The Forbidden Omega

Chapter Ten: A Moon Alone

Limbs quaking uncontrollably, I enter the premium level cell at the local containment center, a heat flooding my face as the steel door change shut behind me. I feel my gut twist as I carefully undress, the shame of needing this level of security making me unbelievably nauseous. I hated myself for this, not only was I here, in a place looked at by most as a place for people full of rage or former convicts, but Soren could be harmed tonight, and I couldn't protect him here.

I walk the perimeter of the twenty by ten enclosure, ensuring the walls were sturdy enough, and sufficiently high. The cold stars glimmered above me, their cold radiance offering no comfort to me as I gaze at the open sky above. I lean my back against the rough bark of the lab grown oak that was the only furniture in my cell, aside from the slab of beef and bowl of water sitting in a corner on a sanitary board. I hear the background sounds of quiet breathing on my left, and a soft, panicked muttering from the cell to my right, the woman's voice praying to the gods for survival.

Overall, the cell wasn't too bad, as I feel the near perfectly imitated grass, and the soft earth beneath. The loud clang of the security bars on my door sliding into place almost startled me, breaking me away from a confused thought running through my mind. Even as I try to remember it, I lose my train of thought, my wolf slowly flexing its muscles. The moon must have risen, then.

I dig my fingers into the dirt, shaking as I try to keep myself calm when my bones slowly soften, and the hair on my body lengthens and thickens, becoming true fur now as my soft bones shift their shape and I fall forward onto four paws with a groan. The excruciating pain slowly fades from my mind, and I pant through my long muzzle, the scents and sounds nearly overwhelming as my hearing sharpens, and I smell the Omega to my left, his scent wrong. He's not my Omega.

I stretch my long legs, my massive frame lumbering over to the thick steak, curious as to what it was. I lick it a few times, but it's not what I need. I need my Omega. Where was Soren? I inspect the artificial tree, looking for any signs of Soren in this place. The moon looks down on me, and I softly chirp at her, asking whether She has seen my Soren. I want to run with my mate. Where was he?

I sniff at the locker, smelling a hint of my Omega on the cloth, and a stranger's scent mixed with his, the barest hint of another Alpha on *my* Soren. I whine, my wolf brain not understanding in this moment, as I pace the enclosure. I stop by the tree, the memories and images of my Omega spending the moon with Jason, and that * Runt* taking my rightful place as Soren presents himself playfully.

I butt my head against the tree growling piteously.

Jason would not hesitate to mount Soren in their play, and the thought of another wolf being with my mate in that manner causes me to once more butt the tree, my claws digging into the dirt. Jason would mount Soren, and he wouldn't stop there.

I grip the sturdy tree root in my teeth, whining around the imitation wood.

Soren would never see me as his Alpha. He would never be mine, and would never want me. He would present his entrance to Jason, and he would accept him. He loved *Jason,* and Jason doesn't appreciate that beautiful Omega the way I do.

I whine around the root again, my teeth digging into the bitter fiber. It wasn't enough to make me calm.

Soren had said his wolf didn't care for Jason. I force my mind away from the reminder that caring for someone and lying with them were at some times entirely different issues. There *had* to be a real reason he stayed with that bastard.

I throw my head back, releasing an ear shattering howl, calling to the one person I craved in a time like this, calling to my mate. My soul vibrates in the ringing howl, every love and hate and fear and joy pours from my throat. The emotions I had no name for, and the emotions I only felt as a wolf bursts from between my jaws. My eyes water with the force of my longing.

*Where are you?!?!* My heart begs for the piece of it I was born without, my voice raw with the force of my song. A cry to my mate who was practically unaware of my existence. A cry that went unanswered. Not even Mother Moon looked upon me with a kindly eye this cold, dark night. Even She was immune to my pain.

So I simply call louder, begging the gods to intervene, without any proof they could. I call more and more desperately until the moon herself shattered, falling from the heavens as I fall to the dirt beneath my paws. A fuzzy blankness settles over me, and I panic against the drugs infecting my system, scrabbling at the ground, shadows filling my vision. A clang sounds in my ears, and my limbs grow heavier, my weak neck letting my head fall to the earth with a muted thump.

I yelp softly, fighting to keep my eyes open. I didn't need sedation, I just needed my mate.

My Soren.

Soren…