CRIMSON BLOOD

CHAPTER 001

Claudia’s POV:

Sweat dripped down my forehead to my lips and down my neck, soaking my red bangs and blurring my vision. The moon’s weak light barely pierced the thick darkness, making it harder to see as I sprinted through the dense forest. My lungs burned, screaming for oxygen but received nothing. I couldn’t stop. Not when there’s still a high chance of getting caught. 

After what felt like forever, my legs burned from the relentless chase, I slowed to a jog, trailing back to the pack house after making sure no wolves followed behind me.  My legs felt like jelly and threatened to send me falling over at any moment, having been at it for miles. Luckily, I had arrived at the borders of the Seaside Pack, but before relief washed over me, I spotted a figure approaching me fast. I collapsed as the figure caught me. The last thing I remembered was green eyes gazing down at me and a soft voice reassuring me that I'd be fine.

For some inexplicable reason, I believed them. Wishing someone at least cared.

Drip. 

Drip.

Drip.

The sound of dripping water echoed, waking me up. My sore eyes slowly cracked open, and a dull ache throbbed through my body. I blinked, disoriented, struggling to focus on my surroundings. The cold metal bit into my wrists.

Chains?

When did I get in chains?

My pulse quickened. I yanked at them, but they held firm, rattling ominously as the silver burnt my wrists.

‘How did I get here?’ I questioned internally, trying to comprehend what surrounded me. I scanned the whole place. I was in a dark, dreary cell, the only light filtering through a tiny, grimy window high above. The moon’s glow cast eerie shadows across the stone walls. And the sound of water was coming from the only faucet present.

Had I been captured again? I thought I’d be safe once I crossed into the Seaside Pack’s borders. Clearly, I was wrong.

I didn’t dwell long in my thoughts as they were interrupted by the clinging of keys as the door opened. I looked up as the general strode confidently in.  

My breathing calmed down only slightly. If he was here, it meant I had escaped the men who tried to capture me, but my relief didn't last long.

“General Tucker, what's going on?" I tugged at the chains again to express my displeasure, but that was a mistake—I should have just kept my mouth shut. Like always.

Before I could blink, General Tucker rushed at me. His large hands wrapped around my neck, slamming my back against the wall. I released a disgruntled sound of pain as the air was knocked out of my lungs. My wrist throbbed due to strain.

"And who are you to question me, omega?" General Tucker seethed in anger, his eyes filled with a fury I was quite accustomed to.

I struggled to breathe, my larynx almost crushed with the pressure he applied. I looked into his deadly eyes and knew I should apologize. My voice was sore, but I muttered an apology—or at least I tried to.

“I—I’m so—sorry, sir," I whimpered in fear, inching backward into the wall if that was even possible.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he questioned, his hot breath fanning my face.

My body shook, not only from the cold seeping into my bones, or from the wetness I felt—but from the raw fear I felt. General Tucker wasn’t a man easily pleased. He hated me. Why? Because there’s one thing he hated more than anything—weakness. And I was the exact definition of weakness. My weakness has brought shame to the pack, as they always reminded me. 

“Are you deaf or something, ANSWER ME!”

I opened my mouth to speak and I was able to manage small stutters. "I—I managed to escape from the Sunstone Pack, sir."

General Tucker paused, his face one of shock and disbelief. It couldn’t go unnoticed. I was just as surprised as well—and also lucky. It’s not every day the Sunstone Pack lets go of their criminals.

General Tucker's grip tightened around my neck, his eyes narrowed into slits. "What did you tell them to let you go? What did you offer them? Pack secrets, huh? Is that it?" His eyes scanned over my body, and a smile curled onto his face. "Oh, you vile little slut. So cheap to give up your body. Omegas.” He cursed in disgust.

"I... I didn’t offer them anything, I swear. I... I… took an opportunity when I saw one. I snuck between them unnoticed and made a run for it. I knew if I reached the Seaside Pack borders, they would back off and give up any chase," I explained, my voice barely above a whisper.

Tucker burst out laughing, making me flinch.

"And you expect me to believe that?" The ridicule was clear in his voice.

At last, he let me go, and I struggled to catch my breath.

He took a few steps back. "You expect me to believe that you, a weak and disgusting powerless omega, pulled such a stunt off? Well, the Sunstone Pack must be weaker and stupider than I thought. I wonder why we waste our damn time with them in the first place."

I crumbled to the floor when freed and moved away from him as he rambled to himself.

"Well, if you really pulled it off, deliver your info to the Beta immediately." He fished out a key and released me, walking out of the cell and leaving me in a frightened state.

In the dark room, my tears fell, and I sobbed quietly. This was my life—it had always been my life since I could remember: an omega in the Seaside Pack and the only one who might have been treated differently. Used mostly.

I had been ordered to infiltrate the Sunstone Pack and return with information. When the mission got compromised, I was captured. Although the Sunstone Pack had delivered a message and demanded a ransom before returning me, none of that mattered; the Seaside Pack left me for dead. It seemed to be their plan all along. Use me, and when compromised, no need to bother. I knew I had to escape on my own.

The pain I endured from being tortured to speak about my pack—bathed with cold water and electrocuted—was for nothing. I still didn’t give my pack up, but it was all for nothing.

Picking myself up from the cold floor, I made my way to the Beta’s office, knowing he would be expecting me. I knocked at the door, waiting until I heard his command to enter.

I delivered the little information I had gathered and exited his office immediately after. I felt nothing and let everything pass me by—the ridicule I received from the other pack members as they saw the state I was in.

I heard a gasp before me, making me freeze.

"Oh my Goddess, what happened to you?"

It was Luna Eloise. The horrified expression on her face as her eyes scanned me from head to toe showed she didn’t approve—or know—of my current state.

The caring look in her eyes made me want to tear up as she took me in her arms. Tears welled up in my eyes and spilled of their own accord as she wrapped her arms around me. She must not have been aware of the mission or the ordeal I had just endured.

If she had been, she wouldn’t have allowed it in the first place. She was the one person who cared enough to ask about my well-being. She had the power to make the bullying from others stop, but I asked her not to, knowing it would only worsen when she wasn’t around to protect me.

She pulled away, and immediately, I missed the warmth her body exuded. She gazed at me with eyes that already knew what had happened.

"They shouldn’t be doing this to you.” An exasperated sigh escaped her lips as she tucked my loose strand of dark hair behind my ears. “Let’s get you cleaned up," she offered, and I didn’t resist.

We made our way toward the pack clinic when certain voices echoed nearby. My muscles stilled, recognizing the voices inside the room ahead—it was the Alpha’s voice, as well as the Beta’s. He must have been informing the Alpha of the information I had given him.

Luna Eloise tugged at my arm, but I wouldn’t budge. Shaking my head, I refused to follow her in.

"I’m sorry, I can’t," I apologized, adding that I could treat myself and that my wounds weren’t that bad—even though they were. She tried to convince me that nothing was going to happen, but I wasn't taking chances.

If it saved me the trouble of encountering the Alpha, Beta, or General Tucker again, it was worth it. I bowed to Luna Eloise before walking away as fast as I could, making my way to the basement where I resided.

There, I cried myself to sleep as the pain became unbearable. It would have never been if I were like the others, if I weren't an omega, or if I had a family to call my own, but all that was wishful thinking. This was my life, and I doubted it could get any better.

I am Claudia Wayne, the omega without a family or past, the pawn they used and discarded. And forever will I be their slave.