Zendaya's POV
The day began with a bone-chilling shock. Annabel, my stepsister, dumped a bucket of icy water over me, jolting me from a sleep nightmare into a waking nightmare.
"Wake up, weirdo," she sneered, her voice laced with malice. The cruel satisfaction gleaming in her eyes was undeniable. "Mum's going to kill you when she finds out you haven't made breakfast."
She strutted out before I could react, her laughter echoing down the hallway like a curse, leaving me drenched and furious.
Let me out, Cassidy, snarled in my mind, just once and I'll shred her into pieces. Not yet, I told her, jaw tight as I wiped the water from my eyes. Revenge was tempting —but not yet. Not when every mistake I made was used as a weapon against me.
My bedside clock blinked black-unplugged. Another petty trick of Annabel to get me into trouble. The sun was already high; Luna Elena's wrath was inevitable.
I yanked on dry clothes, fingers trembling. There was no time to dry my silver—blue hair, so I braided it hastily, the strands clinging to my neck.
"This place is a hellhole."
Downstairs, the pack house buzzed with morning chatter, laughter, and clatter of plates, but as I stepped into the dining hall, the energy shifted. The air grew tensed.
"Zendaya!" Luna Elena voice snapped like a whip. "Where's breakfast?"
"Almost ready," I murmured, eyes lowered.
"Useless, as always," she spat.
The slap came before I could flinch, my cheek burned, the sting reverberating through me.
"You're a burden," she hissed. "Until you learn respect and obedience, u
Your art supplies are gone."
My breath caught. No. My art was the The last connection I had to my mother. My only escape.
"Yes, Luna," I whispered, swallowing the pain.
My father entered then, with Beta James, his warm smile a temporary balm. "How are you?"
"I'm fine," I lied.
He didn't notice the red mark on my cheek or the tremor in my voice. Annabel and Luna Elena laughed beside him, like everything was perfect. Like I didn't exist.
I was done with my chore. So I left, but not without noticing the trio, my father Annabel, and Luna Elena. Looking like the perfect family. The union I no longer belong to. I left and headed upstairs to my room. I had no friends, and my art supplies were taken. I couldn't bear spending any more minutes in this suffocating place.
Run, Cassidy whispered. We need to breathe.
I nodded silently and slipped away, making sure no one saw me. The air outside was crips as I stepped into the bright morning. But it did little to sooth the chaos inside me.
The pack was was already awake and bustling—warriors returning from patrols, pups chasing each other, omegas hanging linens under the sun. It should have felt like home.
But it didn't.
As I walked the pack grounds, heads turned, conversation paused, and laughter dimmed. A hush fell over the once vibrant space.
"Look at her—how weird."
"She doesn't even look like one of us."
"I heard she was the reason the Luna died."
"Cursed child"
Their words weren't loud, but they didn't need to be. I'd heard them before. Different voices, same poison. The worst part? They used to love me. Once upon a time, I had been e Alphas cherish daughter—the quite girl with the unique silver blue curls and bright sketches always cling to my chest.
My mother, Luna Grace, had been the heart of it all, and a different contrast to me, her red ginger hair and blue eyes stood out. Gentle but fierce and loved by every pack member. She taught me to paint, to listen to the wind. And to never apologise for my silver—blue hair. "It makes you rare," she used to say.
My father adored her. We where whole. We where happy. But then chaos came. The rogues came in hundreds the sound of snarls splitting the night. A brutal coordinated attack that struck with force of a tidal wave. Lives were lost. That night, blood ran into the soil.
I still remember clearly my mother's voice in the chaos, her arms wrapping around me, shielding me from the carnage outside. cassidy screaming in my head, but all I could hear was my mother whispering a goodbye I didn't yet understand.
She pressed a kiss to my forehead," You are more than they'll ever know, zendaya," she said, her voice trembling. "Promise me you'll hold on no matter what happens after here." I was ten, too young to understand what she meant, but I nodded regardless.
Then she looked at my father, her eyes glowing. "Protect her. no matter what."
And she was gone to stop the rouges attack but she never came back. They said she died fighting, buying us time.
Since then, everything changed. The laughter faded, the love grew cold, and the pack who once smiled at me like family, now looked at me like a curse they couldn't shake. pain coiled in my chest, when two familiar voices pierced my thoughts.
"Still hiding that freak hair under those stupid braids, huh?" sneered one of the girls-cora.
"She should have just stayed in the woods where freaks belong and maybe the rouges will finished what they started," the other giggled.—Alena. "Yeah, or maybe if she dyed her hair, someone would want her," the other added laughing. The were Annabel's friends.
They walked off, high-fiving each other, as if they hadn't just ripped through my soul.
I didn't respond. I was used to it. But I would never understand why. Why they hate me for being different? Why looking different suddenly makes me a curse? The rouges took everything from me—My mother my happiness and a happy home.
Only Cassidy remained. And even she was growing restless. "Run," she urged again.
And this time I didn't hesitate.
I bolted. I didn't stop running until the trees swallowed me whole. The forest was my only safe place, the only place I could breath. Cassidy surges forward, desperate for freedom. I shifted mid-stride, bones cracking and reshaping as silver blue fur rippled over my skin.
We ran deeper, faster, until thouths quieted and instincts took over. Cassidy growled the sound raw with anguish. But the piece didn't last.
A sudden chill pricked the air. Cassidy slowed. Somethings wrong.
Then we smelled it. decay. Blood A rogue.
He burst from the underbush, mangy and wild. He snarled and lunged.
Run! I scremed.
We bolted through the trees, a blur of shadows and branches. claw scraped the ground behind us, sharp and relentless. my lungs burned,But I didn't stop—he was gaining on me.
Just as panic began to take hold, a thunderous growl shook the forest.
An Alpha's growl.
The rogue skidded to a halt, knowing he was no match for an Alpha, As he turned, tail ticked behind, and fled. I slowed, shifting, my heart pounding against my rib, and I turned to see a massive black wolf with piercing amber eyes step into the clearing.
Our eyes locked. Even with the distance between us, I could feel the pull—intense, electric, and primal—shot through me. My wolf whimpered in recognition, but before I could process what was happening, I turned and fled, ignoring Cassidy's protests.
Back at the packhouse, I shifted, dressed, and entered, my mind spinning.
Annabel waited like a vulture, "Out sulking again? She mocked. " Like the stray mutt you are?"
My body moved before I could stop it. I shoved her. But she dramatically fell. Her eyes widenedd, lips parting in surprise. " you—!"
"I'm done with you, Annabel." I said, my voice trembling. "You don't get to treat me like this anymore."
"Zendaya!" my fathers voice cracked through the hallway.
"She pushed me," Annabel whimpered, clutching her arm like I'd broken It. Which I would have love to.
"She's lying!" I cried, Turning to him.
But he's eyes... They where full of disappointment.
"Apologize to your sister."
"She's Not my sister!"
His face hardened. He didn't defend me. He just led Annabel away, leaving me alone in the hallway trembling with rage.
They don't see you, they never will, Cassidy murmured.
I ran upstairs and slammed my door leaning against it as tears finally came. Pouring. My breath hitched. My chest heaved.
Then I froze.
A sceng. smoky. Musky. Faint. But present.
Cassidy—Someone's been here.
We scanned the room. Nothing seemed out of place, yet the scent clung to the air, stirring something deep and primal within me.
I moved to the window, staring into the darkness beyound the trees. The forest stood still—but it watched me back
We're being hunted.cassidy whispered
And I believed her.