Delia’s POV
“She is such a pain in the a.ss. Can't she live without a man's attention?”
After my stepsister Bernice finished cursing me, the surrounding guests burst into laughter.
Today, while I was cleaning up for Bernice and her friends' afternoon tea party, I gave directions to one of Bernice's admirers.
“Thank you,” the man in the haute couture suit gave me a standard social smile, and then kept looking for Bernice.
Unfortunately, the flash of his smile was caught by Bernice, whose gaze was like a poisoned arrow.
Though it was just one of her many suitors that she despised.
“Since she likes to pose in front of men, let her perform for us!” Bernice said viciously as her five large hunting dogs ran to me.
As she beckoned, the hounds' expressions grew more fierce, and some of their eyes glowed with a terrible green light.
I have seen with my own eyes how these hounds tear up their prey. The show, she said, was to watch me shiver under their fangs like those poor animals.
The dogs' mouth gave off a strong smell, and the spit dripped down from the teeth onto the grass. My body was in pain from the sudden tension and fear. The burning in my lungs was getting stronger and my legs were cramping up. But I knew I would suffer more if I did not escape.
“No, please. I don't want to die. Help me!” As I retreated, I begged for help from the crowd behind me. However, the ladies were disgusted with me like I was a piece of trash on the ground, afraid that my hand would touch a corner of their clothes, So they all backed away with handkerchiefs over their mouths.
Although Bernice and I are Alpha’s daughters, not every Alpha’s child is loved. I grew up knowing that favoritism was a common thing in the world, but it had nothing to do with me.
I was an outlier in my pack, and I knew this harsh reality when I was 10 years old. How could a werewolf be so weak? My speed, smell, and reaction are more like a human than a werewolf. It was a shame to my entire pack, and traditionally, child like me should be drowned at birth, because a weak offspring is a very bad sign for an Alpha.
The Alpha is the leader of the whole pack, and his children represent the future of the pack. So, I am expected to be strong and must be strong.
However, my father's hesitation saved my life.
“She is my daughter, my first child,” my father announced to the elders as I cried in the delivery room.
“Moon Goddess.” The elders bowed their heads in prayer. “Please bless our pack.”
Ever since I was very young, people around my father always advised him to have another child as an heir, but my father did not pay much attention to it.
At that time, I thought my father loved me, and I tried my best to do everything well. I work hard every day while my peers play and sleep.
Even so, I was still the last one on the test. My peers easily completed the test and then huddled around me whispering and laughing at me, even spitting at me on purpose as I looked at them.
“I can't believe she is the daughter of Alpha. She will be killed by wild animals in the forest sooner or later.”
“I guess she's a bastard from Luan and a human. She doesn't deserve to be a werewolf.”
“Ha ha ha, poor Alpha. I think he should take this piece of crap to a paternity test.”
I was running in the hot sunshine, and the light forced me keep my eyes closed. My heart was pounding, and I was covered in sweat. I was breathing heavily on the training ground, and my skin was tingling all over. Their words are buzzing in my ear like the sound of bees.
Malice from the children is the worst thing. They are like invisible daggers, straight into my heart.
Everyone is estranged from me, consciously or unconsciously, and I can vaguely feel it. I convinced myself over and over that I didn't need friends, that all I had was my tattered doll. She's all I need.
Slowly, my father looked at me with more and more disappointment. Every time he met me, he would look me up and down, frown, turn his back on me, and sigh heavily.
"What a pity."
His sigh was long, like a hammer hitting my heart and taking my breath away. I lowered my head, bit my lip, stared at my shoes, and hugged myself as he left.
“Are you Delia?” At my loneliest, a girl appeared to me.
She is the only person of my age who is willing to be my friend. She's smart and can do anything, whether it's training or social. Everyone smiled at her, marveled at the mention of her name, and even my father made no secret of his affection for her.
At first, I thought my father paid attention to her because she was my friend. My father still loves me. For many nights, I slept with my old doll in my arms, thinking of this. Although my life is depressing, as long as I think of my father, I still feel not so desperate.
Moon Goddess, bless me to grow up quickly, I will be strong when I am an adult. I will make my father proud of me.
But the moon goddess still played a joke on me. It was only when I was insulted by my peers that I learned that my best friend was my father's bastard.
Soon, she became the new daughter of our pack in public.
At the time I learned the news, my mother had just passed away half a month. I will always remember my mother’s appearance before she died.
Her cheeks were sunken from illness, and she held my hand with tears in her eyes, saying over and over, “My daughter, my dear, what will you do if I die?”
“My father will protect me,” I replied, gripping my teeth to control my tears.
I didn't want the last image my mother saw before she died to be me in tears.
My mother was even sadder when she heard my answer. She shook her head. “No, you don't know... My daughter, what are you going to do? Promise me, live well, no matter……”
Half a month later, when my father brought my best friend Bernice home, I knew what my mother meant.
That day, having lost my mother, I lost my father in another way.
Bernice smiled triumphantly at me, holding the new doll our father had bought her. I stood at the bottom of the stairs and stared at her. At that moment, I finally knew that not every daughter could get the father's love.
