Only Omega

Chapter Five.

I headed upstairs to shower after my meeting with the enemy Alpha. It was nearly one in the morning and I didn’t feel like going back to sleep plus I needed to get their scents off me.

After a quick shower I dressed in a black sports bra and a pair of grey sweat pants with trainers then headed for the garage. Pulling my hair up into a high pony tail I stepped into the large make shift gym with five cars set off to the side including my midnight blue 76 mustang.

“I’m going to miss you babe” I muttered dragging my index finger across the hood. It was a present for my sixteenth birthday and the thing I loved most in the world apart from Hayden that is. 

I headed over to the punching bag where I took the time to bandage my knuckles before taking my frustrations out on it. Even though my arm was still pretty messed up and the bruising on my chest was still healing, I didn’t ease up on training. It would make me weak and an Alpha isn’t weak. 

Soon I was pounding the bag with everything in me and grunting as I battered it in a shower of punches and kicks. I hadn’t even realised that I was crying out in frustration or even how long I was down in the gym when “Goddammit Rachel! Take it easy will you some of us are trying to sleep around here!” 

Vicky’s voice broke through the silence followed by a loud grunt from a still half asleep Travis but I didn’t stop and ignored them completely.

“Rachel!” Vicky tried again only coming up empty when I refused to stop. My cries were getting louder and my punches more fierce with added force “Rachel!” 

My fist struck the bag one more time, this time with enough strength to tear the chains out of the ceiling and send the bag flying into the wall opposite me.

“What happened? I heard a crash” Tristan’s voice asked peering into the room from the doorway. I was still trying to calm down with my eyes squeezed shut when Dalton came barging into the room practically ramming past Tristan who nearly got knocked clean off his feet.

“What the Hell’s going on here?” I could smell other pack members gathered by the door that lead into the house, curiously sneaking a quick peak but I ignored them and glanced back over my shoulder at my brother .

“I got a little carried away” he looked furious and was fuming with anger. He was clearly asleep when the bag had crashed into the wall and had probably been scared stiff. The sight of Nicole lightly snickering by the door was enough to confirm my thoughts.

“Carried away, what the f**k was that Rachel, you just screwed up our only punching bag for f**k sakes?” one thing about my brother was that when he got startled or pissed he cursed a lot like a lot, a lot. I turned to face him slightly and shrugged my shoulders.

“I guess I just have a lot of pent up anger, that's all” Dalton glared at me with a look that could stop a raging bull in its path while everyone else stood watching by the door.

“Pent up anger huh? Well in that case get your ass outside right now before I drag you out of this goddamn house!” he pointed his finger towards the garage door with a face as red as a tomato and eyes filled with flaming fury. I began unwrapping my bleeding knuckles now fully facing my brother and nodded.

“Going” I muttered tossing one of the bandages to the side and shoving past Dalton.

“Rachel” he said stopping me dead in my tracks. I stood facing Tristan, Travis and Vicky, Kyle and Bridget, Nicole and a few curious Omega’s including Hayden.

“Yeah?” I asked glancing back at my brother with a raised brow.

“That’s the way an Alpha is supposed to fight” I smiled at his words as he motioned towards the punching bag and nodded my head turning back to look at the group of gathered pack members. Travis was yawning and stretching his arms out high above his head until “Now get the Hell out of this house now!” Dalton demanded and I made my way to the door.

“You to Travis” Travis stopped mid-yawn and blinked at my brother with wide eyes still filled with sleep then he grunted lowly turned on his heels and stalked off grumbling to himself. I trailed behind with the rest of them following after.

“I’m not even awake yet!” I heard Travis calling from up ahead as we headed outside and into the back yard. The sun was up but it was still early.

“Stop your wining and take it like a man, will you kid?” Dalton snapped giving Travis a hard shove as he went to go stand near the forest tree line. The rest of the group apart from Nicole who went up to check on Adrian stood gathered around the porch while I faced Travis on the lawn.

“Easy for you to say when you’re not the one about to get your ass beat” Travis retorted and Dalton shot me a look that said ‘kill him’ causing me to grin. Giving one look in my direction Travis swallowed hard.

“I’m screwed” Dalton smirked like the evil big brother he was then shot a serious glance between Travis and I.

“School starts in an hour so you have exactly thirty minutes to beat the s**t out of him” I took a deep breath meeting my targets eye then nodded my head in understanding towards my brother. Travis looked utterly terrified and about ready to make a run for it.

“Your time starts now” that was all I needed to dart forward and with a skidded stop turned around sending a round house kick to the side of Travis’s skull. Backing off I started bouncing in place while he spat blood on the ground.

“Okay, that one hurt” Travis muttered rubbing the side of his face as he stood up straight and looked at me. I didn’t give him time to react before I sent my fist into his face causing him to fall backwards onto his rear. He cupped his nose about to say something when I kicked up and knocked his jaw hard enough for him to fall flat on his back. Travis couldn’t say anything as he rolled around clutching at his jaw with tears in his eyes, groaning.

“Better?” Dalton asked with his arms crossed over his chest when suddenly an Omega girl I’d seen around before exclaimed loudly.

