Chapter 2: Drowning
1229 Words
Omega Mina POV
Stage number four. Depression.
I was finding it hard to walk on two legs. Since I heard about my parents’ death, the world felt underwater. Muffled. Distant. Like I was hearing everything through thick glass.
I was drowning in the pool of hopelessness and there was nothing left to live for.
Grandma was gone.
Mom and Dad were gone.
The three wolves that mattered most to me were gone.
And so was my reason to breathe.
The house was too quiet. Too big. Mom’s shawl was still on the couch. I couldn’t bring myself to wash it. It smelled like her. Lavender and smoke and home. I slept on the floor beside it every night because the bed was too empty.
Tens of wolves came knocking every day.
“Mina, let us in.”
“We brought food.”
“We’re family.”
“We’re so sorry.”
But they could never give me my parents back.
They could never fill the void in my chest.
They could never explain why the Alphas didn’t protect the fields that morning.
Times like this can only be explained through experience. People don’t get it until it’s them. Until it’s 3am and you’re staring at the ceiling wondering if grief can actually kill you.
The only thing that made the noise stop was music.
My new addiction.
Earphones in 24/7.
Hoodie up.
Head down.
The pack was throwing me a pity party and I hated every second of it.
Fake tears.
Fake hugs.
“Stay strong, Mina.”
“The Moon Goddess has a plan.”
The pack is supposed to be family.
But where was family when the wolf hunters came?
Where were the Alphas when silver bullets flew?
If the whole pack had fought, maybe my parents would still be here.
If Mom and Dad hadn’t gone to the fields that morning, maybe...
“Arghhhhh!”
I yanked my hair, tears finally falling. Hot and angry.
I quit hunt training yesterday. I know it was stupid.
But I couldn’t stand Commander Vance calling me “pathetic” while my parents were in the ground.
I couldn’t stand pretending to be fine.
I was just a hopeless Omega.
Waiting to be preyed on.
Or for death to take me.
Whichever came first.
Asha hadn’t spoken in days. She just curled up inside me and whined. Even my wolf had given up.
--
“They’re opening the new club tonight.”
The voice cut through my earphones at the herb market. Haitian accent. My grandma always said Haitians had the best gossip. And the worst timing.
I froze by the pine stall, pretending to pick tea. My fingers shook.
“Really? Are you going!” One girl squealed.
“Of course. It’s mating season. Alphas are searching for Omegas to make Luna.”
“Mating season? At a club?”
“Who cares. Free drinks. And maybe an Alpha will pick me.”
Mating season.
Alphas.
Club.
The wrong place for a grieving Omega.
But maybe that was the point.
Maybe I wanted to be in the wrong place.
I bought tea, barley, and walked home with my hoodie pulled low. The sun hurt my eyes. Everything was too bright, too loud, too alive.
--
Mating season nights were the worst.
The air was thick with lust and cologne and desperation.
Music echoed from the other side of the village. Bass shaking the windows.
Wolves getting drunk.
Getting high.
Getting laid.
Trying to forget they were animals.
I couldn’t sleep.
Loneliness was eating me alive. A slow, gnawing thing.
After an hour of staring at the ceiling, at Mom’s shawl, at the dark, I made a decision.
A bad one.
But I didn’t care.
I pulled on a short black skirt and a tank top. Slid my earphones out. Did my hair. Painted my lips red because Mom used to.
If the world wanted to forget my grief for one night, so would I.
If the pack wanted to call me useless, I’d be useless on my own terms.
--
The club wasn’t bad.
Bass so loud it shook my bones.
Werewolves dancing.
Laughing.
Living.
Like death hadn’t touched any of them.
There was even a comedian on stage. I laughed until my sides hurt.
The first real laugh in days.
It felt good. Like clean air in dirty lungs. Like remembering I was still alive.
I ended up on the dance floor.
Letting go.
Spinning.
For 3 songs I forgot.
Forgot the blood.
Forgot the shawl.
Forgot that I was alone.
People clapped.
Someone threw cash at my feet.
I was panting, grinning, sweating, when I slumped onto a bar stool. My legs were jelly.
“Another,” I told the bartender. Vodka. Straight. No ice.
“With that much alcohol, you won’t make it through the night,” a voice said beside me. Low. Rough. Amused.
“Who cares,” I slurred, not looking. “No rules here about drinking yourself to sleep.”
I turned.
And my breath left me.
He was tall.
Like, had-to-tilt-my-head tall.
Black shirt.
Black jeans.
Scars on his knuckles.
And eyes.
Gold.
Alpha gold.
Unnatural. Piercing.
It was him.
The Alpha from the tree line.
The one who stood over my parents’ blood.
My stomach dropped. Asha jolted awake.
Danger. Run.
“Aren’t you ashamed?” he asked.
But his mouth was smiling. Not mocking. Just... curious.
“Past that stage,” I said, taking a big gulp. The vodka burned. “I’m not a Beta or a Luna. Don’t have to be perfect. Don’t have to be anything.”
He sat beside me. Ordered what I was drinking. Didn’t look away.
Stared like he was trying to solve me.
“Why are you staring?” I snapped, but my heart was racing. My skin felt too hot. “You waiting for me to cry? To beg?”
“Wondering,” he said slowly. His voice was gravel. “How a wolf can be this beautiful and this broken at the same time.”
I blushed. Hard. Stupid. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?” His fingers lifted my chin. Gentle. His touch was warm against my cold skin. “Don’t tell you the truth?”
Tingling shot through me. From his fingers to my chest.
Mating season.
Alcohol.
Grief.
A dangerous Alpha.
This was a terrible idea.
And I was going to do it anyway.
“What’s your name?” I whispered.
“Kael.” His thumb brushed my jaw. Once. “And you, little Omega, are going to get yourself killed if you keep sitting here alone.”
“Maybe I want to be found,” I said, and immediately regretted it. The words were too honest. Too raw.
Kael’s eyes darkened. The gold turned molten. “Careful what you wish for.”
The music changed.
Slow.
Heavy.
He stood and held out his hand. Big. Scarred.
“Dance with me.”
I should’ve said no.
Every instinct screamed no.
I took his hand.
One song.
That was all.
But halfway through, his phone buzzed in his pocket.
He looked at it.
And his whole body went rigid. The smile was gone.
“What?” I asked. My chest tightened.
His gold eyes met mine. Dead serious. Terrifying.
“We have to go. Now.
The hunters found you.”
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