Moonlight Sonata

1. Moonlight Sonata

The piano always called to Korra. No matter what room she was in, she would find her way back to the main hall, where the grand piano stood. It was too expensive to touch, so she was never allowed to play it. She would watch as the other people in the packhouse would play it though. When the pups had lessons, she would always lurk in the shadows of the hall, pretending to be cleaning the floors, or scrubbing some particularly stubborn piece of dirt from the drapes. But in reality, she would be listening and learning from the instructors, and practicing moving her fingers through the air along to the melodies. The grooves of the banisters were her keys, the swirls in the marble floors were the foot pedals.

"Korra, there you are!" said the Alpha's daughter, Victoria. Korra bowed her head low out of respect. She learned quickly that if she kept her head down and did as she was told, she could escape the pack's hostility. Most of the time.

"I'm so nervous about going off to college tomorrow," said Victoria dramatically, biting her nails. Korra eyed her jealousy, as Victoria sat at the piano's bench and lazily draped one arm over the keyboard cover. When you were basically a princess, you could take things for granted, like thoughtlessly touching the things others could only dream about.

Victoria was the youngest of three, the Alpha's only daughter, and was spoiled as such. She got whatever she wanted, and for some reason, she enjoyed complaining to Korra about her hardships.

"I mean, my two older brothers will be there, and some others from the pack, but none of my friends. I'll be surrounded by regular humans too. I hope I'll fit in with them."

Korra nodded in silent understanding. Both Korra and Victoria were about the same age and grew up at the packhouse together. They hardly ventured out to the town. Victoria, because she was treated like royalty by the rest of the pack, and had private tutors, so she wouldn't have to go to the public school. Korra, because she wasn't allowed to go to school. Omega's were only good for being servants for the rest of the pack, so why send them to school when they could be using all of that time cleaning, running errands, and being at the beck and call of the pack?

"I haven't met my mate yet either, even though my eighteenth birthday was four months ago," Victoria said, twirling a lock of her shiny blonde hair in between her fingers. "Maybe I'll meet him when I get to campus. It's just not fair, though. All my brothers met their mates on their eighteenth birthdays. Why do I have to wait so long?" Korra attempted a sympathetic look, which seemed to be enough to satisfy Victoria's need for pity.

"You haven't met your mate yet either, right?" Victoria asked. Korra shook her head. "And how long ago was your birthday?"

"Next week. On Wednesday," Korra said simply, after thinking about it for a while.

"Oh," said Victoria, taken aback. "Well, I'll be really upset if you meet your mate before I do."

Korra blinked. Birthdays for omegas were just like any other day. They still have their normal routine of chores and duties, cooking and cleaning. Korra would do her duty taking care of pups at the pack daycare, and then do Victoria's homework for her when the tutors left for the day. There were no piano instructors on Wednesdays, but maybe Korra could dust and polish it that day - the only time she was allowed to touch it. If Korra didn't make any mistakes, perhaps nobody would hit or yell at her. That would perhaps make it a good day.

"Hey, I know!" said Victoria suddenly after an awkward pause. "How about you come to college with me?"

Korra took a step backwards reflexively. Victoria had a knack for impulsive decision making that always landed Korra into trouble. Once a few years ago Korra was sent on an errand into town, and Victoria pressured her into letting her hide in the back of the cab, so Victoria could see the human town too. When they returned, the Alpha was furious, and punished Korra severely.