Liyah’s POV


    “He has got the sexiest body I have ever seen,” I heard Barbara groan as I silently washed the pile of wine sses that were strewn all over the kitchen counter.


    The festival was approaching and we needed to round up with the final preparations. I couldn’t even count how many dishes and sses I had washed today, and I still had not had my breakfast. As if on cue my stomach grumbled. I nearly dropped a ss in fear, praying that no one heard. I would pay for it on two counts-disturbing their peace and being a disgusting pig like they always called me.


    A few seconds passed and no one had said anything. My shoulders rxed.


    Okay. I was safe.


    “Really?!” Christy cackled. “Then you have quite a long way to go,” She said in a singsong voice, taking a sip of her lemonade.


    Barbara pulled out her bottom lip and folded her arms. “What do you mean?”


    I recognised the look on her face. She hated being the novice, the one who still had a lot to learn.


    I still had no idea what they were even talking about. But I kept my head bowed, focused on my work. I searched through for Maria but couldn’t find her. I hadn’t seen her all morning. Something twisted in my gut as I hoped that she was okay. After all, it wasn’t unusual for her topletely disappear for a whole day. Most times she was either locked up in the basement or being used as the bait in the training for the younger wolves.


    I sighed inaudibly, once again hoping she was safe.


    “I mean,” Christy continued, leaning in and bringing her voice down. “None of these wolves could ever match up. When I was your age, there were hordes and hordes of sexy beasts ready to take you to bed and fuck you senseless. And they sure as hell were leagues past your little Jerome.”


    A round ofughter filled the table as everyone except Barbara nodded in agreement.


    I resisted the temptation to roll my eyes at Christy’s words. She was just twenty seven. But most times she acted like she was one of the ancient Lunas.


    “Humph,” Barbara huffed. “I was born in the wrong era then,” She said, throwing her mother a sideways nce.


    Mira only smirked. “Christy’s right.”


    “Remember de?” Patience, one of the newly married wolves cut in.


    “Oh. My. God.” Christy sighed, rxing deeper into her chair. “A waste of perfectly good d*ck, that’s what that was.”N?vel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive ? material.


    Mira’s cackling filled the air for a few moments. “Hottest Alpha that ever existed, hands down.”


    “Really?” Barbara perked up. “I think I kinda remember stories of some dude called Nathaniel de or something.”


    “Niki,” Christy corrected. “And you were just a kid then so you probably won’t remember. Nobody knows what happened to him. Last I heard, his wife died and then he disappeared.”


    I vaguely remembered a story I’d heard a few years ago, about an alpha who was so powerful he had surpassed Father as the most powerful alpha. I don’t remember whenst I had heard of him. All I remembered was that Father has reimed his title afterwards.


    “Ugh, don’t tell me he’s one of those boring lover boys that go crazy when they lose their girlfriends,” Barbara added. “That’s pathetic.”


    They all nodded in agreement. Everyone except Christy.


    She gulped down the rest of her lemonade and began to chew on the lemon. “Well, he might be pathetic but oh my goodness, the things I would let that man do to me.”


    Patienceughed. “And he sure as hell would know how to handle him some pussy.”


    The rest of them whooped,ughing loudly.


    I bowed my head even lower, my cheeks burning from the things they were saying. I wondered how they could talk about sex so freely. For some reason I started to feel embarrassed and self conscious. As a result, I knocked over a ss by mistake, causing them all to look in my direction.


    Shit.


    “What about you, Liyah?” Christy leered, pouring a ss of vodka for herself.


    I looked over at her, my brows puckered in confusion. “W-what?”


    Barbara gave a loudugh, causing me to feel even more uneasy.


    “Ever had a man drill through you?” Christy asked, smirking at me.


    For a moment, I struggled to understand what she was talking about. When it finally dawned on me, my eyes widened, the shock almost causing the ss to fall out of my hand.


    “N-no ma’am,” I whispered, still not knowing how to reply.


    “Oh, you prude,” Christyughed, turning away from me and starting up another conversation with thedies.


    I began to arrange the wine sses after rinsing, my ears still burning.


    Christy was the only she-wolf that remained neutral when it came to me. She didn’t hit me or pick on me, but she didn’t help out or say nice things to me either. But it was better off than having to take the constant bullying. She was Mario’s mate and Gavin’s stepmother, and she always hung out with Mira and the rest of the women.


    I hoped not to be around the day Christy would find out that Mario had been cheating on her with Mira, because it would inevitably be the same day Father would find out that his Beta was sleeping with his wife.


    It would be a hellish day in the Monhowl pack and I sure would hate to be in the middle of it.


    When I was done with the dishes, I went round the house, checking on everything else that needed to be prepared. Barbara’s clothes were fresh and ironed, preparations for the food wereing along nicely as well.


    Father had uninterestedly given me permission to attend the festival. As a help, of course. I swallowed back the pain. I knew he’d rather burn in hell than introduce me to anyone as a member of his pack, much less his daughter.


    Shaking the sad thoughts out of my head, I procured the cold toast out of the crumpled Ziploc bag and stuffed it into my mouth, the taste of food warming my insides.