Page 5 of The Demon's Pet

His lips slowly curled slightly at the ends, much to my shock, and his eyes lit with something I didn’t like.

“Your alpha, hm? Don’t tempt me.” His eyes ran over me, and his brows came together in consternation as he took in my disheveled appearance.

Worn clothing from the thrift store. Uncombed hair past my shoulders. No makeup. Deep circles under my eyes.

“Sam, we’ve got to go. The village elders…”

“I know, I know. They want us to confirm the alphas here with celestial blessings in front of the congregation.” Sam’s perfect nose wrinkled in disgust as he looked at the town around him. “Why do the celestials allow places like this? They’re positively medieval.”

“We can’t interfere in their religious beliefs,” Os said, shaking his head. His hair was purple and long, pulled into a half ponytail to keep it out of his eyes. “Even if they seem extreme.”

I looked up at him and noticed his eyes were purple too. Soft, like lilac growing on a branch in spring.

I liked him immediately but was too nervous to say anything to him. I still couldn’t believe I’d stood up to Sam.

Sam, who might have actually saved me. I couldn’t tell if it was an accident or not.

“Come on, Sam, let’s go,” Os said, the other angels waiting a dozen or so feet away.

The sun was setting. The rays of the sun were desperately reaching above the purple crests of the mountains that surrounded our little valley, and soon it would be dark.

I did love this place, with its woods and wilds and mountains.

I just hated my place here.

I wished I were born one of these angels, with all the power and privilege in the world.

But my fate was set, and I knew better than to hope for more.

I was an omega. The village omega. The lowest of the low. That was all I would ever be.

Sam watched me for a couple more seconds, then turned to leave with his friends, casting just one more wayward glance over his shoulder at me before they moved away down the road, headed for the center of town.

Town hall and the city park where the ceremony would be held.

I needed to get home and figure out a way out of this town before someone put a collar on my neck.

Before the door of the cage I’d been born in slammed shut.

2

“How dare you attack Alpha Zane?” my dad said as his hand lashed out and made stinging contact with my already sore cheek.

My head whipped to the side, and in our dimly lit, rundown house, I saw my mom cringing back into a corner.

Typical.

I brought my eyes back to my father’s. They were brown, unlike the vivid blue of mine. Huge, bushy brows dominated a florid, furious face, and his cracked, slack lips spat saliva as he continued to yell at me.

I held my cheek, my heart hammering for vengeance, my soul crying for justice.

And all of me knowing it was pointless.

I could explain what happened, and everyone would still blame me because I should have done nothing while the alphas and betas did whatever they wanted to me.

That was an omega’s place.

“I’ll be glad for the mating ceremony,” my dad said, his hand out to the side and twitching as if he couldn’t wait to use it again. “To be rid of you.”

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