Chapter Two

2 

A couple of moments had passed. Sophia felt her whole body burn. Seated in her new abode, she wondered if the attic would have been a better option than her grandparents' house. She was an outcast to everyone including her own family. She never stopped wondering the reason behind the I'll treatment. Perhaps, if her parents were alive, none of this would be happening. She put off the worn out vest and carefully wiped her body with a wet piece of cloth. 

" Mmm. " Her teeth gnashed in pain . At eighteen years of age, she had been subjected to the worst kind of psychological traumas that her healing ability was slowly leaving her. Bullied by every member of the pack and greatly despised by the only family she knew left her struggling to maintain her breath with every moment that passes by her . Soon, she was done cleaning the stains . Time was not on her side. Slipping out a t-shirt from her box, she walked to the mirror to take a look at her rugged body. But while examining her body, her eyes caught something else through the mirror. She turned to see a piece of cloth on the bed. Who dropped that? Without much consideration, her hands reluctantly reached out for the cloth. 

" This isn't mine. " She muttered , unfolding the piece. For a while, she was stunned by what she saw. A message written down with blood. Who could it be? 

"... Take Sophia with you. Go as far as you can. It is the least I can do as a mother. No matter what happens, make sure you keep her alive. In due time, help will come running to you." 

Her hands began to shake. Did she read correctly? This had to be her birth mother . Whoever dropped this definitely wanted her to see it. Next to the piece was a white paper . Another message sent to her. Her hands reached out to it. 

".. If you want to know the truth behind you, meet me at the oak tree tonight by midnight. In the chamber of the alpha, locate a secret vault. It holds a secret…. You have the key with you. "

 Thoughts were still running haywire in her head when she heard her name. 

" Sophia!" An angry voice yelled out. She folded the notes in her hands. 

" Sophia!!" The voice came again. It was her grandmother. The woman barged into the room without warning. 

" Grandma." Sophia said , startled. 

" Oh. You have been here. Why did you not respond to my call?" The woman asked, fuming heavily. 

" I was … I .. when. " She stammered. In this case, there was no way she was going to tell a lie without being found out. She definitely heard the old woman call her name. 

" You have suddenly become a stammerer. Is that it?" The woman was now ready to pounce on her. 

" I was lost in my thoughts. " Sophia managed to say. 

" Lost in thoughts. " The woman chuckled before landing a resounding slap to the already bruised cheek of the eighteen years old helpless omega. 

Sophia whimpered in pain. 

" Grandma, I was—" the words hung on her lips as she received another portion of the outburst. 

" How dare you call me that? Grandma? Don't even try it. You are an outcast. A miserable one among your peers."

" What… " Sophia sobbed. " What exactly did I do wrong? "

" Your only crime is to be born. If you had not been born, you would not have found your damn way to this family. And if that were not the case, my son would still be alive by now!!" 

"But—" she tried to speak but was shut again. 

" Shut that hole of yours. I am not done talking!!" The lady fired. " I don't know what you must have done to anger Ruckus. But I pretty much assure that if this continues, I will kill you by myself. I would not want to repeat this warning again. " She was done talking and turned to the door. 

" Grandma. " Sophia called. 

The woman stopped halfway to the door. Did the outcast not really heed her warning? With anger swelled up inside her, she raced towards Sophia, letting out her aged claws and piercing through the walls of Sophia's abdominal region. 

" This should be the last warning." Her grandmother gnashed her teeth and withdrew her claws. Sophia's mouth gaped open as she stared at nothing. Blood flowed down the t-shirt she had barely worn for twenty minutes. She was left alone again. With every passing moment, she felt the pain increase. Her trauma was already hampering her survival abilities. Right now, she needed to move her bruised body to the alpha's palace. For the first time in her life, she was willing to take a risk. After all, she has always been in danger. Just a little bit more of the exposure would not hurt so much. 

A few hours later, Sophia was carrying her injured body into the chambers of the alpha. She had been cleaning every single part of the pack's house for the last few hours including those of her peers. Her wound had stopped bleeding. However, the freshness of it still fired pain signals to her brain. The alpha's chamber was situated beyond three frontiers of powerful security in the palace. The story of the mystical vault was not far from reach. It was a rather common myth that has circulated through the members of the pack as far as she can remember. The story had it that the vault was built by one of the ancestral alphas and is only known by the heir apparent. But due to a certain mishap in the line of inheritance, the secret of an existing vault leaked to people who should never have heard of it. It was always said that the spirit of a certain forgotten princess would return through that vault. This always made Sophia wonder if she was by any means related to the story. Perhaps, she could be the princess that would return. 

" I'm here to do the cleaning. " She said to the commander of the last frontier to the chamber. 

" If you are not out before the alpha retires for the night, " the man smiled, " you should as well forget about this mishap of a life you have. "

She managed to put on a smile as she walked through them, raining all sorts of unspoken curses on them. She walked through the door and headed inside. 

" Look who we have here. " Someone said, startling the life out of Sophia. 

" Chloe. " Sophia said. " What… what are you guys doing here?" She eyed Anna and Belle. The three were Omega sisters who stopped at nothing to make her life more painful than it already was. 

