Artemis

After Natalie left to go to the mall with Tali and Barbara, I was left alone to do all the packhouse chores, including mowing the lawn, cleaning the chambers upstairs, laundry, and dinner preparations. It would take the whole day to get them done. And if I didn't get the chores done, my parents would have my head.

"Ooh, look, it's the pack slave,"

I looked up and saw two girls standing in front of me, Trina Michaels and Fiona Parker. The she-wolves who had made it their business always to hamper my work, disrupt me, and make my life miserable.

A brunette with tanned skin, grey eyes, and a petite frame, Trina was Evan's cousin. She was an arrogant girl with a hoity-toity attitude and was forever known to be a perpetual nuisance ever since she was a pup. She was the leader of the two and kindness seemed a foreign concept to her.

Fiona was her best friend, and she had blonde hair with violet eyes, fair skin, and skinny as a twig. Fiona was the epitome of spoiled and untamed, and like Trina, she had a nasty attitude.

"Where are your two best friends? Have they left you to enslaved person all afternoon?" Trina asked with a smirk.

I sighed and tried to ignore her, but since I had the worst luck in the pack, instead of leaving me alone to do my work, she grabbed me by my arm and slapped me across my face, her hand leaving a stinging sensation behind. I held my face and looked at her.

"What was that for? I didn't do anything," I said as I tried to keep my tears from falling.

"I'm talking to you, and you ignored me. When I speak to you, I expect you to reply, whore," she hissed.

I bit my lip and tried to get away from her, but her grip tightened, and I could feel her long fingernails digging into my flesh.

"What is going on here?!"

I turned and saw Garrett coming towards me with Lydia on his arm. His eyes were flashing as he saw Trina holding my arm so aggressively.

"Release Artemis Trina!" he shouted the command, and Trina had no choice but to obey. Not before punching me in my abdomen, making me cry out and fall to my knees. Garrett growled, and Trina and Fiona laughed and strolled to the packhouse.

Lydia rushed over and helped me to rise. Tears fell from my eyes and soaked my dress. Lydia was sympathetic as she draped her arm across my shoulder and led me to the packhouse despite my protests.

"Lydia, I have work to do. If my parents find out I was slacking, I'll get in trouble," I said.

"You aren't slacking, just taking a break," Lydia assured me.

"I also have to clean the upstairs chambers, make dinner and do laundry," I argued.

Lydia glanced at Garrett, and her eyes showed disbelief upon hearing this. She was unaware of how much work an omega had to do in a pack. I wondered what kind of background Lydia came from.

"Artemis, where are Tali and Barbara? Don't they work with you," Lydia's voice threw me off my train of thought, and I glanced her way, my eyes distant?

"They're shopping with Natalie," I replied.

Garrett scoffed, and Lydia gave a slight exclamation of disgust. "Shopping? While you're out here working? That girl disgusts me," Lydia said, shaking her head.

"Ooh, Lydia doesn't seem too fond of our future, Luna. I'm going to like spending time with her and her wolf," Caroline said in my head in a smug tone. I giggled a little louder than I intended to, and Garrett and Lydia glanced at me with raised eyebrows.

"Are you okay, Artemis?" Garret asked.

"Caroline likes Lydia, and she says she would enjoy spending time with her and her wolf. Since she dislikes Natalie," I said.

Lydia and Garrett laughed. I was glad they took it so lightly. Anyone who heard me says that would've told Alec and my parents straight away. That would've sent me straight to the dungeon. We arrived at the packhouse and entered the kitchen through the backdoor.

"Sit, I'll get some cookies for you, and you can relax for a bit. I can ask my father to send two of our maids to help you with the laundry. The lawn is nearly finished, so you can complete that after your break, then you can clean the chambers upstairs," Lydia said kindly. I smiled and thanked her.

She was officially my second favorite wolf in the pack after Garrett. Unlike the she-wolves who lived here, she was so lovely, nasty, unmannerly, slutty, and shameless. Half of them never met their mates and already cheated on them with other wolves, which was heavily frowned upon in our pack.

Lydia brought the cookies, and we sat down to eat. We chatted for a while, and I casually mentioned the upcoming Shining Cosmos Gala that was to be held in a fortnight.

"Alpha Marcus holds it every five years to celebrate the alliance forged between the two packs; it's customary that every pack member goes," I said as I nibbled on the raisin oatmeal cookies that were so delicious they melted in your mouth.

"Did you make these, Lydia?" I asked, finishing my second cookie.

"I did. Do you like them?" she asked smilingly.

I nodded vigorously, and she and Garrett chuckled as I reached for yet another one of the delicious treats.

I took a sip of milk, and we chatted for a while longer before Garrett rose, stating he had some things to take care of.

"Lydia will keep you company if you wish, Artemis," he added as he pressed a kiss to his mate's forehead.

"Thank you, Garrett, but I must see to my chores. I'm sure Lydia has better things to do," I politely declined the offer, not wanting to hurt Lydia's feelings after she had been so lovely to me. I rose and took the empty dishes to the sink to wash them.

"Nonsense Artemis, I'll be happy to keep you company until you finish your chores. You have no one to talk to besides Caroline, I mean," she said, smiling widely.

I smiled back and placed the dishes on the rack to drain.

"That would be lovely, thank you, Lydia,"

I wiped down the table and dusted my hands on my dress. Garrett kissed Lydia one more time before he left to tend to his duties.

