*TRIGGER WARNING: This chapter covers abuse*-
Earlier that day.........
-MIKAYLA’S POV-
SLAP!
A sudden pain stung across my right cheek. The impact of her palm sent me into shock as I tried to grasp what she had done to me. My lips busted as she gave me a second slap with imprints of her five fingers.
“You bitch!” She coldly scolds, “I told you to stay away from Archie!”
She lifted her right hand again and I caught it.
“Pam, what’s gotten into you?” I shrieked in astonishment and shoved her hand away.
I was in the kitchen collecting the dirty hand towels and mittens to take them down to the laundry. Here, at the pack house, I was one of the laundry staff. She popped behind me on the stairs going down to the basement. Sensing her behind me, I turned and was greeted by a waspish slap, then she pushed me. The basket and everything went out of my hands as I fell and my head collided with the cold tiled ground.
Orphans are ranked as omegas within the werewolf kingdom. Having no living parents meant that we had no status and so we fell to the bottom of the hierarchy. That is, unless we were mated to someone with a higher rank.
As such was the case of Pam. As orphans, we were both omegas until she met her mate, Warrior Archie. This caused a change in her rank, so she would be his equal and on the same level. With that said, she used to be my best friend until she moved up in the ranks. Then she decided that I was too low to be acquainted with.
With a warrior mate and a totally new class of friends, our friendship became obsolete. She chucks me in the chest and I fall on my ass.
“Why are you attacking me?” My voice came out as a whisper, but her werewolf’s super sense would allow her to hear me. Winching in discomfort and pain, I erect myself.
“Bitch, stay the fuck away from my man!” She wrestles with me, trying to yank my hair. I used every strength that I had to defend myself and block her hands from touching me.
Again, she shoves me on my chest and I land on the ground. I tumbled on my side. “Ugh!” Hitting the hardness of the floor hurts my elbow and ribs. “I don’t want him. He only said hi to me, that’s all.”
Nothing I tell this crazy girl makes her understand. She kicked me repeatedly in my stomach. By instinct, I fold like a fetus. My hands barricade her assaults but I know that bruises would be evident. Whipping feet viciously strike my head, side, and ass.
“You are a slut and you keep throwing yourself at him. If Archie goes into the same room that you are in, I expect you to leave.” She yells with undisguised spite. Veins bulged from her neck and forehead. “Omega, do you hear me?”
Other omegas pooled around and her warrior friends stopped to watch the show in the middle of the large laundry room. The warriors found the situation comical while the omegas empathized with me.
“Okay, Pam,” I consented because I wanted her battery to halt. There was no reason for me to feel guilty because it was untrue. Clueless, I had no idea where she got her silly notion from. Throughout the years, I had cared for her too much to betray the trust between us.
Based on her angry features, you would think that I was fraternizing with her mate. The truth was, I met Archie on the night of the Alpha’s eighteenth birthday when we were serving the champagne and Pam accidentally bumped into him. The mate bond was recognized immediately. After that, she introduced me to him. Since then, Archie consistently acknowledges me whenever he comes around. Sincerely, that was all there was to it.
Pam's obsessive traits have evolved into those of a mate who harbors constant jealousy. Now, this was the first time that she actually hit me.
She gazed at me in a short silence of revulsion. I do not attempt to rise from the floor until I know that she has had her fill. Pam picks me up by the hair so that she gets a good look at my wet, dirty and bruised face. The crown of my head hurts from her merciless grip. I screamed in agony. My rib was broken but it will heal by the end of the day.
"This is your last warning." The incensed disdain in her eyes cannot be camouflaged. "If you flirt with my man again, I will make you disappear." She throws me into the wall with her final words being, "You are nothing. You're just an insignificant mole that nobody cares about."
Slamming into the wall, my body helplessly slid downwards until I laid on the floor. My breathing came in quick short breaths as I watched her storm up the stairs and out of my sight. Her warrior friends leave with her.
Omega Nikki rushes over to me and helps me up, with much concern. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah," I lied, but my healing would chip in soon. Even though my body trembled nervously, I looked around for the spilled contents and began to gather them back into the laundry basket.
Nikki helps and warns, "Stop offending her. She's a warrior now and will make your life miserable."
Rolling my eyes, I cannot believe what she just said to me, so I defended myself, "I haven't done anything."
"That's not what she wants others to believe," Nikki puts the last hand towel into the basket. "Mates are entitled to fight for their relationships, once the matter regards their fated mates. She will make you look bad in front of the Alpha."
It felt like Nikki truly believed Pam's accusations, "But I am not trying to steal the dude."
Nikki holds me by the shoulder, "Fine, I believe you because we are friends."
