A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing

LAIKAI I woke to the noise outside. People were running, pushing things out of their way. Shouts, screams, and the cries of children filled the air. I got up from the floor, confused, and my whole body ached as if I'd been pierced with pins. This was due to the torture my mate, Alpha Khalid, had inflicted on me earlier. He had whipped me for refusing to please him. I cried myself to sleep on the cold floor.I left the room and saw people running in different directions, and Alpha Khalid was nowhere to be seen. I was completely disoriented, and no one seemed to care about telling me what was going on. Anyway, everyone hated me. But when I listened more closely, I heard what they were saying."The Titans are here!"My heart sank into my stomach. The Titan pack was the most feared in the entire wolf kingdom. They were werewolves and powerful warriors, gifted in every way and incredibly brutal. They often raided other packs and took slaves for themselves. I had heard a lot about them, but I had never experienced an attack. What had our pack done to deserve this attack? I tried my best to join the other pack members and escape, but a sharp pain shot through my right leg, and I remembered a heavy table falling on me when Alpha Khalid had dragged me out earlier. Tears streamed down my face, and I limped out of the house.I had no one in this pack. I was orphaned long ago and belonged to the lowest tribe of Omegas, considered the weakest and most cursed among them. It was a curse to be an Omega in my pack and in most packs, and I was the last living Omega. I transformed at three, which was extremely rare, and ever since then I'd been labeled a curse. I had endured every punishment my pack inflicted on me, especially from my Alpha mate, Khalid, who thought it was a curse that I was his mate.Everyone transformed and plunged into the forest for safety, to escape the Titan warriors, but I couldn't even let my wolf take charge. She was as weak as I was, and it seemed like I wasn't even there. I hobbled through the pack's territory, watching the Titan warriors grab and drag my pack members to their large cage, and I wondered why no one had noticed me. Where was Alpha Khalid? My eyes filled with tears, and my vision blurred. What was I going to do? How was I going to hobble my way out of this mess?As I pondered how to escape, a force pulled me down. I tumbled to the ground, my head hitting rocks until I lost all sense of reality. Before I passed out, my body lifted and floated in the air until I vanished into thin air.~~~A splash of water on my face woke me. I jerked up and looked around. It was still dark, but a flashlight shone in the room. At first, I was confused, but when I saw some members of my pack shackled like me, the memories of what had happened came flooding back. A woman stood at the far end of the cell, or wherever we were being held, her arms crossed over her chest, staring at us with cold, lifeless blue eyes. Burly men were serving us food. It was meager for them, but for me, it was the most abundant meal I had eaten in a long time."Why isn't that one shackled?" the woman asked once one of the burly men placed a plate in front of me."She's disabled and couldn't run away even if she wanted to," the man replied.I heard a snort and turned to see a female from my pack covering her mouth and glancing at me sideways. I wasn't crippled, and she knew it. I was limping after an accident caused by my ruthless Alpha, Khalid. Thinking of him, I felt it was time to accept his rejection. He had rejected me in front of the entire pack, humiliating me in the worst possible way, and had forbidden me from accepting it. I figured that since I was with a new master, I should sever all ties and connections with him.Without caution or thought of the consequences, I spoke loudly enough for everyone in the room to hear. "I, Laika Archer, an Omega of the Blue Moon Pack, accept your rejection, Alpha Khalid of the Blue Moon Pack. So be it." Once I finished speaking those words, I felt lighter. All the heaviness in my chest lifted, and I felt as if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I was finally free from my worst nightmare. I was free from her suffering.But I didn't know what awaited me in this new place. I was used to slavery anyway. I'll continue to endure all the torture they inflict on me because I'm used to it now. I heard gasps behind me and turned to see my pack members staring at me in disbelief, their jaws dropped. They didn't know I had the nerve to reject the Alpha." Who let you speak, you cripple?" the woman barked.I'm not a cripple! I would have told them if I weren't so weak, but I bowed my head apologetically and lunged at the food, gobbling it down as fast as I could before they changed their minds and snatched it away. I can't remember how long it's been since I've eaten anything so neat or substantial. I always ate scraps in my pack, since the Alpha had decided that was my punishment. He always told me I was ugly and didn't deserve anything beautiful or happy, and somehow, I believed him. He said I brought bad luck and was responsible for my parents' deaths. I never knew my mother, because she died giving birth to me, and my father died when I was six while trying to save me from some savages.I had believed in Alpha Khalid because if I weren't cursed, my life wouldn't have turned out so horrible