“Casey?” I ask softly, already knowing the answer.
Khaos walks the length of the room several times and looks at us. Riot, Angel, Wrath, and I.
“Are we together in this?”
“Yes,” we say as one, though I think it just about kills me.
“Okay. Let’s do this and then go get our omega?”
My dad meeps. “Omega? Did you say you have an omega?”
Angel laughs, but it’s a harsh, bitter sound that resembles broken dreams and shattered trust.
Casey
I growl wildly andpull back against the chain that is yanking me forward. It’s futile, I know, but I won’t ever stop fighting. I’ve got a huge metal collar on my neck. It’s celebrating my new status in the pack as slave. I thought I was the lowest I could go…apparently, feral omega is worse. Now, I’m not breeder, I’m entertainment.
I heard a wolf say to their friend as they were passing the hole yesterday that it’s been a month since I came here.
A month in fur. A month in chains.
A whole month since I last saw them. I didn’t even get to say goodbye. The only good part of my existence are the memories I have of the wolves who loved me.
I understand this body completely now. I know all my capabilities and what I can do with them. They have taught me how to learn the art of wolf in the fastest way possible. Through trials of life and death. I know I freak them out; my silver-tipped black fur is so strange and unusual, and to add on my feral rage, well, even the strongest alpha is hesitant to go up against me. I hear whispers about me being a demon. Even my mother wasn’t like me; she was a pale omega wolf. Not even she was as ostracised as I am. Everything about me is wrong.
A month. Where are they? Are they happy? The questions plague me. Do they think of me?
My body aches. The fragile bond between us has been cut clean off and has left me to bleed out. I can still feel the phantom pains of it tingling there, blossoming. They say for a wolf to reject her bonds is to bring the worst misfortune down upon herself. Maybe I’m cursed in multiple. Maybe I deserve this accursed fate. The pain doesn’t let me sleep easily.I hear their voices; I catch their scents, and then I wake up and realise that it’s not them. It’s just a dream, just a memory. They are gone.
Safe.
And I am here. Where I was always heading.
A slave to Pack Foster.
The ramp slams down, leaving a rectangle wedge of sunlight. I don’t want to go up there. Every time I do, there is something even more horrific that I need to learn.
They taught me to kill.
My soul aches over it. I was never supposed to learn to kill.
Would my mother and Freida hate me if they knew what I do now?
“Hurry up, Omega.” The rough voice of Desmond, who is my keeper, drags me out of my distracted, mournful thoughts.
They say omega like it’s a slur, like I’m the monster in this scenario. Even as I ignore him, I know I can’t. Like I predicted, he waits up in the light; no one dares to come down here, and when I refuse, he barks a quick command. I hear the shifters move, the rattle of the chain again, and then the tension returns as they all pull.
I’m dragged to a metal ramp, my claws scraping and leaving furrows. They drag me up, even though I fight. Every day, or every other day. I don’t know; I only see the sunlight when they bring me up to battle, but I fight them to stay in the dark. The hole I was so afraid of is the only safety I have left.
I am a champion.
I’ve won more fights than my mother.
I’ve won more fights than any alpha.
They make lots of money betting on me, and my father…he reaps what he sows.
The collar pulls at my fur, at my bruised neck. It’s heavy, but I’m getting accustomed to it. What was it like not to wear it?
