Alison's POV
My sneakers echo footsteps down the empty school hallway as I rush to class, the dark blue lockers practically a blur in my peripheral vision. I can't believe I'm late again and, once again, it's all his fault.
Fuck! I really don't want to sit through a detention because of this. That's just time wasted when I could be working. Making money. Trying to just fucking survive.
That's why I had picked up an extra early shift at the pack house in the first place. They schedule my usual hours for after school but I need the money so when I was offered the shift I had jumped at it. Now, my idea to make more money could end up costing me money. Fantastic.
I was so close too. Breakfast had been made, served, and cleaned up. I was almost out the door and then the worst possible thing happened-he saw me.
One hour earlier
"Where do you think you're going?" Chris' voice causes me to jump in my place. I clench the door handle in my fist, contemplating ignoring him and just leaving. It would be worthless though. He'd catch up to me. He always does.
"School," I tell him, still facing the door even though I know I should turn to face him when we're speaking. I seem to be in a defiant mood today though. Getting up extra early makes me cranky.
A big hand roughly grips my shoulder, spinning me around and pushing me up against the door. It wasn't a terribly hard push but I can still feel the bruises forming on my underfed shoulder blades. I try to mask my pain, to appear strong, but I know a wince made it through.
"Look at me when I speak to you." He grits out angrily. I can feel the blood leave my face as fear overtakes me, forcing me to remember my place.
"Yes, Alpha." I say, bowing my head. Maybe he'll just take the win and let me leave.
"That's better," he sneers, "Now let's see if you're actually done with your work."
I follow silently behind him into the kitchen. My eyes continue to follow him around the room as he inspects the cleanliness of everything. Some of my pride returns when it looks like he can't find anything wrong but I remain still with my hands clasped behind my back.
"Decent job but," he pauses, reaches over onto the counter next to him, and pushes the stack of plates I had put back in there spot to await lunch onto the floor. A loud crash echoes through the house. "looks like you have one more thing to do before you can go to school."
"Chris," a voice says from the kitchen doorway. I take my wide eyes off the sharp pieces of glass now littering the floor to look over.
Cameron. The nice twin.
"What're you doing? Come on, we have to go." He grabs his brothers arm and practically pulls him from the room.
I can finally take deeps breaths when I'm left alone in the room. The exhaustion from working late yesterday and early this morning hits me as I struggle to hold back tears.
It's fine.
Don't cry.
You just have to clean it up.
I wipe the tired blur from my vision and get to work.
Present
I pull myself from my thoughts as I round the corner to my first class. All thinking about it will do is make me more upset and that's exactly what he always wants. I learned how to ignore my anger when it came to Chris a long time ago.
After stopping outside the classroom door to take a few deep breaths, I slowly open the door and slip into the room.
"Alison," Mrs. Klein acknowledges my entrance, "thank you for finally joining us. Take a seat."
Snickers sound throughout the room as I walk silently to my seat with my head down, trying to ignore the smirk Chris throws my way. Head down, ears open. That's how you survive. I know this, despite the moments I seem to forget and let my emotions take over.
I take my seat and immediately start letting out my anxious energy by messing with the bandage wrapped around my palm where a sharp piece of the plates had cut me. Mrs. Klein gets on with her math lesson, her monotonous voice almost lulling me to sleep.
I manage to avoid Chris in the hallways and classes for the rest of the day by picking a seat far away from him in the classes we share, along with the other bullies in the school. Lunch is the easiest time to stay out of their way because I go to the library and they sit surrounded by all their friends in the cafeteria.
I don't have any friends to sit with, or food to eat, but at least the library is quiet so I can get some homework done now instead of staying up after work.
As soon as the bell rings at the end of the day I jump out of my seat and start to walk home as quickly as possible. I could take the bus, but I get enough crap for being poor without anyone seeing my tiny worn down house. So, I walk home and dump my school stuff on my bed before walking right back out the door to head to work.
