Raven's POV

'Happy birthday sweetheart,' Bella sang.

I turned to my side not believing it was morning yet.

'Wake up sleepy head. It is your birthday,' April said laughing and throwing herself at me.

I jumped to a sitting position while glaring at April but I was taken aback by the light illuminating the room from the candles on the cake Bella was holding.

'Am I dreaming?' I asked rubbing my face which made both Bella and April start laughing.

'You are not dreaming my darling, it is indeed your birthday and this is your birthday cake,' Bella said smiling lovingly.

I couldn't help but burst into tears. I felt so blessed to have both of them. If only the circumstances could change, I would happily have wanted Bella to formally adopt me so that I could call her mum in the presence of everybody. She deserved it!

' Thank you so much, mum. Thank you, April. I love you both,' I said sobbing.

'Aww, such a crybaby,' April said hugging me. Mum also placed the cake on the floor carefully to join and turn it into a group hug.

' Where are the cake and candles from?' I asked after my sob had subsided.

'Actually, that is a little bit of here and there,' Mum said looking as guilty as sin.

' Let's just say we have been picking it from here and there just to make your big day special,' April explained.

She didn't have to say much, I understood what she meant. They must have been sneaking the ingredients for the cake out of the kitchen just to surprise me. I knew what the consequences could be if they were caught and they knew too. Yet they chose to put smiles on my face not minding what the consequences of their actions could be.

'Thank you, I am so grateful to both of you. I don't know what my life would have been like without the both of you,' I said as fresh tears sprang to my eyes.

'We are not here to make you cry. It is past midnight. Your wolf will soon be here, that was why we came earlier. Make a wish and blow off the candle,' Mum said.

My wolf is expected to show up at one o'clock but I must be alone. I must shift into my wolf in solitude for the first time. It applied to all wolves no matter the status.

I had never made a wish in my life. I never wished for anything. I just wanted to live my life. Simply put, I just existed with no aspirations because candidly I had always believed I would never amount to anything, not with my status.

But that day for the first time I wished for something special. I wished for a mate who would come and take me away from my mystery and make me happy.

After making the wish, I opened my eyes and blew the candles off. April and Mum clapped and sang me the normal birthday song.

We talked for some time while eating the cake. The cake wasn't bad but it sure could have used more sugar. We talked about everything. We talked about what would happen if April found her mate and he was not from the pack. We discussed mine too before they both eventually left.

I waited anxiously. I had always wanted to meet my wolf. I had always thought that maybe if I had a wolf too, the bullying would reduce even if they didn't stop.

Suddenly I felt a twist in my stomach as if I ate something bad. I wondered if it was the cake. Then I began to feel pain in my neck. Before I could fully process that, the pain was all over my body.

If I didn't know better, I would have screamed. I endured the pain and refused to scream even as I fell to the floor of my hut. I writhed on the floor trying to get solace from the pain by stretching. I could hear my bones snapping noisily.

Suddenly the pain stopped and I attempted to get up but I suddenly discovered that instead of hands I saw paws. I tried to shout excitedly but I only yelped.

I stood up carefully trying to get used to walking on four legs. I had been told that Omega wolves were weak but I felt strong and powerful.

I made my way to the broken mirror April and I had salvaged using the cello tape we got in one of our cleanings to tape together. I would have screamed if I had my voice.

I saw a powerful-looking wolf with black as-midnight fur. On my right side, a part of the fur was pure white. I shook my head trying to dispell the image. I walked away from the mirror, gave myself some seconds, and walked back but I still saw the same thing.

I walked to the door and stood near it, trying to measure the height of my wolf. I was surprised when my back touched the door knob. I nearly fainted. That was about the size of any male Alpha wolf.

I went back to the mirror. Thinking maybe it was projecting the wrong image because it was broken.

Suddenly I remembered that I could communicate with my wolf.

'Hello. Are you there?' I asked my wolf.

'I should be the one asking you if you were in there, Raven. We are in my form,' My wolf answered.

' I am Raven, what is your name?'

'My name is Rave,' My wolf answered.

