Larissa's POV
My eyes went up to the sky, and as the moon shone down on me, I couldn't stop smiling at myself.
This was it. The night I could finally be more than just an ordinary Omega in my pack
In our world, omegas were nobodies. We were nothing but slaves and helpers with no future.
No one even thought we could be assigned mates by the goddess. We were cursed to live the rest of our lives mateless and ridiculed until we grew old and died.
My parents had been lucky enough to find each other. Both omegas fell in love and had me, but my life was slowly torn apart until Peter came.
A knock on my door pulled me out of my reverie, and I turned away from the window to stare at the small wooden door in my house.
"Larissa, Peter is here to see you!" My mother called from the other side.
My cheeks heated up, and I quickly sat up on the bed. I let my long black hair flow to the side of my neck to show where he had left his mark from the previous night.
"I am up!" I called back, my voice filled with emotions.
Peter and I have been dating for a few months now. It was a miracle that the son of a beta could be mated to an omega like me, but it had happened.
I gave him my body the previous night, and he had left a love bite on my neck, promising to return tonight to present me to his family.
My heart sizzled with butterflies as warmth spread from my core, where we were so beautifully joined. I could still feel him moving in and out of me.
My wolf purred, both of us reliving the moment.
I was finally going to be elevated in the pack. Other wolves wouldn't just look at me and think of me as a lowly omega anymore. My mate was going to be the beta soon, which automatically raised my rank as well.
My wolf growled, excited at the prospect, and even better, tonight, after he had claimed us officially, we were going to make love under the moonlight.
A soft tap on the door pulled me out of my thoughts for the second time, and I jumped out of bed to open it.
As soon as the door flew open, the sweet scent of sandalwood and pine filled my nostrils, and my wolf melted as the mate bond burned around us.
"Hey," I whispered as my eyes fell into his hazel orbs.
"Larissa," he whispered in that soft voice that always swept me off my feet.
His fingers reached my cheeks, and he caressed the skin softly.
"You look beautiful," he said, and my cheeks burned again.
The same desire I had felt the night before when he took me washed over me, and my toes curled.
I stepped away from the door and beckoned to him to come in, but he shook his head slightly.
My brows pulled together as I returned to him. For the first time, I noticed the uneasiness in his eyes.
"Peter, what's wrong?" I asked him. My hands were already going to his face, but he held them and squeezed them gently.
"I don't want to do it here. Let's go somewhere else." He said.
My wolf made a flip in my head at his words. He wanted us to go to the forest already.
My core tightened, and I felt my nipples stand erect under the thin dress I was wearing.
"Sure. I'll just change then," I stuttered.
I went to my wardrobe and picked a huge jacket to drape over my bare shoulders. Then I joined him at the door once again.
He held my hand and led me down to the living area, where my mother sat knitting a sweater.
"Mum, we are going out. I'll be back soon!" I said, and she smiled, waving at us.
"Take care of her, Peter." She replied with a smile on her face.
Peter gave her a tight-lipped smile, and he pulled me along with him.
The night was filled with growls and howls from different pups who were also claiming their mates. Most were at the pack's square, while others had decided to have a private moment like us.
"Where are we going?" I asked as we walked further into the forest.
"It's a quiet spot just beyond the trees," he said.
I felt the sweat in his hands, and I swallowed the giggle that threatened to escape my lips. He was scared, just like I was.
Claiming a mate wasn't like having sex; it was so much deeper, and sex after that meant we would never be apart.
My wolf rolled in excitement as we got to the clearing.
Peter faced me, and I couldn't look into his eyes as my cheeks heated up in anticipation.
"Larissa, I am sorry about what I am about to do."
My wolf stopped rolling, and we snapped our eyes to his.
"What are you talking about?" I stuttered.
He dropped my hands and looked straight into my eyes with a look I have seen other higher-ranked wolves look at me with.
My heart was already trembling, but I held on to it.
"I have tried to make this work, Larissa, but it can't. You are an omega. You are weak. You are useless. I can't be with someone like you!"
Tears splattered down my cheeks, and my heart was about to explode.
"No. No. You don't-don't mean that." I whimpered, fighting back my sobs.
I moved closer to him and tried to hold him but he pushed me away.
"There is nothing we can do, Larissa. We can't keep forcing this-I can't keep pretending that this is fine! You are way below my rank, and that cannot work!" He yelled.
I couldn't imagine where he got these horrible words from. Peter was never like this. The man I had given my body to wasn't like this.