This morning I was assigned to the kitchens but now I'm on cleaning duty. My feet ache as I pull the supplies out of the hall closet but I keep moving. The bills need to be paid someway or I'll lose electricity again. And that sucked.
"Didn't you work the morning shift today?" I spin around to see one of the twins, I'm unsure which, standing in the doorway of the living room I'm cleaning.
I step back to put some extra distance between us, afraid it's Chris, before clearing my throat, bowing my head slightly, and responding, "Yes, Alpha."
"So, why are you back? Isn't it one shift a day?" He asks as he walks closer to me.
I feel my heart rate pick up. My hands cling onto the wooden handle of the broom I'm holding. "That was an extra shift. This is my normally scheduled shift." I explain in a meek voice.
A hand comes towards me and I flinch back on instinct, my anxiety convinced that this twin is Chris and he's gonna hit me again. He's picked on me enough over the years that my body wants more distance.
"Woah, it's okay." He says. I look up at him slightly before looking back to the ground. Something clicks in his brain. "Oh. I'm Cameron." He tells me and my shoulders immediately drop in relief. "Yeah, that's what I thought." He sighs, "Look, I'm sorry he's always such an ass to you. Go home. You've worked enough today." He reaches his hand back out to take the broom from my hand.
My mouth falls open. I shouldn't be surprised since he's always been the nicer of the two. But never this nice. I want to to be able to gratefully take him up on the offer but I can't. I need the hours on my paycheck.
"Thank you, but I'm fine. I can finish my shift. It's only a few more hours." I reach back out to take the broom back but it moves out of my way.
"I'll make sure you get paid for the whole shift. Go home. That's an order." He tells me before walking out of the room, taking the broom with him.
I stand there, confused and unsure of what to do for awhile until I come to my senses and rush from the pack house. I'm still confused, why would he send me home like that? Like it matters to him that I was going to have worked twelve hours today.
When I get home, I open my fridge to reveal...yep, nothing. I don't know why I always expect it to change.
Ramen it is. Again.
My body falls into bed as soon as I'm done eating. I set my alarm for 10:00 tomorrow morning before going over my schedule in my head.
Today is Friday. Tomorrow I go to the pack house and help decorate for the twins birthday party from 10:30am to 7:00pm . Then on Sunday I work in the gardens from 6:00am to 2:00pm and then the party from 6:00pm till it's over and all cleaned up, so realistically I'll get home around 1:00 in the morning Monday and get up at 7:00 for school.
I repeat it over and over in my head to make sure I don't forget anything until I start to drift off.
My dreams are full of Chris taunting me. Even in my sleep, I can't escape him. Not yet.
I wake up in a sweat to my alarm going off the next morning. My hand reaches out and slaps the off button before I force myself to sit up and swing my legs over the edge of my bed. I want more sleep. I always want more sleep than I manage to get. But instead of laying back down I get up and go to take a quick shower.
The pack house is a ten minute walk from my small one story, one bedroom house. There are no orphanages in our pack. It's in the pack policies that orphaned children who have yet to get their wolf get placed with another family.
Children who have their wolfs are expected to fend for themselves. It's a stupid, old policy, but it's not one anyone has shown any interest in changing. So, I had nothing. The fire that claimed my parents lives also burnt down my childhood home and everything inside.
I don't know how the fire started. I barely remember anything from that night. The memories are a mix of heat and smoke. All I remember is waking up in the infirmary with a bandage wrapped around my burnt back.
There was no one there. I had no family left. We lived out at the edge of pack lands so there were no neighbors. I had been homeschooled so there were no school friends. The only thing waiting for me was a medical bill. It took me forever to pay and I've avoided such expenses since then.
I want to leave the pack when I'm done with school. Nobody wants to go rogue but, I'm tired. I'm so tired of Chris' shit and being an omega in general. I'd make more money working full time in a human based city. I turned 18 last month. I can technically leave whenever I want now. A high school diploma will really help me out there though.