"I have loved only Andy." Tears welled in my eyes as I remembered my deceased mate. But I wiped my face and took the basket to the counter so that I could start the washer.
Nikki took me into a friendly hug. Friends? I contemptuously scoffed at the word. All my life I have been alone and growing up at the orphanage was terrible. I have had to fight to maintain my virtue. The rations of food were sparingly served to us and there was no denying what we were ordered to do.
Years of anguish and abuse are all that was buried in my memory. In order to divert unwanted advances from the orphan guys or high-ranked males, I wore a ghastly combination of makeup. My appearance meant zilch. Albeit, I went through each day like a zombie, never knowing where my life was going and perpetually expecting the worst.
In the past, Pam always complimented me on how pretty I was. She teased my curves and wavy light blonde hair with silver streaks. Envy would best fit what she had depicted for the years that we had been friends. Yet, she was never hostile to me.
After meeting Archie, we discussed the concept of me serving as her omega, assigned to work in her dwelling so that she could watch over me and help me to have a good life. But one day, while at Archie's apartment, he came home from his patrolling shift and caught me without the hideous make-up on. Pam was alarmed by his prolonged gaze as he took notice of me.
She threw me out of the apartment without my clothes and belongings, and complained to Matron Cecilia, who gave me a horribly scarring beating in the omega's punishment room. From there onwards, Pam berates and abuses me every chance that she gets on the false notion that I was trying to bewitch her mate.
Because of her deceit, I feared trusting others. Nikki has been nothing but nice and sweet, but once bitten, twice shy. I wished that I could have found someone to genuinely care for me. Meeting my deceased mate, Andy gave me a glimpse of hope which vanished when rogues who intruded into our territory killed him.
"I'll check on you later." She released me and smoothed out her blue and white maid's uniform, "I have to go."
I nodded as she darted out of the basement and I was left in solitude.
Pouring the detergent into the washer, I separated the colors and began to drop in the dirty contents one at a time. Grateful to be alone, I hummed a made-up lullaby that always helped me to clear my mind and feel better.
By the time I had completed the first cycle and moved the contents into the dryer, the basement door opened.
"Hey, Mika!" It was Nikki again, shouting from the top of the stairs to grab my attention. "Matron Cecilia summons you."
Damn! I sighed heavily.
Matron Cecilia was the head Omega who was in charge of the pack house. She reports directly to Luna Phoebe. The Matron turned a blind eye to Pam's assaults. She feared for her own welfare rather than to interfere with higher-ranked wolves.
A meeting with her denoted several things. It could be that I messed up and was due punishment. Especially if Pam made an official complaint, her hand would be forced to deliver a flogging to me.
At the rate that this was going, I am wondering, what the hell did I do now?
*MIKAYLA’S POV* Tremors filled my insides as I knocked on the door of the second study, west of the pack house. Closing my eyes, I inhaled sharply to quiet my nerves, though the rapid drumming of my heart prevailed. Lowering my head, I longingly stared at the door handle in my hand before entering the room. “Is this her?” After entering the room, I stood the standardized seven feet from the seated Luna. My hands were to my sides, fidgeting with my uniform. The heat of the Luna’s gaze filtered into the room, and multiplied my anxiety. “Yes, Luna,” Cecilia answered. My head was slightly raised to acknowledge the beautiful black hair Luna before me. She sat with her legs crossed on the white leather love seat. Matron Cecilia ceremoniously stood at her left side, overlapping her hands. Luna Phoebe had a clean complexion and highlighted her blue eyes with beige eye shadow and black winged eyeliner. Nude lip gloss painted her full lips and she wore a slim-fitted denim dress with a turn
"Dad, I cannot marry that girl!" Hudson retorted, "She will never be my Luna!" The elder man looked at the son he raised better than this. Hudson dated Jaimilee for years and broke up with her six months ago. His father was disappointed when he heard the news as he was hoping that Jaimilee would have been his son's chosen mate. Hudson Carter was twenty-six years old and despite his international travelling, he still has not found his mate. The council is growing weary and a Luna is needed for the pack. He is already the Alpha but mate less. Hudson, understood where his dad was coming from but the fact remains that he simply could not agree with the decision to forsake his mate. He felt that timing was everything and believed that eventually she would show up in his life. The council was not being as patient as he was and so the pressure was on his father to convince the current Alpha of what was in the best interest of the pack. "Son, you should have found your mate at eighteen and
