Lydia's POV
Just half an hour ago, my adoptive mother, Amara, came to the loft holding this dress on me, and she looked at me with disgust, as if I were a disgusting parasite: "Lydia, change into this dress, today is your birthday party. You know what to say and what not to say, don't you?"
So now I'm standing in the banquet hall, facing the guests coming and going, not daring to say a word.
My eyes were dull as I was led by my adoptive parents to greet all the people who came to the party, each one complimenting me on my dress and telling me that I must return the favor to this kind and benevolent couple.
Kind and benevolent? Maybe. I tugged at the corners of my stiff mouth and put on a decent smile.
Before Kelly was born, my adoptive parents and I did have spent a happy time.
But Kelly's birth changed everything. Amara and Dylan began to resent the fact that my laughter was disturbing Kelly, that I was too close to her and might pass on germs, and that at two years old I couldn't contribute anything substantial to the family.
That's when my place went from a bright, spacious room to a dark, damp attic, where I even lay on a blanket with mice because they refused to give me a bed. My room completely belonged to Kelly and was used by her for her dolls.
"Hey, seriously, you can't treat poor Kelly like this, Lydia is your foundling, I think you've been good enough to her, Kelly is only a sixteen-year-old girl, she'll be sad." A man with an elaborate beard said, looking at me with a look of disgust and reproach.
He was Kelly's teacher and had warned me more than once not to presume to bully Kelly, not to think that being pampered by my adoptive parents would make me better than Kelly, and that sooner or later he would get Dylan and Amara to kick me out.
Yes, in front of outsiders, I am an ingrate who bullied their own daughter, on account of my adoptive parents' love.
Even though my body, the wounds Kelly caused with her hands or tools still hurt, I couldn't tell anyone, even if I did, they wouldn't believe me.
Of course, I knew. On the day of my seventh birthday party, I confided in a young boy about the misfortune that had befallen me in this family, and then I was locked in the attic by Amara for three full days without food or drink.
If I hadn't cried and promised that I would go and explain to that little boy that it was all a lie I had made up to get his attention, maybe Amara would have starved me to death alive.
It wasn't that I hadn't thought about running away from this family, but I was eighteen years old and hadn't awakened my wolf, so where could I go if I left from this house?
Maybe I was so lost in thought that I didn't realize we had been standing in front of this old man with white hair for a long time until my foster father Dylan's hand pinched me on the waist.
"Lydia, what are you thinking about? As a lady, it's not right to wander off in front of guests." Dylan's eyes were full of warning, but the smile on his face looked so kind.
In this family, the couple always did this when there were outsiders, their expressions and eyes represented different emotions, so that they could continue to be the "good people" in the eyes of others.
"Yes, I'm sorry, Father." I folded my arms in front of me and blocked my waist with my arms so Dylan wouldn't do it again, it really hurt and I could already imagine the red marks on my waist from his pinching.
"Come on, say hello to Uncle Gavin." Dylan held out his palm and pointed to the old man with white hair, his tone respectful.
I followed his hand to look, Gavin "uncle" is smiling at me, the gaze has a lot of things I do not understand. My intuition told me that it was not the kind of affection an elder should show to a junior. Besides, he was so unlike an "uncle" in age that I thought I'd better call him "grandpa".
"Dylan, you're scaring Lydia. There's no need to be so strict with a pretty little girl." Gavin was talking to Dylan, but his eyes were still fixed on me, making me feel a little strange and uncomfortable.
"You're right, Gavin," Dylan turned to look at me, "Lydia, why don't you go to Amara's, she seems to have something she wants to say to you."
I looked in the direction of Dylan's finger, Amara was standing at the entrance of the ballroom, smiling kindly at me, and when I looked over, Amara waved at me.
I had a bad feeling, but there was nothing I could do except listen to Dylan.
"After the party is over in a few minutes, Gavin will stay behind, and I want you to take my place and Dylan's, and entertain him well, understand?" Amara's voice was majestic, giving me no room to retort.
"Entertain?" I was a little confused as to what she meant, since that time when I was seven, Amara and Dylan never left me alone with a guest so that I wouldn't say something that would be too much for them to handle again, let alone let me entertain him.
"Yes, entertain him, with your body." Amara's tone is relaxed, as if she's talking about what's for dinner tonight.
"Wait, what did you say?" I was a little dumbfounded, did Amara mean what I thought she meant?
She wanted me, an eighteen year old girl to sleep with an older person?
No, there is no way.
"What don't you understand, Gavin is one of Dawn Pack Alpha's good assistants, I don't think you have anything to be aggravated about. Besides, it's time for you to repay the favor Dylan and I have done for you. Now would be the perfect time to do so."
"Haven't I repaid enough? Ever since Kelly was born, I've been practically a servant to the three of you! And now you want to use my body?" A huge shock hit me, making me forget my fear of Amara for a moment and subconsciously scream at her.
"Damn it, Lydia you're crazy!" Amara rushed up and covered my mouth tightly with her strong hand, "You'll attract all the guests here like that!"
Amara's hand was strangled so tightly that I felt I could barely breathe, and it was at this moment that I figured out the way that Gavin was looking at me, the way a wolf looks at its prey with intense interest and desire.
The moment I was about to suffocate, Amara finally let go of her hand and I flung myself on the floor breathing heavily, tears falling down my face and hitting the floor.
"Lydia, tell me now, do you want to do it? Are you going to repay our kindness, or become an ingrate despised by all?" Amara looked down at me with the condescension of control in her eyes, "Don't forget what happened when you were seven years old."
Yes, when I was seven years old, I had become an ingrate in the eyes of others who could denigrate my adoptive parents in order to get attention. Even if I told people the truth about what happened, they wouldn't believe me, and would even think that I was back to slandering the good Dylan and Amara, and that I would be disliked by the entire Dawn Pack.
"Okay, I promise." I huffed, closing my eyes in despair. As someone who hadn't even awakened her wolf at eighteen, I had no choice but to say yes.
"Okay, stop sniveling, stand up, fix your clothes, and come out with your sweetest smile." Amara gave me a look with disgust in her tone.
Before closing the bedroom door and leaving, Amara added, "I'll only give you three minutes."
It didn't take me long to dry the tears from my face and get up, pulling the door open to see someone unexpected.
Elvis, the alpha heir to the Dawn Pack, the little boy who listened to my misfortune when I was seven years old.
That little boy with blue eyes has grown into such a tall, powerful man, his arm muscles are so defined that even the bruises look so sexy, and right now he is standing by the window sill with a glass of wine, staring out the outside.
Elvis is a strong, handsome, noble identity of the man, I dare say the entire Dawn Pack, more than half of the young girls like him, including me, of course.
But thinking about the white-haired Gavin, I decided not to get into any other trouble. I lifted the hem of my skirt and walked carefully in the direction of the ballroom, not wanting to be noticed by Elvis.
"Wait." Elvis's voice came from behind me, calling out to me.
