Beyond Fate

Pay back

(Flash back)

Pack trials - four years earlier

I jumped up from my sleep hearing alarm bells blaring. It was the sound of a police siren, in my sleepy state I couldn’t think, what did they say the police siren meant again.

The warriors overseeing our trials had warned us that there were different sirens for different emergencies.

Ambulance - meant a natural disaster, like a flood, storm etc and to stay inside.

Fog horn- was an alphas order and we had to report to our assigned location point.

Police siren, what the hell was police siren, kids around me started panicking looking around aimlessly, others were already locking the doors while a few were trying to get outside resulting in fighting amongst themselves no one seemed to know where they were or what to do.

Police siren, ok brain focus, police meant protesters and they protect civilians from….

“ attack” I whispered to myself looking around,

I leapt from my bunk like the others.

“ it’s an attack! We need to get to get to the boarder” I shouted to no one in particular.

The task was simple there would be wolves waiting for us posing as rogues or a neighbouring pack, they will attack us but not enough to kill but the idea was for us to fight our way through to get the the territory boarder obviously we couldn’t fight as if we were really under attack, someone would get seriously hurt or killed. We only had 20 minutes from the moment the alarm goes off and we’d all been running around like headless chickens for the past five minutes. Only fifteen minutes remained.

“ Get to the doors now” I shouted

“ Why should we listen to you?” Someone shouted in the back but I just ignored them.

I rushed to the door still in my pyjamas as I reached up to push the door open. I felt everyone rushing past me, finally doing something other than panicking.

As I went to run I felt someone rush at my back tackling me to the ground from behind, I landed face first smacking my head on the wooden floor my attacker landing on top of me with a heavy thud knocking the wind out of my lungs, I coughed out trying to scream but I couldn’t get air back into my lungs fast enough, I fought the person on top of me managing to free my one hand at least, trying to roll myself over so I could get at their throat but a second person came up behind them stabbing me in the neck with something sharp I’m assuming is a syringe filled with goddess knows what, I felt myself going weak I tried to cry out for help as I was dragged further back into the cabin by my legs, the wooden floor boards cutting into my stomach as my cami top I’d worn to bed rode up exposing my flesh.

I couldn’t see my attackers but I smelt something familiar when one grabbed me by the hair pulling me with such force some of it was ripped from my scalp. I screamed trying to shove them away but was growing weaker by the second I tried shifting but my wolf was unresponsive I was thrown against a wall several brooms and mops fell onto me as I hit the floor I was in the cleaning cupboard I tried to look up but my vision was blurred and my attackers were all covered head to toe in black the only thing recognisable was one particular scent it was sweet sickeningly sweet like candy cane, vanilla and caramel all mixed together, I wanted vomit it was so pungent I tried to stand but someone shoved their boot covered foot against my chest causing me to cough, with my last ounce of strength I raised my hand bringing it back down as hard as I could onto the person's leg hearing a satisfying crack. The pressure on my chest was gone instantly and replaced by a piercing cry. I smiled to myself but my victory was short lived when another boot came down on my stomach. I cried out coughing , I clutched my stomach as the pain radiated through me. I could hear chuckling and murmurs as my body lost its fight with whatever they injected me with and darkness consumed me.

I was pulled back from my haze by the sound of my dad and Johnny still bickering, thinking back to the trails made me so angry. I’d been so consumed with the challenge I hadn’t been looking for anyone trying to sabotage me , but then why would I,back then I hadn’t been looking for people who might want to hurt me. I was the Beta’s daughter. I was well liked before the trials, I had friends, people would smile when I walked into a room, boys would ask me out on dates. I had taken it all for granted because I’d always assumed that a pack was a family. I never once contemplated the life I’d have to endure after I woke up in that cupboard.

When I awoke that following morning I was still in the cleaning cupboard, my whole body hurt and I felt weak. I couldn’t feel my wolf. I didn't remember how I’d gotten in there at first, the light was shining through the little skylight in the ceiling. I'd grasped the door handle still groggy trying to get out but I was locked. Someone had locked me in. I tried to claw through my foggy memory as to how I’d come to be in here with the door locked.

