Chapter 3

Brooklyn-

Arriving at the school, I shoved my bag into my locker and pulled out the textbook I needed for my first class. Shutting the door, I made my way into the janitor's closet just down the hall. It was the only place I could hide away since I was the one who did all the cleaning at the school. Not today though, as soon as my last class was over, I was leaving.

They can deal with the cleaning from here on out. Picking up the library book I had stashed on one of the shelves, I lowered myself to the floor and pushed my back against the door. It was a bit of a habit, though no one has ever come in here, I didn’t want to take the chance of being caught off guard.

With the book in hand, I opened it up to become engulfed in the story. Reading was like an escape for me, it was the only thing I had that wasn’t a living nightmare. At least reading, I could pretend that I was one of the characters of the book.

Currently, I was reading about a woman who had just gone through a major loss in her life and was learning to cope with it. She was surrounded by friends and family that gave her the support she needed and loved her even when she was being difficult. It was my favorite book, I have repeatedly checked it out.

There was something comforting knowing that there were people out in the world that would do anything for their loved ones, even if it didn’t apply to my life. The book was a bit sad, but I loved the support she receives from her family and friends. Tuning out the outside world, I started reading where I left off.

I don’t know how long I read for, but I heard some noises outside of the door and held my breath. The last thing I needed was for anyone to know I was in here. Reaching up I turned off the light and sat in the dark. It took a minute for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, but after living in the darkness for so long, it was oddly comforting also.

“Did you hear?” I heard someone say from outside in the hall.

“Hear what?” Someone replied.

“Apparently, Chad is going to gather up a few others to beat the shit out of the Omega bitch.” The first voice spoke.

I didn’t need to know that they were talking about me, I was the only Omega of the pack. I listened in closely to try to hear what they were saying. Even without my wolf, I still had excellent hearing. I couldn’t recognize the voices, but they both sounded female.

Chad was the Alpha’s son and if he was trying to gather others to get to me, it wouldn’t be difficult. He was a bit of an asshole, but everyone looked up to him and doted on him. He was the future Alpha, so everyone would do what he asked.

“Good, I hope the bitch dies. I am getting tired of seeing her ugly face around. I don’t even know why the Alpha took her in. She doesn’t even have a wolf.” The second girl stated.

I ground my teeth together at her statement. As many times as I have been insulted, it was never easy to hear it. Times like this, I wished I could show them I did in fact have a wolf and it was as big as the Alpha’s wolf and pure black. Skye was currently unreachable, but I wished I could just get her to come out to teach all of them a lesson.

“Right! I hope I get to see it.” The first girl said.

“When and where will it be?”

“I heard they are going to go to the abandoned house later after school to put the bitch in her place. We should go watch and even see if we can help. It would be satisfying to watch her beg for mercy.”

“Definitely. Let’s go to the cafeteria to grab a bite to eat before class. I am in desperate need of carbs.”

The sound of their footsteps could be heard as they walked away. I pressed my ear to the door and listened carefully. When I could no longer hear anything, I cracked the door open and peeked out to see if anyone else was in the hall. Thankfully the coast was clear. Standing up I put the book I had been reading back in its place and grabbed my textbook.

I needed to get to class before anyone else. Running towards my first class I slunk in the furthest desk in the back of the room. I felt like I was about to have a panic attack. If Chad was going to try to beat me up after school, I needed to try to be the first one out of the school and leave straight away.

No way was I going to give him or anyone else a chance to catch me. It wasn’t that I was afraid to die, hell I have welcomed it many times over the years. I was just so close to tasting freedom, I didn’t want to jeopardize it.

I still remembered my dad, he had been the strongest wolf I had ever known. He was brave and fearless and had been a revered member of the royal guard. I never knew what his real role had been, but I knew it was important. When my mother died after giving birth to me, he had still been the best father a girl could ever ask for.

