TWO

“What are you doing here?” I stood at the doorway with the door ajar and my heart in my throat.

“Close the door,” his gruff voice commanded as he stood, his head almost touching my ceiling.

For my eighteenth birthday, my father kicked me out of his mansion. It was something he wanted to do since the day I was born but could not until I was old enough. After that, I moved to a cubicle in the pack house, a small room with only a tiny window and no lighting at the back of the pack house. I have stayed here for the past three years but tomorrow, with my little savings, I would be out of this pack forever.

No, today.

The midnight clock in the leisure room already struck midnight thirty minutes ago.

“What are you doing here?” I asked Kade again, making no move to close the door. I didn’t want to be trapped in such a small room with this maniac.

He walked over to me and caught me around my waist as I contemplated running off. It would buy me a minute but I could never outrun Kade. He pulled me into the room and shut the door.

“Why are your things packed?” He asked in a quiet, dangerous voice that had my heart galloping.

What did he want from me this time? He rejected me already. He killed my friend few hours ago. When would he leave me alone!?

“With all due respect, that is none of your business. Why are you in my room?” I asked as I stepped away from his looming figure while goosebumps exploded on my skin.

“Sihana.” His tone held warning that made me shiver. “Were you planning on running away?” His nostrils flared as he crossed his arms.

A cold sweat broke out all over me. My hands trembled. My lips trembled. Every part of me trembled.

On my eighteenth birthday, not only did I have to deal with the misfortune of homelessness, I also found out I was mated to the biggest asshole on the planet. The Alpha’s son. While I was too worried about my status and how to please my father, a small part of me still held out hope to find my mate. Never in a million years would I have expected to be mated to someone as cruel as Kade.

He did not want me and I did not want him so the minute he found out we were mates, he rejected me. I accepted his rejection and bore the sharp pain of a broken mate bond with the calm satisfaction that I would not have to spend the rest of my life with a man that beat me and spat on me to amuse his friends.

Kade bullied me since we were kids. As the Beta’s daughter and the Alpha’s son, the pack always put us together. In a lot of cases, the Alpha and Beta’s children were best friends who ended up taking over from their parents together. In my case, I ended up a hated omega.

My earliest memory was of five year old me getting shoved face first into mud by a laughing six year old Kade. He never liked me and I never liked him but he had a bad habit – He considered everything and everyone as his property.

“What do you want from me?” I asked in a bitter tone, glaring at his feet. Why would this man not leave me alone? I suffered enough at his hands already!

“What did I tell you the day you rejected me?” He asked, taking a step towards me. I stepped backwards but ended up against the door.

“You rejected me,” I emphasized to jog his memory. “I don’t know what you want but I have to sleep now. Please leave.” I sidestepped him. Or I tried to. A hairy hand landed on the door beside me, blocking me in.

“Do you think you can be rid of me?” He snorted, amusement sparkling in his eyes. “In a few hours, I will become the Alpha. Your Alpha. Do you think I will let you leave the pack because you are old enough?” He snorted again.

“I am old enough to leave. There is nothing you can do about it now.” I bristled, raising my chin to look up at him. For once, I didn’t want him to intimidate me.

“Sihana, take off your top.” The command made me stiffen. I clenched my fists at my sides while my hands shook, fighting the Alpha’s command at all cost. “Now.” My willpower broke.

My hands, as if having a mind of their own, reached for the hem of my shirt, raised it and pulled it over my head.

“Do you still think there is nothing I can do?” He leaned into me, his nose running against the base of my neck as I fought down tears. “I have not even succeeded my father yet you can’t resist my command.” He chuckled, his words reverberating against my skin.

There were still a few hours left for Kade to receive full control of the pack yet he wielded power over me like this. By the time he became the sitting Alpha, would I still be able to leave? Could it be – Could it be too late?

“It is such a pity you are an omega.” He ran his finger down my face, his body too close for comfort. “You have a nice body. I would have enjoyed breeding you but I can’t risk having dirty omega pups like you.” He opened his mouth and puffed a breath against my face, one of his hands going down to my waist.

“What do you want from me?” I closed my eyes against the disgust crawling through my skin. “You rejected me. You hate me but still – Why do you keep torturing me?” I bit out, turning my face away from his breath.

If only I wasn’t a darn omega! If only I had power, any power. At that point, I wanted nothing more than to be powerful enough to fight the Alpha’s command. I would not win but if I was an Alpha, my wolf would not obey all commands without room for protest.

“Who says I hate you?” His hand rubbed my thigh, riding up my skirt.

“You rejected me and you have bullied me all my life.” I flinched away from his touch, pushing his hand from my thigh but he gripped me. “Just let me go. I won’t bother you anymore.”

“You are an omega. What did you expect? That an Alpha would take an omega as a mate? Do you think I want omega pups? Do you think I want my bloodline tainted with yours?” He sneered in my face, his hand running up and down my thigh, caressing me. “What will I gain from letting you go? Who will satisfy me when the moon is at her peak?” He nuzzled his face into my neck.

The moon was at her peak tonight. Because of him, I got nervous every full moon. He did this nonsense to me two years ago and a part of me hoped it was the first and last time I would ever be subjected to something so vile.

“Go to Avalon. I’m sure she will be more than willing to accommodate you.”

I closed my eyes when his hips stuttered against me. Bile rose in my throat as I felt his erection straining against my waist. My skin tightened and a burning sensation started in my throat. The urge to run, to flee, and never look back overwhelmed me but he gripped my thigh tighter.

“It is a full moon. Ava cannot help me tonight. Only you can and you know that.” He sniffed my skin, from the back of my ear to my collarbone and then between my breasts. I went as stiff as a board as he ran his nose against my skin.

The full moon affected him in a way that did not affect me. I didn’t know if his status as an Alpha heightened his senses but the connection between us broke when he rejected me and I accepted the rejection so I felt nothing when the full moon came around. On his part, Kade went into rut. The first time it happened two years ago, he sought me out to kiss me and rut against me until the moon went down.

Since then, every full moon, dread clawed at my throat as I did not know what to expect. The incident never repeated itself until today. That day, I spent hours in the bathroom scrubbing my skin for two reasons; I felt dirty and no matter how much I scrubbed, the sensation of worms on my skin did not let off. The other reason was that he had a girlfriend who would kill me if she caught his scent on me.

I stopped his hand when he reached behind me for my bra strap. “No!” I shook my head with the feeling of maggots against my skin. “I don’t want this.”

“This will relieve the both of us. Why are you resisting?” He muttered, his eyes falling to my lips. I was too late in pressing them together. His descended on mine but I stayed as still as I could.

“I taught you to kiss me back, didn’t I?” He mumbled through his teeth as he pulled back. “What is it? Is it because of your dog? Something had to be done about that mutt, anyway.” His flippant tone tightened my heart. “Now, kiss me.” I turned my head away as his lips descended. He let out a frustrated growl. “Do you not want to be relieved of your heat?” He snarled. “I am not asking for much here!” He snapped.

My tongue glued to the roof of my mouth but I shook my head still. His pride never let him believe I did not go into heat. He must have thought all these years that I writhed in pain every full moon waiting for his touch but whatever he felt during full moons, I did not feel them. We broke our bond so I could not go into heat for him!

“I don’t want this.” I pulled his hand from my thigh. “Leave me alone.”

“Fine,” he snarled, pushing away from me. “It does not mean anything anyway!” He snagged my shirt off the ground. “But have it at the back of your mind that you will never leave this pack!” He spat before he left, slamming my door loud enough to wake the house.