My parents loved it here. They wanted me to be a part of a pack. Though I don't understand this perk since I can never let my wolf out anyway. I might as well be human.
The pack house is swarming with pack members getting started on decorating when I get there. I quickly check the assignment sheet in the meeting room before getting to work.
I'm a few hours into my shift when I'm up on a ladder hanging streamers. The cut on my palm stings as I grip the top of the ladder with one hand and tape up the streamer with the other. It would have healed by now if I either had more calories or wasn't an omega but I ignore it, focusing on my task.
Suddenly, the ladder is bumped and I lose my balance. A yelp leaves me as I fall backwards and land with a thump on the carpeted floor. I sit up slowly, trying to get my bearings. My bones are still stronger than a humans so nothing is broken but I can only imagine the kind of bruises I'm going to have tomorrow. I look up to see who bumped the ladder.
"Woah, you should be more careful next time." One of the twins, I'm assuming Chris, sneers at me as he chuckles and walks away.
I wince as I touch the back of my head, feeling the lump where it hit the floor. My back aches and my hands are still shaking from the scare.
"Honey, what happened? Are you alright?" A soft voice asks from behind me as they rush towards me. I turn my head to see the Luna looking at me with concern.
"Yes, Luna. Thank you. I'm fine. I just slipped off the ladder." I tell her because she wouldn't believe me even if I told the truth. I stand up to look at her properly, respectfully, and my vision blurs around the edges.
I shake off the familiar sensation of my body trying to heal while low on energy, only stumbling slightly. Luna Ashlee looks at me closely, concern displayed on her face. "Why don't you sit down for a while, Alison. Let your body heal and drink some water."
I avoid telling her that I wouldn't heal for days or weeks anyway and just shake my head. "No, thank you, Luna." I tell her respectfully, "I appreciate your generosity but I assure you I'm fine to keep working."
She looks at me skeptically before nodding her head. "Okay, sit down if you need to though." She reminds me before going to continue what she was doing.
The Luna is so kind, I don't know what happened with Chris. It's like she's an angel and she gave birth to a demon. But then there's Cameron who's actually pretty okay. Then again, Chris is only like that with me. He's tough on everyone but it's different with me. I don't know what I did to make him hate me but I only have to deal with it for eight more months.
I spend the rest of my shift looking over my shoulder as I quietly do my work and try to ignore the ache radiating through my body. By the time I'm done, I'm mentally and physically exhausted.
The walk home is a blur of stiff steps and tears rolling down my cheeks after holding them in most of the day. I try not to let myself cry in front of anyone. I've spent most of my life fending for myself, if I portrayed myself as weak in front of others, I'd be done for.
I fall asleep almost immediately after eating more ramen and setting my alarm.
The sun is barely up when I wake up the next morning. I don't bother showering this morning because I'm going to get dirty in the gardens. I'll have to come back and shower before the party anyway. Instead, I slip on a pair of worn jeans with holes in the knees that weren't there when I got them and an old t-shirt before walking out the door.
There's still a wet chill to the air from the night before as I walk across the pack lands to the gardens where I spend the next eight hours tending to the rows of fruit and vegetables being grown for pack use.
I'm crusted in dirt and sweat by the end and very ready to go home, shower, and do homework until I go to work the party. The walk home takes longer after working all day and being tired but I get there eventually.
The first thing I do is turn on the shower to start warming it up and take off my clothes. I twist in the mirror to finally acknowledge the damage my fall did yesterday and cringe when I see black and purple bruises scattered across my back. Great. Burn scars and bruises. I should be a model.
All I want is to be able to let my body fully heal before subjecting myself to more, to get more sleep, eat more. Maybe then my wolf wouldn't be so busy keeping me alive and could actually talk to me. But she's too weak and it just takes more out of her every time I try.
I'm okay with being too weak to mind link or heal as fast as other wolves. I just want the company, to talk to the one other person who's in this with me.
