CHAPTER 1: Late Bloomer

Callista’s POV

"Weaklings like you shouldn't even be in my presence." Damian Ironclaw, the king Alpha of the Wolfsong Dominion Pack, lashed out at me, poison laced in his voice.

I couldn’t muster the courage to stare him in the eyes; only if I wanted to get beaten up and locked up would I try such a thing.

“I will make you pay dearly for refusing to stop following my son around!” His voice filled with disgust. 

“I am sorry, sir,” I muttered under my breath, barely above a whisper.

“Get out of this place, now!” Alpha Damian roared at me.

I quickly got up on my knees and scurried out of the palace, running as fast as my tiny legs could carry my body straight down to the small cabin that I shared with Dahlia, an omega like myself.

Just as I was running into my cabin, I heard some other pack members laughing hysterically at me.

A young pup among the members glared disdainfully. “Look at her, piece of sh*t."

“Disgusting, she can't even shift not to talk of finding a mate, eww!" I heard another member of the pack snort coldly.

All of them burst into peals of laughter as soon as the latter finished her mean-spirited comment.

I am used to receiving all of this criticism from the Wolf Pack members, but it's got no tone on me.

What made me get bothered was the fact that I didn’t shift on the first full moon of my thirteenth birthday and was not able to get a mate at twenty-one years of age.

Everyone loves the moon goddess, but I hate and despise her. She has forsaken me by not giving me a wolf, making me wolfless. Argh!.

Shifting is like puberty for us werewolves, but once you are not able to shift under the first full moon of your birth month or later in life, you are labeled as 'a late bloomer' by the other pack members.

I can feel a purr within me sometimes, pushing me and growling within, but I don’t know what it is. I am not sure if it’s my wolf because it isn’t talking to me.

Snapping out of the daze I was in, I quickly sauntered towards my little hut.

“Callista!” I heard Dahlia call as soon as she saw me enter the room.

Dahlia is the only person I have in this entire wide world, and she means a lot to me. She would help me with my chores whenever I felt weak, and most times she offered me her food whenever I was being punished.

I was told my mother died the day I was born, and my father was murdered in a war between my pack and a rival pack ten years after I was born. That is the main reason everyone hates me, thinking I killed my mother and saying I am ill-fated. 

“What?” I asked, rolling my eyes discreetly, knowing she had got another gossip.

“Haven't you heard the latest news in the pack house?” She asked quizzically, with her gaze fixed on me.

“Huh, what news?” I responded, looking puzzled.

She always has the first whiff of the latest gossip in the pack. I wonder where she got them from.

“Beta Cassius rejected his ma…”

I quickly darted towards her and used my palm to cover her mouth, not wanting her to speak any further because it could lead us into trouble.

“Shhh, you are too loud,” I whispered to her.

“Isn’t it true?" she asked without budging.

“Did you want us to get punished?” I quizzed with a concerned tone.

"And who is going to punish us for speaking the truth?” She questioned me frantically.

“Listen, you should be careful with what you say here. Remember, we are just a wimpy Omega with no strength to get into a brawl with even the lowest pack member,”I explained, trying to let her know the kind of situation we were in.

“Ain't you supposed to be happy?” she asked. 

My brow furrowed. “Happy that what?.”

“Isn’t it obvious that the Beta loves you?" Her lips protruded in a sulky pout. "...to the extent of rejecting his mate all because of you,” she added.

Yes, Cassius Ironclaw, the soon-to-be alpha of the Wolfsong Dominion Pack, son of Alpha Damian, has shown me love and affection ever since the humiliation, disgrace, and embarrassment I faced during the full bloom moon of my birth month when I was unable to shift. It was such a humiliating moment that I wished I could forget every bit of it.

The Beta has served as a shoulder for me to cry on ever since then, even though it was a secret, but some pack members knew, which makes me look more disgusting to the Alpha himself and every other pack member. 

