Ch.01

NARRATIVE POV “No, the banner is not centered!” Tia growled in frustration as the omegas scurried to make the changes that she was demanding. Everything had to be perfect. After all, you only turn eighteen once. It wasn’t lost on Tia that she was handling all the decorations and preparations for the event on her own. Her mother and father were completely hands-off. They gave her their black card and told her to decorate and buy whatever she needed for the pack-wide celebration. Tia Elise Henry, was the youngest of three pups to Alpha Markus and Luna Ava Henry of the Cherry Ridge Pack. A pack with roughly just over two hundred pack members. They were a peaceful pack. They dealt a lot in livestock and farming. The Cherry Ridge pack has been a neutral, non-aggressive pack for nearly five generations, and the pack held faith that Alpha Markus instilled the same values in his son and future heir, Simon. At the age of twenty-one, Simon was now about to step into the role as Alpha over Cherry Ridge, one month after his sister, Tia’s, eighteenth birthday. With their middle pup, Hilary, mated and moved away to her Beta mate, Beta Miles Roberts of the Fisher Brooks Pack and Tia about to be arranged to her betrothed, Allan Price, the cousin of Alpha Rollings of the Ravens' Peak Pack, Markus and Ava wish to step down and retire somewhere tropical. It wasn’t that Alpha Markus and Luna Ava didn’t love their youngest daughter; they were simply too busy to give her proper time and affection. Tia was unplanned, and before her conception, the Alpha pair were content with one son and one daughter. The arrival of Tia was a surprise to them both. Having spent their time and affection lavishing Simon and Hilary, all that was left from the parental pair was to lavish Tia with expensive trinkets and a lack of discipline and structure. Tia was taught that love for her could only be shown through hollow gifts, meant to convey the image of wealth. There wasn’t a thing in the world that Tia couldn’t buy, other than genuine affection from others. Being the Alpha heir, Simon absorbed their father's attention and praise. Simon was perfectly groomed to become the Alpha their father raised him to be: a cookie-cutter image and leadership of Alpha Markus. Hilary was always the perfect daughter. She had their mother's hair, facial features and elegant mannerisms when entertaining guests. Luna Ava’s sole focus was on preening Hilary for status and displaying the quality and standard of elegance and poise that the Cherry Ridge Pack instills. At the young age of nine, while Tia was playing alone in the garden, one of the house staff stole her away. No one had noticed that Tia was missing for hours, and by then, the omega had managed to remove Tia entirely from the pack grounds unnoticed by patrol. It wasn’t until they stepped past the borderline that the Alpha pair felt Tia’s absence, but even then, the pack delayed searching for her. They presumed she was wandering and would return soon enough. For days, Tia was missing before her absence was finally appropriately noticed. Cherry Ridge pack reported the stolen pup to the council the following week, as they could not locate her anywhere in the pack area. It was then decided that Tia was officially missing from the territory and not throwing a childish tantrum. With warriors from both Cherry Ridge and the council searching, the country was aware of a potential Alpha pup trafficking ring popping up in the area. Stealing an Alpha pup was a crime punishable by death. Alpha pups, especially females, are sold on the market for a high price. The country and neighbouring packs began to scrutinize the Cherry Ridge pack for leaving one of their Alpha pups unguarded and for their inability to protect one of their own—speculation about the convenience that the Alpha pair overlooked was circulating, slowly tarnishing the pack's reputation. Luna's from other packs began to question Luna Ava Henry about how she had not noticed her youngest daughter was missing for over a week before it was reported. “How does no one notice an Alpha pup missing for days?” The rumour mill steamrolled ahead, and rumours of the Alpha pair trying to sell off their pups began forming. As a blessed pack, the Cherry Ridge pack needed to address these concerns swiftly. Losing their reputation and financial backing from the trade business, Alpha Markus calls upon the Royal Court to assist in locating their missing daughter. The sooner they find Tia, the sooner they can restore their reputation and rank status. It had nothing to do with missing their lost pup; it was simply their tarnished image. The weeks trudged on, and finally, a lead turned up. They found the Omega