The Rejected Omega’s Destiny

2. Warrior wolf unhinged

*MORRIGHAN’S POV*

The woman guarding my door turns before I get the chance to get her attention and as our eyes meet, I feel the overwhelming need to allow the tears to flow freely. Her gaze softens, and she closes the distance between us in a rush, cupping both my cheeks in her hands and tilting my head, to an almost painful extent, to take a better look at my lip.

“You poor thing!” She mutters through gritted teeth, her eyes shifting from my face to somewhere behind me, her soft blue gaze darkening with malice only a wolf of her status is capable of.

Nora was one of the most powerful warriors this pack had. When she turned sixteen, she won this status by beating the s**t out of the beta’s son (who was slightly older than her), only sparing his life because the alpha commanded it before it got out of hand. Usually, such behaviour would be punished, especially since she laid hands on him because he bullied me, but the alpha took it as a great display of power and by the age of twenty, Nora was second in command of the warrior troupes. And really, I was certain it was only because of her age, and it had nothing to do with her power.

A mighty wolf she was, and she never held back from reminding people of it.

But her power had limits, and even if I could hear the grinding of her teeth as she glared at whoever was behind her, I knew she’d not do much about it. She couldn’t do much when it came to the alpha’s family, even if I wished she did.

“It’s nothing.” I managed to mutter as I pushed away her hands and wiped the stray tears that had managed to slip free on my cheeks.

“Right.” She huffs and switches her attention towards me again, her whole body stiff and her eyes narrowed to mere slits, making me feel smaller than I already was.

Nora was a tower. My tower. She stood at around 6’1ft tall, with broad shoulders and hips and a sturdy waist. She was built like a goddamn wall, and I was glad that I could rely on her for some protection. We considered ourselves sisters. Soul sisters. She has been my guardian ever since I could remember. To be fair, I do not remember much of my childhood. I do not remember much of what happened before I found myself alone. But I do remember her being the one who found me.

“Let’s get you cleaned up before we go for a walk.” She hums, and before I can tell her I still need to finish my chores, she grabs my arm and pulls me along into my room.

My room was… well, it was my little shelter. It was big enough to fit a single bed, a wardrobe and a little table I could use to do my homework and study. The best part of it was the joint bathroom, which was big enough to offer me a shower, a toilet and a sink. It was just enough. And it was private. I didn’t have to share it with anyone.

I could always lock the door and forget the outside world existed.

With Nora in my room though, it felt cramped. She falls into bed, enters first, and watches me in silence as I walk to the bathroom and start washing my face.

“Alarick?” She asks bluntly. I feel my heart flutter lightly.

I don’t remember Alarick ever hitting me harshly enough to draw blood.

“Miranda.” I answer just as bluntly as I use a little bit of balsam to apply to the now clean split on my lip

“I wish someone would unleash me for just five minutes so I could break that bitch.” Nora hisses and runs a hand through her short brown hair, falling back into the little mountain of pillows I hoarded on my bed.

A feeling of uncertainty and doom washed over me, much like a bucket of water being dumped over my head as she spoke the words. The walls had ears. The walls always had ears in this house, and this could either be the end of me… or a strict punishment for her. I gawk at her in disbelief, and Nora feels my eyes on her. She grunts and rolls her eyes at my mortified expression.

“Come on! Girl is bitter, and I get it! Having to reject your mate.” She shudders, and her face turns into a grimace of exaggerated pain. “And having to wait around that playboy to do the same so you could be bitter together.” She fake gags, and I feel a smile sprout on my lips.

Her genuine dislike towards the pair was somehow amusing. I knew for sure she had a crush on Alarick when we were younger, but now things were different. Her dislike did not come because of how much of a playboy Alarick was, but because the man had been a bully.

I lean against the doorframe of the bathroom and cross my arms as I watch her. Her brown eyes pin the ceiling as she seems to rake through her thoughts.

“I hope his mate rejects him before he even has the chance to understand what is going on.” She mutters, her voice low and filled with a pain I did not fully understand.

Nora was twenty three now. And despite her age, she had seen and been through enough to scar her forever. Not just the deep, healed ones that etched her body, but emotionally too.

She had lost her mate one whole year ago in a fight that broke down over hunting grounds. Her mate was allegedly the one to overstay his welcome in a neighboring pack’s hunting grounds, and before she could step in… a fight had broken out and it did not go as well as she wished for it to. Renne was slain on enemy grounds, torn up right in front of her and she couldn’t do much about it.

“You’re here to start a blasphemous religion against love or to help me with my chores?” I jokingly ask, and she suddenly perks up.

“Chores?!” She huffs and pushes herself onto her elbows, gawking at me in disbelief. “I came here to take you out for a walk! Not to wash dishes!” She protests, and I offer her a soft smile.

“I do have dishes to wash before I walk out.” I slowly untangle my arms and step into the room. I grab a hair tie and put my hair into a bun before I decide to walk out there and give anyone the chance to grab onto it again.

I don’t have to look at her to know she is rolling her eyes so deep into her skull that she can see her last brain cell dusting the place. She is on her feet before I can make it to the door and before I can open it, she stops me again.

“Morrighan.” her voice dims and has a serious edge to it.

My skin turns to goosebumps, and I lower my head.

“You’re turning eighteen tomorrow.” She informs me as if I could ever forget. “You’re planning something, aren’t you?” She continues, her grip on my arm turning borderline painful.

The feeling of being watched and having my privacy toyed with makes me feel a little nauseous, and before she can ask more questions, I tug my arm free from her grip.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” I answer, my voice flat, not turning around to face her.

For all I know, there might have been a bug in the walls. A tricky little bug that could unravel my plan before I even got the chance to make the first step. I could not risk it.

“Now, I have dishes to do and finish making breakfast before Alpha Remulus and Luna Sorana wake up and have a reason to lock me up again.” I whisper.

My voice cracks and gives away the terror that lurks in the back of my head, but Nora doesn’t stop me when I rush out of the door and put enough distance between us for it to not be obvious I was holding back tears long due.

There was something both terrifying and rewarding in being friends with someone who would snap you in half when they hugged you.

As we walk out of the pack house, we are met with a cloud of smoke on the front porch. Alarick stands leaned over the wooden railway, watching the sunrise bathing the pack grounds in a dim light, a burning cigarette between his fingers. He seemed tense and lost in thoughts as we pass by.

I cower, my shoulders drop and my eyes remain pinned on the ground in front of me, while Nora puffs out her chest and gives him a glare.

We descend the stairs and right when I thought I was out of danger, I feel a pair of eyes pinned on my back as if they were trying to dig through flesh and bone and see straight into my heart. A cold shiver rushes down my spine, and I feel nausea and swelling.

“You know-” Alarick speaks, breaking the morning silence and drowning out the waking buzz of the pack. “She won’t be here to protect you forever.” He announces to me and seeds within my mind that he planned something so despicable that words could not comprehend it.

“Shut it, bastard!” Nora snaps the moment his mouth closes, and I feel like throwing up.

I grab her wrist and tug at it, signaling to her that she didn’t need to make a scene right now, my eyes peering up at the future alpha of this pack. A smug, satisfied smile curls on his lips before he takes a long drag of his cigarette. In the morning light, the golden flecks of colour that danced into his green eyes were more visible than ever, just as the dark limbal ring containing the untamed green beast-like colour. His dark hair appeared peppered with silver and the contour of his face was sharper. Something within me trembles and before my knees could give in under his eyes, I turn my attention to Nora who huffs and grinds her teeth together.

She spits no more profanities towards him, and he doesn’t poke at her anymore.