“That was amazing! Oh my gosh you went all Alpha on him!” I turned to look at her. She had curly brown hair most of which was stuffed into a grey beanie, big black square glasses and was wearing a pair of sweat pants and an oversized old band shirt.

“And you are?” I asked with an amused smirk which my brother didn’t seem to like. He was scowling at the girl as if she was some sort of disease and like my father Dalton believed that Omega’s were to be seen as nothing but minors.

“R-Rose” the girl stuttered as if she couldn’t believe that I was actually talking to her. It angered me how us Alpha’s were treated like celebrities by the under dogs, we were no different from them so we deserved no different.

“Rose how come I never see you around that much?” I was being polite but it struck a nerve in my brother and he stepped in with a stern glance in my direction just when Rose was about to answer me.

“That’s because she’s an Omega and we don’t socialize with Omega’s they’ll only drag us down to their level, Rachel” I wanted to have a go at him and not Travis in that moment seeing Hayden’s emotionless gaze when he tensed but I contained myself clenching my jaw and balling my fists at my sides.

“Yeah because we’re stronger, smarter and faster than them, right?” Dalton shot me a look telling me that he, like everyone else, could hear the venom in my every word. Rose was silent with her head bowed to show respect and hands fiddling nervously behind her back.

“I don’t like that tone you’re using Rachel, in fact I don’t like you comparing yourself to minors like them” I was shaking then with my claws digging into the palm of my hands and canines extending on their own accord. I didn’t like the way he was talking mostly because ‘minors’ included Hayden in his terms.

“And what makes them so different from us huh? We’re all wolves, why does it matter who’s the strongest and who’s the fastest?” I retorted low enough for everyone to hear but no one inside the house or beyond the tree line to hear my acid coated words .

“What happened to the girl that worked to gain that pace, what happened to the Alpha that fought to earn her title huh Rachel, where’d she go?” he was getting mad and I could feel it radiating off him in waves. Everyone around us could feel it especially Omega’s which is why Rose shrank back in fear but Hayden and the other male Omega stood their ground with heads bowed to show submission.

“She died the day I found out that I didn’t have a choice or a say, that my opinion or needs didn’t matter anything! You know what that does to you Dalton? It cuts you down, makes you no better than an Omega!” I jabbed my finger in Tristan’s direction as an example of just how much of a choice I had. Dalton was fuming as he glanced at Tristan then back to me.

“You think I wanted that Rachel? All I want is for my little sister to be happy!” that’s when I snapped. My head jerked up canines bared as I let out a snarl that frightened even Travis into backing away but Dalton stood unaffected by it.

“Then let me make my own choices Dalton, let me choose who I hang out with!” he looked at me with a stone cold gaze then glanced at Rose before he stormed off into the house.

“Dalton! Dalton!” Nicole called after him as she followed him back inside when she was on her way out  to join the crowd, leaving me alone with the rest of the group. 

Vicky was helping Travis who looked beat back into the house while Bridget was shrinking back behind Kyle looking at me with fear in her eyes.

“Rachel you didn’t-.” Tristan tried but I cut him off snapping at him with pain and sorrow clouding my gaze knowing what he was going to say ‘Rachel you didn’t mean to snap like that, we know’

“Just drop it Tristan okay? You’re scared and I get that, I didn’t mean it, alright?” I was trying to convince myself that it was but deep down I knew it wasn’t. My brother was mad and I would be leaving in less than two days which meant I’d be ending our brother-sister relationship on a bad note.

“I’m going for a run” I finished turning on my heels to head for the tree line. All I wanted was to be alone, to think about everything. I could still see the look in the Tyrant Alpha’s eyes when he looked at me last and I knew that there was a reason behind him ordering an attack on my father’s pack and why he wanted me as a heir.

I just couldn’t figure out what that reason was.

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It was late afternoon by the time I got back. I ditched school not really seeing much use in it since it was the last day before Graduation. When I walked through the back door and into the kitchen I was met with the sight of Vicky, Bridget, Tristan, Hayden, Rose and the Omega boy from before gathered around the kitchen table.

“No way” Rose said in disbelief then jumped when the door slammed behind me and everyone had their eyes directed in my direction. Rose looked guilty like she’d been caught doing something bad.

“Am I missing something here?” I asked heading over to a chair by the kitchen counter where I sat running my hands through my messy, tangle of blonde hair. I was covered in sweat and dirt and smelt terrible from my run.

“We uh sort of told her and Blake” Tristan muttered scratching nervously at the back of his neck and motioning to the Omega boy whose name apparently was Blake. I knew he was talking about me being mated to Hayden and sighed glancing out the window above the sink.

“Rachel?” Vicky asked when I didn’t say anything just nodded and started fiddling with my fingers. She knew me better than my own parents did and she knew that I was restless about something.

“I made a deal with the Tyrant Alpha” the words slipped past my lips before I could even comprehend them. I didn’t look away from the window as Tristan growled.

