The Omega's Secret

"Cassandra Elizabeth Reynolds," my mother's voice cut through my snoring. "Get your lazy butt down here now." I blearly opened my eyes and groaned. Me and mornings did not get on, which didn't bode well for my life as an omega of the Blood Crescent pack. Usually, omegas are up early to do their assigned jobs for the pack. Of course, being only 17 meant that I was still in school currently and had not yet been assigned a role. I pulled my pillow out and stuffed it around my head, hoping to drown out my mother's scolding enough to fall back to sleep. "If you aren't down here and ready in the next 5 minutes then you can walk your ass to school in the snow," she shouted. "Okay, okay chill. I'm up," I grumbled, and rolled myself out onto my feet. I grabbed some clothes from the chair and tossed them on.  At 5ft7 , I was lucky enough to inherit my mother's curvy figure. I had her shapely hips and breasts, as well as her full, pouty lips. This was where the comparisons ended though. Where my mother had pale skin and beautiful blonde hair, my skin was always tanned and my hair and eyes were dark like caramel chocolate. I must have inherited those aspects of my looks from my father - and while I received compliments on them, I couldn't help but despise those parts of myself that I thought resembled him.  My father was a rogue, but he was my mother's mate. When he was passing through our territory he could smell my mother and sought her out. She was overjoyed to find her mate, as she was already a few years past 18 and had been longing to meet her other half. Since he was not a pack member, they conducted their affair in secret and would meet at night to be together. After some time, and before they knew my mother was pregnant, my father left without a trace. I sighed and scraped my hair back into a messy bun in an effort to hide it, shuffling my way down the stairs. "There's no time for breakfast any more, but you can eat this bagel in the car," my mum said, passing me a bagel smothered in butter and jam. I smiled at her in thanks, but she frowned at me. "Cassie love, I wish you'd try a bit harder. You will be turning 18 soon and finding your mate, you want to look your best." I rolled my eyes and sighed. This again?  "You know I don't want to find my mate mother, they're really not worth the hassle." "Oh Cass, you know that's not true. A mate is a beautiful and special gift from the moon goddess and will fill your life with untold joy. I was one of the unlucky ones, but that doesn't mean you will be." I didn't want to discuss mates any more, so I headed out the door towards the car and waited for my mother to follow.