CHAPTER 36: AN OMEGA’S CURSE

Emira stared down at the ground in the middle of the courtyard, covered only in what could barely be called a garment. On her face, there was no expression, not even the faintest flicker of emotion. Usually, when an Omega was about to be initiated, there would be fear, maybe even terror, plain for everyone to see. But for her, showing something like that was weakness, and weakness was something she refused to give them.

She simply kept her gaze fixed on the dirt beneath her, her eyes steady, her face calm, as if the whole thing didn’t touch her at all. The murmur of voices around her carried through the air, the sound thick with excitement and anticipation, and she could feel it pressing in on her, crawling across her skin like an unwelcome hand.

Deep inside her, her wolf stirred restlessly. The creature lived in the back of her mind, silent and strange, a presence that was hers but somehow apart from her. It growled now, low and sharp, as though it felt the same unease she did.

But unlike others, her wolf never spoke to her. It had no voice, no words to offer, or maybe she simply didn’t understand what it wanted to say. Either way, the two of them remained strangers bound to the same body, and she had no way to reach it, no way to ask what it wanted or why it stayed locked away when she needed it most.

However, luckily for her, she was not dependent on a wolf. All these years, she had stayed in her mother’s pack only because of the small protection they offered. It was a life worth less than even that of a lowly slave, yet it was still a life she could hold on to. At least there, she could breathe. It was better than wandering as a rogue with no shelter, no food, no safety. Better still than the nightmare of living with her biological father...

She had learned to survive by swallowing her pride, by staying quiet, by enduring everything they threw at her. That was how she had lived this long.

But her thoughts cut off sharply when Alpha Soier stood up. Even without looking, she knew the exact moment he moved toward her. The weight of his presence was impossible to miss. She kept her eyes lowered as his steps drew closer, each one slow and deliberate, until he stopped right in front of her.

His hand reached out, fingers brushing lightly over the top of her head. She stiffened at the touch, her shoulders locking tight. It was the first real reaction she had shown him since coming here. Not because she feared him. No, fear had long burned out of her.

It was because she remembered. This was the same gesture he had used the first time he had convinced her to come here. The same gentle pat on the head, the same soft look in his eyes, pretending to be a caring, fatherly Alpha. Back then, she had been too young, too desperate, too naive to see through him. She had thought that her mother’s pack would care for them. That they would nurse her back to health.

He had taken advantage of her innocence. Used her mother’s illness, her helplessness, everything, to bring them back to the Moonville Pack. Promising them safety. Promising them a home.

And then they had killed her mother. And tonight they planned to do the same to her. But they were mistaken.

"Tell me, Emira, what happened that night?"

She looked up at the words and gave her most innocent look to him," What night?"

The sharp crack of the slap echoed through the courtyard, cutting through the murmurs like a blade. Emira’s head snapped to the side with the force, the sting blooming across her cheek, but she did not cry out. Her face stayed blank, her eyes still fixed on the ground as if she hadn’t felt it at all.

"Tell me what happened the night Alec was taken," Alpha Soier said, his voice low but carrying easily through the crowd. "Do that, and I will tell them to be gentle with you."

Emira bowed her head slowly, shoulders trembling just faintly, though she simply shook her head. There was no way she was going to tell him. Let him seethe.

The refusal hung heavy in the air for a single breath before someone behind her shoved her forward. A hand gripped the back of her neck and pressed it down until her forehead nearly touched the dirt, her hips raised high in a position meant to humiliate as much as to restrain.

Gasps rippled through the onlookers, followed by a low hum of excitement. This was what they had been waiting for, the breaking of the Omega who had never cried, never begged, never shown fear despite everything they had done.

But even as her arms strained against the hold, even as her cheek burned from the slap, Emira’s face stayed calm, her lips pressed in a thin line. Inside, her wolf stirred again, restless, growling at the edges of her mind like a storm she could not quite reach.

Behind her, she felt Alpha Soier kneel, and the others around the courtyard stand, coming forward to surround them in a circle. Her hands clenched, the knife hidden inside her palm, almost cutting her. Almost.. For now was not the time yet.

"A few minutes at most, Emira. You barely have a few minutes left until the moon is high and you will lose the last layer of your protection. You still have the time. Confess to everything and we will be gentle." He said the words even as felt him excitedly pressing against her body. He could barely keep himself in check...

Emira smiled cynically at that and yet, said nothing.

Just then, a voice said," There is only a minute to midnight, Alpha. It is time."

In the next moment, Alpha Soier shifted and Emira closed her eyes...