Omega. Playboy

7. CHAPTER SEVEN

I adjusted my ripped pantyhose as best as I could after wiping myself off with a stray rag I found in the bathroom. Wetting the rag, I proceeded to scrub off all traces of blood on the mattress. I was an omega, cleaning was what I did best. 

My thoughts were quiet with the occasional whimpers of my wolf breaking into the silence. My body was numb as I worked mechanically to rid the room of every trace that I had been there. That we had been there. 

“I forbid you from telling anyone about our encounter, especially not Remi,” A simple text on my outdated mobile read. I almost questioned who it was and how he had gotten my number but I just knew. If he wanted my number it would be so easy for him to get. 

Why would I tell Remi? The only thing she would do was hound him and make things uncomfortable for me. She could even compel him to be with me with her power as our alpha but that was illegal according to wolf laws. I wanted so much to leave everything behind but I would be losing everything and not gaining any. What about Jessy? She had called everyday in the month I had visited Canada and a good number of her calls had ended with her crying. 

Where would I go to if I left? I had some omega friends in Canada but before I could move to that division of the pack, I would have to seek permission from my Alpha and what reason could I give Dylan and Remi for wanting to leave my family?

Leaving the room, I walked like a robot down the stairs, forgetting all about the party that was supposed to be in my honour. A party for a birthday I had forgotten but what did it matter? I was eighteen now but still every bit a loser as I had been at seventeen. 

Unfortunately, I met Remi coming in through the door to the pack house as I was exiting. 

“Oh my god, Clara. I’ve looked everywhere for you! Your scent seemed to be everywhere yet nowhere at the same time. Are you leaving your own party before it ends?” She asked incredulously and I nodded meekly.

“I have to wake up early tomorrow to get a head start on things. Thank you for the surprise. It makes me glad to know that I’m in your thoughts and you would go through so much to make me happy,” I said. The words were an expression of my truest emotions but they only came out bland and emotionless as if I was programmed to say them.

“You’re welcome – wait, why do you smell like Jake?” Suspicion shone through her eyes making me uncomfortable. Remi was smart and not easily lied to but it wasn’t a if I could tell her the truth.

“He caught me. I almost face palmed the ground but he caught me,” I said. Half truth. There was still disbelief in her but she thankfully did not press the issue.

“If you say so,” She conceded with a shrug. “I’ll drive you home, I have Dylan’s keys on me,” She said and started walking towards the car without waiting for my response. Already starting to get bossy like her mate. 

“Since when do you know how to drive?” I asked in curiosity.

“Since I started learning long before we left for Canada. I’m no expert neither am I an accident waiting to happen. Don’t be scared,” She urged me to her mates mustang. The Alpha’s car. I didn’t think I had ever touched it and now she wanted me to get in it. 

“I think I’ll walk. I don’t want your mate to start looking for you. He gets pissy whenever you hang out with someone other than him,” I whispered

“Yeah, Dylan is such a clingy baby," She agreed with a laugh “ I’m giving you a ride though. I got you a present and it’s in the car. Come on, you can unwrap it while I drive. I want to see your expression when you see what I got you,” She grinned like a giddy child.

I got into the car with a slight tremble. It smelt clean. It smelt like Dylan and Remi and happiness. Goddess, my heart ached. Three months ago, Remi and I were both the pack runts and now she had found her real place in the world, found her family and made new friends. Finding her mate had been a turning point in her life and was it too much to ask for half of what she had? Was it too much ask for just a little happiness?

“Are you alright?” Remi asked, alarmed. 

That was when I realised tears were rolling down my cheeks. I reached up to swipe them away with more force than necessary. Pathetic. My life, my situation, me, all pathetic. 

“I’m fine. I’m just really happy for what you did. I’ve never had a party before,” I lied. Somehow, I wasn’t entirely lying. I was grateful for the party and if Jake f*****g White hadn’t ruined it for me, I would be crying tears of joy. 

“Aw, don’t cry. I’m happy you’re happy but please don’t cry,” She pleaded and I smiled a watery smile. “Here, open it,” She handed me a small box.

I unwrapped it with trembling fingers, careful not to destroy the fancy wrapping. Inside it was a small wooden box made of fine wood and as I snapped the box open, I picked out a beautiful necklace. It was a replica of the one she had on her neck, the one I had given her for her birthday except it was a higher quality. 

“I made it myself,” She said proudly. 

The pendant – the one she made herself – was made of a finely polished wood and it carried our pack symbol. 

“Thank you,” I said, twisting the pendant around and running my fingers on it. 

“You’re welcome,” A pause. “Clara?” She called and I hummed.

“Yeah?” I was still distracted by the exquisite pendant.

“If – if anyone is bothering you you’d tell me right?” Her voice was quiet and as I turned to gaze at her, there was uncertainty in her eyes.

“Of course,” I lied with clenched fists. 

“Good. I know – I know I’ve been unavailable, with having to run a pack and Dylan wanting me all to himself, but I’m still here and I’ve got your back. We’re still best friends. Just – if there’s anyone still giving you trouble, just point them out and I’ll make them regret their existence,” She promised with a growl. 

