Claimed By My Best Friend's Brother

Chapter Four: Party

I shouldn't have come.

Sometimes I forgot how horrible everyone was. It didn't matter; I was the Alpha's cousin, the strongest fighter and our Beta's best friend.

I was an Omega.

Dom didn't show, so the moment Alyssa was called away by some of her higher-ranking friends, the others attacked.

Someone drugged me with f*****g wolfsbane.

Someone else stripped me.

The rest threw me in the lake behind the house.

And now?

Now I was standing in front of an entire crowd of Pack members, shivering and naked.

I couldn't see anything properly. Everything was a hazy blur of fractured lights and moving shadows.

I hated myself for crying, but I was so angry.

Calypso was whining in agony, trying to keep as much of the pain to herself.

I had to get home.

I drew blood from my lip, shivering as I tried to push through the crowd.

"Don't think so," someone grabbed my hair and threw me to the ground. Instinct kicked in and I managed to roll, landing on my knees.

A solid boot kicked into my ribs, hurling me into the bank, and my face fell into the water again.

Someone held me down, long enough I was coughing and gasping when I was finally yanked back and tossed backwards.

"You think you can just leave, Omega?" A voice I recognised as Sandra, a Delta's daughter. "You've still yet to entertain the boys!"

Calypso bristled, trying to fight through the haze and pain, trying to Shift to protect me.

She howled in pain, falling silent as I was grabbed by the arms and yanked to my feet.

A large hand connected with my cheek, rocking my head sideways, the arms holding me the only thing that kept me upright.

"What? Not gonna whimper for us, mutt?" The one who slapped me sneered, gripping my face by my cheeks and forcing me to look at him.

I could barely make out his features, but his eyes and scent were familiar.

I lost the identity as another slap was delivered.

I kept my mouth shut. They'd get nothing from me.

I didn't break the last time I was tortured. These fuckers weren't even half as scary.

A fist impacted my ribs, feeling the bones shatter.

The only noise that left me was the air being forced out.

The guy growled, gripping my hair painfully and forced my head up, only to headbutt me.

I gritted my teeth through the pain, giving them nothing.

They continued until nearly every bone was broken and every part of me was damaged, leaving me in a bloody pile by the lake.

I stayed there until I was in complete darkness and silence; the wolfsbane had ruined Caly too much, and my regeneration was cut off until she was okay.

I was on my own.

For the first time, a whimper left me as I forced myself to my shattered feet, my legs trying to hold me.

I pushed myself, biting further through my lip to give myself another rush of pain and adrenaline. If I stopped before I got to the Packhouse, I would probably die.

I made it two steps before my leg gave out unnaturally, an agonized scream leaving me as I crumpled to the ground. I don't know how long I stayed unconscious, but a scent and noise woke me.

"Gabbi!" A voice shouted, muffled by my arm, that I couldn't lift off me. The scent was mixed too heavily with my blood.

"Oh god, is that-"

"GABBI!" A hand touched me, a whimper leaving me as they rolled my broken body.

I couldn't see the faces, their scents were mingled and confusing.

"f**k, kitten..." I started to sob.

"Niq?" My voice was hoarse and rasped.

"I got you, kitten," his voice was in my ear. "I'm sorry, this will hurt." I didn't understand until his arms were sliding under me and he lifted me.

He wasn't wrong.

I tried to grit my teeth against the pain, but a scream left me before descending into violent sobs.

"I'm here, I got you kitten." Dom tried to soothe, reminding me who held me. "I'm right here." I blacked out, waking in the back of a car.

"I said I'm sorry, okay!" I heard Alyssa sobbing nearby. "I left her with Sandra-"

"The b***h who dumps food on Gabbi at least twice a week?" Dom's voice snapped back, his voice slightly muffled. "Who, I'm pretty f*****g sure, put liquid silver into Gabbi's water bottle during her first week of training? f**k, if I hadn't been standing right next to her to smell it, the amount would have killed her!"

Alyssa sniffled. "I didn't know that."

"Of course you don't! She doesn't tell you because you're friends with Sandra, she knows if she said anything-"

"I'd have yelled at Sandra," Alyssa finished, sighing shakily. "Which would have made Gabbi a bigger target."

"You forget she's an Omega!" Dom snarled.

"I don't see her that way!" Alyssa snapped back, fury in her voice that touched me. "She's my best friend for the last ten years if they knew half of what I know-"

"But they don't, Aly." He cut her off. "We don't see her that way, because we know Gabbi. We know what she's been through and survived." He seemed to be trying to control his rage, his next words were strained. "But the others don't care, all they see is a Wolf whose Pack died out. It doesn't matter if she's Will's cousin or Luna's niece. All they see is a -"

Alyssa growled. "She isn't a Rogue."

Dom growled back. "If you think that's what I was about to say, you're more drunk than I thought."

"Shuttup, you jerk." She hissed, her tears dried from anger. "She's going to the ball this year, so hopefully her mate will be able to-"

"What? Save her? What if she gets mated to someone like Xavier? Why would she even want to go?" He growled the last part, my chest tightening oddly.

"She wants to find her mate...I think she gave up waiting for whoever she's liked the last few years."

Dom gave a rough chuckle. "Still no one who?" He asked.

"No," she groaned out. "I don't get why she won't tell me! She told me she liked you!"

"Wait...really?" I imagined that hopefulness in his voice, right?

Alyssa laughed. "Don't sound so excited, I think that ship sailed when she got some sense."

Dom grunted. "Hm." The car's engine died.

I didn't hear the rest of the conversation, something warm surrounding me and the scent of chocolate sending me spiralling into more darkness.

I woke up again in one of medical rooms of the Packhouse, feeling better and Calypso snored loudly in the back of my mind, telling me I was doped to the eyeballs with pain medicine.

My body felt bandaged with healing salves, feeling sticky and I groaned softly. "Gross."

A sleepy chuckle made me open my eyes properly, looking around the dark room, only to find the person was laying behind me in the bed.

I rolled gingerly, finding Dom with his head resting on his arm and a book in his lap.

He closed the book, rolling so we laid face to face. "Hey," he said softly, "I'm sorry about what I said today,"

I shook my head, only to wince and stop. "I'm sorry I snapped, you didn't do anything wrong...it was just a s**t day."

He scoffed a laugh. "So s**t you said yes to going to the ball?"

"Yeah, I guess so." I muttered, ignoring what I thought was pain in his eyes and cast mine down, looking at my hand wrapped in thick yellow bandages. "But, I'm still not sure I want to."

"Kitten, look at me." He commanded softly, though he used none of his aura, I felt obligated to obey. His thumb stroked my bruised cheek gently. "Why aren't you sure? Don't you want to find whoever your mate is?"

I don't know if it was the painkillers, Calypso or my own weakness, but my next words spilled from me in a small whine, unable to meet his eyes. "Not if it won't be you." I admitted. "I dream of you, Niq. Of us."

His hand on my cheek faltered and I closed my eyes, waiting for his warmth and scent to disappear, leaving because I'd said something we both know I shouldn't have.

He was a Beta.

I was an Omega.

We weren't mates, no matter how much I wanted to believe it.

His hand moved, a small noise leaving me as he tilted my head up, making sure I couldn't avert my eyes from his.

I hated they shone in the darkness, like a lighthouse guiding me to safety.

He looked across my face, his expression tight before he whispered, "I dream of us too," then his lips were pressed against mine.