We were under attack. I panicked because this was a large part towards my rank. I needed to get out there. I needed to show I could fight. This was my chance.

I couldn’t get the door to budge, my wolf was silent and my body hurt making me feel weak. I used what little strength I had left to climb out of the sun roof. It took some time but I managed it. When I got outside it was early morning and everyone was preparing for the next task. I'd missed the fight and in it I’d lost a huge chunk of my score.

The warriors had questioned me as to what had happened but I didn’t regain my memories until later. I realised the serum I’d been injected with was a dose of wolfsbane not enough to kill or cause Permanent damage but enough to drain me completely rendering me unconscious.

I’d missed the largest part of the trials which is to test the wolf's character under pressure and you can’t deny that survival instinct. It wasn't the deciding task for rank but it was an important part of it. After that my testing had been pathetic at best, my wolf was gone, buried deep within me unable to break free of the wolfsbane in my system. I failed hand to hand combat and got my arse handed to me by Emma one of Kelly’s friends and then I couldn’t shift during the wolf fight which also went against my ability to control my wolf and shift at will, It was during the hand to hand combat I’d caught the familiar sickly sweet perfume I’d smelt the night before I had turned around to see Kelly leant against a tree with Tammy, Emma and few others all smirking seeing that I’d figured out what they’d done, I had launched myself at them but was easily held back by other pack members who thought I was being petty about losing another trial.

Kelly’s plot to sabotage me worked, making me not only look like a coward but also unable to fight or shift and even my father being Beta couldn’t save me from that shame. Even though I’d reported the incident the second I escaped the cupboard the trials could not be interfered with. I still remember the look on dad’s face to this day when my rank of omega was read out. It had killed me, he’d had such high hopes for his little girl and I’d let him down.

A wolf who can’t shift at will is no wolf at all.

I told my father what had happened but by the time I’d worked everything out and my blood was tested the wolfsbane was already out of my system. I had no proof it was Kelly either, it didn’t matter the damage was done. When they read out my rank I crumbled in dad’s arms unable to bear the shame I’d brought on my family. My father was the most respected Beta in England now he had the shame of having an omega for a daughter.

Shaking away the awful memories of how that evil b***h had ruined my life, I looked towards my father who had paused his argument with Johnny and now his attention was on me he seemed to read the direction of my thoughts. He hated that even as the Beta he couldn’t help me with what had happened but it hadn’t been his fault it was mine he’d always taught me to look for my enemy at every angle but I’d never suspected it would come from my own pack members back then I assumed we all thought of each other as one big family how nieve id been. It has been a harsh lesson to learn.

Now I did nothing but lie to the man who’d fought my corner from the moment they read out that awful rank he didn’t know the one secret I kept hidden from everyone. It was the same reason I’d never been accepted in my request to retake the trials. Nathan. He and Kelly pulled all the strings in this pack now more than ever they were the official Beta couple.

I could never bring myself to tell my father the truth, If he knew how far his little girl had fallen he’d despise me.

I’d never been able to tell him Nathan was my fated mate no matter how many times I’d tried I’d always stopped myself. If I did that would mean having to show him the person I’d really become, the girl that allows her mate to flaunt the very female that sabotaged my trials, beat me, bullied me, humiliated me at every turn but what was worse than that was I’d have to admit to the hold that Nathan still had on me. No matter how much he hurt me I still allowed him what he wanted any time he came knocking as his wanting w***e.

I allowed him to use me whenever he saw fit, the amount of times I’ve been working in the pack house and Nathan had pulled me into one of the rooms and proceeded to ravage me, just like he had tried to the other day, using my body for his own pleasure, how for the longest time I’d revealed in those moments because it meant he was with me, that he was touching me and not her.

Now it only made me feel sick, like I knew it would my dad and the rest of my family, not to mention that dad and Johnny wouldn’t hesitate to kill Nathan and Alpha jerkface would have no choice but to execute them after. I couldn’t let that happen, I couldn't lose them both.