“Thank you,” I choked out in tears. The rest of the ride back was filled with silence and I bid her a good night and safe trip as I walked into my parent’s house. Quinn was waiting for me at the door like he knew I had arrived so the minute I closed the door behind me, I was met with a fist to my mouth and rains of insults. 

“You w***e – sneaking out at night to attend a party! Is this what you’ve become?” He shouted with a crazed look in his eyes.

“It was my party!” I cried in anguish. 

“It was a surprise! I didn’t think you had the guts to sneak out but it seems you’ve grown wings big enough to soar on waywardness,” He growled, hitting me with each word.

I curled into a ball on the ground, using my arm to shield my face. I was so tired. If this was how I was meant to die then it wasn’t so bad. My body grew numb with every blow until I couldn’t feel a thing. I welcomed the darkness as it embraced me. 

Something cold was pressed into my forehead the next time I woke up. I was still on the floor where Quinn had left me. Jessy’s little hands pressed a cold cloth to my neck, my cheek, slowly wiping me. She dipped the cloth into a bowl beside her and squeezed out red liquid. 

The clock on the wall read the time to be past two a.m and my little sister was awake. “What are you doing up, Jessy? Go to bed,” I tried to command but my voice came out hoarse. 

“I heard you screaming and then – and then,” Her eyes were rapidly filling up as she sniffed. 

“Jessy, no. Don’t cry. Go up to your room and continue your sleep. I’ll be fine,” I tried to reassure her but her little hands that were vibrating still tried to help me out. “I’ll be fine. Go on, go back to bed,” I said and she nodded.

“Why won’t you tell on him? Are you scared?” She asked as she got up to leave. 

“I won’t tell and neither will you. Please. He will kill me if I do,” I begged weakly and again she nodded, padding softly up the stairs. 

I picked myself off the floor and cleaned the blood from the bare ground. It was three o’clock in the morning when I finally crawled into my room. A drawing of me and Jessy was sitting on my bedside table and a note attached to it read ;

‘I’ve been bursting to wish you happy birthday all morning but the Alpha said to wait till the surprise party. I hope you had fun. Happy birthday, Cee. Love, Jessy' in the squishy writing of a seven year old. I smiled at the drawing, noting how good it was. I would have to frame it. 

I scrubbed dried blood off my body with freezing water before crawling into bed and answering the happy birthday message I got from my two omega friends in Canada. 

“Thanks! You are the best xoxo,” my message read as I added a bunch of smiley faces, faking an enthusiasm that I was not feeling. 

*****

We were all gathered in the wood because of me. My alphas, Remi and Dylan, my sister, Jessy who had protested and wept when I told her she should go to bed, and my brother, Quinn, who was here to keep up appearances. 

A wolf’s first shift is held as sacred and only those closest to them are allowed to witness it. It can be tricky, moving from man to wolf and a shifter is most vulnerable at the point of their shift so I had to have people with me.

Remi and Dylan were curled around each other, sitting on the grass, Jessy was fighting back sleep in my laps while Quinn stood to the side, observing the skies. The moon was going to be full very soon. Give or take five minutes and my first shift would be forced upon me. 

Jessy yawned loudly, Dylan wrapped a jacket around Remi, Quinn continued to stare at the skies as the dark clouds started to part to reveal a fat round moon. My heart began to race and I rubbed my palms on my skirt. Everyone’s eyes fixed on me as the moon climbed higher, brightening the dark. 

I could feel it, a change was taking over me, spreading slowly. It felt like a boulder was being pressed into my chest as something in me started to come alive. I pushed my face up to the moon, accepting my goddess’s blessing. The boulder swept through me and I started to relax. 

The moon was shining, it was full and I was eighteen. I didn’t understand. What was happening. Why wasn’t it happening. I felt it. I felt a change happening inside me but where was my wolf?

“Nora?” I called for my wolf but I was met with silence.

Everyone around me was silent but I knew what they were thinking. We waited. An hour rolled into two and then three. My heart started to ram against my ribcage. 

“Did I miss the shift?” Jessy’s eyes opened gradually to looks at me. 

“Are you even a wolf?” Quinn’s biting voice cut through the stretch of silence.

“I – Yes! I’m a wolf! Out parents are wolfs. I – I have a wolf. She’s called Nora. She speaks to me! I swear it! I – I heal incredibly fast, I can hear things that are far away, I – I can run fast – I’m stronger than humans. I’m a wolf!” My voice took on a frantic edge as I tried to defend myself.

“Our parents are deltas and you’re an omega or should I say human,” Quinn sneered and Remi was in front of him in a flash.

“I am her alpha. You will not stand before me and discredit my pack” She snarled at him, red eyes glowing under the light of the moon. 

“She has no wolf and –“ Quinn started to protest but whatever he saw in her eyes made him pause or perhaps he remembered his place. “I’m sorry alpha,” He bared his neck to show his respect and she heaved out a sigh.

Jessy watched in confusion at all this. Remi came to stand beside me, offering comforting words. 

“As your alpha, I can feel the thread connecting you to me. You are my pack and we will wait here till your wolf makes an appearance, “ Her voice was still heaving with her anger.

We waited and waited and waited.