Omega to Alpha

Mother's Pain

Athena

Although I hadn't met him, I knew he would be just as wicked as the Alpha. I should be sorry for the Alpha's potential loss of his only son, but I wasn't.

I limped my way out of the school's premises hating my legs and the terrible pain in my abdomen. A random reptile crossed my path, running over my worn-out shoes. What a mistake it made. I crushed its head with my heels, until it was impossible to recognize its form as a once colorful spiky lizard. My mother had thought I needed to see a witch doctor after killing a stray cat the last summer, if not for my father’s curfew. She wouldn’t understand that the nasty cat ate my pet fish, Goldie—the only loyal friend I ever had and will ever own.

I turned to continue my journey home, leaving the dead carcass for the swarm of flies settling on its bruised body as I strode down the almost deserted streets—except for thorns every here and there. It was one of those days I enjoyed the bliss of freedom and what it felt like to be part of a big purpose, though unwelcomed.

“You lousy brat! Haven’t I warned you to keep your feet away from my garden?” a woman yelled from inside as I jumped over her fence to continue my journey home. She ran out of her house in a bid to catch me, but I was faster in spite of the pain.

Her name was, Mrs. Maya Beverly—a Gamma just like her husband, who was among the warriors of our pack. It was way shorter to pass through her backyard, but she wouldn’t let me so I settled for sneaking in and out of her garden, especially on a day like this where there was sure to be chaos at the main route.

“ouch!” I yelled in pain as a pebble hit me from behind causing a mild bleed on my left arm. I giggled at the pain and the frustration in her voice while I took to my heels before she could get close to me.

“I’ll get a hold of you one day,” she screamed. I ran. All I needed was a fresh bath and a hot compress to relieve my cramps. I stopped running when I caught sight of the large oak tree. I was close home—miles away from Mrs. Maya. Little did I know that my life was about to begin a bumpy ride, worse than my previous years.

A distant cry distracted me, coming from inside. The cough grew persistent as I approached the wooden front porch. I increased my gait regardless of the burning headache plastered all over my face that came after the run. A subtle whimper followed after. Then, I knew my worst nightmare had paid a visit even before dusk.

I didn’t need any confirmation. It was him. I could swear it. With bitter tears already welling up in my eyes and a rage that often came with the slightest aura of him, I fisted on the entrance with my bad leg until it gave way to the tiny living room that concealed fifteen years of my existence within its walls. There was a broken bottle of spilled wine by her wailing body. I could tell it was one of his expensive collections as the stench filled the room while I rushed toward her. The mix of pain and hate for one person. That one person had made my existence unbearable. I tossed my jacket over a rocking chair by the door. I tried to sit her up while calling out to her as she kept on whimpering as though she hadn’t realized my presence.

“How did this happen? Why did you let him touch you again?” I asked with a heart filled with love for her and contempt for the culprit. I knew my questions were pointless. Heck! I had the answers to my questions boldly dancing in front of me enough for a blind man to predict. But, sometimes, I hoped there were other reasons. I tried to lie to myself and believe other reasons for such injuries like a fall or an animal’s bite. At least, those ones come with a cure. They don’t leave emotional dents on the victim. She finally opened the second healthy eye—her left eye had a purple swell around it as one suffering from an overgrown boil with pus.

“I’m fine, Athena. It was just a little misunderstanding,” she responded with a faint voice that spelled anguish in all its shades. Those lies. Those bloody painful lies she fed me over the past years. I hated it when she lied to me as though I were still a toddler, even when the truth was as clear as spring water.

“Go to your room,” she whispered again with a tiny curve on her bruised lips that was an obvious fake smile while avoiding my supporting hands away from her waist as she tried to pull herself up. My teeth clenched as I got up from her. Tears dripped down my eyes without a sniff. I heard the tap running from her room. What was he doing home at a time the Alpha needed him most? I probed within myself as I clenched my palms into a fist.

“Go to your room, Athena. Let me handle my problems. Don’t try anything funny. Just go to your room and take off your clothes before he finds out. He’s still your father no matter how much hatred you—”

“He’s not my father!” I yelled back at her, regretting my actions the same moment but, I pressed on, “…he’s an animal! An untamed bloody animal that escaped custody from the human zoo or something!”

Oh! My bowels craved earnestly for a fight. A fight I knew I had lost. I felt strong enough to confront him. I couldn’t bear to see my mother’s swollen face. There I was, planning to take on, not just a gamma and warrior, but my father—a title I’ve erased completely from my lips in addressing him since I was eight. My mother, Olivia, knew what I was up to. I couldn’t fathom how she managed to paint him as an angel when I was a kid, even with the scars she acquired.

I’ve been living with the devil himself.

“You can’t fight your father and expect to remain alive. Please, Athena, listen to me this once. You and I know the rules. Don’t get him upset—”

“To hell with the pack and their stupid rules!” I shouted again. My body was beginning to quiver due to suppressed wrath—one thing I probably inherited from him or maybe the puberty thing. I kicked against the wall repeatedly to ease the build-up of rage within me. That was the best I could do anyway. My mother was my major weakness. How can she not see that he is a beast and deserved the worst treatment? Why does she have to stay? Why couldn’t she just find another mate even if it was an omega like her and run away forever? I asked myself those questions every time I found my mother beaten to a pulp. Countless times, I’ve advised her to run away, but she kept refusing with the same old chant on her lips the whole time,

“You can’t understand.”

There’s nothing more to understand other than a secret I don’t know about. There has to be more to her patience with him. All I knew was, if that was what love and finding a fated mate meant, I swore to rather reject my mate if ever I found one than allow a monster to practice martial arts on me. I didn’t realize another soul had joined us in the room as I continued unleashing my emotions on the innocent peeling walls until the distasteful voice spoke.