''Rave? That is the short form of my name?' I asked surprised.

'We are the same. Why do we need different names?'

'You are right, Rave. But why are you so big? You are supposed to be an Omega wolf.'

'I am not an ordinary wolf, Raven. Abandoning us and fleeing was the only way our parents could save us,' Rave explained.

'What do you mean?'

'There is a lot we have to talk about Raven. But for now, you need to pretend as if you are weak. I will be emitting the aura of weakness to keep us safe till the appointed time of our reveal. Remember you can't trust anybody with our secret,' Rave explained and warned me.

'What of April and Mum,' I asked, feeling bad already that I had to lie to them about my wolf.

'It is no longer a secret when you tell someone else. Be wise,' Rave said. 'April and Bella are on their way here. I am going to do my part, Raven. Do yours.'

Before I could question her any further I suddenly found myself back on the floor in my human form just before April and Mum burst through the door. Mum quickly rushed to my side.

'Are you ok?' April asked, worry dripping from every word. I didn't have to look at Mum to know she was worried.

'Did you shift at all?' Mum asked. I nodded and she sighed with relief.' It is ok if your wolf is very weak. You have gone through a lot that could have broken anyone plus the fact that you are an Omega, so it is normal if your wolf was too weak to even stay in form for long,' Mum consoled me.

'Don't worry. Your wolf would improve with time, trust me,' April chipped in.

I felt like a very bad person. I had never thought that a day would come when I would lie to April and her mum. But then, I barely understood the whole situation myself.

I never thought my birthday would turn out to be a day of surprises. First the cake then my wolf. I could just hope the surprises ended because I doubted if my heart could take more.

Raven's POV

April and I couldn't talk about anything else but the ball. We were excited because we were in the group that would do the final cleanup.

We could get things like clothes and even if we were lucky gold chains or bracelets that could be sold in exchange for money and that meant money to enjoy.

The rich spend lavishly. Some even deliberately give you money when you help clean the room they slept in and carry their luggage to their cars.

It is also rumored that some Omega girls sleep with people who come from other packs for money. Lina and her friend Queen had been accused of the act oftentimes. But since there was no rule against doing that, no one has ever said anything against them.

It was also rumored that Luna Laura offered some of the girls to visit Alphas and other high-ranking officers from other packs. It was all rumored, none established.

April had once said that none of the girls Luna Laura used would dare to tell anyone since all the Omegas knew exactly what it felt like to have the wrath of Luna Laura directed at them. The Luna was mean but no one dared say it to her face.

'I wish the Luna would pick me as one of the girls she would give to the foreign Alphas or Beta or whatever,' April said a day to the ball.

' What?' I screamed surprised enough to keep screaming.

April quickly used her hand to cover my mouth to stop me from further screaming. We were in my hut which was directly opposite theirs and of course, her mother was in the hut.

'Why are you shouting like that, you want mum to come in here and behead me?' She asked as quietly as she could.

'So you know that your mother can behead you for saying that?'

'Look I know what I wish for is bad, like bad bad but look at Lina for example. Sometimes it is as if she is not even an Omega. Her clothes may not be that expensive but they are neat.'

'Have you thought that she might be getting the clothes from a kind-hearted high-ranking wolf?'

'That is a big fat lie. People have seen her buying clothes from those selling second-hand clothes. I am very sure that she is definitely one of the girls Luna Laura uses to please men,' April said hissing like a snake.

April hated Lina and her friends and she didn't do much to hide it. In fact, she had shown them how much she detested them several times.

'Ok fine. Let's say it is true she whores herself to non-pack members for money to buy clothes. Why must you join them? If you sell your dignity because of immaterial things and your mate finally comes around, what would you do then?' I asked.

'I am just tired of the way we live Raven. My mum deserves happiness. She is a young woman yet she looks older than her age,' April said with tears in her eyes, she bowed her head in sorrow.

I placed a placating hand on her bowed head. It hurt me to see her so downcast. 'Your mate is an Alpha April, you must be patient till he finds you,' I said but my voice seemed off. It sounded so unlike me.

