Author's POV)

Everyone has a dream. Some dreams are the same, however, most are different. In Ava Schmidt's case she only ever dreamed of one thing, and that was for someone to love her. Cowering under the blanket and trying hard not to cry, she hid from those around her, not wanting to be weak, even though she knew she was. At least, that is what she has always told by the people that are supposed to love her. Strangers didn’t understand how this 9-year-old could be so grown up for her age, but they didn’t know that her family has been treating her as their slave and personal punching bag since she was four years old. She has been called every name a child could imagine, and even some things that she didn’t quite understand, but she knew one thing for certain: no one has ever told her that they loved her.

With the sound of movement in the air, Ava tried to sink as far as she could into the dingy mattress on the floor which served as her bed, wrapping the ratty quilt around her tighter. Maybe if she didn't make a sound they would go away and leave her alone. 

"I know you're awake you little bitch," a slurred voice growled before her older brother, Marcus, yanked the blanket off of her and grabbed her by her hair. At 12 years old he was already very tall for his age sitting at five foot seven, as well as strong.

She cried out at the pain of being dragged out of bed by her hair, but he didn't pay any attention to her duress and instead started to walk out of the little hole they called her room, which was nothing more than a pantry in the kitchen. Stumbling along as her brother dragged her, she noticed that they were heading to the basement, which meant that he was going to beat her. For what, she didn't know, but she was sure she would find out what indiscretion she had supposedly committed.

The basement was where her family took her to punish her for whatever they felt she had done wrong. It could be as simple as breathing too loudly, and she would find herself dragged down here and beaten until she couldn't scream anymore. They always lost interest in "punishing" her once she stopped screaming, and the few times that she rebelled and refused to utter a peep when they would beat her, they found different ways to make her scream. 

She tried hard to keep her balance as Marcus dragged her down the stairs and she sighed in momentary relief when he released her hair and threw her on the ground. For just a few moments it was silent before the sound of the heavy chains used to restrain her could be heard rattling together

"It's all your fault you little bitch," her brother screamed at her before she felt the biting sting of a nine-tail whip slicing through her thin cotton shirt and into her flesh. "You know the drill, start counting." he growled out.

"O-One," she gasped out and grimaced as she felt the sting of another lash. "T-Two."

When she reached one hundred, he finally stopped and walked in front of her, grabbing her by the hair again and yanking her head up so he could stare into her eyes. "Do you know why you are being punished, bitch?"

She didn't answer, unable to find her voice.

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"I asked you a fucking question!" He screamed, bringing his face dangerously close to hers.

"N-n-no," she stuttered.

"You're being punished because it’s your fault that our mother died."

Her eyes grew wide with shock at what he said, not understanding how it possibly could be her fault.

"B-b-but I didn't do anything to her," she whispered, almost inaudible to those with normal hearing, but her family was different.

They were werewolves, and were able to hear anything being said, even if the person was a mile away; all they had to do was focus.

"Your existence is the reason she’s dead. No one wants you here."

Tears streamed down Ava's cheeks as she let the words her brother spoke sink in. 

"You. Are. Nothing,” he continued, enunciating each word. “Your existence is a mistake. You are nothing but a blight on this family. Mom and dad should have just killed you, but they desperately wanted a daughter. So, instead we were saddled with you. You're a disgrace."

Since before Marcus could remember his parents, mainly his father, had drilled into his head that Ava was family in name only. Every time he would attempt to be nice to her, his father would take him out to the training fields and work him hard, sometimes to the point he passed out from exhaustion. Then, his father would say that she must never feel any love from them. That their job was to insure she believed no one would ever be kind to her, and that no one would care about what was being done to her. For the most part Marcus didn’t understand why, but he knew better than to disobey his father. Thus, he always did what he was told.

After a few minutes of letting his brain run wild, which inadvertently gave Ava a sense of hope that this was the end of her punishment, Marcus shook his head to clear his thoughts. He could feel his blood starting to boil again. All he had to do was think of what his father had shown him; he didn’t need his brain attempting to plant seeds of doubt.

It was her fault. She is the reason.

"Why?" she breathed out slowly still in pain from her lashing. Her voice cutting through his tormented thoughts.

With a look of disbelief that she was still trying to deny what she had done, all Marcus could do was chuckle, dropping her head and balling up his fists in the process. “You know why. You know what you did, you stupid pathetic freak,” he spat, moments before he started using her as a punching bag. The anger and resentment he felt dripped from every word he spoke.

Ava did her best not to cry out. She didn’t know what Marcus was talking about. Her only solace for what was happening was that werewolves, in addition to having extremely good hearing, were also able to heal quicker that normal, meaning the pain that she felt now wouldn’t last for long once he was finished with her.

Although she was still a young pup, the damage her family would inflict on her was always healed within 36 hours. So, while the pain was excruciating now, it would only be a few days before she’d be back to normal. When it came time for her to meet her wolf’s consciousness at the age of thirteen, she would be able to heal much faster, but she also knew that meant the beatings would get worse.

"Please," she begged. Tears streamed down her face as she cried, gasping for breath. In between gasps, her stomach threatened to revolt, not only because of the pungent smell of the basement, but also from Marcus’s scent. She wasn’t sure what it was about his scent, but it frequently made her want to vomit. The fact that one of their other abilities was a heightened sense of smell didn’t help.

 "I just want to be loved," she whispered as she felt herself starting to slowly lose consciousness.

With an evil laugh, her brother continued to punch her repeatedly, and right as she felt the darkness sinking into her bones, she heard him say something worse than any of the beatings she had ever gotten.

"No one in this family will ever love you. You’re nothing but a pup that was abandoned as a baby at the orphanage, and because my parent longed for a daughter, they adopted you. Not even your biological parents wanted you. No one will ever love you."

With those final words, she slipped into the welcoming darkness, hoping that she'd never awaken.