"Peter, please, we can talk about this!" I cried desperately, trying to hold on to him, but he roughly pushed me aside.
"There is nothing to talk about, Larissa! I am rejecting you!" He yelled, and I felt my heart shatter.
"I, Peter, son of the beta, reject you, Larissa, an ordinary Omega!"
Larissa's POV
"No..." I sobbed on the ground. "You can't do this to me, Peter. You can't-"
He approached me with a speed my wolf could never pull off. He grabbed me by the neck like I was a rag doll and leaned closer to me.
"I can, and I have done it! Now accept the rejection!" He yelled in my face.
My eyes blinked as I realized how serious this was. If I accepted his rejection, I could die.
"Peter, I am an omega." I whimpered, unable to complete the sentence. My wolf would never be able to survive the rejection.
"And that's the reason why this has to be done. Accept the damn rejection, Larissa! Don't make me hurt you!"
His eyes glowed in the dark, and my wolf felt the force of his wolf push down on us.
He meant every word he was saying, and if I dared him, he was going to do it.
Peter, you took my virginity." I tried, hoping to get to his wolf. He was my mate; there had to be a way I could save myself from this pain.
Peter scoffed and spat at me. "Your body is meaningless. I can fuck you again if I have to because that is what omegas like you are good for."
My ears burned as if they refused to take in his hurtful words. But it was too late.
Peter raised his right hand in the air, and I watched in terror as his claws sprang out. He brought it to my neck and spat.
"For the last time, accept the damned rejection!"
"I accept!" I cried out in pain.
Just as the words left my lips, my wolf let out a deep, soul-wrenching howl, and my bones started breaking.
I had never felt pain like this before. My skin was burning, and my heart was in shambles. It was as if my wolf wanted to leave my body without transforming.
Peter was going through the same pain, but being a beta's son, he could handle it better than my weak body.
He left me dying on the forest floor and limped away.
I remained there, crying out in pain. I was going to die, and I knew it. Omegas were weak. Our bodies could never take the pain of rejection.
The sky changed, and the moon disappeared. Dark clouds filled the night, and all that was left was darkness that reflected the pain in my soul.
Lightning struck in the sky, and before I could breathe, rain descended on me in buckets.
The rain was a gift from the goddess. It washed away my pain, and bit by bit, I felt my bones returning to their positions.
My wolf let out another howl, and this time it wasn't of pain; it was of heartbreak.
How could Peter do this to me after everything I shared with him?
Images of the night we shared were no longer beautiful; they became nightmares. The torture refused to go away.
"He called us a whore!" My wolf hissed.
I pulled myself up and wiped my tears. I wasn't a whore, but I would show him who a whore was.
I took the direction of the local motel and started dragging my feet in the rain. I refused to think about the consequences of my actions.
What was even there to think about? The whole pack knew that I had been moving with Peter; now that he had rejected me, they would laugh at me.
To think that I worked for his father... surely there was no way I could go back there.
No one else would employ me, so it was normal that I went to the motel.
My feet stopped at the entrance, and I pushed it open.
The place was bubbling with enough wolves searching for a place to relieve their desires.
I walked to the counter where the matron sat and raised my head to her.
"Good evening, ma'am," I said above the noise.
"You are terribly soaked, darling. How may I help you?" She said.
The matron was a large woman with a big bosom and an even larger backside. Her hair was cut short, and it framed her face; as she spoke, it went from side to side.
The warm air in the pub was starting to blend with the wetness of my body, and slowly, I started shivering.
"I want to work here," I whispered through clattering teeth.
She looked at me carefully. "You want a man for the night, or you want to offer yourself for the night?" She asked.
I closed my eyes and said, "I want to offer myself for the night."
"I am sorry, darling, we don't accept virgins here."
I sniffled away the pain her question brought, but my determination only grew stronger.
"I am not a virgin."
She observed me for a few seconds and then pulled out a book from the desk. "Okay, how many men have you been with? What's your specialty?"
My eyes blinked, and for a second, I questioned my decision.
"I have... I have only been with one man. I don't know what the other word means," I replied with sincerity.
She dropped the pen and looked at me again. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
I pulled my wet hair out of my face and grabbed the counter as hard as I could.
"Yes. I want to do this. Please, give me one man, and if I can't satisfy him, then you can throw me out!" I cried desperately.
She grinned and then nodded her head. "Okay, as you wish."
She closed the book and stepped around the counter so she could come to me. "Follow me."