I sigh before getting in the shower to start getting ready for more work. I use as little shampoo and conditioner on my long blonde hair as possible to try to avoid having to buy more soon before repeating the same thing with the body wash. The warm water is the best part on my sore, overworked muscles, causing me to stay in the shower longer than I should.
My door closes behind me at 5:30pm when I leave to go work the party in the nicest piece of clothing I own; a black knee length dress that was given to me for when I work things like this.
As usual, no one greets me when I enter the pack house. My intention was to head straight to the kitchen to help finish preparing the food but I'm stopped in the foyer when a strong smell makes itself known to me. It's strong, it'd have to be for me to pick up on it at all, but I can't identify it. I shake it off and continue to the kitchen.
The party is in full swing when the tray of appetizers I'm offering the upper class pack members runs out. I take the opportunity to return to the kitchen. My head is pounding. I set the empty tray down on the counter and rest my palms on either side of it to hold my body up while I rest my head against the upper cupboards.
I'm startled from my resting state when there's a shuffling of feet and commotion behind the door that leads back to the party. The door that is suddenly pushed open with more force than necessary.
I look over when I realize that the other servers and cooks in the room are all staring at the doorway. My eyes see the twins standing there, panting slightly, and I lower my head out of pure habit-no, pure fear.
"Alison," one of them says, walking closer to me.
"Yes, Alpha?" I ask as I shuffle back slightly, keeping my head down to avoid Chris' wrath.
He takes a few more quick steps towards me, backing me into the cupboards. I flinch when his hand reaches out to gently cup my face. Oh, no. "Look at me."
My body involuntarily listens, lifting my head to look into deep green eyes.
'Mate.' My wolf, Vanessa, whispers weakly, talking to me for the first time in over a year.
'Nessa?!' I try to call back to her but she doesn't reply.
I look back at the twin that I now somehow know is Cameron. My eyes dart between him and Chris as I start to hyperventilate. No. If Cameron is my mate then that means...No...
A whimper leaves me as I rip away from Cameron and dart across the room. This has to be a mistake. There's no way in hell I am supposed to be his mate. He hates me. He has literally never been anything but mean to me.
"No, no, no, no..." I trail off as I grip my hair by the roots, pulling at it in my panic and messing up my ponytail.
"Everyone out, now." Chris orders from the same spot he stood a moment ago. Everyone listens immediately, leaving me alone with them.
"Alison," Cameron says gently as he walks slowly towards me, the way you would a stray dog. "It's okay, you're okay. I promise."
My back hits the wall and I wince as I slide down it to the floor, the pain only serving to remind me of why I'm so afraid.
"No, I can't...this can't...no," my thoughts are panicked as I try and fail to catch my breath. I pull my knees up to my chest, protecting myself to the best of my abilities.
"Hey," Cameron crouches down in front of me, "I know you're scared but I won't let anything happen to you."
"But-he...no..." I mutter, glancing over at Chris who is already looking at me. He looks...guilty?
Something touching me pulls my gaze back to Cameron and his hand resting on my knee. My labored breaths are slowly replaced by teary sobs as I relax enough for my thoughts to slow down and set in. Chris is my mate, or at least he's one of them, I guess.
"Shhhh, it's okay. Come here." Cameron soothes as he pulls me to him. The strong strawberry smell becoming apparent to me when he has his arms wrapped around me.
So, that's why the smell was bothering me so much. It was the pull of the mate bond trying to get me to follow it without my wolf being able to tell me to. I couldn't even tell what the smell was with my weakened sense of smell. He had to get close for me to make it out.
I give in to the soothing smell, resting my head against Cameron's chest while I cry. "Alison," he says my name and my heart skips. "I'm gonna take you to my room, okay?"
"No!" I try to push away as far as I can. I don't want to be here. Chris is here and if I thought he could hurt me before, the damage he could do as my mate is ten times as big. "I want to go home. Please, just let me go home." I sob out, brushing the stray hairs from my face.
