Bound by the Moonlight

Chapter 4 – Life at Crescent High

Jade's POV

Crescent High is split into two worlds. There’s no official line drawn, but everyone knows where it is.

On one side are the Alpha born—powerful, privileged, and proud. They walk the halls like they're royalty, heads high, eyes sharp, full of the confidence that comes from knowing they’ll rule the pack someday. The rest of us? We’re just fillers in the background of their lives. Beta kids, Gamma kids… and then the lowest of the low. Omegas.

Me.

We’re the invisible ones. Or worse, the ones they see just enough to step on.

Every day I walk these halls like I’m walking through a minefield, trying not to make eye contact, trying not to draw attention. But it never matters. They find me anyway.

“Move it, mutt,” Liam growled this morning, shoulder-checking me so hard my books scattered across the floor. I dropped to my knees instinctively, scrambling to gather my things as laughter echoed through the hallway.

“Careful, she might cry again,” one of his friends added. They think it’s funny. It always is to them.

My cheeks burned, but I didn’t look up. I didn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing the shame in my eyes.

This is what life is like at Crescent High for an Omega. It doesn’t matter how quiet you are, how much you try to blend in. You’re still prey.

I used to wonder what I did to deserve this. If maybe I was born broken. Maybe if I were prettier or more confident, they wouldn’t hate me so much. But I know now—it has nothing to do with me. It’s just how the pack is built.

Alphas at the top.

Omegas at the bottom.

We’re taught to accept it like it’s some kind of divine order, like the Moon Goddess meant for it to be this way. But deep down, something about it has never felt right.

Still, I play my part. I keep my head down. I avoid the crowded hallways and the lunchroom, sneaking away to the library whenever I can. Tucked behind the ancient mythology section, I’ve carved out a quiet corner for myself. It’s the only place I can breathe.

The scent of old pages and dust is oddly comforting. Sometimes I read, but mostly I just sit there, letting the silence wrap around me like a blanket. In that space, I’m not an Omega. I’m not the girl everyone hates. I’m just… me.

Ashley doesn’t like that I isolate myself, but she doesn’t push too hard. She gets it more than anyone else. Still, she tries to pull me out sometimes.

“You don’t have to hide away, you know,” she said yesterday, catching up to me between classes. “One day, all of this will be behind us.”

“Maybe,” I murmured, adjusting the strap of my worn-out backpack. “Just not today.”

Her eyes softened with worry. She knows I’m counting the days until I turn eighteen. Until I leave. I’ve already made up my mind. As soon as I come of age and the mate bond reveals itself, I’m gone. I’m not waiting around for a rejection. I’ve had enough of those my whole life.

But the universe has a twisted sense of humor.

Because the one person I can’t stop thinking about—the one I’ve always kept tucked in a quiet corner of my heart—turned out to be the worst tormentor of them all.

Hunter.

The future Alpha of the Crescent Moon Pack. The golden boy. My tormentor.

He’s everywhere.

Especially in training.

That’s when it’s worse. He doesn’t speak, doesn’t touch, but he watches. And when his eyes lock on mine, I feel something sharp in my chest. My wolf stirs every time, trying to rise toward him, and I have to fight her down.

She doesn’t understand. Or maybe she just doesn’t care about how he treats me.

I do.

I remember every name, every sneer, every time he laughed with his friends while I was pushed, tripped, or mocked. I remember how I used to watch him from afar, thinking he was everything I could never have—and now that he is… it hurts more than anything.

Two more days. Just two.

That’s when I turn eighteen. That’s when I’ll be free to leave.