Cold air seeped through the floorboards of the cramped attic, biting at Ella's bare shoulders. Frost coated the inside of the single, cracked window pane, casting a pale, ghostly light over her small mattress.
Four in the morning was always the quietest hour, yet her body ached as if she had spent the entire night running. She rolled off the thin foam pad, her knees barking in protest against the hard wooden floor.
Shivering, she pulled on a threadbare, oversized sweater. The grey wool scratched against her sensitive skin, but it was the only piece of clothing she owned that kept out the freezing draft.
Heavy footsteps from the floor below reminded her that she had exactly forty-five minutes to prepare breakfast for fifty hungry wolves. The Silver Moon pack did not tolerate tardiness, especially not from her.
If she was even a minute late, Caleb would make sure she paid for it. Her older brother took a twisted pleasure in correcting her "laziness" with his heavy hands and sharp kicks.
Downstairs, the massive industrial kitchen of the packhouse smelled of cold grease and stale dish soap. Ella immediately set to work, her movements rapid and practiced from years of forced labor.
Sweating from the sudden heat of the massive ovens, she hauled a heavy metal sack of flour across the counter. Her small arms trembled under the weight, her muscles burning with exhaustion.
Ella dragged a large iron skillet onto the stovetop, her knuckles turning white. She cracked dozens of eggs, flipped strips of thick bacon, and stirred massive pots of boiling oatmeal.
Nobody in the Silver Moon pack knew she was actually the biological daughter of Alpha Jasper. To them, she was a nameless stray, a charity case kept around to sweep floors and scrub grease off stoves.
Only her family and Dr. Henderson, the pack physician who had delivered her, carried that dark secret. Her mother had giving birth to twin girls, however, Alpha Jasper had hidden Ella's true identity to protect the family's reputation.
To the rest of the pack, she was just an aberration, a human-like weakling who showed no signs of wolf traits. They treated her like a servant, and her family treated her like a curse.
"Move it, useless," a harsh voice barked from the kitchen doorway.
Caleb, her older brother, stood there, his broad shoulders blocking the light from the hallway. His dark eyes held nothing but contempt as he watched her struggle to lift a heavy tray of cooked sausages.
His chest was broad, his jaw clenched as he stepped into her space, deliberately bumping his shoulder against hers. Ella stumbled backward, her shoulder slamming into the hard brick oven wall.
"I'm trying, Caleb," she whispered, keeping her eyes glued to the scuffed linoleum floor.
Snatching a piece of bacon directly from the tray, Caleb chewed it loudly. He deliberately dropped the grease onto her freshly cleaned counter, smiling when she flinched.
"That's Future Beta Caleb to you, trash," he sneered, flicking a stray crumb at her face. "Don't speak my name with your dirty mouth."
Before she could shrink away, a second figure sauntered into the kitchen. Lily, Ella's twin sister, looked like a vision of perfection with her golden hair and flawless, glowing skin.
She wore a silk robe, her nose upturned in disgust as she glanced at Ella's worn-out clothes. The contrast between them was devastating, a constant reminder of Ella's outcast status.
"Why is she still breathing our air?" Lily asked Caleb, her voice dripping with mock sweetness. "She smells like grease and failure."
"Father should have thrown her to the rogues the moment she failed to show any wolf traits as a child," Caleb agreed, crossing his muscular arms.
Ella swallowed the lump in her throat, her chest squeezing with familiar, crushing pain. The remarks cut deeper than any physical blow, cementing her profound sense of worthlessness.
Tonight was the full moon transformation ceremony, the night she would finally shift for the first time. Every young wolf shifted at fifteen, but late shifters can shift at 20, and this was her last chance to prove she belonged.
Every wolf in the pack would be watching. If she shifted into a strong, capable wolf, everything would change.
"She'll probably shift into a mangy rat," Caleb laughed, the sound booming off the tile walls.
"Make sure you clean the grease trap before tonight, rat," Lily added, her blue eyes cold. "We don't want you stinking up the packhouse during our celebration."
Cruel laughter echoed down the hallway as they finally left the kitchen. Ella let out a shaky breath, her hands trembling so hard she almost dropped the heavy pan.
Slumping against the industrial sink, she stared out the small kitchen window at the dark forest. Her body was exhausted, but her mind was a storm of anxiety and hope.
Leftover scraps of burnt toast and cold, congealed eggs were her breakfast, eaten in a dark corner of the pantry. She chewed slowly, forcing the dry food down her throat.
Hunger clawed at her stomach, but she forced herself to finish. She needed every ounce of strength for what was to come tonight.
Deep down, a tiny spark of hope still flickered in her chest.
Maybe, just maybe, her wolf would be beautiful and strong.
Perhaps her father would look at her with pride instead of shame, and her siblings would finally stop treating her like dirt.
