Chapter 1: ChaSity the ChaRity Case
The blanket of pure white snow seemed to sparkle in the early morning light. The Pack House was buzzing with excitement about the upcoming festivities. Tomorrow was my birthday, not that anyone cared or even remembered because it was also the birthday of the Thorn Triplets. The Thorn Triplets were the pride and joy of the Winter Moon Pack. They were the sons of Alpha Romeo Thorn. They were filthy rich, devilishly handsome and disgustingly arrogant. All the young she-wolves adored them wholeheartedly and stroked their egos on a daily basis. I was cursed to share a birthday and a home with them.
At the tender age of nine, my drug-addicted parents left the pack to go rogue and had not been seen or heard from since. They left no instructions regarding their wishes for me so I was taken into the pack house under the care of Alpha Romeo and his wife, Ronnie. As if I had not been devastated enough, I now had three twelve-year old tormenters. The identical triplet sons of the Alpha were, in order of birth, Alex, Felix and Calix. They despised me and ensured that I knew I was beneath them. My parents had incurred a huge debt due to their drug seeking habits which was paid off by the Alpha. Thus, I had to earn my keep and repay my debt by doing as many chores as possible while the triplets enjoyed an idyllic childhood in the very same house.
In some packs the new Alpha ascends at age eighteen when they first shift but in mine, the age for ascension was twenty one. Thus tomorrow, on November eleventh, the triplets would turn twenty-one and take over the pack while I would turn eighteen and experience my first shift. Eighteen was also the minimum age when werewolves found their fated mate but I did not care about that. All I wanted was to come of age so I could leave this hell behind.
At least, the pack house had beautiful scenery. We were close to the north pole so snow was an everyday affair though there was no sign of Santa Claus. I certainly did not expect any birthday presents this November or Christmas presents come December. The pack made it clear that I owed them money and they were subtracting everything they did not spend on me from the huge debt. They also subtracted my “wages” from the debt so I was never given any money. I was allowed food, clothes and shelter, the basics.
I slowly got out of bed. The sun was just peeking out from behind a snow-covered horizon. Everything glistened. I gazed out my window at the wintry terrain. I sighed. I had to start making breakfast for everyone. Despite the huge size of the pack house with its luxurious bedrooms and bathrooms, I was given a small empty storage room to stay in. I had a cot, a shelf of second-hand books and a single drawer full of second hand clothes. The other drawers contained extra cleaning supplies as I did the housekeeping work also.
I used the common room’s bathroom, showering quickly. I looked at myself in the mirror. My parents had name me Chasity but everyone in the pack called me Charity. This was started by the triplets as a joke and because they said it so often, even decent pack members thought it was my real name. I was so shy and scared as a child that I never bothered to correct them so it had stuck.
I detangled my waist-length dark blonde curls and put them up in a huge bun. Whenever I left them down the triplets would pull my hair ever since we were little. They had not grown out of this habit even in adulthood. I sighed. There were dark circles forming under my large brown eyes. My light brown skin looked sallow. I had been overworking myself or rather the Thorn family had been overworking me. They used to have a maid and a cook with me as the sole assistant of both, but they had fired them last month after numerous conflicts between them and the spoilt triplets. For the past month, I had been drowning in work while attending my final year of high school. I had seven more months of high school before I could leave this place. That was the deal. At eighteen and after high school, I got my freedom and whatever I had paid off by then would be the end of it. The current Alpha and Luna seemed to think they were being extremely generous.
The pack house had a really good heating system so despite the fact that outside looked like the frigid tundra, inside was pretty warm. I put on a long-sleeved white babydoll top that covered my behind as I was wearing just black leggings underneath. I started on breakfast. As it was the Triplets’ “birthday week” and they would soon be Alphas, everyday was a feast day. I made waffles, pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs and sausages. I put the butter and maple syrup on the table. I made coffee. I quickly drank some sweet, milky coffee for some energy and started setting the table.
Luna Ronnie entered the dining room, eyeing me, scrutinising my handy-work. She was a tall woman with dark brown long straight hair, pale skin and green eyes.
“The table looks nice,” she said, a rare compliment. “But have you washed all the wares? Wash them all before you eat!”
Alpha Romeo sauntered in, kissing his Luna gently. He nodded in approval at the breakfast spread. I smiled feebly at him. I heard heavy footsteps on the stairs and I took a deep breath. The Triplet Terrors were coming. They towered over me at six feet and four inches each, exactly a foot taller than me. They resembled their father with their shoulder-length thick shiny black hair, chiseled faces, baby blue eyes, dimples and chin-clefts. As they were Alphas they were all broad-shouldered and muscled blessed with super speed and super strength even beyond what was considered extraordinary for a werewolf. They were perfectly identical and perfectly heinous or at least they were to me. Their deep voices boomed as they shouted excitedly, shoving each other playfully. They would be twenty-one tomorrow but they still acted like they were twelve.
Alex was the eldest and the most serious and severe. He would surely rule with an iron fist and a surly demeanour. Felix as the middle triplet loved being the centre of attention and was naturally filled with wise-cracks, jokes and quips. Classic middle child. The youngest, Calix, was the charmer, a professional sweet-talker and Mommy’s favourite.copy right hot novel pub
