Deeper Wounds
1035 Words
When I opened my eyes, the room was dim but the light outside my windows showed it was mid morning. My head felt heavy, my body sore, and for a moment, I couldn’t tell if I’d slept through a day or a lifetime.
The last thing I remembered was the forest, the cold riverbank, my reflection trembling in the water, and that scent… wild and strange.
Something or someone had been there, watching me.
But how did I got back home? I had no idea.
My uniform hung over the chair, soiled. The pack school bell must have rung hours ago, but I couldn’t bring myself to move. My chest still ached with the echo of laughter from the training field. The shame clung to me like a second skin.
The door creaked open.
“Cecilia?”
My mother’s soft voice drifted in before she did. She moved quietly, like a shadow, her steps light and cautious, as if afraid to wake a storm. She sat on the edge of my bed, her hands folded in her lap.
I didn’t turn to face her. I just stared at the ceiling, pretending I was still sleeping.
She sighed, the sound tired but tender. “You’ve been in bed all morning,” she said gently. “You’ll make your father angry again if he finds out.”
“I don’t care,” I murmured. My voice is rough and small.
She didn’t scold me. She never did. Instead, she brushed a strand of hair from my face, her touch trembling.
“You’ve been crying,” she whispered.
I swallowed hard. My throat hurt too much to lie.
For a while, neither of us spoke. The silence between us was full of things we never said, and things we both knew too well.
Finally, she said, “Cecilia… you can’t hide from the world forever. Whatever happened, it will pass.”
I almost laughed, bitter and hollow. Some things don’t pass, I thought. Some things stain.
But I said nothing.
“Mother…”
She stopped at the door, her hand still on the knob. turned slowly, her eyes soft but questioning.
“How does an Omega know her mate?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
For a moment, she just looked at me like she’d expected this question but had hoped it would never come. She sighed and came back to sit beside me.
“It’s not something you decide, Cecilia,” she said gently. “It happens the moment your wolf recognizes his. You feel the pull, deep and uncontrollable, a bond older than time itself. Your heart races, your wolf stirs, and your scent changes. You just… know.”
My throat tightened. “I knew it all along, Mama. Even before he came close, I felt it. My wolf wouldn’t stay still, she kept howling inside me, calling his name. I knew he was the one. I knew he was my mate.”
My voice cracked, and I swallowed the sob rising in my throat. “So why deny it? Why did he reject me?”
Mother’s eyes glistened, but she forced herself to stay calm. “Because most Alphas are taught to believe they can choose their mates, not that fate does,” she said softly. “To them, strength and bloodline matter more than the Moon’s will. To claim an Omega, one without power or influence feels like weakness in their world.”
“But the Moon chose me,” I whispered, tears spilling down my cheeks. “Doesn’t that mean anything?”
“To you, yes,” she said, brushing a thumb across my cheek. “To those who respect the bond, it means everything. But Kian…” She hesitated, pain flickering in her eyes. “He’s his father’s son. Pride blinds them more than love ever can. He may have felt the bond, but pride made him deny it.”
I clenched my hands around the bedsheet. “So he’d rather defy fate than be with me?”
Lyra nodded slowly. “Some wolves think they can outrun destiny. But rejecting a mate doesn’t make the bond disappear, Cecilia. It only scars both souls. You’ll feel the tear for a while, the emptiness, and the ache, that’s your wolf mourning what was lost.”
Her words cut deep, but her voice stayed steady. “In our world, rejection is a wound the Moon herself cannot heal easily. It takes time… sometimes lifetimes.”
I looked away, my chest aching. “It’s not fair.”
“No,” she whispered. “It never is. But pain shapes us into what we’re meant to be. You’ll see that one day.”
She reached out and brushed a strand of hair from my face, her touch trembling slightly. “You must never forget, being an Omega doesn’t make you weak. It makes you pure. You feel deeper, love stronger, and heal slower. That’s not weakness, Cecilia. That’s strength most Alphas will never understand.”
She stood, her scent fading faintly as she turned toward the door.
“Rest, my child,” she murmured. “Let your heart grieve, but don’t let it die with him.”
When she left, I stayed curled under the blankets, clutching the sheets as sobs shook me.
The morning light filtered through the curtains, weak and pale, but it did nothing to ease the emptiness inside.
It wasn’t just shame, it was the hollow ache of knowing something I wanted more than life itself had been taken. He had rejected me, the bond I felt ignored.
I cried until my throat burned and my chest ached. When silence finally fell, it pressed down on me like a weight I couldn’t lift.
Then, something hit me. A faint, familiar scent drifting through the air.
Kian’s scent..
My heart slammed against my ribs. Could it be him? Had he… changed his mind?
I froze, listening, straining to catch the sound of his steps, my wolf stirring restlessly beneath my skin.
The empty room felt smaller, the walls closer, as my hope and fear collided.
Had he come for me… or was it only my imagination?
I held my breath, waiting.
- Writer
