Do you know what it meant to be a runt among the shifters? It meant you would be the smallest and the weakest among all the other shifters around you.     

It was not usual for a werewolf to get sick easily, as it was well known that they had incredible healing ability.     

A shifter could be littered with severe wounds, but it would only need a few hours or at most a day for them to be able to get back to their original state.     

Therefore, you couldn't take a shifter lightly, a werewolf even more so, because they were at the top of the food chain. They were the predators.     

However, it didn't work that way for Iris. The only reason being she was a runt.     

Ever since she was born, she had been concurrently sick. She was also smaller than a normal shifter baby. In the first few years of her life, it was so hard even to feed her, it was a challenge, especially since she would get a fever every now and then.     

And when she reached the age of sixteen, she was not able to shift into her wolf due to her spirit being too weak for her to be able to do so.     

And now, when she was at the age of seventeen, when all the she- wolves would think this was the time when they would meet their mates, she didn't think she would find one.     

And above all of that, she was not able to hear.     

Iris could read people's lips, but she wouldn't be able to know what they were saying if they were not facing her when they spoke to her.     

If it was not for her father being the alpha of the Blue Moon pack, no one would even know about her, as she would spend most of her time inside her house and had a tutor come to help her with her education.     

Unfortunately, her life didn't get better even after she turned twenty.     

"Come out now!" Someone shouted behind Iris, as she sat on the cold floor of the dungeon with her head lowered. "Damn it! I forgot she couldn't hear!" The man cursed under his breath and opened the cell before he marched toward the skinny girl and yanked her arm to make her stand up.     

Iris gritted her teeth, she looked at the man with fear in her eyes. Her pack had fallen, they were defeated in a war and now she was a prisoner of war. She was the only daughter of the Alpha after all.     

"The Alpha wants to see you!" The man showed so much hostility in his eyes, as he grabbed her by the elbow and dragged her out of this filthy cell, where she had stayed for more than a week now.     

Iris couldn't hear him, but she could read his lips and she knew meeting the Alpha was inevitable. She trembled in fear. She hated being hurt.     

Iris stumbled on her feet a few times because she couldn't keep up with the guard's pace, yet he didn't slow down at all.     

She remembered this room, this room used to be the alpha's room and she had only entered it twice, since her father didn't really like her near him.     

She was born as a runt, thus it was a disgrace to him.     

"Alpha, I have brought Iris Lane with me," he said in a solemn voice, as he lowered his head and kicked Iris at the back of her knee until she knelt down before the alpha.     

Alpha Cane.     

He was a slave for ten years in this Blue Moon pack, since his pack, Howling Wolf, was razed by Iris's father and all of the pack members turned into slaves, including him, Cane Nortern, the then alpha's son.     

His world fell apart when he was twenty two, he went from the most respectable alpha's son to be a slave that held no value whatsoever.     

But right now, he managed to get his revenge and wiped out the Blue Moon pack, restored the glory of the Howling Wolf pack, and now he would get his revenge on Iris for what her father had done to him and his family.     

"You can leave, Will," Cane said in a cold tone, as he stood up from his seat and Iris trembled in fear at the sight of him. His body was even bigger than her brother's or her father's. He towered above her, looking down at her with so much malice in his dark eyes.     

The guard named Will walked out of the room and closed the door, leaving Iris with her predator.     

Iris tried to scamper away from him, but Cane had grabbed her shoulder and his grip was so painful. She felt like he would be able to crush her shoulder easily.     

"Undress and get on the bed," Cane said coldly, but because Iris didn't look at his face. She couldn't read his lips, so she missed the order and started whimpering. "Don't you hear me?!"     

Outraged, Cane dragged her to the bed himself and pinned her down. She was crying, but there was no sound that came out of her mouth, she just trembled at the sight of him.     

Cane had a long scar on his left face, traversed from his right eye across the bridge of his nose, ending on his left cheek. The scar was unsightly and he got this from when he was being a slave in the Blue Moon pack.     

Cane gathered her arms above her head and pinched her chin so she could look at him and the hatred in his eyes only made Iris feel scared even more.     

"See what I will do to you. I will give you hell like what your father gave to me."     

Iris could read that and she spoke in a soft voice, shaking all over. "Why me?"     

"Why me, you said?"     

Iris could feel her chin hurting further when he tightened his grip, but she needed to look at him, so she could understand what he said next.     

"Why don't you take your revenge on my father instead?"    

"Why don't you take your revenge on my father instead?"     

Even though it was hard, Iris managed to get her question out of her lips. She felt it was unfair that she had to bear the hatred of Alpha Cane, for something that she didn't do at that.     

