My Odd Mates

Amarah woke up excited. She barely sleeps but she feels energetic because, finally, she’ll be able to leave this god-forsaken place. Alpha Raniel promised that on the day that she'd be able to shift, she would be allowed to go after she was accepted to join another pack. The Alpha knows that she is being despised by his fated mate but can’t do anything about it because everyone in the pack treats her as the daughter of a traitor. Only him and his beta know what my mother’s worth is. My mother is a gamma-bloodied wolf and a salutary, and not just an ordinary salutary but a gifted one. Salutaries are wolves gifted with healing knowledge about herbs and special medicines. Some become great alchemists. But my mother is different because she is gifted with powers. She can heal almost all kinds of injuries, illnesses, or diseases. She was a highly valued member of the pack and the chosen mate of the current alpha. On the day of their mating ceremony, Alphas and some high-ranked warriors from other packs were invited to attend the ceremony. It was then that one of the Alphas’ daughters’ attendants, an omega by rank, turned out to be Alpha’s Raniel's fated mate. Alpha Raniel rejected the omega and the mating ceremony proceeded. But later that evening during the party, there had been a rouge’s attack and my mother was kidnapped. The Alpha could still sense that she was alive, so the search went on. But after two months of searching, the Alpha felt my mom’s betrayal. The alpha went almost insane with the pain and decided to select another chosen mate to be his Luna. The Luna becomes pregnant after they consummate their mating. After a year, Amarah's mother returned to the pack with the baby and was jailed by the sentinel, the patrolling guards of the pack. The Alpha left the baby in the care of the head omega and tortured her in prison for her betrayal. She was released after 6 months of torture. The alpha assigned an omega rank to her and exploited her healing powers in secret without the knowledge of the entire pack. The alpha still loves the former Luna but cannot forgive her betrayal. So, he kept her captive and became one of his s****l objects. That is what the current Luna always tells Amarah before she beats her to a pulp. The Luna, Luna Garret, was aware of all of this and she wanted Amarah and her mother to suffer. But she cannot contradict the Alpha and she cannot find where the Alpha has hidden her mother until she dies, although they weren’t sure about the exact date. They were just informed that the former traitor had died. So all her wrath was directed at Amarah. When she was six years old, the Luna assigned her as her personal maid. She announces to everyone that she is the daughter of the traitor, and anyone caught being nice to be will be punished. That is when my life became a living hell. There is not a single day that Amarah doesn’t receive a beating from the current Luna and her son, Ran, who is a year older than her. She was only allowed to attend an open high school, which is at night after all the day's work has been finished. The four-year high school for me became 5 because of the limited time that Amarah attended school. But she already finished high school at 15 years old because she is naturally gifted. The head of omega who raised her tutored her well and allowed me to attend school at four years old. After high school, she could no longer attend college. Since she graduated, the work has become doubled. The new head of omega, which is an ally of the Luna, made sure of that. Her adoptive mother fell ill when she was just 13 years old and has become bed-ridden since then. She has also become Amarah's burden, but she doesn’t mind. Aside from the 50% salary she received from the packhouse for cleaning and for the beatings, the adoptive mother also receives a monthly stipend, a subsidy for disabled members who had rendered enough service. Amarah was now preparing her working clothes when she heard the beta’s voice in her head. He is asking her to go to the hospital. The Alpha has been confined because of the injury he received during a rouge attack a week before. When she arrives, she can not believe the damage from the attack on the Alpha. He was barely breathing and there were a lot of unhealed wounds. Amarah was confuse. Although an omega should always bow their heads, she cannot stop herself from looking at the beta for explanation. His sigh was deep and he stated, “It’s not only rouges but some witches and hunters”. She gasped. It was that bad. As an omega, she is not aware of all the details, but she knows that the wounds were created by silver weapons because those are not healing well. “I am sorry, Alpha.” That was all she could say. Although Luna told her that her mom became the s****l object of the Alpha, she just cannot believe her because the alpha did not lay a hand on her. And the alpha did not beat her or do something bad to her. It was as if she was just non-existent. Before his last breath, he told her that she would be allowed to leave only after she was 16 years old, but only if another pack accepted her. He was sorry for what happened to Amarah and her mother. He said he always loved her mother but he cannot forget the pain of betrayal that he felt. He told her that her mother had been left with the seer for 6 months to seek her memory of what had happed to her, but it was futile and my mom lost all her prior memories. The only thing that the seeker could see was the scene where she, together with the baby, were left at the border of the pack territory. He kept the mom in a cabin, away from his Luna’s wrath, and left the baby to his trusted nanny, the head of the omega at that time, in hopes that her mom would be better because she was an asset to the pack. But a year later, my mom’s health deteriorated until she died. His beta was on his side when he said all these things and became the witness to make sure that everything would be fulfilled. Amarah could feel his sincerity and decided to accept his apology. He held her hand and breathed his last. That was the scene his son, Ran and his Luna witnessed. The mother and son became berserk. They accused me of treason and of killing the Alpha. They won’t listen to the beta’s explanation. Ran’s claws elongated and he held me by the neck. The Luna went straight to her mate and wept. She is screaming his name and cursing me at the same time. Amarah felt the blood rushing to her brain and her lungs needed oxygen. The beta forced the son of the alpha to remove his hands off me and allowed me to run out of the hospital. He told Amarah, he would find her later. Amarah run. She ran with all her might. When she was near the border, the sentinel patrolling the area tried to stop her and asked where she was going. But she did not listen, instead, she ran faster to escape the sentinel. She ran without looking back. The sentinel did not pursue, but she knew he was mind-linking the beta. I know the pack already know that the Alpha has died. Everyone can feel the broken bond when an alpha dies. ‘Will I be a suspect?’. I wonder. I did not stop. Soon I heard the united howls of the wolves behind me. They are mourning the death of their Alpha. ‘I cannot stop’. ‘I'll be dead. Please Amarah, just a little more.” -Amarah's My knees are becoming weak. I am now far from the territory of my pack and I wonder if I am already a rouge. But I am sure I will meet one if I stop running. I continue until it is already dawn. I halted when I heard water. Great! It is a river. It can mask my scent from rouges and other animals or shifter. I followed the sound of the raging river. Finally. I don’t have anything on me except for the clothes that I wear. Wow, the beauty of the scenery is breath-taking. There is a waterfall just two meters from where I am but it is in the opposite direction. Only by swimming will I be able to reach it. I am hoping there is a cave in there where I can sleep safe and sound. I rest a little bit and drink some water from the stream. After a while, I decided to swim. Thankfully, my omega mom taught me how to light a fire with just dried sticks. My happiness was incomparable when I discovered that there was indeed a cave hidden behind the waterfall. Yes. I will be safe. I went inside the cave and surveyed the area. I was thankful there was some light coming from the moon radiating to the cave. It is almost three hours before midnight, and I will be shifting soon. I needed this place. It can mask my scent, and muffle my agony. The pain of first shift. Being a wolf, allowed me to survey the area with ease. I saw some dried tree branches, enough to light a little fire. I decided to go to the deepest part of the cave before lighting a fire so that I wouldn’t attract other shifters, rouge or animals. After the fire is lit, I remove all my clothes and remove all the excess water. I placed it near the fire to let it dry at least a little bit before I can use it to sleep. I won’t be wearing it at all because it will be torn up when I shift. When I thought it was enough, I decided to sleep on where I placed it. And I drifted into the darkness of the night. Little did I know that there was a pair of red eyes lurking at the top of me, drooling over my nakedness.