“ Dad please stop it doesn’t matter I’ll just leave the house when Kelly’s here” I pleaded wanting this moment to end, Kelly already robbed me of enough happiness I wouldn’t let her ruin my family too.

“ No, you bloody well won’t, I won’t have my daughter forced out of her own house by the scum of this pack.... do you hear me tammy!!” He shouted the last part peering round Johnny and me. I heard a squeak behind me as the door slammed shut again. Subtle. My dad didn’t miss a thing.

“ If your chosen mate wants to see her friends, I suggest you go to her own house” my dad pointed at Johnny who scowled at my dad.

“ I may let a lot go son but I will not move on this, do not disobey me again Johnny, if I find out that b***h has been here nothing will save you from the s**t storm I’ll bring down on you and your so called mate” my father was deadly serious, Johnny knew it, I knew it, I just hoped Tammy was watching too. My dad didn’t have many rules but when he put his foot down he wouldn’t be disobeyed, it wasn’t worth your life.

“ Are you taking the piss” my father's voice boomed angrily looking down the driveway he stormed past me down the steps of our porch. I followed him to see Nathan was back with a smug look on his face holding an official envelope from the pack house just like the one I’d been handed the night I was let go as Mina’s care giver.

Dread filled my stomach as every senecio going filled my mind as to what he was doing back so soon, was dad being summoned, had Nathan just gone straight to the Alpha jerkface to tell on my dad. f*****g coward.

Don’t speak that way about mate he had every right to.

Oh shut up!! I didn’t even wait for the reply before blocking her out. stupid team Nathan wolf.

“ I thought I already told you boy” my father said squaring up to Nathan.

“ I’m here on official pack business old man, I have a work assignment for the omega” he’d never say my name in public, not since the day he unofficially rejected me.

He handed my father the envelope. He stood there smiling smugly as if waiting for the moment it was opened. I already knew it would be bad not because the Alpha jerkface hated me but because my mate did.

“ well your jobs done errand boy now f**k off my property” my father all but roared at his beta, Nathan’s smug smile faltered somewhat but didn’t disappear he’d already won, he didn’t need to hurt my father directly he only had to hurt me. He glanced over at me grinning from ear to ear. I could only imagine what horror awaited me in that envelope he’d probably have me placed back in the pack house somewhere, cleaning or in the kitchens, where I was within reaching distance to him no doubt.

Once Nathan was gone my father finally opened the envelope reading the assignment.

“ well?” Johnny came up next to me. He sounded as nervous as I felt, he wrapped an arm around me like it would save me from my fate.

“ Harvest” my dad announced in disbelief, I hung my head in defeat. It was no coincidence Nathan turned up with that so soon after his row with my dad. Kelly had probably put the idea in his head, this was revenge for my dad embarrassing them both.

( Three days later)

Alisha pov

I’ve been working the harvest and to say the conditions were horrendous was an understatement. Originally I had thought I’d been doing the job other females did on the fields. Most of the time the fields and crops were managed by the omega males but during the harvest it was all hands on deck, most of the pack males helped out along with some females but never in the fields usually they stayed in the barns preparing food or handing out refreshments to the men working the fields, at worst they were doing inventory as it comes in so we knew what was stocked for winter.

Imagine my shock when I turned up and Gregor, one of the pack farmers, put me out on the fields. Not very. It was back breaking work, literally, everything was done by hand too.

No fancy farming machinery in this pack oh no that would be money well spent investing in modern technology so most of the pack didn’t have to break themselves to get a job done before winter kicked in so we didn’t all stave. Why on earth would anyone spend pack money on that. Yep sarcasm again.

My experience was made worse when the females came with refreshments that first afternoon, no one would so much as spare me a bottle of water. I was sweating, exhausted and at risk of dying of heat stroke under the suns rays but not one person would even throw a drop of water at me. The gloves were clearly off since Alpha jerkface had declared me fair game. Now I wasn’t under Alpha Felix's protection; the pack members' hostility was more evident than ever.

