Mating Season In Walls Street

The Selection.

Nala’s POV.

My eyelids flutter open slowly and the bright light hits me so hard that I close my eyes and take a breath before I open it up again, as slowly as possible.

It takes a few seconds to get my eyes accustomed to the brightness. As soon as it no longer hurts, I force myself to sit up, only to realize that I am on the other side of the lake.

I gasped as the memories of everything that had happened in Lucian’s house came rushing back to me. I thought I was going to…the water…the darkness…I couldn’t breathe….

I glance at the lake and then touch every part of my body as fast as I can.

“Am I still alive? Am I dead? Is this what death feels like?” I ask myself but there’s no response.

I can feel my face and my body so how is this death? How didn’t I die?

That question triggers a memory and the face of the stranger that had embraced me in the water flashes before me. There was someone else in the lake. That stranger saved me.

I look around but there’s no one in sight. I am soaked to my bones and shivering, I have to get home and get some sleep. I would need all the rest I can get, after what Lucian just did to me.

I feel for the letter and sigh in relief to know that it is still there and unharmed by the water.

I can’t give up, I would go to fashion school and make him regret treating me like that. I want to cry so bad and the pain in my throat hurts so much that it increases my urge to cry.

The tears I am holding back make my eyes sting but I still wouldn’t let myself cry. Mom always said it’s useless to cry so I won’t.

I pick myself up and head towards my bike. I find it in the same spot underneath the tree where I left it. Slowly, I ride back home.

As soon as I walk into our tiny apartment, I find my father in the living room with a cup of hot cocoa on the table.

It’s unusual to see him at home at this time, he is always at the mines owned by the upper class yet the Omegas are made to work on it like slaves. My pack and the kingdom of Cavaria have such a system that condemns my kind and exalts the upper class.

That’s why I am desperate to make a name for myself and take my family out of this hell hole. My father, Gonzalo has suffered many injuries at the mines but they never let him off the hook and they don’t provide any medical care.

They just take from us and exploit us and we’re too weak to do anything about it. It makes me so furious and I have been dumb enough to think Lucian cares about me and my kind.

The bastard is just like the rest of them. Exploitative, manipulative and arrogant.

“Come sit,” he taps the space beside him on the chair as he looks up at me.

The deep and bold scar that runs across his face from his forehead and across his left eye to the tip of his mouth, looks very intimidating and scary to others but to me and my younger sister, it’s one of the stripes he gained standing up against the upper class.

I take my seat gently beside him and he looks me over.

“What happened to your clothes?” He exclaims.

“Went for an unexpected swim.”

The expression on his face shows that he doesn’t believe me but he doesn’t push it any further.

“Gwen made her signature hot cocoa, just in case you want some.” He picks up his cup and takes a sip.

Genevieve is my younger sister and she makes the best hot cocoa in the whole pack. Mom usually calls her Gwen and the name stuck to her even after she died.

Yeah, we lost our mother during one of the riots. A few Omegas revolted against Master George, the elder the Alpha put in charge of Wall Street, and he had ordered the execution of my mother to teach the others a lesson.

My mom was really kind and she helped a lot of Omegas. She was just like Dad, she was a very brave woman so she became a pain in the ass for Master George.

“Did you see the papers?” Father clears his throat and I raise a brow at him.

Is he really asking me about the papers? That’s so unlike my father. He shouldn’t even be home by this time, what’s going on?

“Did something happen?”

He picks up the paper on the table and tosses it on my lap. The headline catches my attention immediately.

“Walls Street: The Home Of The Future Luna. The long-awaited moment is finally here. Prince Killian turns twenty-five in the month of the Phoenix. Our age-long tradition of picking blah blah blah…” I am not interested in the details.

My eyes scheme through the article in search of what I want to know, “every eligible girl from the age of eighteen living in Walls Street is expected to enrol in the screening process and just one of them would become the future Luna.” I look up sharply at my father.

“What does this have to do with me?”

“You’re turning twenty soon Nala, you’re more than eligible for this.”

“Hell No! There’s no way on earth I am joining a bunch of clowns and getting stuffed in a dress. I just got accepted into fashion school and…” I stopped talking.

My father’s calm face turns into an angry one. He has never been in support of me going to fashion school. He has no idea that I have been trying to get in for years without his knowledge.

“You just got what?”

“Dad, I can explain. They actually accepted me. You said they never take Omegas but they accepted me. Look, I have evidence to prove my…” I pull out the admission letter still wrapped in the protective bag and he snatches it away from me.

He tears it open and his eyes quickly brush through what is written inside the letter. He looks up at me afterwards.

“You really think you could survive there? Nala those guys are the predators and they would always see you as prey, a lowly one at that.”

“It doesn’t matter dad, I got a scholarship.”

“Would a scholarship also cover your feeding and everything else?”

“I can…I would…”

“You’re not going to any stupid fashion school and that’s final.” He says with an air of authority.

“If fashion school is stupid then what would you call this?” I point at the newspaper.

“An opportunity.” He states.

“An opportunity for what?” I snap.

“Have you ever heard about the Bitter Defiant group?”

I frown as I struggle to remember. I have definitely heard that name before.

“Yeah…” I call out loud as soon as I remember, “They were an Omega rebel group, the only ones that managed to get into the Alpha’s mansion but they no longer exist.”

A low chuckle that sounds a bit dark, slips from my father.

“No longer exist? You have no idea how long we’ve waited for an opportunity to strike again.”

“What are you talking about? What opportunity?”

“An opportunity to exact my revenge on the people who killed your mother and made us slaves. I am the leader of the Bitter Defiant, Nala and trust me, we are very far from going extinct.”

My mouth hangs open in shock.

“That’s not possible, their leader was killed by the…”

“Believe it or not, you’re my ticket to getting my revenge and you’re definitely going for the screening.”

“But my fashion school…”

Father picks up the invitation and before I can stop him, he tears it into tiny pieces.

“No!” I scream out loud in pain. He just tore up my dreams. I collapse on the floor along with the pieces and he picks up another letter on the table that I didn’t notice until that moment.

“The Alpha himself sent an invitation so who are we to refuse.” He says with a very sarcastic tone as he reaches down and pulls me up.

“Get dressed.” He orders and pushes me towards the direction of my room.