Snow: The Wolf of the Rising Sun

Snow’s POV

“Good morning, Mother.” I kiss my mom on her forehead as she cuts up some vegetables. She looks so tired. She looks like she hasn’t had any rest in days. My face falls in sadness as I notice the eyebags under her eyes.

“You shouldn’t work so hard, Mother. The money I make from serving the nobles is enough to take care of both of us,” I tell her as I quickly get ready to go to work.

“I’m fine, darling. Now you better get going. You don’t want to be late,” my mom says to me as she kisses my forehead. She hands me a piece of bread and butter for lunch and offers me a sweet smile as I walk out the door.

I’ve been worried about my mom a lot lately. She’s been looking more and more exhausted, and she always just brushes off my questions whenever I ask her what’s wrong.

My father’s death took a huge toll on her, and she hasn’t been the same ever since. I don’t remember much about my father. He died a long time ago, and I wasn’t even old enough to walk. However, there are times when I wonder how it would feel to have a father. I envy the other children sometimes when I see them bonding with their dads.

The people I serve live hours away from me, and I have to walk a long way every day before reaching their mansion. The nobles live separately from the peasants. The Alpha once said filth and nobility don’t mix, so he separated the peasants from the nobles. What a ruthless man he is. I wish he would just drop dead.

The nobles live lavishly, using up all of our nation’s resources and giving the peasants leftovers. It’s such an unfair world. We cultivate their farms, we sew their clothes, we do all the hard work, and they just get to live happily, benefiting from the fruit of our hard work. It’s all so unfair.

As I reach my Master’s mansion, I immediately start doing their laundry. I’m in charge of keeping their mansion clean and washing all their clothes.

I think they deliberately wear so many clothes a day just to increase my workload and watch me suffer, but I wouldn’t dare complain. I need the money anyways. Beggars can’t be choosers, they say.

The people I serve belong to one of the richest families in our pack, and they are the most annoying people I have ever met. The Master is a pervert who cheats on his wife. I think his wife knows about it but is too distracted by her husband’s money to care.

They have two daughters who are complete spoiled brats. They always laugh and make fun of my white hair. They call me a granny whenever they see me. As if it were my fault. I was born with white hair. Everyone in our pack makes fun of my white hair. It’s as white as snow, which is why my parents had the idea to name me Snow. My mother was the only person who ever thought my hair was beautiful.

I’ve been bullied about it so much that I started to believe it was ugly myself.

When I finish doing the laundry, I walk to the living room and start dusting everything I see, then the Master’s daughters suddenly walk in, and I let out a huge sigh as I prepare for them to bully me.

“Look who it is. It’s the granny.” one of them says, and they both erupt with laughter as they stand in front of me. I roll my eyes at their idiocy.

“Good morning, mistresses,” I say with a curtsy ignoring them as they taunt me.

“You missed a spot,” one of them says, pointing to a painting. “You may be filthy, but people like us prefer our stuff clean. Miss a spot again, and I’ll have my father lock you up in the dungeons for a whole week. Do you hear me, peasant?”

“I’m sorry, mistress. I’ll be more careful,” I say, keeping my head bowed to them. If I raise my head, they might see the spiteful look I have on my face. And making eye contact with people you serve is punishable by law.

I should be used to them teasing me, but I can’t help but get pissed off every time I see them. I wish I could smash their heads with a rock and watch them bleed to death. Just because I’m not wealthy doesn’t mean I should be treated like trash. We are all humans at the end of the day. We all bleed the same blood. But this is the reality of the world we live in. If you don’t have money, then you aren’t really worth anything.

I carry on with my duties cleaning every single spot in their huge house, and by the end of the day, I’m beyond exhausted. Today is the day I am to receive my payment for the month, so before leaving, I make my way to the Master’s study to collect my payment.

I feel uncomfortable every time I’m in the Master’s presence. He always looks at me inappropriately, and it’s disgusting. My heart races as I take slow and steady steps toward his study, knowing his eyes will scan my body lustfully. I like to think I should be accustomed to the looks he gives me by now. But they give me the creeps.

I knock lightly on his door three times and wait for a few seconds before I hear a deep raspy voice telling me to come in. His awful face invades my vision as I walk into his study.

“Good evening, Master. I have come to receive my payment for the month,” I say with a curtsy as he sits behind his desk. I just want to take my money and get the hell out of here.