'Who talked just now,' April asked raising her head in surprise.

'I did,' I answered.

'The voice didn't sound like yours,' she said not believing me.

'I was the one who spoke April, stop being dramatic,' I said rolling my eyes at her.

'Why would you say my mate is an Alpha? Have you joined those who keep daydreaming about something that can never be?' She asked looking at me with feigned annoyance.

'Do not think what I said cannot come to pass. There is always this regal aura around you sometimes that mimics that of a Luna,' I tried explaining myself to her.

'You know what? I think this whole ball thing is beginning to get into your head just as it got to me,' she said.

'If I am daydreaming positive things because the ball got to me, then it is good. You thinking of whoring yourself to Alphas and other high-ranking wolves from other packs is pure undiluted madness,' I said making April close her eyes in shame.

'Mum can never hear of this Raven, ever,' she said pulling my right ear.

'That is painful April, stop,' I cried out.

'Is your wolf that weak that you can't take this little pain?' April asked and laughed.

Ever since I got my wolf, April has been tormenting me. The things she wouldn't do to me before, are things she does now. According to her my ability to withstand pain should be greater than before.

'It doesn't pain at all sis,' I said laughing.

April dropped my ear immediately as if it was too hot to hold. She looked at me with something caught between fear and surprise.

'What?' I asked her when I saw her face.

'Who spoke just now?' She asked with the same expression.

'If you are trying to spook me it won't work,' I said to her thinking she was trying to scare me.

'I am serious, Raven if it was you that spoke, it didn't sound like you at all. Besides you never call me sister.

It then suddenly dawned on me. It must have been Rave my wolf. I got angry at her. How could she ask me to keep us a secret when she was trying to communicate with April?

We both shrugged the matter off. We continued talking about the ball. What we knew the very rich wolves would wear and the amount of food we would be able to bring home and eat.

April's mum called us to come for food so we had to cut our discussion short to heed her. The food was nothing special. Be it breakfast, lunch, or dinner but since April's mum worked in the kitchen, there were days we were able to get leftovers of some well-prepared food.

We ate in relative quiet since April and I had practically discussed all we could about the ball. I glanced at April's mum and saw a kind of unhappiness in her eyes. She was like that every year before the ball and during the ball. After the ball and everyone had returned to their packs, she would then cheer up.

While I was younger I had always thought it was the workload that came with the ball that dampened her mood but on closer look, it seemed there was something attached to the ball that made her sad.

I wanted to ask her but I didn't want to worsen things for her in case she had something bothering her. So I decided I was going to ask her after the ball tomorrow. If only I knew what tomorrow held, I wouldn't have made any plans of my own.

Raven's POV

Everywhere was agog with people going and coming. The kitchen was busy. I had taken time to wash my dress in order to ensure that I looked presentable. The whole pack was ready for the ball that would happen later in the day.

Guests had started arriving in beautiful cars and attires that would make one salivate and wish for a better life.

I was in the middle of hard work, so I had no time to admire people. I couldn't afford to get caught staring at guests.

In the process of arranging dishes into a rack, Maggot had come into the kitchen informing me that the Luna wanted to see me.

I asked Maggot where the Luna would be and she answered with disdain that the Luna was in the general waiting room.

My heart was in my mouth as I walked towards the general waiting room. I knocked gently on the door and I heard someone tell me to open the door and come in.

I entered to see the Luna sitting down like the royalty that she was on a sofa. The sofa was green in colour and it contrasted sharply with to the white walls and curtains.

I cautioned myself from looking around and quickly knelt before the Luna.

'You called for me Luna,' I said quietly.

'Yes I called for you. I heard you turned eighteen already?'

'Yes, Luna. I turned eighteen two days ago,' I answered humbly.

I knew I had to be extra careful not to make her angry. She was a higher ranking wolf and I was a poor Omega. If she killed me, I would be accused of insubordination and they would sweep my death under the carpet like it never happened.

'Good. Now you can be more useful to the pack. This pack has raised you this far. Goddess knows you have caused us more harm than good. You are henceforth going to start repaying this pack's kindness to you.'

