Late start

The next morning, Raine's eyes flickered open. The sun was already sitting proudly, very high up in the sky. Chatter and conversation carried on around her. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and groggy and sat up.

A huge chime came from the wall opposite and she slowly looked up at the giant grandfather clock. The time read seven am.

Raine's eyes bulge out of its sockets at the sight. A distinct voice rang somewhere in the back of her head reminding her that she should have been down in the kitchen an hour ago.

She scrambled out of bed but her body groaned at the movement. Everywhere was sore and aching as a result of the brutal assault she received yesterday coupled with the car journey that brought her to the Zircon pack.

It seemed like the pain condensed overnight. She winced grabbed a change of clothes and located the bathroom. She got lost a couple of times but was able to find her way in the end.

The queue that greeted her in front of the bathroom stalls made her almost cry. There were two shower stalls with about a hundred omega wolves waiting to use them.

Raine slapped her forehead and groaned chiding herself for waking up late. Waiting in line for her turn seemed disastrous as she didn't know the punishment that awaited her for tardiness. She decided to forgo the morning bath and come back later.

With that decision made, Raine went back to the dorm rooms and dumped her change of clothes on the bed. In a matter of seconds, she had changed out of her old clothes and tied up her hair with a hair tie.

She didn't care what she looked like, she just dashed down the stairs and went in search of the kitchen. She searched her brain to remember if she had been given a tour of the pack territory. Her memory from yesterday was still very fuzzy.

She followed a group of wolves carrying water and burst out in the kitchen. Relief shot through her when she didn't spot Lola immediately. Maybe she wasn't late after all.

"You are late." A voice berated behind her.

Raine bit her lip and closed her eyes sending a prayer to the moon goddess. Slowly, she turned around and saw Lola standing there and glaring at her.

"The lines at the shower stalls were too long." She lied.

It wasn't exactly a lie but she already woke up late. It had nothing to do with the outrageous number of people waiting to shower.

Lola raised an eyebrow at her excuse and gave her a slow appraisal.

"Did you get to use the shower still though?" she asked.

Raine looked down in embarrassment and shook her head. Lola scoffed and walked off.

"Come here." She ordered.

Urgency sprang into Raine's feet and she followed her to a small cubicle.

"This is where you should be every day, an hour before duty officially starts. That is the only way to ensure that you get your meal. If you miss anyone, you've missed it and no one cares about you, not the higher-ups and definitely not your fellow omegas."

Raine nodded, biting her lower lip. In essence, she has missed breakfast for the day. Her stomach rumbled at the thought and she sighed. This was going to be a long day.

"Now this is what you have to do. Every day, join these women to prepare whatever is on the menu. When that is done, you ensure the food gets to the right consumers. And you monitor the food so that you clean up after them."

Raine nodded some more. She has done this a thousand times back at home.

"Once the plates and utensils return to the kitchen, you put them over there. The cleaning crew will descend on it. At that time, you are to do house calls for the higher-ups who couldn't make it to the official breakfast and serve them. Do you understand this point?" Lola asked.

"Yes," Raine said. She vaguely wondered if some of them purposely missed breakfast just to torment the omegas. Her sister certainly would.

"When you are done with that, you will return here and join to prepare lunch, and you basically repeat everything. However, lunch is a bit different because it will be served at the training grounds where all the wolves will be having a break. No one is expected to miss lunch because training is compulsory and vital to the pack. What that means is, no house calls for lunch."

The information kept flowing. Some of the rules were ridiculous but she knew enough not to question them.

"You can only have lunch after serving. I advise you to have a late lunch because there will be no dinner for you on some days. You are entitled to two meals every day."

Raine's eyes watered. In her pack, they treated her badly but they didn't starve her. An image of her looking all skin and bones floated through her mind and her shoulders slumped. She couldn't even concentrate enough to hear the rest of the instructions. Lola's voice droned on and on.

"...and know that in between, you could be summoned by the alpha or the beta or the gamma to run special ends. Do them fast and return to your duties. Is that clear?" Lola asked.

"Yes, ma'am," Raine answered.

"If there's anything you don't understand, come find me. I'm in charge of you and the other omegas," Lola said and walked towards the door.

"Oh, and Raine?" she called.

"Yes ma'am?"

"Don't ever come to duty without taking a shower next time."

Embarrassment tainted her cheeks but she nodded anyway. She got to work at her cooking station and helped out with everything she could.

The aroma of the food wafted through her nose making her regret her choice not to wake up early. She was entitled to two meals and she already missed one. It's going to be a long day.

Breakfast was ready. The omegas hurried to their serving posts. They had to create the best comfort for the higher-ups after all.

Raine picked up the tray of food handed to her and followed the train of omegas.

The breakfast room was large and designed to look like a board room. It had a large center table and lots of sears surrounding it. She vaguely wondered if the room was intended to be used for meetings. She mentally counted the seats available trying to ascertain the searing capacity.

All around her, everyone set down their trays and arranged the table. As they were on it, the higher-ups trickled in, chattering animated about nothing in particular.

They didn't spare the omegas any glance and just took their seats.

"Hey," someone called.

Raine turned to the found to find a colleague of hers. She couldn't remember her name. Was it Sandra or Stella? She questioned herself but couldn't make a decision. She had worked with her all morning.

"Yes?" Raine answered.

"The baked bread is still in the kitchen. I need your help bringing them in before the alpha arrives."

Raine nodded and they went back to the kitchen together. They walked in silence.

"I'm Stella by the way." The wolf offered, breaking the silence.

"Raine. I'm new."

"Of course, silly. Where are you from?" Stella asked.

"The night pack. Have you heard of it?"

"Yes. The higher-ups worked us hard to get everything ready for the wolves from that pack when they went on that expedition a while back." Stella replied looking at Raine curiously.

"Why are you here?" she finally asked.

Raine shrugged. "I was sold off, to keep the peace between our two packs."

Stella winced. "That must be awful. But you will like it here. Let's get the chores done for today and I can show you around."

Raine nodded. She liked the idea of getting to know everywhere since she didn't know how long she would last in the foreign pack.

Her body still ached and she could still feel the sting of the lashes she received earlier yesterday each time she moved but she tried not to make hr obvious.

By the time they returned to the board room, Alpha Nikolai was already seated. On his right was his beta, who glanced at Raine briefly with a smirk. She refused to let it get to her. On his left was a woman she had never seen since her arrival to the pack.

"Who is that?" Raine asked Stella.

"Oh, that's the gamma of the pack. Tyla. Be careful of her. She's the most dangerous of all."

Raine found it hard to believe. Tyla had the most symmetrical face she had ever seen. Her straight black hair fell across her shoulder in loose waves. She had adorable Asian eyes and full lips. She could have been the definition of beauty.

Tyla leaned in subtly and whispered in Nikolai's ear laughing at her joke. Nikolai's expression didn't change. That was when Raine noticed his eyes on her.

She panicked and hurried to serve him his bread. Tyla's eyes met with hers as she noticed where the alpha's attention had been. She smiled kindly and alarms went off in Raine's head. She set the bread down and turned to grab the jug of orange juice.

Her foot caught on something and that was how she found herself on the floor. The room went quiet at her fall and the only thing she could hear was her erratic breathing.

"Fuck." Tyla cursed.

Raine looked up to find she was covered in orange juice. Even Nikolai had gotten some of it on him. He glowered down at her murderously.

"Seventh strokes of the whip!" Tyla deadpanned.

Raine's heart dropped. Another beating when she had barely recovered from the previous one.