The Alpha and the Omega

6

I wake to the sound of my phone beeping. Who could that be? I open my eyes slowly and look around my sunlit room to my nightstand. My digital clock read 9:35. I groaned. Thank God it was Sunday. My eyes travel to my phone, still beeping. I move the edge of my bed and pick up my phone. I open the newest notification from . . . Alpha? Why would he be texting me?

I sigh. I knew he would bring that up. . . The thing is about being Omega is I'm the glue that keeps the pack together.  It may not make sense but it's true. If there was no Omega there would be chaos. Being an Omega means I have to be there to make sure the males don't get too full of themselves. I'm basically the little kid that gets bullied in school. If I wasn't there the bullies would beat each other up. It's a simple hierarchy. I have to make sure they are fixated at me so they don't butt heads. It's dark but true. Without me, the pack would fall apart. I guess it gives me a sense of power, huh? It comes with a price.

I drag my body out of bed. Every single part of my body aches. I rub my bruised neck. I look in the mirror at my scarred body. I pull up my shirt and look at my back. The sight brings tears to my eyes. The scars and bruises run up and down my spine. I wipe the tears from my eyes and pull my shirt back down. I sigh. What a great way to start the day. This was the price I was talking about. The pain . . . the scars that have been left behind.

I look down at my hands. They're dry and cracked. I rub the dry skin of my fingertips. The scratching is the only thing I hear for a long time. The gentle scratching guides me into a trance. It stays like that for an unknown amount of time.

"SIS! ARE YOU UP?!" Zachary yells. He snaps me out of my trance. I smile. 

"I'M AWAKE, YOU DORK!" I yell back. I can hear him giggling outside my door. I open my door to see Zach. "Morning, Zachy boy!" I say cheerfully to him, hiding what had happened before. He grinned back at me. "Are mom and dad home?" "Nope!" He grins mischievously. "Hehe, Time to have some fun," I giggled. "TO THE KITCHEN!" Zach yells and sprints to the kitchen. I run after him.

 "Pancake time!" I announce. We each take out the ingredients for pancakes. Zach mixes the ingredients into a perfect batter. I heat up the stove and place a perfect amount of batter on the skillet. Zach decides to turn on the radio. What a coincidence. Our favorite song was playing on the radio. We look at each other and mentally connect. We instantly start dancing. We bust moves and sing to our song. I can imagine us looking like total idiots. Eventually we both get so tired we collapse on the ground. We both giggle. I've laughed so much my face hurts. I love my brother so much. If he got hurt I  . . . don't know what I would do.

"Opal? Should we be paying attention to the stove?" My realization turns to the stove. "Oops!" I exclaim and quickly stand up. I look at a pancake on the skillet and my face fell. It was burnt. I mourned the loss of the fallen pancake. "Don't worry friend. Your death will not be in vain," I picked up the blackened pancake and throw it in the trash. "Okay this time we won't sacrifice a pancake," Zach giggles. I place another dollop on the skillet and this time, cook it perfectly to a golden brown. Zach leans over my shoulder. "Mm! They smell so good!" I smile. "Of course they do you dork! I made them," He snorts. I smack the side of his face with the back of my hand. He takes a step back and fake gasps. "You are so mean!" I giggle. "Just shut up and eat your pancakes," I hand him a plate stacked full of pancakes. He eagerly takes the plate and sets in on the kitchen table and starts eating. I laugh at him eating his pancakes. He looks like an animal. Maybe because he is . . . "Tese are da pest pamcakes ever!" Zach says through a mouthful. 

I roll my eyes and smile. What a dork. I grab a plate and place a few pancakes on mine. The sweet smell of syrup and pancakes fills my nostrils and I growl in anticipation. I set my plate next to Zach's and sit down. "So, what are you gonna do today?" I say to Zach, pouring myself a cup of orange juice. "Probably gonna work on my computer game. What about you?" I stab my pancake in with my fork. "I dunno. I have to go to the Blue Moon Festival tonight and I don't really know what I'll do for the rest of the day." I put some pancake in my mouth savoring the sweet taste of syrup. 

"Oh yeah! I forgot about that," "Are you gonna go?" I ask. "I don't know, I have stuff to do and I don't want to see you get hurt . . " I sigh. "I'll be okay. I promise I'll be fine," I take him in my arms and hug him tight. "I-I just don't want to see you getting hurt. But at the same time I want to protect you. I'm only a pup. I don't know what they would do to me." He stammers. "Ssh, it's okay. Your big sister is strong." He sighs. "I know," "But I think I know what to do to them," "What?" Zach pulls away and looks at me. "I'll use my pancakes to distract them so I can kick there butts!" Zach laughs. His nervousness goes away and he's happy again. "I love you, Opal," He grins and hugs me. "I love you too," I pat him on the back. We continue to eat our pancakes and talk about random things.