Orphaned wolf

The first test

I looked at the clock hanging above the door. There were thirty minutes left, and I only had five questions left.

Behind me I could feel Dia breathing heavily. I didn’t dare to look at her, in fear of causing problems, but I wished I could help her. The test had been harder than I had first anticipated, even though we had studied harder than anyone in our class.

Around me I could see people scribbling. Many looked frustrated and even scared. It was hard not to when your life depended on you doing good on your test. I could feel the rough paper underneath my fingertips. I tried not to think about it when I looked at the next problem. I just had to do the math and then we would figure out the rest. I would help Dia; I would make sure we both did well.

I wrote down my answers hoping that I was right.

“Alright everyone, pen down.” I wrote my name on the top of the paper. Kaya Lovett.

“How did you do?” I asked, turning towards Dia. Her eyes were sad for a second, but then she smiled. It didn’t reach her eyes.

“Okay, I think. I have pretty good feeling about it.” I sighed, relieved. Dia deserved a new pack. She had never had a pack, but she would be a great asset to any pack.

“Let’s celebrate!” I said, knowing that Dia would love a trip to the mall. Her eyes lighted up.

“We could look at dresses for the selection?” Dia smiled. The Selection was a part where every omega wolf had the chance to stand out from the crowd. After all the mental and physical tests, only one last test would be left, the Selection. Here every omegawolf would parade around like dolls in front of hungry alphas. I dreaded that test more than anything else. I wasn’t good at being presentable.

“That’s a great idea! I’ll ask Esther and Jamal to come with us.” I nodded, happy to see Dia finally thinking about something other than the cognitive tests.

It didn’t take Dia long to find Jamal and Esther and convince them to join us to a trip to the local mall. It wasn’t far away, and while everyone else studied for the next test, we wondered around in an almost empty mall. It was located deep in the Western territory, so the only people coming here were wolves, and most wolves were home studying.

I knew that we should have been studying, but our lives had been filled with nothing else for the past months, and the Selection would take place in 5 days, and none of us had anything to wear. And we had to make an impression, otherwise we wouldn’t be picked.

“Out to find something shiny!” I knew that voice. I looked over my shoulder, and there she stood in all her splendour. Lydia had wide hips, a narrow waist, and big perky boobs. She was the envy of every girl in the orphanage. Behind Lydia came her two henchmen - Irina and Donna. Their eyes landed on us and ice crept through my veins.

“You really think they will even notice you when we are on that podium?” Probably not, but I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of hearing it from me.

“We have enough physical skill and brains to land us in the Silver Moon pack, so I think we will be fine,” I spat. The Silver Moon pack was the most highly sought-after pack.

“You are just jealous, and I know for a fact that one of you isn’t doing very well.” Anger rose in me, and I could feel myself clench and unclench my fists.

“At least we aren’t dependent on the Blood Pack to pick us.” It was a low blow, even for me. The Blood pack's Alpha was notorious for only picking the prettiest and lowest ranking wolves. He would lodge the newcomers at the bottom of the hierarchy and their sole purpose was to fulfil the s****l desire of the Alpha and his nearest in command. It wasn’t a great fate.

“I’d choose the Blood pack over death,” Lydia walked towards us, “let’s just hope that you will be so lucky.” Lydia whispered those last words right into Dia's ear as she passed us. It took both Jamal and Esther to hold me back.

“She’s not worth it. She’s just scared. I heard she cried in the bathroom after the test,” Esther said. Good! She didn’t deserve anything else after what she had just said to Dia.

“She doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” I said and held Dia's hand. She looked up and the sadness had disappeared, “and you said it went alright today, right!” Dia nodded, and relief flooded through me.

“If anyone is jealous, it’s Lydia,” Esther said, and danced through the mall. She jumped up on a bench, attracting the attention of a sour-looking security guard.

We went to Dia's favourite shop first. It was filled with colourful dresses and the air smelled like flowers. I had never really cared for all the lace and ribbons, but Dia did. She looked good in anything she put on.