When he had been killed, I had been sent to live here where I guess my mother had come from. didn’t know all the details, I mean I had only been five at the time. All I knew was that from day one of arriving, I had been treated like crap. I wondered if my dad could see me know if he would look at me in shame or think I was a coward for running away.

Not that it really mattered, he was no longer here, and his memory was the only reason I haven't wasted away. I would like to think he would be proud of me for trying to get away to start my life fresh somewhere else.

Slowly the room started filling up as students made their way to their desks. The one good thing was most everyone ignored me in class. At least I could focus on my schoolwork without being messed with. Most of the higher families in the pack were all in advanced classes and I could try to avoid them.

It didn’t take long for everyone to be seated and soon after the teacher arrived and began our lesson. I tried to focus on what was being said, but all I could think of was what I had heard. It wasn’t the first time I had been beaten to the point I couldn’t walk for days and thought I would die, but sadly death never came.

I wondered if it was my fate to suffer in life. The worse part of it all was that I had experienced a life that had been wonderful and full of laughter and love. Losing my dad had been the worse day of my life and it never got better. It was like I was living in a revolving door and no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get free.

Hopefully, after today, it will no longer be like that. For the rest of the day, I made sure I was the first one in and out of each class and I kept my head down in the halls, hoping no one would bother me. If only I had been so lucky all day though.

“What do we have here?” I heard an all too familiar voice.

Doing my best to ignore the voice that belonged to Chad, I kept my head down and walked as fast as I could to my last class. I just had one more class left, and I would be free. Why I thought I could get away with avoiding him all day was beyond my understanding.

“Hey! I am talking you scum!” I heard Chad say, his voice growing closer as I walked away.

Maybe if I ran, I could outrun him. I still needed to get my final report from my last class, but was it worth dealing with Chad of all people? I felt a painful grip close around my upper arm and I was pulled back and slammed against the wall. My head hit hard enough that I could smell blood and my head started throbbing.

“You answer me when I talk to you bitch!” Chad growled.

I kept my eyes down, not daring to look him in the eyes. Instead, I kept my gaze focused as best I could on my shoes that were held together by duct tape. My vision blurred for a second as the pain in my head intensified when Chad grabbed my shoulders and slammed me back against the wall.

“You need to respect the future Alpha, Omega.” I heard Chad’s best friend say.

The way he spoke the word Omega, sounded like he was disgusted with the word. I felt Chad’s hand move from my shoulder and grab the pencil that had been holding my hair in place. He pulled it out and my hair came undone and fell around my shoulders.

“What the hell is this?” I heard Chad ask.

Then I felt my head being yanked back as he grabbed a fistful of my hair and pulled. Tears formed in my eyes from the sting of pain, and I had no choice but to look into Chad’s hateful glare.

“When I am talking, you will look at me.” He growled out and I couldn’t help the fear that filled me.

Not necessarily fear of him, but fear that I wouldn’t be able to get a chance to taste the freedom I have been looking forward to for months. Looking into his dark brown eyes, I wanted to curl into myself and become invisible. I had been so close, so very close to being done with this all.

“Where the hell do you think you were trying to run off to?” Chad asked.

“C-class.” I stuttered the word, hating that I could hear the fear in my voice.

It must have appeased him though because I saw the corner of his lip twitch. I knew he likes it when I feared him. Except for the fear I felt wasn’t for him, but I wasn’t going to let him know that. The sound of the bell rang through the halls, and I hoped that it would make him let me go. The teachers hated when students were late, future Alpha or not, he could get in trouble.

Thankfully he released me, and a wicked smile formed on his lips. I remembered what I heard this morning and I swallowed hard. The promise of what was to come was written all over his face.

“You may want to get the fleabags blood off you. Maybe even get a rabies shot.” Kyle, the future Beta laughed, as I watched them walk away.

Slipping into my last class, I went unnoticed as I sat in the back of the room, closest to the door. Forty-five more minutes, I kept repeating to myself. Then hopefully I will never see either of them again.