The Moonless Omega

My name is Rosaline Anderson, and for as long as I can remember, my life has been a lie. My father is the Head Beta to the Alpha of the Moon Peak Pack. He is well-respected and liked, and has been close with Alpha Logan since birth. Their mothers were best friends, but tragically, his parents, my grandparents, were attacked and killed in a rogue attack when he was only a boy. From then on, he was raised alongside the Alpha, and they are more like brothers. My father’s wife, however, is not my real mother, and this is where the lie begins. You see, I am the youngest of three siblings. My eldest sister, Beatrice, and my brother, Michael, are both the biological children of my father and his wife, Evelyn. My biological mother was only a w***e who tempted my father into her bed, at least that's how Mother Evelyn puts it. I might never know the whole truth, but there is one thing I know to be true… I should never have been born. In our pack, mate bonds are sacred. So sacred, in fact, that rejection is unheard of and chosen mates are forbidden. You are not even allowed to date until you have come of age and have found your one true mate. So, for my father to have tainted his bond by sleeping with my mother was a secret no one must ever know. If the truth of my birth were to become known, my whole family could be exiled from the pack. I am the evidence of my father's betrayal, and for that, I should be grateful they let me live. I must appear to be a part of the family and treat Evelyn like my mother. That does not mean, however, that my family treats me like one of their own. As I said before, for as long as I can remember, my life has been a lie. Behind closed doors, my family does its best to remind me that I am nothing more than the daughter of a w***e. That with one mistake, I would be the cause of the whole family's demise, and my death would be the first among them. “What do you think you're doing? It's already six a.m.! Where are my running shoes, and why haven’t you made my protein shake yet?!” The sound of my sister's grating voice waking me from a peaceful sleep was not how I wanted to start the morning. I glanced over at my alarm clock and groaned in annoyance. I had somehow forgotten to set the new alarm after Beatrice had told me she was going to start going for runs in the morning. I cursed under my breath and threw back my comforter, the old thing falling apart at the seams and in desperate need of repair. Beatrice let out a frustrated sigh before storming back up the basement stairs and slamming the door, most likely waking up the rest of the house, which would only make this morning even more troublesome. I quickly snatched up the clothes that were still hanging on the drying rack, annoyed to find they were still damp. It was my school uniform and the only nice articles of clothing I owned. Mother was a stickler for appearances and would nitpick anything she considered unseemly. I could only hope she didn’t notice. I walked over to my makeshift bathroom, consisting of only a toilet, sink, and a slightly cracked mirror, all separated from the rest of the large basement by an old curtain. I reached for my brush and quickly ran it through my unruly auburn curls, ripping through the tangles, before tying them in a simple ponytail. My hair was one of the many things that set me apart from the rest of the family members, who were all some shade of blonde. I stared back at my smokey grey gaze in the mirror, my reflection distorted by the deep crack running diagonally through its surface. I had expected to wake up feeling something. Even just the inkling that tomorrow was my eighteenth birthday and that my wolf should be appearing, but there was nothing. Just the same old reflection looking back at me. “Rosaline! Hurry up!” Beatrice screamed through the basement door. I jumped back into action, quickly brushing my teeth before racing up the stairs that led directly into the kitchen. I went over to the cabinet and pulled out the protein powder, setting it on the counter next to the blender before retrieving the rest of the ingredients and a drinking bottle to put it all in. Meanwhile, Beatrice leaned against the door frame between the kitchen and the living room, constantly checking her watch. I had cleaned her shoes and prayed they were dry, unlike my uniform. It had been raining for nearly a week now, and a dampness hung in the air, making it challenging to dry anything. However, as I glanced outside, only a few clouds still hung about, and the sky changed from purple to orange as the sun began to rise. “I swear, if you make me late for work today, I am going to make sure you regret it.” She grumbled before I pressed the button on the blender and could no longer hear her frustrated sighs. I waited until the mixture ran smooth before pouring it into the bottle, making sure there were no hidden lumps. I handed it to her, ignoring the way she snatched it from my hands, then went to the laundry room, which was attached to the kitchen. Her running shoes were sitting on top of the dryer, and I let out a sigh of relief when I picked them up and found them perfectly dry. It made sense that the laundry room was a better place to hang up clothes. Still, Mother always instructed me to keep my clothes separate from everyone else's, claiming that their clothes were of much higher quality and that mixing fabrics would be bad for them. All of my clothes had come from the local thrift store, while my siblings wore designer clothes. My allowance was much lower than theirs because you see… They were all Betas. I was only an Omega. I ran back over to my sister and handed over her shoes while Beatrice shoved the now-empty bottle back into my arms. “Next time, add more peanut butter. That was disgusting,” she complained while slipping on her shoes. “It's a protein shake... It's not meant to taste good. Also, next