Page 24 of Scapegoat

I’d felt like my wolf was like a chicken inside its egg, tap, tap, tapping its way out and into the real world. But as I dreamed, it felt like she wasn’t doing anything as neat and tidy as tapping. She raked her claws against the interior of her shell, digging like a wolf would when she ran her prey to ground, except here she was using her whole body to try and break free. I felt a feeling of terror, elation, as I saw thin cracks appear.

And then relief, right?

Right?

But that was never going to be my fate. People said that finding your wolf was like exhaling fully for the first time, some part of you that had been staying hidden all this time leaping out, manifesting in the world. So I knew something very, very wrong was happening, as I bent over double in my sleep.

The pain that was ripping through me, it should’ve pulled me from my sleep, but it didn’t. My dream was like a heavy blanket, smothering me. And the bite on my neck, it throbbed in sympathetic pain, but that was nothing compared to this. Sweat prickled all across my skin, drenching me, the sheets and the covers, the fabric sticking to me as I thrashed around in bed, translating into something else in my nightmare.

“No, you don’t.” Mum stood over me, massive now, her head high enough to graze the stars. “Don’t you bloody dare. You’re not the omega, Anna is.”

You’re not the omega…

That played around in my head, reverberating like an echo, but it grew louder, not faded away.

You’re not the omega…

That sentence pressed down upon me, as if delivered by the gods themselves, becoming not just words, but a prophecy.

You’re not the omega…

Mum’s face screwed up in a terrible mask, part wolf, part woman, but her entire focus was trained on me, her eyes gleaming like twin moons in the sky as she made a ruling about my future.

You’re not—

Omega.

The wolf stopped then, her head jerking up, her nose twitching as she breathed in, the sweet, sweet scent of new roses filling the air right then, followed by a massive sigh out. I was glad I slept through it, because a great rush of fluid was expelled from me, soaking the sheets, my thighs in a clear mucus stained by blood.

My slick.

All women produced a small amount of it. But omegas? We generated so much more to help ease us through what would come next. My alphas… I could feel them, my body moving sluggishly, my eyes feeling like they were made of lead as I blinked, an aeon passing before I tried to blink again. But when I finally cracked them open, it was to see the door open and Jenny bustling in.

“Kaia…” She stopped where she was, her nose working, her pupils dilating and then she saw the mess I’d made. I let out a pitiful whine, feeling a flush of shame, but she rushed over. “Oh, sweetheart! It’s OK. It’s OK. You know what this means though, right?”

Did her eyes glitter as she smiled? Did she hold me just a little too tight as she gave me a hug? It was hard to say. My skin was too alive, too sensitive, my eyes aching at the small cracks of light pouring in past the blackout curtains. I just let out a little sob in answer, one that had me dissolving in tears moments later.

“Honey, it’s OK.”

She held me close and rocked me back and forth in a way that felt frankly disorientating, but maybe this was what other daughters expected. Their mothers comforted them when they cried, rather than barking at them to shut the hell up.

The way Mum always comforted Anna when she was sad.

But I found myself unbending, softening, dissolving into her arms until the tears fell away.

“The boys are at the alpha challenge,” she told me. “That’s why I came in here. Their dads got on the phone last night and the alphas agreed that it was only a formality that they go through the challenge and that bringing it forward wouldn’t hurt.” She smiled then. “There’s plenty of parents who are keen for their kids to find their place in the pack, so changing the date…”

Her voice trailed away as her phone rang and she pulled it out, frowning when she saw Greg’s name on caller ID.

“Hello?”

I couldn’t hear the conversation, because Greg’s voice was a terse, metallic buzz in my ears, but I felt the way Jenny pulled away, going stiff.

“The boys…? Atlas?” She shot a sidelong look at me. “But Kaia’s revealed… Yes, of course as an omega. What? Oh my god, I’ll be right there.”

She ended the call abruptly and the stink of fear was setting my teeth on edge.

“Kaia, I need you to be calm,” she said, in a voice that was anything but. “I need to go to the forest for a bit. That’s where the alpha challenge is taking place. There’s been a… complication.” She frowned when I let out a little whine. “Nothing bad, but I need to get over there now. I’ll be back soon, but you’ll be OK here, right? I’ll lock the doors to make sure you’re safe, and as long as you don’t let anyone in, everything should be fine.”

---