“It can’t work, Dahlia. I am just a wimpy omega with nothing to offer him,I responded nonchalantly.

"Callista, you shou…” 

She was cut short by the raging voice of someone outside our door.

“What are you fools discussing in there?"

Our eyes widened as we both simultaneously stared into each other’s eyes, covering our mouths from letting out any words, my chest pounding like a ticking time bomb at every interval.

“Ahh!” I exclaimed when I heard the voice of the person at the door.

“Em, em, nothing, ma,” Dahlia stuttered, trying to squeak out a reply.

“Leave now and find something to do, spineless wolves.” Enforcer Azura ordered.

We both quickly followed in each other’s footsteps and ran out of the room to continue with the chores assigned to us.

“Come back here, Callista." I heard Azura’s voice calling out as I was running, which made me stop and turn in her direction, walking like my feet couldn’t carry my body.

“Can’t you run? You pathetic excuse for a  wolf."Azura snorted coldly.

I quickly hastened my pace and ran to her, with my face glued to the floor.

“I am sorry, ma,” I responded apologetically, still not maintaining eye contact.

“Sorry for yourself,” she spat coldly.

“Go and serve Alpha his meal," Azura ordered.

Although all those words pierced my heart like a warrior’s dagger, there was nothing I could do. That is the ridicule I am facing as an omega of the pack.

"Okay, ma." I nodded and left for the palace kitchen to get Alpha Damian’s food. In a jiffy, I head into the palace to serve the Alpha.

As soon as I saw Alpha Damian waiting expectantly to have his meal, I hastened my pace so I would not get scolded for walking slowly. Just an arm's length away from Alpha Damian, my leg tripped, making all the content in the tray slip and pour on Alpha Damian.

Geez! I messed up.

Boom! Stars spinning around my head and eyes, Alpha Damian landed me a resounding slap.

"You're a disgrace to all werewolves. A disgrace to our kind." Alpha Damian spat, fuming with rage.

"I... I am sorry, sir."

“Shut up! And go get me another meal," he roared disdainfully.

I ran out of the palace. Just a step out of the palace, I bumped into Selene Orion, the Beta's rejected mate.

She wore a disdainful grimace, but I didn’t spare her any time to go ahead with her derogatory remarks.

“Bitch! Next time, watch your front, you fool of a wolf. I heard her after I had walked some distance away from her.

I headed straight up to the palace kitchen, where I met the pack's house cook.

Within a few minutes, she was done packing Alpha's food.

Being very careful this time around, I served Alpha Damian and left quickly before he got cold once again. His rage was something I wouldn't pray for other Omegas to experience.

A few hours later,

I stared blankly at the ceiling as I laid on my back on one of my wrappers in our non-accommodating cabin. I was not giving dinner because I poured food on the Alpha; I laid there chewing on my nails because I found it hard to sleep.

Is it because I didn't have dinner? No, because most times, even if I had dinner, I found it hard to sleep.

My insomnia started after I was unable to shift. I guess it was part of the physical effect of not being able to shift.

Faint noises erupted from the palace but gradually increased. I sat up on my rear, so I could be sure that my ears weren’t deceiving me.

I patted Dahlia slightly; she was fast asleep, but I needed to inform her because I didn't know what was going on.

“Did you hear that?” I asked Dahlia with a worried tone.

Yawning, she sat up. “What’s that?” she responded, rubbing her palm across her face.

“I don’t know either; just listen carefully,” I answered back.

“Wait, isn’t that Enforcer Azura’s voice?"

“Yes, and Alpha Damian’s roaring,” I added.

I squinted my eyes simultaneously, trying to grasp the situation.

“Call out those feeble, spineless, and wimpy Omegas out here.” I heard Alpha Damian's voice roaring with rage.

Simultaneously, Dahlia's eyes and mine locked, my heart pacing like a ticking bomb. I don’t know how Dahlia’s heart was racing, but it shouldn’t have been more than mine.

With a booming slam, the door flung open.

.