“What do you think about this one?” Esther asked and did a twirl on one of the podiums. She was wearing a green satin gown. It enhanced the redness in her otherwise brown hair. The dress was tight and showed off her hips and cleavage well. And that was everything the Alphas would look for at the Selection.

“It looks good,” I retorted.

“You said the same thing about the last three dresses.” Esther rolled her eyes and turned to Jamal, who was trying on ties.

“I like it, the colour looks good. But the blue one had a better shape.”

“And that’s why we bring you to these things.” Esther went back into the dressing room.

“How does this look?” Dia came out of her dressing room. She was wearing a light cream coloured dress that hugged her figure. Her skin was glowing and her eyes shining brighter than the stars. The dress accentuated all her best features.

“It looks really great Dia!” I spoke. Esther stuck her head out from behind the curtain.

“Omg! Dia that is your dress. You. Have. To. Get. It!” Dia laughed and did a small spin. Although she was overreacting a bit, Esther was right, it was Dia's dress.

“Now it is your turn Kaya,” Esther teased. I sighed. But it had to be done.

We walked into four different stores before I saw something I even wanted to try on. They had all gotten what they needed, and I told them to just go ahead, but none of them bulged. They were going to stick around till the end. They were the only thing I would miss from that miserable orphanage. The chances of us going to the same pack were miserably small. Only about fifty percent of the orphanages got a second chance at a new pack.

“How about this one? It barely has any colour at all!” Esther held up a black dress with blue strips down the site.

“To formal,” I lied. The truth was, that I hated to try on new clothes. I didn’t look good in anything, and I wasn’t going to impress anyone at the Selection. I might as well just give up now. Where Esther and Dia were elegance and beauty, I was rage and violence. A core of pure hatred had always resided in the pit of my stomach. It wasn’t fair that we were judged upon our parents actions. We were forced to fight each other with teeth and claws to save our own life. The only ones I trusted completely, stood around me, and I wasn’t even sure they would survive till the next month. And there was nothing I could do about it.

Esther and Dia spend another fifteen minutes pulling out dress after dress. Jamal nodded his head in silent approval of a few of them.

All the dresses had very little colour, per my request. After sighing deeply, Dia walked to the farthest end of the store. One of the florescent lights had even stopped working at that end.

“You are hopeless, Kaya! Why don’t you just walk up on the podium in your birthday suit!” I snorted. I knew she was kidding, but that would definitely attract some attention.

“What about this one?” Dia's voice was low, and it sounded like it was coming from somewhere far away. I looked in her direction. She was holding up an almost white dress. It had a long soft mesh skirt that was attached to silver wire netting. It was sculpted around the breasts and a tinsel treat crawled across the bosom creating an intricate pattern of twinkling vines. It was gorgeous.

“I… I can’t wear that,” I said. I would outshine all of them. And they needed the attention just as much as me.

“Oh, don’t be modest. Try it on!” Esther practically pushed me into the dressing room before Dia threw the dress in my face.

I let my hands run along the fabric. It was soft and cool against the palm of my hand. I put the dress on. It fit me perfectly. It caressed my body and accentuated the few curves I had. The cleavage on the dress was deeper than anything I owned, but it made me look… not bad. I couldn’t believe that I was actually considering buying this.

For a second, all I could think about was Dia. Jamal was smart, he would do fine. Esther was clever and outgoing; she would definitely convince some Alpha to pick her. I was sour and quick to anger, but I was great in school. Dia wasn’t great in school, and she wasn’t as fast as the rest of us, but she was pretty and sweet. This was where she could shine. Was I actually about to take that away from her?

“Are you coming out?” Jamal asked. I sighed and went out. They all looked at me with misbelief in their eyes.

“It makes your hair shine!” Esther exclaimed. Dia nodded in agreement. I smiled a half smile. This wasn’t mine to wear.

“I can’t wear this!” I tried, but they didn’t want to listen.

“I told you; the test went great. If you decide not to get it, it must be because of what you want.” I looked at Dia for a second longer before gazing at myself in the giant mirror. It did make my hair shine like a thousand stars. I had never worn anything like this before.

“Fine!” I said and spun around like they had done, “I’ll wear this to the Selection.” Esther smiled and clapped her hands.