I don't know why I decided to follow my cousin, Joana, to the Firebricks Pack. At a party last week as they celebrated their graduation from college, we discovered that the Gamma of this pack was Joana's mate. She asked me to string along and keep her company here while she got used to the new pack members because this would be her new home. Joana and I were cousins by my mother's side, and we acted more like sisters or best friends. It was sad to have her torn away from me but what could be done? This was how things worked in the werewolf world. The female was the one expected to join her mate's pack, unless the male preferred to leave his pack for hers. Paperwork had to be done between Alphas and approved before the move could be done. My cousin and I have great genes. We both have black hair but her eyes are chocolate brown eyes while mine are icy-blue which sometimes takes on a deeper shade. We are two hot and curvaceous 5'8 tall women who could pass as sisters. I have always bee
HUDSON'S POV**** I got back to the pack house at 7:15 and my wolf was acting strange. I could hear chattering as I parked the car in the underground garage. I took the elevator from there and went straight to my room to have a shower. I held another potion in my hands as I allowed the water droplets to hit the floor from my body. How many of these have I tried and the problem still remains unsolved? This was a different strain that my witch friend, Silva, had prepared. The side effect to this one would be an increase in my beast's rage, but he was determined to try it. Quickly, I uttered a soft prayer and gulped the contents down. "Yuck" It tasted like dirty water and smelt like ten days' cabbage water which tainted my breath. I brushed my teeth about five times and even after using the mouthwash, I could still smell the stench on my breath. Guess, I will keep everyone at a distance tonight. So I got dressed, and plastered some moose into my black silk hair, brushed all the strands
-HUDSON'S POV- I can't begin to say how many potions I have tried and then I am dragging my mate into this mess. I waited in my room on the fifth floor until it was midnight. I scouted the other floors for her scent and found the last room to the left on the third floor. My wolf was eager to see his mate and so was I. I turned the knob and the door opened, without knocking or seeking permission. With my night vision eyes, she had awakened and sat up in bed looking directly at me as I entered and closed the door. The light flickered on as she switch on the bedside lamp. I stood where I was to avoid making her uncomfortable. "Hi" I began. I have never been this nervous in my life. It was usually the other way around because of my authority and aura. "I am the Alpha here, and I apologize for not greeting you properly earlier." She nodded and straightened up in the bed. I moved closer and sat beside her since she did not rebut. "Why did you run away from me?" I swallowed anxiously. "
*PHOEBE'S POV* What the hell was that? He just stormed out of my room like he was running from getting laid. I know how to do my shit and that would have been proven if he just stayed and let us get naughty. I sighed heavily. I thought that Alphas had a high sex drive, or is it that he thinks that I am a virgin? Oh no! Was he in love with someone else? I mean, all he had to do was to say so. Even if he had someone else, shouldn't he get rid of that person for me? My number one rule was never to fall in love, because every beast man or woman, or shifter had their awaited mates. The mate bond was that magnetic pull that drew two souls together, to love each other for eternity. Going against the mate bond would anger the goddess, and whoever performed the rejection would face some karmic stuff that would cause the bond to be severed. Rejection came with pain, and I deeply desired for Hudson to want to spend his life with me. Alright, I needed a plan to handle this runaway mate fiasc
-PHOEBE'S POV- With my mission in mind, I swiftly went to the bathroom and freshened up. I had to be early for breakfast and then head for the training grounds. Joana hasn't checked on me and I am not bothered by it, especially since I've got my own share of problems to deal with. I combed my blue-black hair in one at the top of my head and ran down the stairs. A few pack members were already seated in the large dining room area and I scanned the room looking for that one particular man. He wasn't there, neither was Joana nor Chad. Some of the guys who were eating were checking me out and I grinned, knowing that I am one foxy chick. I walked to the buffet that the omegas had prepared and shared myself a nice breakfast and sat beside a group of girls. One of them eyed me keenly and snickered. "Good morning," I ignored all their looks and gulped down my meal because I had to catch that sneaky big Alpha. "You are new here?" The red-haired one asked. Duh! Keke thought that she was n
*HUDSON'S POV* (One Month Later) Dwayne came to get me in my hotel room. It was time to return to the pack. The convention was fun, and that was owed to my partying buddy and Beta. I visited other packs of old college buddies from Alpha University and it felt like the good old days before I had Alpha duties. My Beta had his way with as many ladies as he could and I pretended to join him, in separate rooms. Thoughts of Phoebe crossed my mind. I missed her scent and my wolf was driving me crazy for running away from her. It was not an easy choice. I know that she can find happiness with someone else. True love does not hurt the ones we supposedly care about. Freeing her would be my way of expressing my love for her. A spear of pain nips at me every time that I think about her leaving me. Moving on is difficult; it felt like there was no light to guide me out of this horror. The longer I was away from her, the more likely it was that she would gradually fade from my recollection. In t