who stole and sold Tia. She was a house staff member of the family, and it soon came out that she was the jilted mistress of Alpha Markus. The rumours continued to spread, but now they included Luna Ava threatening to take everything in the divorce, as the Cherry Ridge pack belonged to Luna Ava and her family. If Alpha Markus was discovered to have affairs, and they divorced, he would lose it all. He abruptly ended his affair, and they fired the omega to ensure that there were no more temptations. In the heat of rage, the omega stole the young pup, knowing no one would take notice. When the Omega mistress, Bree, gave up the location of where she sold Tia, nothing was left. The rogues working in the warehouse where they kept the stolen pups were torn to bits, and no one knew what had happened. The walls were painted in the crimson of the criminal rogues; no one could make sense of what had happened. Who saved these stolen pups and teens? When the recovered pups were questioned, all anyone could say was that they heard screams, but they saw nothing from the kennels where they were stored. When Tia returned to her parents, she was different. She was no longer the bubbly, outgoing, happy little girl she had been. She was quiet and withdrawn, keeping everyone at bay and trusting no one. She began to throw fits if any of the house Omega's got too close to her. Confused about handling the changes within Tia, the Alpha pair figured the simplest way to resolve the pain was to give Tia anything and everything she wanted. Everything but affection. She had become a reminder to her mother that the world now knew of her husband's and mates' affairs, and a reminder to her father that the world now knew he was living off his Luna’s dime and family name. That was when the marriage arrangement was decided. When Tia turned thirteen, Alpha Benjamin Rollings approached Alpha Markus and Luna Ava about a pack alliance through marriage to his cousin, Allan Price. He was set to step into the role of Delta for the Raven Peak Pack just south of Cherry Ridge. Once Tia turned eighteen, she would marry and mate with Delta Allan, and the two packs would officially become allies. The Ravens' Peak pack offered warrior protection, as it was a strong and aggressive pack. In trade, Cherry Ridge would become their leading supplier of livestock and natural resources due to their lush territory, protected by the Royal Court's order. This arrangement greatly benefited both packs, and it was quickly agreed upon. Five years later, Tia stood in the middle of the grand hall, yelling and snapping at the Omegas for not following her directions as instructed. “I said I did not want silver incorporated with the colour scheme. Who approved this?” Tia snapped, looking around the room after tearing down a silver and white balloon cluster. It was supposed to be a white and baby blue theme, but Tia hated the sight of silver balloons. It always screamed pretentious; if this was her last birthday at the pack, she intended to have it her way. “Miss Hilary had suggested that it would be better for visual appeal. She said baby blue would be too childlike, and wanted your eighteenth birthday to be viewed as more adult, Miss Tia.” One of the omegas stepped forward, her head down in submission. “Is that so?” Tia sniped. “And who is the birthday girl?” she challenged. “We apologize, Miss Tia. It won’t happen again.” the omega murmured. “Everything is to be perfect. Don’t you understand that? My fiancé is coming, alongside several other packs. It is my eighteenth birthday, and what I say goes, got it!” Tia spat in frustration. The room was silent; no one dared utter a response. Tia threw down the decorations and told them to redo it, and stormed out of the hall space in anger. She hated it when Hilary swooped in and undermined her. She wasn’t right in her changes; she just had the charisma to sound correct in her suggestions. Hilary wasn’t a smart female. Tia was at the top of her class and an honoured A+ student. She graduated a year earlier than her age class, and this past year, she focused entirely on her writing. She loved writing fiction and fantasy. It provided her with an outlet to release her frustrations and the truths she was forced to hide from the world. She never told anyone what happened to her after she was kidnapped and sold, and she probably never would. It was for everyone's safety that she isolated herself and kept herself locked away for now. No one was allowed to know what really happened that night nearly nine years ago. She’d spent half of her life pretending it never happened, and her family seemed eager to keep that narrative themselves. They didn’t want to know, so they never asked.