“I see,” the old man simply says as he takes out five pieces of gold from the cupboard under his desk. He places the coins on the spot in front of him and looks over at me.

“Come and get it,” he says as he takes a sip from the golden cup on his table.

“Master?” I say in confusion at his request. The coins are right in front of him, and I don’t feel comfortable going that close to him.

“Did you not hear me, peasant? If you want your pay, then come and get it,” he states as he continues drinking from his cup. I nod and eye him nervously as I walk toward him. If he tries anything stupid, I swear to the gods, I won’t care whether or not he’s noble, and I might do something stupid.

I get in front of him, and just as I’m about to take the pieces of coins from his table, he grabs my hand and squeezes on it aggressively. My heart jumps in fear and panic as he looks at me with lustful eyes.

“Take off your clothes, peasant,” he orders with a thick voice.

“I beg your pardon, Master?” I ask, and before I know it, he sends me flying across the room with a slap. I let out a loud scream. He walks quickly toward me and grabs a fistful of my hair. I wince in pain as he raises me up by my hair.

“When your superior gives you orders, you don’t hesitate to obey. Do I make myself clear, peasant?” He says as he easily lifts me up and places me on my back on his desk. I freeze for a second as I try to register what is about to happen to me.

“Let me go!” I scream out, and he slaps me again. My vision gets blurry, and my head hurts as I try to fight him. In a quick motion, he tears my gown, exposing my shoulders.

Tears fall from my eyes as I realize again what he’s about to do to me. “Stop fighting me, peasant. This won’t last long. Just give me what I want, and you can have your money and be on your way,” he says, bringing his face close to mine.

His breath smells of alcohol, and it makes me want to vomit. As he continues struggling to undress me, my body works on autopilot, and I quickly kick him in between his legs. He cries out in pain and lets go of me for a few seconds.

“You little bitch!” He cries out as he falls in pain to the floor.

I take advantage of the opportunity and quickly grab the coins from his table and dash out of his study.

“You’re going to pay for that, filthy peasant,” I hear him cry out as I run out of his study.

I try to cover myself with what is left of my gown as I run home without looking back. Tears fall from my eyes, and my face stings from the slaps he gave me.

Why is this happening to me? Why can’t I just live a normal life? All my life, I have struggled and struggled to make ends meet. When does it end?

As I reach the little cabin my mother and I live in, I see her fetching water from the well outside. Once she spots me, she drops the bucket of water she is carrying and runs toward me.

“Mother!” I scream out as I fall into her arms, tears raining down on my cheeks.

“Snow? Oh my god! What happened to you? Why are your clothes torn? What happened to your face?” My mother asks as tears keep falling down my face.

“Mother. H-he tried t-to, t-to…h-he…” I stutter, not being able to get the words out. Her eyes grow wide as she immediately understands what I’m trying to say.

“Oh my God. Come here, baby. Ssshhh, it’s okay. It’s okay,” my mom says as she starts crying with me.

She urges me to stand as she leads me inside our cabin. I take a bath and change into new clothes. My mother cleans up the bruises on my face and offers me some porridge. But I can’t think about food right now. The only thing I can think about is the image of that filthy man trying to force himself on me.

“You have to eat something, Snow,” my mom says with a frown.

“Why is this happening to us, Mother? Did we, in some way, offend the gods? Why is this happening to me?” I ask my mother as I start crying again.

“Oh, honey. I am so sorry. I should have never let you work for those monsters,” my mother says with an apologetic smile as a tear breaks free from her eyes. I don’t want to see her crying. She’s been through enough already.

“It’s not your fault, Mother. We needed the money,” I say to her as I wipe her tears.

“I wish we could get justice for you somehow,” she states sadly.

“We all know peasants don’t get justice, Mother,” I say sadly. This is the world we live in. An unfair world. If we bring this issue to the Alpha, he’ll laugh at our faces and send us away.

“I was able to escape with this,” I say, putting the five pieces of gold I got into her palms. “I want you to have it, Mother.”

“What kind of mother would I be if I took that from you, Snow? Keep it. You worked hard for it,” my mother says as she caresses my cheeks.

I smile at her as I pray silently to the gods to protect us. I kicked a noble. I know he won’t let it go that easily. I can only wait and hope the punishment he gives me won’t be too severe.

“I love you, Mother,” I whisper as I offer my mom a tight hug.

“I love you too, Snow. I love you so much,” my mother replies, hugging me back.