Becoming the sub-Alpha of Snehvolk.
I’d rather be caught dead than let the others suspect that I feel a pull toward Rissa. After all, she’s just an omega with no status in the pack, and I wouldn’t want to disappoint my parents by being entangled with a worthless omega.
It’s just that deep inside, I can’t help but notice the disappointment flashing in Rissa’s eyes when the others giggle and titter because of my derogatory remark. But I just can’t stand to see her smile when her lips curl like that, beckon to my inner wolf.
Reminding myself that I have to fight the inner demons that want me to be around her, I take a deep breath and continue.
“It’s not like you’re gonna amount to anything, isn’t that right,Omega?” I spit out her rank as if it’s poison on my tongue, a reminder that she’s nothing more than the orphaned omega who makes me restless.
She opens her mouth to say something, but clamps her lips tight again when one of her friends in the group saunters forward, placing a manicured set of fingers on my chest.
“Who will you be dancing with tonight?” the blonde-haired she-wolf purrs, batting her lashes seductively at me.
I would have been repulsed by her touch if it weren’t for Rissa standing right there. I wield the blonde’s seduction as a weapon as I place my hand on her wrist and square my gaze at her.
“Not with you, since you’re friends with the resident scum,” I retort with a bitter chuckle.
The blonde gasps as if I’d just slapped her with that remark, then glances over her shoulder at Rissa.
“Friends?” the blonde giggles. “I’m not friends with her.”
Rissa pales when the she-wolf makes the statement, and I know she’s just been betrayed by someone she considered a friend.
“Good,” I croon as I fold my fingers around the blonde’s hand. “Then I guess I’ll be dancing with you tonight,” I smirk at her, catching Rissa’s shock as every last drop of blood seeps from her cheeks.
The others are alight with laughter, as if I just cracked the funniest joke, and their uproar redoubles when Rissa spins around and races off the field in the opposite direction.
I only spend a fleeting second watching her disappear, feeling only a flicker of remorse for humiliating her once again. It’s not like I can help myself.
It’s the only way I can ensure I don’t become distracted by her. She isn’t worth my time, or this incessant pull I feel whenever she’s in front of me.
No one asked her to be the most beautiful creature I’d ever laid eyes on, while being the lowest omega in our age bracket.
***
Present
Rissa Rudolph remains the most beautiful creature in Girdwood even after a decade, and I can’t stand it.
I might have fought the attraction in the past in the dumbest ways, but I’m much older, and I know that this attraction I feel toward her remains foolish.
Even long after I’d become the sub-alpha, I knew there was no good reason why I’d feel anything for her. It’s a good thing I pushed her so far away. My father’s proud smile on his deathbed is a picture that’s been etched into my memory, alongwith my mother’s, even if she died of a broken heart when her fated mate left her by dying before did.
As I slowly turn my face toward her, catching the way she softly hums in her sleep, I can’t help but feel regretful for the way I treated her in the past. It’s no wonder she’d tried to run away from her responsibilities and the vision Luna Yvonne had—she hates me, and she has every reason to feel that way.
But that only makes this whole thing harder for us to overcome. How am I meant to mate with her if she hates me so much?
Unless…
Maybe I don’t have to mate with her, after all, I think hopefully. Sure, she’s an irresistible candidate for mating, but it doesn’t mean I want to give up my freedom or give in to my inner wolf’s unwarranted desires. She is just an omega, and it doesn’t sit right with me. Besides, she unlocked her powers tonight without needing to mate with me.
I’m pretty sure we can get away with not mating, while providing the pack and the Council with what they need from her.
All they really need is her witch powers to defeat the demon. Though Rissa is reluctant now, it will only take some convincing for her to understand that her gifts are needed for the greater good of the pack. She’s the pack’s healer, after all—there’s a kind of good in her that speaks to her compassion and care for the pack.
It’s that thought that leads me to look down at the T-shirt I’d borrowed from the hut’s closet, slowly lifting the hem to reveal the bandage she’d placed over my injuries that she’d carefully stitched. I frown as I recall the pain that now only lingers like a residual sting that isn’t overbearing.
I lift my weight onto one elbow, noticing that my knee no longer feels busted, and I’m able to rise to my feet without struggling. My bones have seemed to repair themselves already, thanks to my quick healing abilities from being an alpha. I peel back the layer of gauze on my ribs, surprised when I see that my flesh has woven together where there were stitches, and I’ve long since stopped bleeding.
