/Erin's POV/

The loud howl of an Alpha echoed around, almost making me drop to the knees. As the dried leaves crunched underneath my weight, a deadly silence settled over. I couldn't help but cover my ears, my entire body trembling with the vibrations. After that, it was a blur of events, footsteps approaching a few hands and me trying to steady me in a standing position.

Fat tears dribbled down my cheeks, an uproar as accusing eyes stared at me. I heard the pack members sneer and point their fingers in my direction, the curses making me want to curl in a hall.

"You are a pathetic omega!" A voice echoed. It was my aunt, her weak, croaky sound standing out amidst the chaos. I almost recoiled at the disgust on her face; eyes narrowed into slits in my direction.

"A disgrace!"

"Knotwhore!"

"You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"How can you stand there and face us?"

Several familiar voices echoed in my head, a faint throbbing in my temples almost making my vision blurry. I clutched my head in between my hands, hair sticking to the side of my face as I shook my head.

"Please!" I screamed. "Stop it!"

With a jolt, I woke up; my cheeks still wet with tears, chest heaving and skin bathed in sweat yet cold to the touch. My fingers trembled until I curled them in the sheets, roaming my eyes around.

It was a dream. My lips curled into a grimace, eyes squeezing shut. That wretched incident happened five years ago, and I still cannot stop dreaming about it. With a sigh, I sit up in my bed, sheets twisted around my slumped body. This was far from an unusual occurrence, much to my displeasure.

I slid out into the cool floor, shivering as my toes pressed into the ground, groping in the dark for the nightstand so I could grab my phone. It was six in the morning. With a huff, I slid on the robe and rushed to the shared bathroom to get on with my daily routine.

***

"Dad, should I get you another toast?" I asked while facing him, my back straightening.

Adam Woods smiled politely in my direction, worry lines marring his face and eyes crinkling. He should have been enjoying his life in the early sixties, but instead, my father worked tirelessly to save our failing business. While his friends were out there in council meetings, he dressed up to accompany me for work.

"No, honey, I am fine. Maybe you should ask your mother."

Tilting my head towards my mother, I opened my mouth. She cut me off abruptly, not even bothering to give me a look. Patricia Woods faced her husband and rolled her eyes at him. "I am on a diet. How many times do I have to remind you?"

"You are beautiful. I don't know what you are dieting for." My father grinned at her, his eyes flickering towards my sister, who emerged from the room. I pulled a chair for her, but she sat on the other side. My face fell at that, but I quickly looked away.

My father cleared his throat. "Esther, I was thinking we should all go eat together in that new diner everyone is talking about. What do you say?"

"All of us?" She raised her head, glaring in my direction. "I'll pass. My reputation is already hanging my a thread; why would I want to be seen with her?"

I winced at that, my knuckles turning white as my grip tightened around the fork—a lump formed in my throat, which I swallowed and tried to chew on the toast.

"Esther!" My father raised his voice. "Mind your language. That's your sister you are talking about."

My mother intervened before Esther could say a word, tugging on her arm. "Did she lie? Why are you getting angry with her?" Her head turned towards me. "When in fact, it is someone else who is damaging our family reputation."

"Moons sake! Is that all your care about? More than your daughter?" Adam abruptly stood up, the sound of his chair scraping echoing loudly. His face turned red, the vein in his neck appearing prominent. "You haven't spoken to her for five years. How can you not see she is still suffering? Stop this madness, Patricia, or you will forever lose her."

I stood up and wrapped my hand around my father wrist, and tugged. "Dad! Please calm down. I am fine. Let's eat."

He shook his head. "I am not hungry anymore."

My shoulders slumped, watching him walk away, chest tightening painfully as he rushed past the doors. I saw my mother and sister walk away from me too, which I expected already, but still, it hurt.

***

On the way to our publishing house, I had to take the main route. It took me almost ten minutes to reach work daily, but I didn't mind the distance. The walk helped me clear my mind most of the time, and we saved some money. Last year, my dad secretly sold the car to save us money, and it almost resulted in world war in our house. We couldn't afford it anymore, but my sister and mother were furious.

It all started five years ago. Ever since that night, my family has lost everything. Our relatives stopped associating with us, the authors didn't want to sign anymore, and the employees became complicated. Some of our significant distributors dropped given our reputation, and eventually, we started losing money. The only reason we didn't go bankrupt was royalties that kept coming in from famous books.

As I continued with my walk, a pup almost crashed into me. Before I could bend down and apologise, he screamed bloody murder. It gathered attention and several omegas from around sneered at me, accusing me of purposely scaring the child. That went on for a while before I could walk away.

It did not bother me anymore. The five years have hardened me to the point that I rarely blinked at such an incident.

Upon entering through the doors, I spotted the receptionist, Helen. She was busy with her phone and barely glanced at me. I knocked on her desk.

"Is dad in?"

"No"

I sighed. "Please let me know if he walks in. I need to speak to him."

She grunted in response. I gave her an once over before walking towards my cubicle. As soon as I saw the familiar red bob of hair sitting in a chair, a smile broke out of my lips. It's my best friend who also happened to be my coworker.

"Isabella!"

"Erin!" She turned over in her rotating chair, matching my identical grin, eyes gleaming under the lights.

"How was your trip?" I hugged her before settling on the empty chair in front of her. We haven't seen each other for almost two weeks now. As a literary agent, her job is to represent authors under contract, so she was out on a signing tour.

"Tiring!" She moaned. "It made me realise why I hate Alphas."

"But you are an Alpha."

"I hate myself too." She deadpanned.

"This is why I missed you."

"Aww, you are always so sweet, Erin. Here I got you coffee as a gift."

I sighed, taking one cup from the holder. "So generous of you. Thanks, I needed it today."

"Tough morning?"

"Something like that."

With that, I took a sip of coffee, my eyes rolling back as the cold liquid trickled down my throat.

"Guess who I saw this morning at the highway?"

I hummed with halfhearted interest. I could feel the beginnings of a headache creeping in, a splash of harsh reality in my temporary coffee bliss.

"Armani Twins," She exclaimed, waving her hands for emphasis. "The Alphas that used to be in our class!"

I froze in place, my limbs going rigid as the words sank into my head and echoed in his mind, proving that I didn't mishear or hallucinate. The room that felt so warm just seconds ago was suddenly cold and foreign, skin slick with sweat.

Armani Twins—Rowan and Reed.

"I almost didn't recognise them; they look so different! Both of them have gotten even taller and bulkier since I've seen them last, which is insane."

For a second, I couldn't breathe. No air was entering my lungs. It was a mistake when I gulped the coffee in my hand, trying to drown out the thundering in my ears, because I immediately choked, body jerking forward as I broke out into a fit of coughs, my ears turning red.

"Moons! Erin, are you okay?" Isabella gasped, lurching out of her seat.

I gestured wildly, still coughing and trying to catch my breath as she patted on my back. "I-I am fine," I exhaled, taking deep breaths and trying to will the flush on my cheeks to fade. "Just went down the wrong pipe."

"You should be careful, Erin!"

I nodded, the words sinking in like a warning. Why were they back? Why now?