Rejected By The Ruthless Omega's Mate

"Come here, Mandy. We have to go get the fruits for momma."

"We can go hunting today, Jonas. I've always dreamed of killing a deer."

The voices of the wolves in the pack rang through my ears as I stared through my window. I placed my hand on the burglary proof and brought my face a bit forward to get a clearer view of what was happening. Everyone went on with their different businesses. The children chattered and danced around in circles with little ropes around their necks.

This was as close as I could get to most of the wolves. I wasn't the most liked wolf in the pack. That title had never been for me. No one loved to be close to me. They seemed to also forget that whenever there was an errand to run. Then, I'm suddenly needed.

"Riley! Riley!"

I tiptoed to my bed from just beside the window. I was already worn out from watering the gardens only a few minutes earlier and I didn't have the strength to do anything else. I lay still, feigning sleep and hoping no one would find out.

I didn't need a reminder to know what would happen if they found out that I wasn't sleeping. The red marks on my back were the only reminder that I needed. I had come back from fetching some water ten minutes later than I was told. Mother was already in front of the house, with a whip in her right hand, waiting for me to drop the bucket of water.

"Ahh! Mother!" I screamed as I felt a sharp pain in my lower back as soon as the bucket touched the ground. She didn't want her precious water to waste. Again, I felt it, and yet, again.

I screamed and hoped that it'll stop but it didn't. She kept flogging me as hard as she could, so much so that I could see my flesh fly up into the air as the whip was withdrawn from my body. Blood oozed from my back with every stroke and tears gushed like a river from my eyes. Yet, my assailant was not to be moved by my tears. She was only going to be done when she felt like it.

I went back inside, feeling like someone who had been inside boiling water for many hours. I turned around to see what my back looked like and fresh tears began to form. What on Earth did I do to deserve such treatment? When would this ever end?

I carried with me a stroke of bad luck and a few marks from the strokes I had received. Yet, here I was, on the verge of another round of abuse if they caught me lying. I shut my eyes and even tried to hold my breath. "Maybe they'd let me be if I were dead already. Perhaps, there was love for the dead and none for the living." I thought.

"Ouch!" I screamed as I felt a hand land hard on my left cheek. It didn't matter whether I did sleep or not. My head was in a world of its own. I quickly opened my eyes and even the sleep that I feigned was gone too, leaving me all alone to fight for myself.

"How are you sleeping by this time Riley? Is there nothing else for you to do?" My mom asked, hands on her waist, as she took short, quick breaths. It was clear she was angry, far from impressed with what she saw generally.

"Uhm...mom, I…"

"Shut up! Who's your mom?" She asked, cutting me short as soon as I mentioned the word.

"Get up. The dishes won't do themselves, would they? Don't be lazy, you brat!"

I quickly stood and almost walked past her to the kitchen, before realizing that I had to wait for her to leave first. I felt her hand on my cheek again for that insolent act and I bowed my head. "I'm sorry," I muttered as she turned around and left the room.

My hands shook as rage got the better of me. I was nothing but a slave here and I was just tired of it. As I did the dishes, I couldn't help but wonder when all these would be over. I tried to imagine a world where I'd be accepted, just like everyone else. I sought a world, where I'd be seen as something more than just a slave. Perhaps, it only existed in my mind.

Exhausted, I got back to the room, feeling the effects of the beating I had just received. I tried to lie on my back but quickly jumped as soon as my back made contact with the bedsheet. I wished it'll all end; the suffering and Ill-treatment. I wished I could just wake up to see that all I've known all my life was just a terrible dream and that it was all going to be alright.

Well, that wasn't happening but something else was; something huge,.a glimmer of hope. I

heard that the full moon was approaching. I was told that wolves usually found their mates during the full moon and I thought, maybe, just maybe, a mate would help me get out of this mess that I'm in. I could go from being a miserly maid to being a protector of the pack. It was an amazing prospect, yet, I wasn't dumb enough to have any tangible hopes worthy of being held on to. Being the mate of someone prominent was never an easy feat, even for royal wolves. Talk more of a miserly peasant like me.

Yet, I had to hope. It was all I had. I had to think that someday, I'd be free of these shackles. I looked forward to it, and to the man that would help me get that freedom.

"Riley! Riley!"

I was the name on everyone's lips for the wrong reasons. I wondered what I'd done this time.