HERLO: The Gala

Breathe

Breathe Herlo.

The words were like a chant I kept repeating to myself like a prayer until I believed it. I was on the floor on my knees, breathing heavily, my lungs filled and stuffed. It burned, and I felt like I could collapse before I saw the light of another day. My body felt hot as if the sun directly faced me and beads of sweat poured down my face.

The lock of my room suddenly clicked and the door was opened. One look at my father’s disgusted face and I stilled.

He looked angry and he was going to hit me, to ease his frustration of having birthed a freak like me. But I knew how to take a beating.

Stay still and lessen the damage.

Be quiet, do not complain.

Don’t fight back.

Don’t react.

Keep. Quiet.

My father didn’t make a move even after what seemed like ages. I itched to look at his face, but I wasn’t stupid. I had no right ever to look him in the eyes, I dared not to without permission.

“Herlo.”

I raised my head but immediately lowered my gaze at his glaring eyes. I didn’t want to be hit, but my body burned in pain, my stomach clenched and my shoulders felt so heavy. Everything hurt, my heat hurt like hell, and still, I knelt there, trembling, hoping, begging within myself that he would give me a suppressant. Even if it was just one, a scrap of it.

I could see his shoes and then I noticed him squatting down, his hand reaching over to cup my jaw roughly and lift my head. He met my gaze and something cruel flashed in those gray pupils that weren’t any different from mine.

“You look terrible.” He tipped my face from side to side. “How do you feel, your heat hurts doesn’t it?”

When I didn’t answer quickly enough, his grip on my jaw tightened and I winced. “When I ask you a question, you answer me, girl. Does it hurt?”

My stomach pitched and I nodded my head frantically, tears stinging the edges of my eyes. “It hurts. It hurts a lot, Dad, I feel like I’m going to die.”

His lips dipped, edging into a cruel smile. “That’s good. If it didn’t hurt as much as I expected, then you wouldn’t need any suppressants, but since it does, I’ve come with news.”

“News?” I asked.

My father nodded and took out something like a letter from the pocket of his suit, handing it over to me. “Take a look at it. Read and tell me what you think.”

I warily received the letter from him and tore it open. Every sentence I read out of it felt like a lump in my throat.

A gala?

I was confused, nothing in there made sense, I mean, I didn’t see how any of its content related to me. What did he want me to do with the information?

“I don’t…understand.”

“Oh, you will. Allow me to explain,” my father said. “As you’ve read in there, the alpha is holding a Gala, a mating one for alphas, betas and omegas, newly manifested ones as well. And you, Herlo, what are you?”

“A manifested unmated omega.”

“One without a wolf, yes,” he added, folding back the letter. “Now see, the thing is, you’re going to the gala with your sister and I.”

I froze.

Fear trickled through my spine and slowed my brain down. He knew of my condition, my heat couldn’t be controlled, how was I to go to something huge as a gala? They would know, they would find out and then what? The alpha would have me killed?

I quickly shook my head. “No. I can’t! I-I can’t.”

His hand was quick to shoot out, gripping my jaw and he glared at me with those cruel eyes that didn’t have a fickle of kindness or pity in them. “Who says you have a choice? I’m not begging you to, I am ordering you to.”

My face paled.

“Dad—“

“You know what?” he shut me down. “I’ll give you a choice, since you want one. I suppose you can consider that fair.” He let go of me and stood up from the floor. My eyes rose to stare at him, waiting to hear what he had to say. No matter what this choice was, I still would never go to that gala, I wasn’t stupid. That was death itself calling for me and I wasn’t going to go ahead and hug it goodnight.

“Do you think you can survive till tomorrow without suppressants?”

My heart dropped to my stomach and I slowly shook my head, not wanting to know where he was going with this. He smiled, a devious grin. “These suppressants are very expensive, especially the high quality ones I give you to handle your heat, so you know you have to earn it this time, right?”

No…no, please.

My eyes alone were begging him. He wouldn’t do that to me. He may hit me or scoff at me because he could never stomach my existence, but my father wouldn’t go that far, I was still his daughter. But he did. He did and hunched to stare right into my eyes.

“Your only way of earning those suppressants is by going, Herlo.”

It hit me like a bag of bricks, and my chest burned.

Breathe,

Breathe.

“It’s going to be very excruciating, Herlo, dying like this. Everyone knows you exist and I can’t attend with only one of my daughters, you know that. Questions will be asked, our family isn’t insignificant even in the eyes of the alpha,” he said in a flat emotionless voice. “So what will it be?”

“Will you go to the Gala and earn the suppressants? Or…do you desire to die like this? You finally have a choice, Herlo. Choose!”