---
Hours blurred into a haze of endless chores, scrubbing, and heavy lifting. Ella spent the afternoon sweeping the packhouse porch and cleaning the mud off the warriors' boots.
Night fell, casting long shadows across the pack territory as the full moon climbed into a cloudless sky. The air turned crisp and electric.
Crowds gathered in the sacred clearing, a wide circle of grass surrounded by towering, ancient pines. Torches flickered along the perimeter, casting a warm orange glow over the assembled wolves.
Excitement vibrated in the air, thick with the scent of pine, sweat, and anticipation. The entire Silver Moon pack was present, waiting to witness the new generation of warriors.
Ella stood near the very back of the crowd, trying to blend into the shadows of the tree line. Her fingers clutched the hem of her oversized sweater, her knuckles white.
Her heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird. Every muscle in her body was tense, reacting to the heavy alpha aura radiating from the front.
Watching the other young wolves step forward one by one, she felt her anxiety spike. They were strong, confident, and ready.
Magnificent beasts with thick coats of grey, brown, and black emerged from the shifting process, their roars shaking the leaves above. Each transformation was met with cheers.
Cheers erupted from the pack members with every successful shift, reinforcing the strength of their bloodline.
Alpha Jasper stood on a raised stone platform, his arms crossed over his massive chest, nodding in approval at each new warrior.
Beside him stood Lily, who had shifted earlier that day into a stunning, sleek silver wolf. She looked radiant, basking in the praise of her pack.
"Bring forward the last one," Alpha Jasper's voice boomed, carrying the weight of his command across the clearing. The crowd grew quiet.
Ella's stomach dropped. She knew it was her turn, but her legs refused to move.
Slowly, she stepped forward, but her legs felt like lead.
Sudden rough hands shoved her from behind, launching her stumbled posture into the center of the moonlit clearing. She tripped, falling hard onto the grass.
"Get out there, runt," Caleb's voice whispered viciously from the edge of the crowd.
Landing on her hands and knees in the dirt, Ella felt hundreds of eyes lock onto her. The silence was deafening, heavy with expectation.
Whispers broke out among the pack, a low hum of curiosity and disdain.
"Who is that?" someone muttered from the crowd.
"Is that the attic girl?" another snickered, her voice carrying over the quiet clearing.
Standing up, Ella tried to hold her head high, focusing on the brilliant white light of the full moon.
Heat began to build in her core, starting as a gentle warmth before turning into a raging fire.
Pain ripped through her spine, forcing her to her knees as her bones began to crack and reshape.
Clenching her jaw, she refused to scream, swallowing the agonizing sensations as her body transformed.
White fur sprouted along her skin, soft as silk, shimmering like fresh snow under the moonlight.
Waiting for the massive growth spurt, the sudden expansion of muscle and bone that she had witnessed in the others, she braced herself.
Nothing happened.
Instead, the pain subsided quickly, leaving her standing on four paws in the center of the clearing.
Gasping for breath, Ella looked down at her paws.
Miniature paws, delicate and pure white, stared back at her. They were tiny, barely larger than a human hand.
Looking around, she realized the grass blades reached up to her chest. She had to tilt her head way back just to see the knees of the wolves standing nearby.
Stunned silence gripped the entire clearing as the pack stared at her. Nobody spoke; nobody moved.
Ridiculously small, Ella stood in the center of the clearing, her white wolf form no bigger than a newborn puppy.
White fur shimmered in the moonlight, but her appearance drew no admiration. It only drew stares of utter disbelief.
Tears pricked her icy blue eyes as she looked up at her father on the platform.
Alpha Jasper's face was a mask of pure disgust, his jaw clenched so tightly the muscles jumped. His eyes held no love, only deep humiliation.
"What is this?" he muttered, his voice dropping to a dangerous, low frequency that vibrated through the ground.
Lily, standing in her human form now, burst into high-pitched laughter.
"She's a rat!" Lily pointed, her face twisted in mockery. "Look at the pathetic little runt! She's not even a real wolf!"
Shouts of laughter erupted from the crowd, spreading like a disease through the ranks of the Silver Moon pack.
"A defect," Alpha Jasper sneered, stepping down from the platform.
Heavy boots thudded against the dirt as he approached her tiny, trembling form.
Ella whimpered, tucking her tail between her legs as she cowered beneath his towering shadow.
"You are an embarrassment to the werewolf race," Jasper declared, his voice carrying clearly over the jeering crowd.
"A weak, useless mutation. You have no place in my pack."
Every word felt like a physical blow, shattering the final, fragile hope Ella had held onto for survival.
Worthlessness washed over her in a suffocating wave, drowning out her senses.
Snickering turned to outright jeers, with pack members pointing and throwing small pebbles at her tiny white body.