Chapter 1

Zarek's POV

“Zarek, into my office. With immediate effect!”

The Alpha’s voice echoed in my mind, sharp and unavoidable, like the crack of a whip. I froze, every muscle tensing in that instinctive response to fear. The call to his office could only mean one thing: punishment or some impossible task that no half-starved Omega could realistically handle. 

As I approached the Alpha’s office, I noticed the compassionate gazes from those around me. Betas, Omegas, and even some Alphas shared looks of sympathy with their eyes. Our pack, the Red Claw, seemed formidable to outsiders, yet internally, it was a nightmare. The Alphas and Betas were warriors out of necessity, and those who resisted faced a brutal fate. As for us Omegas, our sole purpose was to serve and reproduce.

The Alpha governed us through intimidation. Those who dared to oppose him faced torture, forced to witness the deaths of their loved ones, followed by their own execution. Alphas held authority here, while Omegas like me were mere belongings, allocated to the Alphas of the highest rank as mates, regardless of our own preferences.

I was spared some of the worst horrors, though it felt like a hollow mercy. The Alpha didn’t force me to mate with one of his soldiers, at least. But the beatings? Those came frequently. I had never endured the forced matings some Omegas suffered, and though I was grateful for that small reprieve, the shame of my own treatment still clung to me like a stain I couldn’t wash off.

Arriving at the Alpha’s office, I raised a trembling hand and knocked. 

“Come in,” he said in that calm, collected voice that always made my skin crawl. Calm was often worse, calm meant control, the terrifying kind.

I took a breath, forcing myself to enter. “How can I serve you, Alpha?” My eyes remained downcast, my voice barely above a whisper. The smallest challenge, even a glance in his direction, could mean more pain.

“Sit,” he said, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk. “I need to speak with you.”

Speak with me? Confusion rippled through my mind, but I pushed it aside, wary of showing even the slightest emotion. This wasn’t the usual punishment routine, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t end with me on the floor, battered and bruised. With a tight chest, I lowered myself into the chair, still staring at the ground.

My wolf stirred uneasily, whispering an urge to run. But we both knew the truth: running meant death. There was no escape from him, not here, not for me.

“Look at me, Omega,” he ordered.

Every fiber of my being resisted. My wolf begged me to defy him, but I had no choice. I lifted my eyes carefully, focusing on his left shoulder, just enough to obey without challenging him. 

“Do you know who our strongest ally is, Omega?” he asked, voice deceptively smooth.

“Yes, Alpha,” I murmured, my words just a breath of sound. I wished I could disappear, fade into the walls of his office, slip out of his reach forever.

“Who is it?” he pressed, when I remained silent.

A brief glance at the window brought a pang of longing, a desperate urge to be free, to escape this pack and everything it demanded of me. But that was a foolish thought, so I swallowed it down, turning back to the Alpha’s shoulder. “The North River pack, Alpha.”

He hummed in acknowledgment, a sound that could be satisfaction or something darker. “I’ll be visiting them in a few days, along with my Beta and a few warriors. Did you know that?”

“Yes, Alpha.” My pulse quickened. A trip to another pack? Why would he bother telling me this?

“Do you know why?” His voice held an edge, a hint of impatience.

“The North River pack will take on a new Alpha this year,” I said, barely suppressing the nervous tremor in my voice. Wondering why the Alpha was trying to extract known information from me.

*******

I stayed in the Omega room, hidden and silent, until Alpha stormed in three days later to collect me. I was clean as he’d demanded, but it did nothing to ease the scowl on his face.

"Let's go," he barked, his tone thick with irritation. He probably hated that I'd followed every rule he’d set, no slip-ups he could punish me for.

Head bowed, I followed him, ignoring the presence of my packmates around us. I could almost feel their pity, though we’d never been close. A few of them had shown me small kindnesses, sneaking food or a quiet word of comfort. I'd miss that. 

“Get in.” Alpha’s hand motioned sharply toward the car, and I slid in between two of his loyal warriors, feeling their silent vigilance on either side of me. Normally, we'd run, but the new Alpha didn’t want me bruised or dirty, so here I was, contained and transported like a thing to be delivered.

I kept my gaze on my hands, on the ragged cuticles I’d worried about with my teeth. My wolf whimpered in my head, its own distress clawing at me, pleading to run. The past three days, he’d urged me to try, whispering that escape—death, even, would be better than this fate awaiting me. But I couldn’t risk it. Alpha would only hunt me down and give me to the North River Alpha anyway. My suffering was what he wanted, not my death.