"I have the same question as you. Why me and my people?" Cane didn't raise his voice, even so, Iris couldn't hear him, but she was so scared to look into his deep and cold eyes, thus she focused her attention on his lips instead. "Your father razed my pack. Killed my parents and my little sister and brother, enslaved my people, but they let me live to go through those hellish ten years as his slave. Why me?"     

Tears streamed down Iris' eyes. She was so scared, but for some reason, she could understand him, she could feel his pain. This was not fair for him either.     

"Please…" Iris whimpered when she felt his hand squeeze her breast. No one had ever touched her this way before and even though she was not her father's proudest daughter, no one would dare to degrade her.     

"Please? I have said that word countless times, but what did your father say? He told me; 'you can implore all you want, but I will do as I please, that's how power works'."     

Iris screamed in agony when he pinched her nipple so hard that she felt so much pain.     

"Don't cry, this is just the beginning. The day of your father's death was the day when you became my slave, my property and I am your master."     

Through her blurry vision, as tears welled up in her eyes, Iris read his lips and she knew that he was true to his words. This was only the beginning.     

Cane growled to see that she was in pain and her tears bothered him, thus he turned her body around and let her kneel on her knees, as he pressed her head into the soft pillow and started to undress her.     

Her father did this to the women in his pack and let him watch everything.     

He positioned himself behind her and readied himself. He would make her feel the pain, so she would know what kind of pain that he and his people had gone through.     

It was great that the alpha had two children, thus he could torture them as he pleased. After all, that was how power worked, right?     

On the other hand, Iris thrashed her body around when she felt her dress being torn apart so easily, as if the fabric was as soft as tissue. She shivered when the night wind caressed her bare skin, while she could feel his rough fingers gripping her thighs.     

Iris realized what would happen to her and prepared herself for it, but then when she was faced with the horror, she couldn't help but recoil in fear.     

However, Cane stopped all of a sudden.     

Iris didn't know what happened, but he moved away from behind her, as the weight from the bed lifted. He got off the bed and Iris immediately grabbed a blanket to cover herself. His back was facing her, as he put on his pants back.     

"What is that on your back?" He asked her, but because she couldn't read his lips, she didn't know what he was saying. "I am asking you what is that on your back? Who has done that to you?"     

Cane knew that the alpha's daughter was a runt, she had a problem with her health, therefore she rarely appeared in public.     

During his time as a slave in this pack, he only saw her twice and didn't pay much attention. Why should he? She was only a pale looking little girl, who always seemed gloomy.     

"I asked you." Cane turned around and faced Iris, he glared at her because she didn't answer him.     

The young girl was wrapping the blanket around her body, but he had seen her. She was so small and fragile, even a starved slave looked healthier than her.     

How did they feed the alpha's daughter all this time? And how could she have such glaring scars on her back?     

Yes, her back was littered with scars.     

As a shifter, she should have the ability to heal without any traces, unless you were injured by something made of silver, like the scar on Cane's face.     

But then, who would do that to the alpha's daughter in her own pack?     

"One more time, I'm asking you, who has done that to you?!" Cane couldn't believe that he was being ignored by his own slave.     

He marched across the room and forced her to face him, but he could see a glaring mark on her chin, where he gripped her earlier. It was red and slightly bleeding. She should have healed such a minor injury by now, why couldn't she heal?     

Cane frowned to see her ocean blue eyes. Her auburn hair covered half of her face and flowed onto the blanket that she used to wrap herself with.     

"Answer me," Cane hissed viciously.     

"What?" Iris gulped down with so much difficulty, as she tightened her grip on her blanket, as if this was the only protection that she had, even though she knew that Cane would be able to get rid of it without breaking a sweat if he wanted to. "What question?"     

Iris missed his question and now she was confused about how she should answer him.     

On the other hand, Cane was not any less confused than she was, because he was frowning really hard now. His callousness was broken and he showed a little bit of emotion, aside from anger and hatred.     

"Get out," Cane finally said. "Get out of here."     

He knew everything about Iris's brother, the next in line for the alpha of the pack, but he didn't care much to find out about the little girl.     

Cane let go of Iris and she scrambled away from the bed, but she was naked, since Cane had torn her dress apart.     

"I… I will wear your shirt." Iris saw Cane's shirt on the floor and immediately wore it. She glanced at him, but he didn't do anything to stop her.     

The shirt that Iris wore when she walked out of Cane's bedroom managed to cover her thighs halfway, which showed the difference in the body sizes of the two of them.     