" Are you surprised?" Anna asked. " Well, you have no reason to be surprised. We just came to wish you the best of luck. " She giggled. 

" Does the alpha know you guys are here? " Sophia asked. 

" We work . Just like you, Sophia." Belle replied. " Anyways, I came to see your face again just in case you ended up not coming out alive. We are off. " 

" One more thing." Anna said. " Do well not to take anything from here. If you do, I don't need to tell you what will happen. " 

With that, the sisters were gone from her. Sophia stood for sometime weighing what they had said. Would it really be her end? 

" Come on, Sophia." She muttered to herself. " There is absolutely nothing to think about. If you die, it won't look so bad. If you were dead, you wouldn't be risking your life by now. " Feeling reassured of her move, her eyes flew to the wall. It was already ten minutes before it reached eleven. The alpha would return to his chamber when it was past midnight. There was just a little over an hour for her to be done cleaning, find the mythical vault and retrieve whatever secret it held and get out . Her eyes began to dart left and right as she began the cleaning and the search. Minutes passed. It was getting to midnight. Yet there was still no trace of a vault. Desperation began to build up inside her and anxiety soon started creeping in. No one ever made mention of any fact relating to her mother. Now that someone finally did, all she needed was to find the damn vault. But it seemed everything worked against her. The pain from her grandmother's claws registered anew. Having worked all through the day with the accumulated damages done to her body system, she was beginning to feel dizzy. A good rest would probably suffice. Her legs began to feel weak. 

" Hold on, Sophia. " She muttered. " Just for a little more while. " She tried to move but her body felt reluctant. With the increasing weakness, she stuttered and fell to the ground. Her vision began to get blurry. Maybe everyone was right. The alpha's chamber would definitely be her end. If it were possible, she just wished to get out of the chamber with or without the secret. While she sank into unconsciousness, her eyes caught a statue. Then, her world changed. Memories were flashing. 

" Sophia, hurry up. " A lady said to the very tender child. " Come here. " She lifted her up and raced into the alpha's chamber. 

" Who are you? Where are you taking me to?" Little Sophia asked, staring into the face of the lady who made haste with her in her arms. 

" Mum will join us soon, okay?" The lady said. " Now, Sophia," she dropped her in front of the statue," do you remember what your mum taught you?"

" Is it concerning my claws?" She asked. 

" Yes, Sophia. I need you to get them out now." 

" But I don't know how to. Only my mother helps me with that. But she's not here."

" Exactly, Sophia. " The lady said and grabbed her shoulders. " Listen to me. Your mother is not here right now. And you have to remember what she taught you. Okay?"

" But I don't know how to—" 

" Will you just get it out ?!" The lady shouted . " I'm sorry. Sorry about that, Sophia. Listen to me. Your parents are in danger. So are we. No. " The lady shook her head anxiously. " There is no danger. We are playing a game right now with your parents. If they find us, we lose. Now, tell me. Do you want to lose?" 

The little girl shook her head. " We have to win. "

" Exactly. We have to win. Now, do you see this statue? It is our way of winning. But I need you to get your claws out. If you can't do that, then we will definitely lose this game. "

" Hold on. " The little girl shut her eyes for some moments. As if putting her lessons to practice, tiny claws crept out of her nails. 

" Yes!" The lady exclaimed. " That's it! Come here. " She lifted her up. " Insert two claws into his nostrils. "

" What?" 

" Do as I say, Sophia. We have to win. Your middle and index claws. Do it quickly. " 

Without any further hesitation, she did as she was told. 

" Now, pull it up. " 

" The statue." Sophia muttered from where she lay. She never remembered certain days of her childhood. What just happened? A new surge of energy fueled her whole body as her vision returned. She was conscious again. The pain in her abdomen had gone. The wound had healed. Rising up, she walked to the statue and did as she remembered. A crackling sound came from the wall. She rushed and locked the entrance. At least, no one would catch her unawares. Her eyes dilated in surprise. The wall had been split into two compartments, revealing a small hallway. She drew closer in amazement. Just as she was about to enter, a knock landed on the door. 

" Open up!!" The voice ordered. 

Sophia felt her world stop. There's no way that was the alpha. In a split second, her claws flew into the nostrils and pulled them down. The walls slid back into place with a noise. 

" Open this door!!"

She rushed to the entrance and opened it only to be met with a blow. 

" Argh. " She groaned. 

" Why the fuck did you lock this place? " The guard asked, looking around. " And why didn't you open immediately?"

" I was afraid. " Sophia lied. " I didn't want the mean sisters to return here." 

" That's it? I am sure I heard a loud noise from this room. What did you do?" 

" That must be when I moved that vase." She pointed at a flower vase in a corner of the room. 

" You're so dead lucky. Get out of here. The mate selection for Ruckus has started. You should know better what would happen if you skipped it. Get out!"

Sophia hastened out, stealing a glance at the clock. It was twelve on the dot. She needed to be at the oak tree . But missing the event would warrant a heavy penalty. Thoughts kept on flowing.