Page 2 of Golden Desires

The sadness that only comes from a tragic loss, it’s a feeling I know well. These little beings have just lost their father. The tallest looks to be the size of a human child that is age seven. The second-tallest looks to be the equivalent of maybe six, and the smallest is the easiest for me to guess. He’s the same size as the four-year-old little girl I just left behind.

“My name is Alma,” I say, moving to block the body of their father from their line of sight, even though I know they watched him die. “Should we find a safe place to sleep tonight?” I ask.

The largest boy watches me with suspicion in his brown eyes, the two smaller boys tucked slightly behind him protectively. The wide-eyed little one seems the most inclined to trust me, while the middle brother looks ready to attack if the older one senses danger.

I don’t blame them. Blood covers their little bodies as well.

Their father looks nothing like a monster, perhaps their mother was the monster?

Silently, the little one breaks free from behind the other two and sprints to me. I freeze, worried they’ll interpret any movement from me as a threat. To my surprise, he simply takes my hand, turns his back to me, and starts tugging.

The oldest snarls, showing me his sharp teeth. I smile, understanding his fear. None of them speaks, but as the little one tugs me, I rise to my feet and allow him to pull me along. He walks past his brothers and deeper into the forest.

As we move farther from their father, an unfamiliar scent hits my nose. Blood, but also…

“Omega…” I gasp, seconds before another body comes into view.

“Mommy,” the little one says, and my eyes fall to him. At that moment, all I see is an innocent, heartbroken baby, who’s lost both of his parents today, and not the monster he appears to be on the outside.

“Humans attacked,” the oldest says. He looks fearsome, but he still has the voice of a child.

“I’m sorry,” I say, sniffling. “If you’ll allow me, I can help you. We can keep each other safe,” I offer in a gentle tone, knowing we’ll need to be far enough away from human settlements that they won’t come after these boys.

“No one can keep us safe,” the oldest says sadly, and my chest aches fiercely. He might be right, but I’ll do the best I can, anyway.

Chapter One

Goldie

Sixteen Years Later

I take a deep breath, as my body shakes from anxiety and adrenaline, while my mind spins.

Blood drips from my nose, but I don’t bother cleaning it off. Instead, I lift my chin and prepare to take my first step toward freedom. Nothing will ever change unless I make it. My life will remain the same. Pathetic…sad…broken and beaten.

My stepmother backhanded me for daring to talk back to her, so I ran. I kept running until I hit the treeline, and now I’m frozen here. Like I always am when I get too close to the forest. The fear that grips my heart takes hold of my feet and stops me dead in my tracks every time.

I look over my shoulder, waiting to see if my stepmother follows me. She never does, though. She knows I have nowhere to go. No escape from the hell she and my father put me through.

But this time, I’m done. I won’t stand for the abuse any longer. I won’t allow them to break me ever again! So I turn back to the forest and take my first step toward a better future.

Every step further into the forest brings me closer to a new fate. One where I’m not forced to endure my parents’ abuse or to marry someone I despise.

That's why my stepmother and I got into an argument to begin with. She insisted I show my gratitude to my fiancé, and I refused.

Marriage might not be so bad if the man I was promised to at sixteen was anyone other than Donald. With his rancid scent and a mouth filled with rotting teeth, I would rather marry a pile of horseshit. He’s an inch or two shorter than I am. He’s balding, the top of his head red from hours spent in the sun, with thin gray hairs clinging to his skull for dear life. He’s wrinkled, and disheveled, but holds more power than anyone else in our small village because of his wealth.

The more I think about my fate, the faster I move, until I’m running. I’m picking up speed now, afraid of my future, but also of the trees all around me. They seem to close in. The darkness growing thicker. Panic consumes me as I trip over the root of a tree and fall to my knees. I can't breathe! I gasp for air, my eyes closing, as the sounds of the forest grow louder.

“No…” I whisper, as the growls reach me. Snarling monsters with razor-sharp teeth and glowing eyes search for me. “Please don’t kill me…” I cry, and when a branch snaps beside me, I scream.

Scrambling to my feet, I run again, but this time, I run back the way I came. I run and run until the sun reappears, and the trees no longer rip at me.

When I fall to my knees this time, it’s with relief, as my small village comes back into view.

A village filled with people who have ignored my pain and suffering since my mother’s death. People who look at me with suspicion, the same way they once did my Aunt. I was the last Omega to be born in our village, nearly twenty-one years ago. Since my birth, fewer Omegas have been able to conceive, and the children they produce are Betas, Deltas, or Alphas.

My mother was an Omega too, my stepmother is a Beta, and my father is an Alpha. They both resent me for what I am, what my mother was, and for what my stepmother can never be. Despite being married for over sixteen years, they could never conceive.

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