The guard that escorted her back to her cell was a different man from earlier and he didn't drag her along, nor did he walk so quickly.     

"You are so lucky the alpha didn't do the things that he had done to your brother," he said, glancing at Iris, but because she had her head down, she wouldn't be able to get his words and this only made him sigh. "How can someone like you be born to such a cruel alpha?"     

He knew that Iris couldn't hear him, this was not a secret and people that interacted with her this past week would know about that clearly.     

Meanwhile, Iris was staring at the dark sky, she looked at the crescent moon. The moon goddess. If God really existed, why did they let this misery fall upon her?     

However, despite her bitterness, Iris felt good when she could walk in the open like this again, since she could only see hard walls that surrounded her inside her cell. She prayed her misery would end someday.     

And she hoped Cane wouldn't treat the people in the Blue Moon pack horribly, like her father treated his people. Most of them only followed their alpha…     

"Get inside, someone will bring you some food." The man opened the cell and Iris walked inside.     

Once again, she was trapped in this darkness, as the coldness bit into her skin while there was nothing that could warm her here.     

Iris huddled in the corner of her cell, hugging herself. She felt her body turning hot, but she was so cold.     

She was sick again…     

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"She has a problem with her hearing?" Cane leaned his back against the desk behind him, as he folded his arms, listening to Jace's, his beta, report.     

"Yes, she was born as a runt, after all. Aside from health issues, she has problems with her hearing, but from what I know, she can read lips, that's how she communicates with other people."     

That answered why that girl didn't reply to his question when he didn't force her to look at him.     

"How was she treated by her father?" Cane couldn't get rid of the image of her back. The scars were from being whipped and he was sure of that. Who would have whipped the alpha's daughter?     

"Why are you asking this? Did you take pity on her?" Jace asked curiously. He stared directly into his eyes, trying to read what was in his mind, but it was not possible to do that. The depth of his thoughts was so scary.     

"Pity?" Cane tilted his head, his dark eyes grew cold at that word. "We don't take pity on our enemy, Jace."     

There was a complicated look on the beta's face. "I got a hold of her personal maid, if you want, I can run an interrogation on her."     

Cane thought about it for a while. "Bring her here."     

"Pardon?"     

"You heard me."     

"You will interrogate her yourself?"     

"Yes."     

Even though Jace was still a little bit confused, he did what he was told to do.     

It didn't take long for Iris's personal maid to come see Cane, she lowered her head and looked terrified in the presence of the alpha.     

"Her name is Hanna, she has been with Iris since she was seven years old." Jace glanced at the woman next to him. She looked like she was in her late twenties and even though she didn't look so shabby, her eyes were swollen because she cried too much.     

"Alpha… Cane, my name is Hanna," Hanna introduced herself, as she lowered her head and fiddled with her fingers.     

Cane waved his hand, indicating for Jace and the guard that had brought Hanna to go out of the room.     

"Tell me everything about her." Cane didn't beat around the bush. He didn't have time for that.     

It had been only a week since he managed to kill the alpha of the Blue Moon pack and held two of his children captives, he needed to manage this pack and fill his role as the new alpha.     

There were a lot of people that he needed to punish and also overhaul the existing regulations that the former alpha made.     

"Miss Iris?" Hanna lifted her head and asked carefully, just in case she heard it wrong, but once she met Cane's eyes, she hurriedly lowered her head again, she was afraid to see those callous eyes staring down at her.     

"I don't like to repeat my question."     

"Yes, yes.. alpha…" Hanna then started to reiterate all the things that she knew about Iris, since she was with her, since she was little, there was very little information that Jace couldn't report to Cane. "Please, alpha Cane, don't hurt her…" she pleaded for Iris. "She is very different from her father."     

Hanna was only a low ranking shifter in the pack, thus even though she was aware how badly Iris's father had treated the Howling Wolf pack as slaves, Iris had nothing to do with that.     

However, that was not the thing that Cane wanted to hear. "Tell me about the wounds on her back."     

Hanna flinched when she heard that question. If Cane had seen Iris's wounds, it meant he had undressed her and she could only imagine what kind of nightmare that her dear missy had gone through in the hands of alpha Cane.     

"That's…" Hanna held back her tears. Her emotions were all over the place. She hated Alpha Cane for hurting her missy in such a way.     

"I couldn't hear your answer." Cane walked toward Hanna, his footsteps echoed throughout this room and it sounded so eerie. "Who has whipped her and why?"     

Hanna was surprised that Alpha Cane could tell that. She lifted her head in fright and saw the alpha was waiting for her answer.