I was not crying. That was the biggest win I had so far, the ability to numb my feelings as I trudged, go dead inside. I had already been planning to ignore the teasing and murmurs I would hear as I walked past my school mates homes, but surprisingly, there was none of that.
The high and influential of Woodrow high had gotten their fun, and now I was back to being invisible but that was fine by me.
The first pack I got to shared borders with Darkmoon. I and Beth had once fantasized about finding our mates here in Silver valley, just out of reach of the powerful Darkmoonpack that never really cared about our existence, under normal circumstances, I would have felt excited, now, all I had was the desire to survive.
"Halt!" A metallic voice blared from speakers I couldn't see. "Step away from the boundary line."
I couldn't actually see any boundary line, but I stepped several paces back anyway.
"Do you have authorized entry into this pack?" The voice boomed again, and when I shook my head, dust suddenly raised from the ground, choking me.
I shut my eyes tight, covering my nose with my hand as I succumbed to a fit of coughing. When I opened my eyes, Three armed guards – all betas I presume were standing in front of me, the dust was all gone.
"Why are you here Omega?" one of the asked. He was the only one who's claws weren't bared
Great. They already knew I was an Omega, I could only imagine things going further downhill from here. I cleared my throat and tried my best to look impressive, not to look like what I was, a heartbroken, orphaned eighteen year old who had the misfortune of being an Omega.
I stood in front of Alpha Gregory's estate, Alpha of Bloodwood. My hand shook as I reached out to press the bell.
It wasn't too late…
I could still go back — but go back to what? I thought bitterly to myself. To shame? Scorn? Rejection? And the death of my parents?
I knew I could never go back to Darkmoon. After wandering from pack to pack, hungry and thirsty, I was only too glad Bloodwood had accepted me. Even though everyone warned me I was making a terrible mistake, I had little choice.
The gates swung open, and a guard stood glaring at me.
"You're the one Alpha Greg is expecting — but you look so dirty and thin, I think this is all a terrible mistake."
"I might be dirty and thin, but I'm hardworking and willing to earn my keep," I retorted.
The guard laughed. "You think you're coming to the Alpha's residence to 'earn your keep?' You'll do that all right, just in a very different way."
Before I could ask what he meant, he was already talking on his phone.
"Reina, come and get the girl for the Alpha."
I tried not to be too scared as a group of women took me to some kind of beauty salon and started treatments that would have rivaled the medieval era. Why on earth did they think a mere servant needed all this? I wondered to myself. I couldn't shake off my dread of Alphas. As far as I was concerned, they were wicked, self-centered, and did not care about mere omegas like me.
At last, I stood in an empty reclining room, waiting for the Alpha to come. A guard stood beside me, eying me angrily after warning me not to touch anything, muttering something about rogue wolves and whores.
Why did I feel dangerously close to tears? Something was definitely off about everything.
A door suddenly opened before I could think more about the weird vibes I was getting, and a huge middle-aged man stepped into the room.
The guard quickly got down on his knees, banging his head on the floor. "Greetings, Alpha Greg!"
I knelt down as well, but banging my head felt too dramatic, so I was left to meet the Alpha's eyes with my gaze.
They were a dark green shade, filled with malevolence. But aside from his eyes, everything about him was regular middle-aged.
He walked up to me with a sly smile and lifted my chin even higher.
"My!" he murmured in a voice that made my skin crawl. "You're even more beautiful than they said you are. Tonight is going to be interesting."
I shook my head as real fear hit me.
"I don't know what the person that brought me to you said, but I'm here to work to earn my keep—"
The Alpha burst out laughing. Then, with a vice-like grip, he started dragging me further into the building.
I started crying and struggling, begging him to let me go, until he turned to face me with anger.
"Do you know what I do to rogue wolf spies? I behead them in the pack arena—"
"But I'm not a spy! I just fled home because—because…"
"No one cares if you're a spy or not," he retorted. "My word is law here, so if you don't want me to decide you're a spy after all, you better shut up and make me happy."
I started crying then, and he hit me across the face in irritation. Just then, as I realized fleeing Darkmoon was a terrible, childish mistake, I heard my wolf for the first time: 'Mate.'
No! It can't be! I can't be mated to a cruel, vulgar Alpha old enough to be my father.
Alpha Greg seemed surprised. Then his lips curled into a smile that scared me even more. He opened his bedroom door and threw me inside.
I knelt down then, banging my head on the floor as I begged him to reject me and let me go.
He shook his head. "I'll reject you all right, but only after I'm done with you."
To my surprise, he walked over to a decanter and poured me a shot of brandy. "Drink it. You'll feel better."
More like I'll be too intoxicated to fight him off.
I opened my mouth to beg him again, but I was overcome by a wave of nausea. Rushing to his window, I threw it open and kept vomiting until there was nothing in my stomach, and I was just dry heaving.
He walked over to me with a wet towel, a glass of water, and a disgruntled look on his face.
"Don't ruin tonight for me," he murmured as I accepted the water to rinse my mouth. "If you knew you were sick, you shouldn't have offered yourself up for my pleasure," he muttered, tossing the cloth aside.
"I did not offer myself," I began, but his eyes suddenly widened.
He grabbed my face and twisted my neck until Zac's mark was visible. "You've been marked—that's the Darkmoonmark. How dare you come here after getting marked by my arch-enemy?"
He was shouting, anger making the veins in his neck pop. I closed my eyes in fear—if he was going to hit me again, I didn't want to watch him do it—but instead, he grabbed me and sniffed me.
"You're pregnant!" he accused.
I shook my head as tears stung my eyes. Of all the things I feared, this ranked close to my worst nightmare.
"No! I'm not. I can't be!"
He nodded, as if I hadn't spoken. "After living with my pack-healer mother for twenty years, I can smell all diseases—especially pregnancy. You're pregnant for that DarkmoonAlpha, and you dared to come into my bedroom with it!"
First, I did not come to his bedroom willingly—he dragged me in. Secondly, pregnancy wasn't a disease, even though it was my worst nightmare—or being mated to a half-mad, middle-aged Alpha who didn't mind rape was my worst nightmare.
Alpha Greg turned to pour himself a drink, and when he turned back to face me, his eyes were blazing with anger.
"Get out of my room," he bit out. "Go, before I decide to behead you for choosing to trick me like this."
I turned to flee when his voice interrupted me.
"And don't leave this pack. I need you under my thumb where I can keep an eye on you. My housekeeper will put you to the work you so clearly desired, and I'll make sure she works you to the bone. It's a bonus if you miscarry."
And just like that, the rest of my life became a living hell. I was practically turned into a slave.