"Okay, okay, I'll take you home. Whatever you want." He tells me gently before reaching back out to me and slipping his arms under my knees and back. I ignore the pain the pressure on my back causes as he picks me up, not wanting to cause any more problems than I already am.
My head drops against his chest, the exhaustion of the last few days mixed with the last ten minutes taking its toll on me as my eyes close around the tears continuously welling up. I feel Cameron start to walk to the back door when he suddenly stops.
"No. No way, man. You stay here. Let me take care of her right now." He says and I know he must be talking to Chris.
"Come on, Cameron, you know I want to be around her right now too." I press my head harder against Cameron's chest as Chris talks.
"Yeah, well, you kinda fucked that one up for yourself, didn't you?" Cameron snaps. "You're the reason she's upset so you need to stay away from her right now."
He doesn't give Chris a chance to respond before walking out the door and kicking it closed behind him. He walks down off the deck before realizing that he has no idea where I live. I point in the general direction of my house and he keeps walking.
The walk is silent as my sobs turn to hiccups but the tears keep coming. I just can't stop. My bully is my mate. What the fuck am I supposed to do?
"That one." I lift my head and point when my house comes into view. I'm too emotionally exhausted to worry about him judging where I live as he walks us up the path and sets me down so I can unlock a door that hasn't been able to lock for as long as I've lived here and before.
My legs are shaky as they hold my weight again but I quickly push the door open and go inside, leaving it open behind me as an open invitation for Cameron to come in. I head straight for my bedroom and collapse on my bed, hugging myself the way I always do when I need comfort.
My body continues to involuntarily shake as I cry despite being in the safety of my own house. It feels like the world is falling apart.
"Do you want me to stay with you?" I open my eyes to see Cameron standing in the doorway to my room, watching me carefully. Part of me hates that he looks exactly like Chris, the other part demands his presence. I nod my head and reach out my hand when I decide to go with the other part.
Cameron smiles softly, letting out a relieved breath as he walks towards me. The bed dips as he sits down and lifts me into his lap so he can lean against the headboard. I instantly relax into him as the strawberry smell does it's job of soothing me. His scent dips into every crevice of my soul and soon lulls me to sleep.
The sun streaming through my window and the sound of oil popping wakes me up. My legs carry me towards the sound and smell of bacon cooking. I find myself wishing I could smell Cameron from here the way I can the bacon. My wolf is too weak though. If a human can't smell it, neither can I until it's right up against my nose.
God, I haven't had bacon in years.
I stand in the doorway to my bedroom and look into the open concept kitchen and living room. My house has three rooms total; the kitchen/living room that you walk into when you come in, the bathroom, and my bedroom. I guess there's a small closet in my bedroom too but it barely counts as a room. Everything I need is condensed down to a little over 600 square feet.
"Good morning," my head jerks over to look at Cameron when he greets me. "How do you feel?"
I don't know how to answer because I don't know how I feel. I guess I'm a little numb. "I'm fine." I tell him quietly, turning away and walking to my bathroom.
Looking in the mirror startles me. My eyes are red and puffy, making it obvious that I was sobbing the night before. The dress I wore yesterday and subsequently slept in is all wrinkled up, I'm pale, and my hair is a mess. I grab my hairbrush to fix what I can at the moment, a hiss leaving me when I brush over the bump on the back of my head.
"Ow, shit." I curse, dropping the brush.
"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Cameron's concerned voice says as he appears in the doorway to the bathroom.
"I'm fine," I mutter, "I just hit my head the other day." My hand reaches back out for the brush but I'm stopped by Cameron gently gripping my wrist.
"Let me see," he tells me and moves to stand behind me. His fingers brush my hair aside gently to get a look at the obvious goose egg on the back of my head. "Shit, Alison, how did this happen?"
I cringe, deciding to go with the same thing I told the Luna. "I slipped off a ladder setting up for the party yesterday." There's a pause before I remember, "Happy Birthday, by the way."
