Nova
What does it mean to be expendable, for your life to mean absolutely nothing?
To be born beneath everyone else? To be destined for nothing—to be no one?
What do you do when your birthright is servitude, endurance and submission?
When even the Moon Goddess herself has decided your life should be one of mockery and abuse?
Hope? Dream?
An omega can't afford to hope or dream—it's futile, laughable even.
And yet… even with the knowledge that I could never escape the cruel fate bestowed upon me by the goddess herself, I still wanted to try. To run. To leave this pack behind. To start over… as human.
I mean I'm basically human… being wolfless and all.
That inkling of hope was why I was here, listening to Cami, when I should be working.
Camille Sanders—my best friend, my only friend; was one of the few omegas in the Blood Moon Pack who didn't treat me like absolute garbage for being nineteen and still wolfless.
"So," she pressed, her eyes wide with anticipation. "What do you say?"
I already knew my answer.
"Look, Cami, I can't, okay?" I kept my voice low. "What if they want sex after? I can't do that." My eyes darted toward my boss, making sure he wasn't watching. I was supposed to be at the grill, flipping burgers and taking orders, not whispering about reckless ideas with Cami.
"Then you just reject their advances—" She
stopped short, realizing what she had said, we were both omegas, we can't just reject higher caste members without consequences. Desperation flashed across her face as she continued. "—plus, that's probably not even gonna happen. My informant told me they just need a couple of dancers for the bachelor's party. That's it. And if it's just the two of us and we play our cards right, we might be able to make over four thousand each."
I gasped with wide eyes, much to Cami's satisfaction
Four thousand.
That money could fix a lot of my problems.
I hesitated. "Who's your informant? And who the hell is paying over eight grands for just two dancers? This sounds dangerous, Cami."
She chewed on her lip looking over her shoulders. "Okay… I wasn't gonna tell you, but it's—" She leaned in, voice barely above a whisper. "Alpha Kain's bachelor's party. You know he's getting married soon, and those rich wolves have a lot of money to throw around"
I stared at her, disbelief crawling up my spine.
"The Alpha's bachelors party" I whisper yelled "That's dangerous Cami, these are highest ranking wolves in the pack if anything goes wrong we're fucked and we can't do anything about it, they could ruin or worse" I paused, letting it sink "Plus if my parents find out I'm fucked"
Ah—yes. My parents.
Or, more accurately, my adoptive parents—they never forgot to remind me that I wasn't truly theirs. My aunt and her shitty excuse for a mate had spent years making it clear I was a burden. Their hatred only intensified when I turned sixteen and failed to shift with the rest of my peers.
That was the day my life went from miserable to unbearable.
Cami sighed in frustration. "Fine. But the party's still a couple of days away. If you change your mind, call me."
"I won't." I rolled my eyes standing up. "Now, are you gonna order something, or are you too broke for that?"
She grinned. "Too broke for overpriced burgers. I'll see you later."
+++++++
Work was uneventful, but that word's meaning was very different for me than for others.
Maybe others wouldn't call constant taunting and disgusted glances from every direction uneventful, but this was my normal.
This was my life. And I had gotten used to it a long time ago.
The bistro's location being tucked away on the outskirts of pack territory—made it a frequent hangout spot for the omegas, which
meant I was constantly subject to ridicule by anyone who knew my story.
And that was everyone.
At least the pay was decent. If I kept working overtime, maybe—just maybe—I would have saved up enough to leave this god forsaken pack behind in 2 months.
But overtime meant danger.
Overtime meant walking home after sunset and for someone like me, that was a death sentence.
"Hey, Vince, I'm done with my shift. See you later." I made sure my boss heard me.
"All right. Stay safe."
Yeah, right. He knew how dangerous it was for me but he didn't care, never asked. And I never told him either
The road was dark, my phone's flashlight already flickering as its battery drained. I picked up my pace, barely able to see.
If I had a wolf, I wouldn't need a flashlight.
Fuck this.
The eerie silence around me pressed in when my flashlight finally went off, making the night feel heavier. I forced my feet to move faster. I just needed to get home. I didn't want to be anyone's punching bag.
Not tonight.
Then, I heard it.
The crunching sound of dry leaves made when stepped on
Behind me.
A chill ran down my spine. Someone's there.
I gripped my bag like a lifeline, heart hammering as I picked up the pace. Every few steps, I stole a glance over my shoulder.
The footsteps grew louder.
Closer.Scarier
And immediately without thinking,I broke into a run.
My legs burned, my breath came in gasps, but the footsteps only closed in.
Oh god or anything that is out there please not today, just save me this one time, you haven't done anything for me all my life, help me…please
Then—
THUD.
Pain exploded across my skull as something heavy slammed into my head from behind.
I cried out in pain, my eyes watering as my vision swam, the world tilting as my body crumpled.
Through the loud ringing in my ears, I heard it.
Laughter.
And even my blurring vision, I saw them.
A small group of teenage wolves, grinning like they'd just gotten a new toy
Me— I was their not so new toy
Here we go again.