Growing on me
1646 Words
Efa
Twenty-one December, this tropical rainforest feels a lot like home. It reminds me of Elim. The air is fresh, bird melodies fill the air, and nature is just wonderful. These wolves hate us, but they are not bad. We are used to worst. They let us be as long as we do our chores.
Jess walks in and I notice her red cheek with a hand imprint. Okay, they can be bad at times.
“What happened?”
“Beta Angelo slapped me.”
My blood immediately starts boiling. I can feel my rage multiply by each second. My eyes will become weird soon. I am struggling to control this thing.
“Bloody hell!”
“Hey, relax. He is going through a lot,” she warns and tries to calm me down while I frown at her words.
“Apparently, his beloved daughter turned eighteen recently,” she explains, but I still don’t get what that has to do with him slapping her.
“Okay?”
“She got an Omega wolf. That means she is the lowest in their rank and has to serve everyone. She would be doing what we do if we were not here.”
I just stare at her. None of this explains why she got slapped.
“That is not all. She was mated to Prince Hugh.”
Okay, now this is interesting.
“The Alpha Benjani’s son, Prince Hugh?” I ask and she confirms.
“One and only.”
I can already guess what happened.
“Yep, he straight out rejected her. Not only that, but she also has to come and serve here. Beta Angelo thought that the Alpha would exempt her from doing that, but rules are rules. So, the atmosphere is pretty tense.”
Jess is so animated as she tells me this. She thrives in gossip.
“It can’t that bad,” I suggest.
We are doing the work, and it is not so bad. Jess does not share my sentiments though.
“Really? This is every wolf’s nightmare. She is going to watch the mate who rejected her flirt with other wolves higher in rank than her. Not just watch but she will have to serve them!”
Jess has really taken into this wolf way of life while I am still stunned by the fact that they are real.
“She will grow a thick skin and learn to rely on herself,” I counter. “Prince Hugh is a pompous ass. It is good for her that he rejected her. This might just be a blessing for her.”
Jess finds this mate thing romantic, but I don’t. Being pulled to someone by some bond takes the choice out of relationships. It is like being under a spell. I prefer the human way.
“Not everyone is resilient like you. That poor girl must be devastated. I can only imagine.”
Argh, now I feel bad for a girl I don’t even know. Jess has a way of evoking my sympathy. She is by far the kindest and most sympathetic person I know. I still can’t believe that some stupid judge sentenced her to life in prison for self-defense.
An hour later, the girl Jess told me about arrives. She looks devastated and unsure of herself. She walks right on to the glass door and knocks her forehead hard. Poor thing.
It does not help that the prince and princess are watching her as she walks in.
I catch her when she misses a step and almost falls. She mumbles a thank you before bowing to greet the two people who are looking at her with disgust.
“Prince Hugh. Princess Hayley.”
“Oh, Bianca. Other Omegas are at the back over there. They will tell you what to do.”
Princess Hayley does not even acknowledge the girl’s greeting before saying this. I take deep breaths when my anger starts to rise. This is so unnecessary.
My heart breaks when Bianca nods. Jess told me that she got on well with these two, yet they are now treating her like they have never seen her.
Barely two hours later, the princess is going crazy, shouting about her magazines.
“Who touched my magazines? Who the hell touched my stuff?”
I don’t bother responding. I don’t read trash and would never touch her stuff.
An apologetic Bianca shows up and confesses.
“It was me. I am sorry. I was checking the design section. I put them in the magazine section in your room.”
I guess the two of them like the same type of magazine. It seems like they have shared them before. Bianca has not gotten used to her own new reality.
Princess Hayley is now fuming.
“You touched my magazines? You can’t use my stuff. You are an Omega!”
The disgust in her voice when she says omega is not easy to miss. You would swear that Bianca has an infectious illness. Other Omegas exchange looks while Bianca’s eyes mist and her hands shake. Now I feel terrible for her.
“I am sorry, Princess. It will not happen again.”
I planned to stay out of this, but I can’t when Princess Hayley lifts her hand to strike her. I grab it midway and feel my anger threatening to explode. I hate bullies.
“She said she was sorry. This is her first day. Get over it!”
Her eyes widen in shock before being replaced by anger.
“You don’t talk to me like that, Slave!” she yells, pissing me off.
“I would not interfere if you were not being insensitive and heartless. She was your friend. Her father is your father’s Beta. She is sad enough about her wolf, you don’t have to rub it in,” I grit my teeth and feel this thing inside me coming out.
“You!” she exclaims right when the Alpha and Beta walk in.
“Your Highness,” Bianca greets and bows respectfully while I let the princess’s hand go.
“This slave is disrespecting me, Father,” she reports me but I am too angry to care at this point.
“She is right. There is no need to mistreat Bianca. You grew up together. She might be an Omega, but she is still Angelo’s daughter and a family friend.”
The Alpha’s words take me aback. The princess huffs and storms away while I bow my head and avoid his eyes. I always feel like he is trying to look into my soul.
“Tha…thank you for standing up for me, but you should not. Princess Hayley is not very forgiving. You are at her mercy,” Bianca thanks and advises me when she finds me doing laundry.
“You are welcome. Don’t worry about me. I am at no one’s mercy.”
I expect her to go a do whatever Omegas do around here, but she does not move.
“What is your name?”
“Call me slave.”
“I prefer your real name.”
I look at her and repeat myself. “I prefer slave.”
“Please.”
I let out a sigh. This girl is pitiful and difficult to ignore.
“I had my whole life planned out. Friends and family who dotted over me. I had it all. I could not wait to meet my wolf and my mate.”
She snaps her fingers, “Just like that, everything is gone. I am just an Omega. Soon, no one will remember my name. That is why I want to know yours.”
“You will remember it. That is all that matters.”
She flashes me a weak smile, prompting me to stop and address her perceived problems.
“Listen, you will meet more assholes than good people in this world. You don’t need anyone to define you. You do you, no matter what.”
“Maybe in human world. That is not possible here. We have hierarchy. I am an Omega, the lowest of them all.”
“Hierarchy based on what?” I ask.
“On your wolf rank. Mine is the lowest.”
The way she is so fast to respond tells me that is what she has been told all her life. It is going to take a lot for her to change her attitude.
“What happens if you defeat a wolf higher in rank than you?”
She just stares at me like I am crazy.
“So?”
“It is impossible.”
I raise my eyebrows. I might not know anything about werewolves, but I know animals. The one who wins the fight rises in hierarchy. “Really? Did you ever try?”
She is quiet for a moment before responding.
“Our wolves’ strengths are according to our ranks. I have never heard of an Alpha losing to a Beta or Gamma or Omega.”
“Never heard of and never happened are not the same things. Surely you can train. Nothing is ever cast on stone in this world.”
This is my motto.
She shakes her head and disagrees. “You are human. You won’t understand.”
I shrug at that.
“I am human, but if I wanted to defeat someone, I do everything in my power to do it. I don’t care how impossible. If I wanted to defeat your Alpha, I would train until I did.”
She shakes her head again and leaves.
“A matter of hours and the kid has grown on you. I told you that you might be one of them.”
I roll my eyes at Jess. She knows that I am very much human but still teases me about my eyes that change color when I am angry.
- Writer