I almost laughed because of what she said. The pack had been nothing but wicked to me. The majority of them treated me like I was a piece of rag, while some treated me with indifference. The Luna herself was the chairperson of my haters' club.

'Yes, Luna,' I said instead of what was on my mind.

'Very good. I know you are intelligent enough to know that if you refuse the work I am about to give you, there would be dire consequences,' The Luna said looking at me hatefully.

'Yes, Luna,' I said almost trembling. I had never done anything bad to the Luna yet she hated me with passion.

'Two Alphas would be coming to the ball. They are twin Alphas actually. I want you to be the one to attend to them after the ball, they would be needing one or two assistants in their room and you must do all their biddings. If they ask you to jump, you ask them how high. Is that taken?'

'Yes, Luna. But can I ask a question?'

'Go ahead and ask. As far as it is not a stupid one.'

'How will I identify them when they come?'

'You can't miss them in a crowd. They are the Alphas of the Luna's Den,' The Luna said smiling wickedly.

Fear ran a fast race down my spine. The Luna's Den Alphas? They were feared by everyone and every pack. In whispers among the Omegas, I had once heard that even our Alpha was afraid of them.

They were said to be mateless. Some even said the amount of blood on their hands made the moon Goddess choose not to give them mates.

It was believed that their mateless situation had made them more vicious than any Alpha in all of the surrounding packs.

I shivered in fear. The Luna should have just killed me herself and be done with it. Was she expecting me to make a mistake and be killed by the Alphas so that her mate would think she had no hand in my death?

'Luna, please can I do something else,' I shivered as I asked the question.

'Are you refusing to do as I have said?' The Luna asked angrily.

'No ...I .. what...I,' I stammered, feeling very helpless.

'Shut your mouth this minute you ungrateful imbecile. I am giving you the opportunity of a life time and you are foolishly saying nonsense. I should have you flocked within an inch of your life.'

'I am sorry Luna. I am really sorry,' I apologised as tears poured down my face.

'Get your useless self out of here and go make yourself useful,' The Luna said raising her voice angrily

'Yes, Luna. I am sorry,' I apologized again tearfully.

Just as I was about to turn the knob and leave she spoke again.

'Wait. Take that dress,' she said pointing at a dress draped on the arm of the sofa closest to the door.' Take that cloth and wear it tonight. You don't have to go into the kitchen or serve during dinner. I will send for you when the Alphas need you and don't think you can go running to Belle and her daughter. You would only be putting them in danger,'

I fled the place without a backward glance. I didn't even bother to look at the dress I was given. It smelt like a new one but that was not my interest at that moment.

Luna's words scared me. What was I expected to do for the Alphas when there were people already designated to serve them.

I got back into the kitchen and Maggot was waiting. She said the Luna said I should be relieved of my kitchen duty and be allowed to go.

She said it out loud that almost everyone in the kitchen heard it. She then stepped closer to me to make sure I was the only one that heard her.

'Go watch your dirty self up and come promptly to where you met the Luna immediately people start retiring to their rooms,' she said and walked away from me.

I had no option than to leave the kitchen and head to my hut. April and her mother were not in their hut. They too were caught up in the preparation for the Ball.

I entered my hut and examined the cloth I was given. It doesn't look bad but the slits on it were sure revealing and gradually the realization of my situation dawned on me.

Could the Luna be preparing me for the Alphas to use as sex toy? Or does she want me to at least wear one good cloth in my life before my demise? My brain almost exploded with questions.

'Relax.' My wolf said suddenly.

'Where were you when I needed you?' I said rolling my eyes.

'I couldn't show myself in front of a high ranking wolf. She would pick on my scent,' my wolf explained.

'What do we do now? Should we run away? I guess you can get us out of this place,'

'I can but I would not,' my wolf responded.

'Why not?' I asked surprised.

'Something in my instinct keeps saying we should wait till the end of the ball,' my wolf explained.

I closed our link and slummed on the bed and wished that day wasn't going to be the end of me.