from Ryan shot me a concerned look, which I caught out of the corner of my eye.

I looked up at this girl and the first thing I noticed was her shocking, red, curly hair. Then I noticed her soft green eyes and pale skin. Way too pale for a wolf. She must have come from Irish blood. There weren’t many of those left.  She had to be a direct descendent.

When she noticed my staring, she smiled. “I’m Kandi. A friend of Cass’s.” I smiled slightly back at her before lowering my head again.

I could almost see Ryan’s eyes rolling. He got in my direct line of sight, having to contort himself to do so. When he caught my eye, he smirked and lifted my head to look back at Kandi. Then he pointed at me, “She’s Dahlia. A beauty, isn’t she?” He was only saying that to make me blush. And unfortunately, he succeeded. Kandi laughed at Ryan’s boldness, shaking her head in the process.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Dahlia,” she said with a warm smile. “You seem sweet. I’m sure we’ll get along great.”

I nodded in agreement. These people were so nice! Or was this just how normal people acted? My pack was rarely like this when I was in the room, so maybe it is. At that moment, Cass came skipping over with a boy in tow. Or should I say man. He was easily 6’2”, with a very mature facial structure.  He was much taller than Cass, meaning he probably towered over my 5’1” frame.

Cass quickly introduced us, saying his name was Michael, but to call him Mike. He smiled a fatherly smile, which I returned with my own small, unsure smile. He seemed the most mature out of the four, making me think that he was somehow higher up in the pack. The tattoo on his neck confirmed my theories. We all had one. It symbolized our ranking in the pack. As we rose, more of the tattoo was added. We don’t know how it happens, but it does. Mike’s told me he was at least ranked 5^th or 6^th.

Mine showed that I was the Beta’s daughter, but it had been burned when I was young. I grimaced at the memories of the branding iron coming in contact with my neck. It was by the hands of my father. He had despised me so greatly that he tried to remove me from the pack. He was stopped by the Alpha, who told him that I would die if it were completely removed. My father stopped then, knowing he couldn’t lose another part of his family, no matter how much he hated me.

I was ripped from the memories by Ryan’s voice. “-okay there, darling?” I quickly shook my head, glancing at him before giving him a reassuring smile. The whole group was looking at me with concerned eyes. Only then did I realize that I had actually had people who cared about me.

Hopefully my luck won’t run out.