A Gamma’s BloodLine
1134 Words
Chapter Nine.
Lydia’s POV.
My second day at Hopkins was supposed to be all about work.
I told myself that for as many times as needed for me to believe it. I walked down the corridor, my badge clipped to my chest, feeling my chest swell with pride.
I was going to learn and prove myself. I’d build the career I’d dreamed about since I was a child.
And I refused to let anything distract me from it, not even Xander and our deal.
All new interns were assigned to small groups led by senior healers. I found my name on the list and followed the others to a small conference room near the surgical wing.
I stretched the edges of my coat nervously.
The door opened and a woman walked in.
She was stunning. Polished and elegant, with sharp cheekbones and perfectly styled dark hair. Her white coat fit her like it was made specifically for her. Her heels clicked against the floor with the confidence of someone who owned every room she entered.
Behind her, the other interns straightened up and began to whisper.
“By the Moon! Is that Vivienne Calloway?”
“It really is her!” Another shrieked excitedly. “She’s a full blooded Gamma. Her family’s been around for generations.”
“She’s practically royalty.”
Vivienne’s eyes swept over the room like she was assessing each of us like we were a specimen under a microscope. Her gaze landed on me and stopped.
Something flickered in her expression.
Disgust.
“Before we begin,” Vivienne said, her voice smooth as silk, “I want to make something clear. I don’t tolerate weakness. I don’t tolerate incompetence. And I certainly don’t tolerate Omegas on my team.”
The room fell silent.
My face burned as every pair of eyes in the room turned toward me. They knew. They could smell it on me—the low rank, the weak blood, the Omega status that made me less than nothing in their world.
“Omegas are a drain on pack resources,” Vivienne continued, her eyes still locked on me. “Weak. Worthless. Leeches that shouldn’t have a place at Hopkins. But since the Alpha’s new Luna seems to think her daughter deserves special treatment, I suppose I have no choice but to endure your presence.”
Special treatment.
That word cut deeper. She thought I was here because my mother married Alpha Charles. She thought I didn’t earn my place.
I wanted to defend myself, to tell her how hard I’d worked for this but my voice was trapped in my throat and my wolf was cowering so low I could barely feel her.
Vivenne smiled. It didn’t reach her eyes.
“Now. Let’s see what you’re made of.”
Vivienne assigned me the worst task. Supply inventory in the basement. Filing patients records that hadn’t been touched in years. Cleaning equipment that should have been handled by the lowest-ranked servants.
“Omegas are good for menial works,” she said brightly whenever she handed me a new assignment. “It’s the only thing you’re suited for.”
By the end of my first week, I was certain Vivienne Calloway hated me.
The days that followed were a special kind of torture. The other interns took their cues from her. They avoided me like I carried a disease.
They whispered whenever I walked past. They ‘accidentally’ spilled coffee on my notes, ‘misplaced’ my charts, ‘forgot’ to include me in group projects.
I endured all of it.
I told myself it didn’t matter. I was here to work, to make a name for myself and I didn’t need friends. I just needed to survive.
But survival was getting harder.
During lunch, I sat alone in the corner of the cafeteria while the others laughed and chatted at the next table. One of them—a Beta—looked at me and said loudly,
“Don’t you have a basement to clean, Omega?”
The others burst out laughing. I kept my eyes glued to my tray.
I picked at my food, forcing myself to chew even when my stomach was in knots.
My throat burned and for a moment, I thought about calling my mom but she was having such a great time on her honeymoon. I couldn’t ruin that for her.
Charles might be my step-father now but he was still a stranger.
I thought about calling Xander.
But Xander hadn’t been seen at work for days now.
He was just… gone.
As the days stretched on, I started to wonder.
I hadn’t heard a word from him about our deal. I checked my phone obsessively the first few days. Every buzz made my heart leap. Every notification was a tiny knife when it wasn’t him.
By Thursday, I’d stopped checking.
What was the point? He’d clearly changed his mind.
I felt stupid. So stupid for believing someone like him could want someone like me.
It had been a game to him. And I’d fallen for it completely.
Maybe I’d imagined the whole thing, the way he looked at me and the tension in the elevator. I thought to myself as I pulled off my scrubs after a fourteen hour shift, my body was aching and a terrible headache was beginning to spread across my head.
The other interns were clustered around the lockers.
“Healer Vivienne has been absent from work this week.” One of them pointed out.
“She’s with Alpha Xander. I heard they’re at his private estate.”
“Of course she is. Everyone knows she’s going to be the next Luna. Her Gamma bloodline is perfect for him.”
“She’s the only one fit to be by his side.” Another added.
My heart dropped to my stomach.
I stood frozen behind the locker doors, my hands gripping my bag so tight my knuckles turned white.
Their gossip made sense. Vivienne was beautiful and powerful, from a respectable Gamma family. She was everything someone like him would want.
Everything I could never be.
So why did I feel this sharp, burning thing in my chest that wouldn’t go away.
I shouldn’t care who he was with. He was nobody to me. Just the stepbrother my mother’s decision stuck me with.
That was all.
But as I stood there, listening to the other interns laugh about Xander and Vivienne, I realized the truth.
He didn’t mean nothing to me.
And that terrified me more than anything else.
That night, I lay awake on my bed in my apartment, staring at the ceiling and I couldn’t stop wondering.
Friday was approaching. The deal was supposed to start on Friday.
Did he remember it? Did he even remember me at all?
- Writer