time, can you keep your voice down? It's only six in the morning,” came the voice of our brother, Michael, as he headed into the kitchen. He sauntered over to the kitchen island and sat down on one of the stools at the breakfast bar. Beatrice is what one might consider an uptight b***h, while Michael is the complete opposite. He is more laid back and carefree, but both are equally spoiled and snobbish in their own way. “Hey, Rosaline, could you make me some coffee? I’ll eat a banana for breakfast,” he said while reaching over to the fruit basket to grab the banana and slowly pulling back the peel. “Whatever. I’m off for my run, and it's a good thing I woke you up anyway. Don’t you have an early meeting with the Head Beta today?” Beatrice scoffed. “You mean our Father? He is not even out of bed yet himself.” “Actually, I have been up way before dawn.” Came the booming voice of their father as he walked through the back door from outside, wiping off mud from his shoes on the mat. His presence always filled a room, being such a tall and broad-shouldered man who looked like he could hardly fit through the doorway. He wore his blond hair long but always tied back at the nape of his neck, his blue eyes piercing as he glanced at each of them. I always thought of his eyes as cold and calculating, but maybe that just came along with being the Head Beta, the need to be intimidating. “Honestly, what is all this ruckus? My alarm has not even gone off yet!” Said Mother as she walked into the room, still in her silk pajamas and robe. “Rosaline, why are you just standing there? Start making breakfast since we are all up now!” she ordered, always quick to make sure I was busy with some task and never standing idle before her. I turned and went to start the coffee first, hearing Beatrice as she finally walked out the door after giving our father a respectful greeting. Mother’s bare feet pattered across the floor toward Father before she kissed him in greeting. I stayed quiet as they all moved into the formal dining room, leaving me alone in the kitchen. I let my body finally relax since the first moment I opened my eyes this morning. I busied myself with preparing their usual morning meal, lots of bacon and eggs for Father, and yogurt and fruit for Mother. To them, I was no better than the other servants who only came to clean and sometimes helped to prepare dinner if we were expecting guests. Most of the cooking and daily cleaning fell to me. The house we lived in was fairly large because it was the Head Beta's house. It has five bedrooms and four bathrooms, but only three of the bedrooms were used; the other two were reserved for guests. I never questioned why I could not stay in one of the rooms and was instead forced to live in the basement, knowing that, as an omega, it was never my place to question. I just accepted my fate and made the best of it. The basement was only partially underground, so there was still a small window, and it was pretty well insulated. My bedroom area was in the corner of the large room, where I had set up curtains around a mattress lying on a threadbare carpet. It may not be the lap of luxury my siblings had, but it was mine, and that’s all that mattered. “What is taking so long? Get your head out of the clouds!” came Mother's voice from behind me before I felt something hit me in the back of my head. I had been holding the pan full of bacon, and the force of the strike made me stumble, splashing hot oil over my hand. I instinctively dropped the pan back on the stove, which made my mother scream in surprise. “Foolish girl! Now look what you have done!” No apology, only accusation as she shoved me out of the way. “I’ll take care of this! Go deal with that hand and change your clothes! They are dirty.” I glanced down at my now spoiled school uniform, the only one I had, and had to bite back a curse as I rushed down into the basement. My hand stung from the grease burn, and I rushed to the sink, turning the faucet on cold and placing my hand underneath the frigid stream. It seemed I would be forced to put on my gym clothes, even though it was not a P.E. day, and go to the office to request another uniform. Hopefully, they would have a used one that would fit because I could not afford to go to the clothing store that supplied them and purchase a brand-new one. After the sting finally subsided, I reached for the pitiful first-aid kit I had tucked away in the corner, relieved to find a bandage and cooling cream inside. As I wrapped up my hand, the melodious sound of laughter wafted from upstairs. I was used to being excluded from everything. I was an outsider. Only when it mattered would they embrace me as their own, but the moment no one was around, I became nothing to them. I stuffed my ruined uniform into a plastic bag and put on my crimson tracksuit with a plain white T-shirt. I glanced at myself in the mirror, my auburn curls already trying to escape from the ponytail, and my grey eyes looking more dull than usual. Nothing had changed; I was still the same old Rosaline, and there was not even a stirring of a wolf within me. The loneliness of that hit me so hard that tears sprang to my eyes. At least with my wolf, I would have had someone to talk to, but I was still alone, always alone. However, there was still one more day until my birthday, and the Moon Goddess might even bless me with my true mate. “Rosaline! Come back upstairs and clean up for us, will you? Also, you'd better hurry or else you will be late for school, and I am not going to give the Headmaster an excuse for you! If you are late, that is on you!” Mother yelled through the basement door. She never opened it. Not wanting to see my pitiful living space. I sighed and quickly cleaned my face before turning away and heading up the stairs, resigned to the fate that I would forever be only an Omega, a servant, and never their daughter.