The car finally stopped. Before I could so much as breathe, the warriors’ hands clamped down on my arms, hauling me out and up toward a looming mansion. I kept my gaze low as Alpha greeted the North River Alpha, a man they called Ryder.

“The Omega, as promised,” Alpha said, his voice carrying with it a cruel satisfaction.

Ryker’s fingers seized my chin, forcing me to meet his eyes. “He’s a pretty one,” he murmured, the chill in his voice enough to send a shiver through me.

Alpha laughed, satisfied. "He knows the consequences of disobedience.”

Ryker’s grip tightened, and he leaned close, voice dripping with something that made my skin crawl. "Wait for me on the bed, Omega. I’ll be there after my ceremony."

I just nodded. I couldn’t speak; my wolf was thrashing inside me, howling to break free. But there was nowhere to go.

The guards led me to his room—a dark, oppressive space steeped in the thick, suffocating scent of dominance. A guard dropped a tray of food on the desk before locking the door with a decisive click.

I devoured the meal, ignoring the dull, aching fear in my gut. Nothing I did here mattered; I was just biding my time, waiting for the inevitable. My wolf urged me to find a way out, to claw and scrape my way to freedom, but the window was too high. Jumping would only break my legs, leaving me unable to run, vulnerable.

Still, he pushed at me, filled with rage and desperation. "Tell me what to do!" I shouted inwardly, begging him for anything that might save us.

But he only growled back, frustration clawing at me until I yanked at the locked door in helpless fury. Tears welled in my eyes, spilling over as my wolf’s mournful howl filled my mind, a sound of such hopelessness that I collapsed into sobs.

The door handle rattled, and my heart leapt in terror as I scrambled back to the bed, wiping my face. My wolf surged, demanding control, but I shoved him down. "If you won’t help, you’re not taking over," I snapped at him, and he retreated, silent and angry.

Ryker strode in, pride radiating from him after his ceremony. His gaze fell on me, crouched beside the bed, and he sighed with mild irritation.

"I told you to be on the bed," he said, crouching to touch the damp tracks on my face. "Why have you been crying?"

I flinched back, but his hands locked around my shoulders, lifting me onto the bed. He moved over me, his weight pinning me down, my heartbeat hammering in my chest.

I couldn't stop the low growl that slipped from my throat, a last, desperate act of defiance. His hand knotted in my hair, pulling hard. "Did you just growl at me, Omega?" he asked, his voice a dangerous purr.

"I…d-didn't mean to!" The words came out a strangled squeak as he forced my head back, baring my throat to him. My wolf raged at the exposure, the forced vulnerability that only heightened my panic.

“Stop moving,” he ordered, his breath warm on my neck. "I heard you wanted to wait for your mate." His voice was cruel, taunting, and my heart twisted with a fresh surge of despair.

He chuckled darkly, his mouth close to my ear. "Your mate will never find you. You’re mine now. Your only job is to spread your legs and carry my pups. No one is coming to save you."

He ripped at my clothes, and I fought, fear overtaking me. But my struggles only earned a tighter hold, his grip bruising as he forced my body into submission. "Relax, or this will hurt," he hissed.

But my wolf wouldn't let me relax; I couldn’t. I was shaking, every nerve on fire, my mind fracturing under the weight of helplessness. Ryker undressed himself, positioning to take what he wanted, and in a last surge of defiance, my wolf pushed me to slam my foot into his chest.

Panting, I scrambled for the blanket, trying to hide, but Ryker yanked it off, his eyes flashing with anger. "Stop!" I screamed, my voice breaking. "I don’t want this! I want to wait for my mate!"

His hand clamped around my throat, cutting off my words, his eyes gleaming with something dark. "Mention your mate one more time," he growled, "and I'll find him and kill him in front of you."

Tears blurred my vision. The threat had the desired effect, my wolf went still, abandoning our fight in stunned silence.

Ryker took what he wanted, his grip and thrusts as cold and mechanical as his satisfaction. Pain tore through me, and I retreated into myself, numb, closing my eyes against the humiliation, the ache, the tears. He finished with a grunt, collapsing against me, satisfied.

"Good boy," he murmured in my ear, fingers stroking my hair. "When’s your next heat?"

I could barely answer, my voice a broken whisper. "Five weeks."

The answer seemed to please him, and he lay down beside me, pulling me close, his hand resting on my stomach possessively. "You need to start resting now," he said, voice soft, like we were anything other than what we were. "I want you at full strength for when your heat begins."

I closed my eyes, breathing shallowly, feeling his hand like a weight on my skin. Sleep was impossible, not with my wolf’s mournful howl echoing in my head, a call to a mate I would never know.