"So my maids will be here shortly. In the meantime, you can finish mowing the lawn," Lydia said as she and I left the packhouse.

I nodded, and we walked to where the lawnmower sat, making small talk as we walked. And while we did, I sighed inwardly, wishing I wasn't an omega. That way, Lydia and I could talk all day, shop, go out and have fun.

But it was impossible. I was an omega, and she was the mate of our Beta. If only things were different. It was pretty unfortunate that it wasn't. That's just the way things worked in our pack, it made me sad, but there was nothing I could do about it.

Artemis

True to her word, Lydia had two maids come to Emerald Guardians to assist me in my chores. Bria and Lana were very kind to me, and they worked quickly, and for that, I was grateful.

They took care of the laundry duty while I cleaned the upstairs chambers, and pretty soon, the chores were over with thanks to their efficiency and punctuality.

"Grazie Bria e Lana," I said to them as I carried the cleaning supplies back to the janitor's closet.

(Thank you, Bria and Lana)

Bria brushed off the thanks with a wave of her perfectly done acrylic nails. "Non servono formalitá Artemis,"

(No need for formalities Artemis)

As it turned out, Bria and Lana were both Italian. They were born and raised in Italy and migrated to Lydia's pack, Moon Beam, with their family at eighteen. Bria had long blonde hair gray eyes, and her skin was pale.

She was petite and gentle-spoken and enjoyed her life in Lydia's pack, where she and her cousin Lana were treated with respect and honor, unlike most omegas.

Lana was slightly different. She had short, brown, curly hair, her eyes were hazel brown, and her skin was also pale like her cousin.

"La nostra padrona Lydia é sposata con Beta Garrett," Lana said with a smile. "Che emozione,"

(Our mistress Lydia is mated to Beta Garrett. How exciting)

"Sarai Qui con Lydia?" I asked as the three of us made our way to the kitchen to start dinner preparations.

(Will you be staying here with Lydia?)

You must be wondering how I know Italian. When I first began receiving educational papers from Garrett, he asked if there were a language I'd like to learn. I chose Italian mainly because I admired Italy and its culture, history, and people on the whole.

"Non possiamo esserne certi. Questo dipende da cosa dice Beta Adrick sui pacchetti di cambio di Lydia," Bria replied.

(We cannot be sure. That depends on what Beta Adrick says about Lydia switching packs)

I hummed a tune from one of my favorite movies as the three of us started preparing dinner for the pack. I decided on chicken meatballs with pasta and Italian sauce, Caesar salad, garlic bread, and chocolate mousse.

While the pasta boiled, I made the Caesar salad, Bria fixed the meatballs and sauce, and Lana made the dough for the garlic bread. We laughed and sang songs, enjoying having the place to ourselves with no obnoxious pack members to disrupt us.

It was fourteen minutes past four, and dinner was served at seven. With the pace we were going at, dinner would be ready in time, giving us just enough time to go for a run. I could show Bria and Lana our territory and have fun and let our wolves out. The thought made Caroline yip and howl in ecstasy.

Soon, the pasta, meatballs, and sauce were done, the garlic bread was in the oven, and the chocolate mousse was resting on the counter. I stretched my sore muscles and leaned against the counter, waiting patiently for the garlic bread to finish baking.

Bria and Lana were seated at the kitchen table, and they told me stories about their life in Italy before they migrated to Moon Beam Pack. I enjoyed hearing stories about their lives, but I didn't bother telling them about my life in Emerald Guardians. It was too depressing.

While Bria told me a funny story about the funny things she and Lana did as pups, Natalie, Tali, and Barbara walked into the kitchen laughing as if they were their best friends. Two men came in behind them. In their arms were over a dozen shopping bags. I recognized the men like Timothy and Jacob, two of Natalie's cousins.

"And then I said she is such a little whore. She sleeps around with every wolf within half a mile and pretends she's innocent in front of her parents. Hahaha, I died that day," Natalie cackled as she, Tali, and Barbara flopped down on three available kitchen chairs.

Timothy and Jacob carried the bags up to Natalie's room, and only then did she notice us standing there. It took several seconds for her to see me, and when she did, she growled and stalked up to me, a nasty smirk on her face.

"I hope you've completed your chores, enslaved person. I expect my chamber to be in pristine condition because if it isn't, you will experience something very unpleasant," she spat out.

I nodded and bowed my head at her.

"I understand, Natalie," I said softly.

I'm not sure what I did, but whatever it was, she didn't like it because she slapped me hard across my face, causing Lana and Bria to flinch and step away.

"It's Luna Natalie to yous lave! Don't forget. You and I aren't friends. I am mated to your brother, the future Alpha of this pack. You will give me the respect I deserve, mutt!" she hissed.

"Yes, Luna Natalie," I whimpered.

She scoffed in disgust and turned on her heels without bothering to acknowledge Bria and Lana. Instead of coming over to comfort me like they usually did, Tali and Barbara smirked at me and followed Natalie with their heels clicking and their hips sashaying behind them.

I choked in my tears and dropped to the floor, and hugged my knees to my chest, crying my eyes out. My two best friends, Tali and Barbara, basically ignored me and left with that witch!

They turned their backs on me. Why? The tears rushed down faster than ever at the thought that my two best friends had just betrayed me.