I remember looking up at one of the omega females. I couldn't remember her name but I’d seen her around the pack house. She had once handed me a tissue to wipe my bloody nose after a famous Kelly beating.

I could tell from the look on her face she sympathized with my situation. She had looked around quickly to see if anyone was watching before she had dropped a bottle of water on the ground and kicked it so it rolled along the dirt towards me, I nodded my head in gratitude before scooping up the bottle quickly opening the lid bringing it discreetly to my lips but before I could taste the cool liquid it was smacked from my hand and I felt a sharp slap across the face, I hit the dirt with a thud. Stunned, I opened my eyes to see Gregor looking down at me with fury in his eyes without a beat he backhanded the omega that had helped me sending her and the basket she was carrying flying into the dirt. The poor girl whimpered, turning away and running without picking up the food that lay on the ground.

“ trash doesn’t get such luxuries as food or water, by order of Alpha Mitchell, you work until your dead dog” he glared down at me. His hand going to his dust cover jeans that were surprisingly snug for a farmer, the shirt he wore had seen better days it was ripped and old looking with a faded print of the nirvana album on the front his skin was sun kissed from hours of being out in the sun working all day, his dark hair was greying, by the broad shoulders and arm muscles you’d think he was a warrior but Dad always said Gregor was one of those guys that acted tough but there was a reason he was a farmer and not a warrior. I wonder what his face would look like if he saw dad charging down here after I told him how Gregor had hit me for trying to take a drink of water. I wouldn’t tell dad though, if I did dad would most likely take this arsehole's head off but then dad would be the one in the dungeon or worse.

My life was suddenly looking even bleaker that normal and that’s saying a lot.there was nothing anyone could do to help me, I couldn’t tell my family because Apha jerkface would surely punish them for being traitors, if Alpha Felix and Luna Jamie returned there was no use pinning my hopes on them saving me like the usually did. I was alone and at the pack's mercy. Judging by the smile on Gregor’s face he knew that too.

I didn’t think it could get any worse than that after my first day but I was wrong the second day was going to be killer.

I was in the barn, I’d just brought back one of my baskets ready for inventory, the females always made polite conversation with the others in the barn but not me; they just scowled and moved to the next person.

I wiped the sweat from my forehead going to the far side of the barn to my secret stashed water bottle I’d brought with me. I wasn’t making the same mistake today I’d brought my own water from home and hidden it in the barn by a haystack before we’d headed out this morning.

I looked around to make sure no one was watching me, I moved round behind the haystack then taking a much needed swig the cool water sliding down my throat was heaven I quickly screwed the cap back on the water bottle before anyone spotted me and confiscated it. Coming back out of my hiding spot I glanced back at the haystack to make sure nothing was visible, when I felt a presence behind me.

I turned quickly seeing a tall man with honey blonde hair cut short to his head with his arms folded across his broad chest he looked at me angrily the wrinkles in his eyes scrunching further, from the looks of him he used to be a bit of a bouncer type all big arms but he’d clearly let the drink take over in his old age the beer belly was taking away the intimidation he was clearly putting out there.

“ Do you need something?” I asked in a broad tone, not in the mood after my run in with farmer Gregor yesterday. I'd managed to give him a wide berth this morning, now I wasn’t about to take s**t from this wanna be thug.

I hadn’t noticed at first but the guy looked vaguely familiar it wasn’t until three other guys suddenly flanked him I realised who he was, a stevens, I didn’t know his name but he was Darren’s father and Kelly’s uncle, the familiar family trait of blonde hair and dead eyes accompanied by the smug smirk of a person who has their victim outnumbered was a dead give away to the despicable breed that was the stevens family, all bullies needing a crowd at their back to take on one victim.

Mr Stevens and his pals smirked evilly. I looked around noticing that all eyes were on me now, some looked on in fear while others looked like they should have a box of popcorn at the ready. With my back to the wall I knew I was boxed in, my only exit was at the barn entrance at the far end where I saw a smug looking Darren guarding the door.

“ It’s pay back time b***h” mr Stevens said seconds before his fist came flying at me.