“You made a deal with Alpha Caine? What kind of deal Rachel?” he demanded his fists balling at his sides while his jaw clenched in uneasiness. Turning my gaze down to my hands I kept playing with my fingers instead of looking at any of them “In exchange for Hayden and I joining his pack I’d let them escape but not without a catch”

Hayden stepped forward as if he was about to approach me then took a step back when he realised the risk his scent could mean.

“What catch?” he asked and everything went silent as everyone waited for me to answer. I took a deep breath glancing between the window and my fingertips .

“That you and I become the next generation Alpha’s of his pack” there was silence, complete and utter silence as everyone stared at me with wide eyes including Hayden who looked dumbfounded.

“What?” Tristan demanded banging his fists down onto the kitchen table causing Rose to jump and my ears to perk up although I didn’t even flinch, only tightened my jaw.

“Rachel do you have any idea what your father would do if he found out you ran away to lead an enemy pack? Better yet what would Dalton think?” Tristan asked breathing hard from his outburst with nostrils flaring. I ran a shaky hand through my hair as Vicky turned to look at me.

“Why would you do that?” she questioned and for the first time I looked up meeting her confused hazel eyes with my torn blue ones “Because Hayden and I wouldn’t last a day out there without a Pack and even if I tried I wouldn’t be able to protect us on my own, I did it for him, for us” 

Hayden kept quiet with his head turned so that he was staring out the kitchen window instead of meeting my gaze.

“Y-You didn’t have to do that” Hayden said turning to brace his hands against the sink so that his back was towards me “I can take care of myself” 

I stared at his toned back clad in a long sleeve navy shirt with the sleeves pulled up to his elbows and dark jeans “I never said you couldn’t I only meant that up against a pack of Rogues we won’t stand a chance alone”

He didn’t turn around or even bother to glance back at me so I stood up and took a step towards him “Hayden?” I asked but still he refused to look at me.

Slowly I inched forward placing a gentle hand on his shoulder “Hayden look at me” I pleaded lightly tugging at his arm until he turned leaning back up against the sink.

His eyes were focused on the ground not looking up so I cupped his face in both my hands and forced him to meet my eyes.

“I was scared and still am. If anything happens to you out there I wouldn’t know what to do with myself” his eyes flickered from mine down to the ground then back up to mine before he sighed closing them. When he opened them again his hands were gripping my waist.

“Nothing’s going to happen to me, I promise” he breathed leaning his forehead against mine and pulling me closer to him “I won’t let anything happen” 

I felt the overwhelming sensation start to creep up from my core. The deal with Alpha Caine, the fight with my brother and coming clean all hit me like a tidal wave. My vision started blurring and a tear fell from my eyes. I was shaking as Hayden reached up to wipe it away with his thumb.

“It’s okay, shhh everything’s going to be okay” he assured me as more tears spilled from my eyes. I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my face into his chest.

“I-I’m scared, Hayden” I sobbed when he wrapped one arm protectively around my waist and used his free hand to lift my chin so that I was looking into his breath-taking forest green eyes.

“Don’t be-.” he whispered lightly pressing his lips to mine then pulled me into his chest. His scent calmed me and the way he stroked my hair back made me feel relaxed with him mumbling soothing things into my ear.

“Everything’s going to work out in the end, you’ll see” I closed my eyes listening to him as I tried to snuggle closer, his heartbeat was drumming a steady pace like a lullaby to my ears.

“I want to stay like this forever” I breathed my eyes beginning to droop from the crying. It was nothing more than a few shed tears but crying always left me feeling sleepy.

“Me too but we’ve got to get each other’s scents off before someone notices” Hayden said taking hold of my shoulders and placing me at arms-length. I nodded rubbing my tired eyes then yawned stretching my arms high above my head.

“Ah huh, I’m going to go take a shower” Hayden gave a sad smile at the fact that I had to go wash off his scent and him mine but leaned forward to place a tender kiss to my forehead.

“Then a nap” he insisted and when I was about to protest he shot me a look that said I wasn’t going to win that argument so I just rolled my eyes and gave his shoulder a playful shove.

“Maybe” I muttered and kissed his cheek then disappeared out the door before he could protest.

“Hay wait up Rachel!” Vicky called rushing to catch up with a pregnant Bridget following behind.  The fashion obsessed blonde looked okay but the bags under her eyes were still there.

“I take it pregnancy is no walk in the park” I teased stopping by the stairs as Bridget came walking up in a cute little summer dress and flats.

“Shut up” she grouched while Vicky tried to hold in her laughter. I then realized that something was missing.

“Hay Rose, you coming?” I called back into the kitchen hearing a high picked squeal before the little Omega came barging out of the kitchen.

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!” she repeated jumping up and down in place. The boys including Tristan, Travis, Blake and Hayden were peering out the kitchen door in amusement except for Blake who looked baffled.

“Really?” Rose asked with a hopeful smile on her face. Bridget was soaking up the spotlight while Vicky leaned against the stair railing with her arms crossed over her chest.

“Yeah really, you’re my friend what did you expect?” I said shrugging then started up the stairs while Rose stood with her jaw dropped. It was only when I gave her a look that she snapped out of her trance.

“Yes!” she exclaimed darting ahead of us. I chuckled and shook my head as I watched her go.