chapter 5
1328 Words
**Everly**
"Oh my God I'm really sorry sir" I say as I tried to clean up whatever had poured on him.
His aura radiated nothing but power.
It was far too ommanding, overwhelming.
My wolf stirs to life, clawing at my insides, desperate for me to move, to run towards him, to submit.
I suck in a sharp breath as my gaze locked into his.
**John**
The moment our eyes meet, the mate bond hit me with a huge force.
My knees weak, my heart pounding against my ribs.
His scent was intoxicating, and an invisible force fills my soul, pulling me towards me.
**Mate**
The whispers comes from deep inside me, my wolf's voice filled with longing.
But instead of the warmth I expect, instesd of the desperate need I know should be filled in his eyes, I see nothing but rage.
His expression darkens, his body stiffening, his eyes filled with disdain like I'm something disgusting.
His jaw clenched so tightly I could see the muscle twitch under his jaw.
**No.**
The word was soft, nearly lost, but I could hear it. I felt it.
I took step back.
My breath hitched
No?
I feel a sharp familiar pain through my chest.
A rejection
Just like before.
For a moment, I swear I saw hesitation in his eyes. Unlike Rhys, who had cut me loose without a second thought, John doesn't say the words.
But I can fell his resistance, I can feel the way his wolf fights against whatever his human side wants.
The pull between us is unbearable, a thin string threating to snap.
My wolf whines, desperate for connection, desperate for acknowledgement.
My wolf was desperate for its mate.
But John looked at me like a mistake.
As if sensing the tension between us, Madam Selene’s sharp gaze flickers between I and John.
"She's a rare one," Selene says smoothly, her lips curling into a smile. "She's been trained, obedient."
The room falls silent.
My stomach tightened as I couldn't understand what she meant.
She's offering me to him.
Like property.
John gaze move to selene, then back to me.
His expression unreadable, though his jaw still tight, as if barely holding something back.
A heartbeat passes. Then another.
And then he speaks.
"I'll take her."
The words felt like a slap.
I inhale sharply, my hands curling into fists.
He doesn't reject me.
He doesn't even claim me as his mate, either.
He just takes me..
Like I'm nothing more than a transaction, another Omega to add to his pack.
I looked at Madam Selene trying to ask for an explanation, but she says nothing.
Like he had the final say.
"You belong to Nightshade now," John says, his voice emotionless. "Nothing more."
The finality in his tone shattered whatever hope I had left.
**Nothing more**
I repeated those words as I tried to understand what they meant.
My wolf howls in protest, but I shove the pain down, swallowing it like poison.
I should have know better.
I should have learned my lesson with Rhys.
Mates mean nothing to Alphas.
Especially when it's a weak omega like myself.
Madam Selene nods like she had no other option.
I don't fight as the guards move towards me, one grabbing my arm, the other shoving a set of chains into my hands.
The cold metal burned against my skin, a reminder of my place.
I bit the inside of my cheek until I could taste blood.
I will not cry.
Not for him
Not for anyone.
*********
The carriage was cold, the wooden seats unforgiven beneath me . I'm not alone, other omegas sit around me, some whispering in hushed voices, other staring blankly at nothing.
I keep my gaze on the floor, my hands in my lap, fingernails digging into my palms.
John rides ahead on horseback, leading the procession, never for once looking back.
I feel him, though. Even through the walls of the carriage, even through the icy space he's put between us.
The mate bonds burns beneath my skin, raw and unanswered.
My wolf is restless, clawing at my mind. He's ours. He's ours.
No, I tell her bitterly. He doesn't want us.
The Nightshade Pack’s territory is high in the distance, dark and tall. My new prison.
The moment the carriage slows, I feel it-- eyes on me.
Waiting.
A figure stands at the entrance, tall and elegant.
A woman.
Her lips curl into a knowing smirk.
"Welcome to your New prison she says."
I lift my head, staring at the woman before me.
She tilts her chin, watching me with cold assessing eyes.
And just like that I know.
I am not welcome here.
And I'm not safe.
********
The grand Hall of the Nightshade packhouse is colder than I expected. Massive chandeliers hang from the hugh ceilings, their light barely reaching the drak wood floors.
The walls are lined with portraits of past Alphas - powerful men with piercing eyes, all watching me with silent judgement.
The woman from the entrance stands at the base of the staircase, her arms crossed, her blue eyes looked into mine.
"Why isn't she with the other Omegas?" She asked, her eyes still fixed on me.
"Ariana ae you questioning me now?" Alpha John replied. "I do whatever I want."
So her name is Ariana, it all clicks now , she's close to Alpha John and she portrays authority too.
Is she the Alpha Queen?
"This is the new one?" She continues, her voice smooth, yet filled with disdain.
John nods. "Her name is Everly."
"Everly." Ariana repeats my name slowly.
Then she lifs a arched brow. "And where will she be staying."
John said nothing for a while, his expression hardened. "The Servants Quaters"
A sharp stab of humiliation hit me, but I don't react.
"Hmm," the woman continues, tapping a finger against her chin. "That's low, even for an omega."
"She's not special," John replies. "Treat her like the others."
The others.
Omegas.
Property.
I keep my head down, my nails digging deeper into my palm.
Ariana tilts her head, studying for a moment before finally signing.
"Well you heard him," she smiles, waving a hand toward one of the servants. "Take her to the omega quaters."
I don't get a chance to speak.
A firm hand grabs my arm and yanks me forwards.
I stumbled slightly but caught myself before I fell.
As I'm led away.
I can still feel John's gaze on me.
But he says nothing.
Does nothing.
He just let's me go.
********
The room they put me in was a small, it was barely larger than a closet.
A thin matteres sits in the corner, the only furniture besides the cracked wooden dresser.
The walls are bare, a dustly window that barely lets in any light.
This is my new home.
I sit on the edge of the mattress, my hands shaking in my lap.
I should have known it would end like this.
I should have never allowed myself to hope.
But no matter how much I tried to bury it, one thought keeps rising to the surface.
He's my mate.
Even if he refuses to accept it, even if he refuses to acknowledge it and treats me like nothing, the bond is still there.
Still waiting.
I close my eyes, pressing my palms against my temples.
I will not cry.
Not yet.
But as the night drgas on and the silence of my new prison surrounds me, the truth becomes impossible to ignore.
He is my mate and he wants nothing to do with me
************
The door creaks open and I lift my head.
A pair of glowing golden eyes meet mine.
And then a voice, low and dangerous, speaks through the darkness.
"You don't belong here, omega. And I will make sure you never forget it."
I knew that voice.
It was too familiar to ignore.
It was Ariana.
- Writer
