The Lunar Crest Academy: Marked by The Lycans Novel – The Girl Who Would Not Break My name is Lorraine Anderson. Once, that name meant something. Once, my family was respected. My father, Gabriel Anderson, was Beta of the ShadowFang Pack, my mother his fierce and loyal mate, was a respected Nurse in the Alpha’s infirmary. We had honor. We had strength. We had a good reputation. But five years ago, this Pack that my parents gave there all for betrayed them.
Lies turned my father from a trusted Beta into a traitor that worked with rogues to kill the last Alpha. My mother was branded a conspirator. I was young but I understood that my parents had been framed. I remember the blood. I remember the screams. I remember hiding in the cellar, my tiny hands pressed over my ears, waiting for them to come for me next. But they didn’t kill me, they should have. Instead, they let me live, to suffer, to serve, to be remminded every day that I am nothing but the daughter of traitors.
A stain on their pack. I became their slave, their punching bag, their entertainment when they were feeling particularly cruel. And today was no different. It was a simple mistake. A stupid one. I was supposed to clean the dining hall after breakfast. Scrub the floors, clear the tables, make myself invisible. That was the rule; stay unseen, stay silent, stay useful. But my hands were stiff from the cold, and I was moving too slow. When I reached for a tray, my fingers fumbled, and a single plate slipped. Just one plate. It hit the floor with a sharp crack, barely a sound in the large hall, but to the pack members lounging nearby, it was as if I had shattered sacred glass.
The room fell silent. My heart pounded as I quickly bent to pick up the broken pieces. Maybe if I moved fast enough, they’d ignore me. Maybe— A sharp, mocking laugh cut through my thoughts. “How pathetic.” I didn’t have to look up to know who it was. Stephen Wyatt. The new Alpha’s son. The future leader of this wretched pack. A chair scraped against the floor as he stood. I kept my eyes down, hoping, praying, he would lose interest. He didn’t. His boots appeared in my vision, stopping just inches from my hands. My fingers trembled as I picked up a shard.
I barely had time to register the movement before Stephen kicked the piece from my grasp. “You dirty little rat,” he sneered. “Can’t even do the one thing you’re supposed to be good for.” I kept my head down. Submitting. It was the only way to avoid worse punishment, I had learnt that the hard way. But Stephen didn’t want submission today. He wanted entertainment. “Stand up,” he ordered. I hesitated. That was a mistake. Strong fingers immediately tangled in my hair and yanked me upright. Pain burned across my scalp, but I swallowed the gasp that threatened to escape. “Maybe you need a lesson,” Stephen mused, voice dripping with false sympathy.
He turned to the other pack members. “What do you think? Should we remind the little traitor what happens when she disrespects her betters?” Laughter rippled through the room. Agreement followed. My stomach clenched. I knew what was coming. Public humiliation. Beatings. They would make an example