"Thank you, Baby," he starts, picking up the hair brush himself, he starts to gently brush over the area for me. "But I know you're lying about slipping, your heart sped up."
Well, crap. It's been so long since I've been able to use my enhanced hearing that I forgot wolves can hear that kind of stuff. "Oh," I mutter.
"Yeah," he says, moving around me to keep brushing, "so how about you tell me what really happened now." His eyes meet mine in the mirror and I immediately look down.
"I really did fall off a ladder, it just...wasn't an accident." My voice quiets towards the end of my sentence.
"God dammit, Chris." He mutters, obviously unhappy with his brother.
"I didn't say-"
"You didn't have to." He interrupts before I can try to cover for his brother. "Okay, all done. Is that better?"
I look back up into the mirror to check my now smooth hair falling down to my mid back and nod my response. My eyes return to their downcast position to wait for him to go back to the kitchen but he doesn't. Instead, he leans forward to gently rest his chin on my shoulder.
"You don't need to be afraid of me. I'm not gonna hurt you. We look the same but we are different. Plus, he's very sorry, won't stop mind linking me about it actually." His arms wrap around me from behind to hug me to him briefly before he lets me go. "Breakfast is ready, come eat when you're done."
As I get dressed I'm thinking about what my first breakfast in forever's gonna be like. I usually eat one meal a day at dinner time to save money on food. Which reminds me, where did he get food? I know for a fact there wasn't anything but ramen noodles in my kitchen.
I layer a black and white plaid flannel over a black tank top and worn jeans and then make my way to the kitchen. My crappy table has two plates of eggs, pancakes, and bacon waiting when I get out there.
"Where did you get all of this?" I ask skeptically once I sit down.
"The store." He answers simply.
Well, duh.
"I mean, why?" I rephrase my question.
"Because we had a rough night and food makes everything better. Plus, you need to eat more." He says, sitting in his own seat.
"You didn't have to do this."
"Yeah? When was the last time you were able to talk to your wolf?" He asks as if he already knows my answer.
"Yesterday." I tell him, slight defiance leaking into my tone.
"And before that?"
I'm silent as I look down at my lap, honestly unable to answer his question. I don't remember the last time I was actually able to hold a conversation with Nessa.
"Exactly. You need food and rest. So you're gonna eat and then spend the rest of the day laying down." He tells me definitively.
"What? But I have school and work. I can't just lay around all day. Besides, I'd be bored out of my mind in here all day." I question how he thinks I'm going to pay for all the other things I need, like paying rent. Also, it's Monday, I have to go to school.
"You can miss one day of school, you're not working anymore, and you're coming with me to the pack house." He tells me as if he just single handedly solved all my problems.
"Fine, like hell I'm not, and like hell I am." I counter argue his points.
"Alison, come on. You don't need to work anymore. We're not arguing about it because now I'm firing you." He responds matter of factly.
Rage bubbles in my chest but I shove it down to respect my alpha and keep myself safe. "So, I'm just supposed to trust that- what? You and my biggest bully are gonna take care of me? The way he did when he shook that ladder? I'm supposed to trust that?" Tears threaten to spill as I consider placing my comfort and safety in Chris' hands. But I keep my tone calm and my voice even while my throat tightens.
Cameron stands up and pulls me into his chest a second before the first tear falls. His strawberry scent invading my senses. "No, Baby, you're supposed to trust me. Okay?" He pulls away to look down at me, sliding his hands up to cup my cheeks. "I promise I won't let anything happen to you. Don't trust him yet. That's fine. But I've got you. Just come to the pack house with me today. Spend the day there, I'll be with you the whole time and he'll only be around."
My breathes even out as I look into his eyes and contemplate his words. It takes me several seconds to respond. "Okay."
Here's the first chapter! I was going to wait until I had the entire thing ready to post but I got impatient and here we are.
Anyway, nothing would make me happier than to get some comments and hear what people think. I mean, I'll cry if it sucks but I guess I need to know that too lol.
-xoxo Caitrin