Luna Of The North

Gabriella

"Phew," I sigh as I keep my bucket aside and wipe the sweat from my brows. "It's been a very long day."

In the silence of the Redwood Pack backyard, I plop down on the pavement with great difficulty. My entire body is on fire. I've been crouched on all fours all morning, scrubbing, washing, cleaning, cooking and dusting.

Omegas in the Redwood Pack are the lowest ranked. It has always been like that since time immemorial, and it will remain so. My parents were once esteemed Pack members before they were among the wolves accused of treason and put to death by the previous mad Alpha, Dickson. Alpha Dickson was a sick tyrant and was responsible for a considerable number of deaths before we got troops from the Northern Pack who intervened, killed him, and elected a new Pack Alpha.

And the new Alpha just happens to be none other than my cruel uncle.

Alpha Storm.

He's my father's only brother, and the only family I have left. Before my father's death, they had never been on good terms. In fact, their paths never crossed at all, and my father made sure of that. I'd prodded my mother severely to tell me why, but she always brushed the question off, only supplying that he's a bad man. Eventually, I stopped asking. When my parents died, and Storm became the new Alpha, I became one of the Pack maids. He makes sure that I work harder than everyone else, perhaps as a result of the vendetta he held against my father.

Today, he's had me scrub and clean the entire pack compound, in preparation for an important meeting which is scheduled to hold tonight. As early as five in the morning, he's woken me up, and handed me a bucket and a mop stick. Then he relegates his beta, Beta Jackson to keep a close eye on me and ensure I don't stop working for any reason whatsoever. It isn't the first time he is giving me such strenuous work, so I've gotten used to it.

If I disobey him, I'll go without dinner.

And that is the one thing I am looking forward to tonight.

As I nurse my sore joints, I begin drifting off to sleep. A few minutes later, a sudden movement down the corridor that leads to the backyard startles me, causing me to jump up in alarm.

My best friend, Raya comes into view. Her eyes glaze over me in pity. "Alpha Storm sends for you. Are you done with the day's work?"

I nod with a sigh. "What does he want this time?""

"The Elders are all gathered in the pack hall. I think the meeting started way earlier, so he may need you to attend to them," she pauses, then adds. "I'm so sorry. He wants you to be the only one to attend to them."

Of course, he does. Of course.

With a resigned sigh, I wash my hands in the