Chapter 1: Bullied Omega
1364 Words
Zhivka
From deep within me, I was seething. So, I took a deep breath and hoped I wouldn’t regret being pushed by this curious force from deep within me. I just wanted to see if I could handle Gamma Blagun, though my instincts told me I don’t have a tiny bit of chance.
In South Slavic, blag means good, sweet or pleasant. But he was none of the above. His personality was way too opposite. Who said one’s name could tell what a person—in this case, a shifter—is? With my name, which means living, was probably just a coincidence.
Yes, I am living but it is hell!
Or was it given on purpose so that I wouldn’t give up living? Nonetheless, my life was always not pleasant. Okay, maybe I exaggerated but most of the time, life for me was too difficult if I would compare it with the others.
I grew up in different foster homes. Well, you could just guess what was all the sh*t I had been through with them. And then, I was lucky I landed on the best foster family’s doorstep one time. Or I must say it was the last time because I ran away. It was when I turned sixteen, which was seven years ago. Why did I run away when I found the best family at last? But who wouldn’t when I suddenly shifted one full moon?
I didn’t know what was happening to me until I just grew hair all over my body. When my foster family saw it, they were horrified. At the time, I only had one thing on my mind. It was to run away. I did it literally. I couldn’t let them see my monstrous self. I had no clue what was happening. I just wanted to protect them. They were nothing but good to me, so I could not hurt them, in case I turned into a full-blown monster. And I did. Fangs and all grew, and I changed into an animal. A wild one.
I had no idea what I was. I couldn’t control it. There was extreme hunger of fresh flesh from deep inside me that I hunted randomly, both people and animals alike. I was clueless until I met Alpha Ivan four years ago. I almost killed a person for the first time, thanks to him I hadn’t. The man escaped when I was down on the ground with Alpha Ivan’s paws on my ribs and his sharp and large fangs threatening to cut my head off.
He shifted, which made my light brown eyes grow wide. I couldn’t express how happy I was to meet someone who was just like me! Shyly, I shifted to my human form, and we talked. He told me I was a werewolf, a shifter just like him. He told me everything he could at the time and took me into his pack. But the Silvermoon Pack was not excited about my presence, here in a Bulgarian forest. They said I was a rogue. I couldn’t comprehend why I was called that.
Being with them, I learned the pack’s territory was huge.
I was trained under Alpha Ivan’s order, but I was still the weakest. Until now.
I faced Blagun in his dirty yellow wolf form, accepting his challenge when he provoked me, saying I would never become strong. He was bigger than my white form, naturally. Our fellow pack members were surrounding us on the grassy and shrubby training ground. Gigantic and little trees were just a spit away from the small clearing.
Everyone was in their human form. There were hoots and catcalls. I guessed it was to taunt me. As usual. They were always like that. Nothing new. Still, it was both upsetting and annoying.
Every single day, one of them would provoke me into fighting them. And since I did not want to be called a coward or a weakling, I had to face such a feat every f*cking day—although it was true and obvious I was the weakest since I was the Omega, I still refused to admit it. I wasn’t the aylyak (Bulgarian word for someone who doesn’t take life seriously) type. I did take life seriously, especially with my sh*tty predicament.
I was distracted while having this fracas with a high-ranking wolf in the pack. He bit me in the right hind leg, making me whimper in pain. He tore some flesh before he let go, and I felt the extreme pain, making my eyes sting. Red fluid oozed from my leg, staining my white fur.
Limping, I growled and tried to get back at him by biting his foreleg, but he caught me in the neck instead. His sharp and fierce canine fang dug deeper into my flesh that I could feel my warm blood trickle. I mewled and hit him in the face with my paw, scratching it with my sharp nails. There were snickers around us because of it.
“Whoa! This glupak (fool) tries really hard, Blagun!”
I heard Gavril, a Lambda, uttered those words in a goading tone. My narrowed eyes strayed to him for a moment in spite of my agony. Not because he was one of the best hunters in the pack, he had the right to belittle me. But of course, as I said, they always bullied me for being the Omega and being the weakest one.
“Enough!” Alpha Ivan roared. “Let go of Zhivka, Blagun!” His eyes held a warning if the Gamma wouldn’t listen, but Blagun did let go as soon as Alpha Ivan’s words left his mouth.
I couldn’t say I was thankful to this tall, handsome, Caucasian alpha but I should. I could have been a goner, if not for him. Blagun could say he accidentally killed me if it did happen, and no one would care. Maybe except for the Alpha pair that cared enough about me.
Anyway, I saw how everyone cowered when the Silvermoon Pack’s powerful leader arrived. Beside him was his beautiful Luna, Mariyka. She was dark skinned, with long curly hair, dark and mysterious eyes, violet lips, beautiful pert nose and slender figure. Her petite form was somehow perfect for Alpha Ivan’s six-foot height and build. From what I heard, she was a couple weeks pregnant. We had a kupon to celebrate it, in fact. It was only a kupon, not the sophisticated party. It just meant we had cheap alcohol and almost everybody ended up throwing up or falling asleep under the skies or trees.
It was summer anyway, so there was no worry about being frozen to death or hypothermia. As shifters, we had high tolerance to cold temperature if it was the case, but we were not invincible either.
After the rest of the pack dispersed, I lay on the ground, heaving and exhausted and hurt. Alpha Ivan and Luna Mariyka stood at each side of me, peering down at me.
“Go rest and you’ll heal up in a couple of hours or so,” Alpha Ivan told me, assessing my deep wounds.
Still in my wolf form, I whimpered in response. He strode away, but Luna Mariyka sat on her heel and stroked my head.
“Take it easy, Zhivka. You don’t have to prove yourself. One day, you’ll be one of the strongest in the pack. I believe in you, you know?” Her soft singsong voice seemed to soothe my always wounded ego and self-esteem, not to mention my physical body. She seemed to have that kind of power whenever she talked to me and to the others in the pack.
She smiled at me with kindness that no one had given me. Maybe except for my last foster mother.
I then sighed. I did miss her.
I followed Luna Mariyka with my eyes. Not a split second passed by, tears rolled down my face. My heart was leaden. The thought of just running away and leaving the pack was enticing me, but when I looked at my Luna Mariyka’s back, I couldn’t…
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