Page 1 of Hunting Their Omega

Chapter 1

Isolde

“We’ve got you,” a familiar voice murmured.

The scent of warm jasmine filtered through my nose.

I wanted to vomit.

“Please,” I begged, gritting my teeth through waves of heat. “Don’t.”

Ester, my roommate, looked away guiltily. She wouldn’t help me. None of them would.

I yelled, clutching my abdomen as a surge of pain forced my body to double over.

The second jolt shook the pencil out of my fingers, and I whipped out my hand, pressing it firmly to the grass beneath me for purchase. Fire bubbled in my veins, simmering and popping as my heart pounded viciously in my chest. My wolf howled, whining and shaking out her fur as if it hurt to be settled on her skin. A tendril of dread curled inside of me.

You can feel it too?

Yes, she replied in a mocking tone.

No. No. Please . . . not yet.

The next burst of pain was sharper, and I cried out before I could bite back my scream. There was no time to hide or run.

The agony rattled my teeth, and I staggered to my feet, frantically searching the hollow hills for somewhere, anywhere, to take shelter. I knew my quest was futile; the Omega boarding house was the only thing around for miles. They had razed the surrounding forest—pushed it back so far that any attempted escape would only land you thirty days in the disciplinary cells.

Desperation moved my feet as invisible spikes dug into my spine, hammering each vertebra until I crumbled face down on the brown grass, my sketchbook forgotten. I focused on breathing through the humiliating, unfamiliar clench between my thighs.

Hands gripped me from all sides, hoisting me up on jellied limbs. Summoning the reserves of my quickly failing strength, I pushed against their hold, growling and gnashing my teeth. They struggled against me, working to bring my crumpled body off the ground, but it only made me fight harder.

I couldn’t let them take me to the boarding house. I wouldn’t.

“Stop it, Isolde,” Hannah, another Omega, said. “It’s over. You have to let us help you before they send the Den Mother.”

A chill ran up my spine as the Den Mother’s sharp features flashed through my mind. Despite my rising panic, my body stilled. If she were called, I would be taken to her office. The back of my thighs burned, the phantom pains of old wounds flaring from the Den Mother’s previous attentions.

“This is all our fates. There’s nowhere to run,” Hannah added softly.

I didn’t know if her words were for me or herself.

The other Omegas marched toward the building, supporting my slight frame between them. I whimpered as every step ripped down my carefully curated walls.

As swiftly as they could, the girls half-dragged me through the boarding house’s barren, stark white halls and deposited me in the infirmary. The scent of ammonia was like a slap in the face, stinging my nose more than usual. Governess Ida, an Alpha female and the nicest among the governesses, frowned, her nostrils flaring.

“Sit her on the examination table,” she ordered curtly. “Then leave us.”

My body was gently placed on a cold surface, but nothing could wash the taste of betrayal from my tongue. I averted my eyes as Ester left. Goodbyes didn’t matter here. We would likely never see each other again.

“When did the pain start?” Governess Ida asked, her cold, deft fingers wrapping around my wrist to measure my pulse.

I held my tongue. What would it matter? If this were what I suspected, nothing would save me.

Governess Ida narrowed her eyes but continued her examination, checking my pupils and the temperature of my skin with a placid expression.

“Lean back,” she said.

My fear rose. “What?”

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