She took me to a door on the side, and this led us to a stair. When we got to the landing, it opened into a corridor, and I could already hear the different sounds of screams and cries coming from the doors as we walked down.
We got to the last room, and she unlocked it with a key she pulled out of her bosom.
"Stay in here; I will send in your first client." She tried to leave but stopped. "And make sure you are naked by the time he comes."
Darrell's POV
The sounds of celebration filled the night air, and my wolf growled in irritation. It was another mating ceremony, another year for reality to mock me.
Just as my mind was delving into my sorrow, the door to my room opened, and my father stepped in.
The light was off, but my wolf's eyes could perfectly see him as he moved to the wall. The moonlight streaming from the window reflected on his royal robes, and his presence seemed to fill the room.
His fingers moved on my wall, and in a flicker, the room flooded with light from the bulb overhead.
"It is another full moon festival. Every young wolf in the pack is out there searching for a mate or someone to spend the night with. Yet my son, next in line to the throne, sits in his room with a long face!" His voice boomed.
I knew what the lecture was going to be about, and I had no strength to argue with him. Not this year.
When I didn't reply, he let out a long sigh.
He moved back to the door and held the knob.
"Well, it is a good thing that I thought of fixing this little problem. This year there must be a change," he said, and then he pulled my door open. "Cassy? Please come in."
My brows creased as I looked at him and whoever this Cassy could be. Did he buy me a pup?
Soft clicks echoed in the floor, and I narrowed my eyes as I could now see a long shadow confirming the crack on the door.
Finally, the strong scent of her perfume filled the room as she stepped inside. Her hair was pulled back. Her face was bad to look at, but she had applied a handful of makeup to her face. You would think she was given a choice to either apply the makeup or die.
She had heavy curves that looked like she had surgery done to keep them in place.
"Darrell, this is Cassy." My father waved his hand at her with a smirk on his face.
My brows furrowed as it suddenly dawned on me that this was a sick joke.
"And Cassy, this is my son, the future ruler of our pack, Darrell," he beamed.
Cassy moved her chin up and smiled. She did everything so delicately that I wondered where she came from with such manners.
My father clapped his hands to gain my attention, and he did.
"Do take care of Cassy! Show how the men in our family take care of a woman!" He said that, and before I could speak, he disappeared behind the door.
I sat up and blinked at the door, wishing I could puncture it. My father thought he was helping, but he wasn't.
My wolf stared at the woman in front of me, and all we wanted to do was throw up. She was beautiful in her own right, but we didn't want her.
"Everyone is having fun... Why don't we start something fun too?" She said she was rolling her hair with her finger.
It burned my tongue to send her out, but that would make my father livid.
Maybe it wouldn't be bad to just give it a trial, I thought.
"I am all yours," I said, opening my arms wide.
She giggled as she joined me on the bed.
My wolf was already purring in disgust, but I stayed calm. Cassy got to me and let her fingers begin to trace a path over my shirt.
"Why don't we take this off?" She took out the buttons one after the other, smiling seductively as she moved above me.
I felt nothing but irritation.
She came back to my face and let her fingers graze my cheeks. "Your father said you needed a little push; I am here to help with that." She whispered as she lowered herself to my mouth.
My wolf retired to the back of my head and glared at the scene in disgust.
As Cassy's lips touched mine, I almost gagged.
My wolf growled, his claws pushing through my skin. It was like a bad medicine was injected into me, and my body was rejecting it.
Sensing that I wasn't responding, she moved her mouth to my naked chest. She started trailing kisses over my chest, moaning and touching every spot until I couldn't take it anymore.
"Stop..." I mumbled softly.
"Yes, speak to me. Speak to me." She moaned in response.
I opened my eyes wider in shock. Was she insane?
"No, I mean stop! Get the hell off me!" I roared in disgust. She was lucky my wolf didn't shove her off to the other side of the room.
Frustrated, I got off the bed and picked up my shirt. As if responding to my mood, thunder struck in the dark skies, and I broke down into tears.
"Darrell, did I do something wrong?" She asked, shocked at my action.
I clicked my tongue and shook my head. Listen, this has nothing to do with you, okay? Stay here if you want, but I am leaving."
I threw the door open and left the room, ignoring her questions behind me.
My wolf growled, hating the feeling of her fingers on my skin even as I left. I couldn't take a bath because she was still in the room.
Looking out the window, I had a perfect idea. I walked out of the house and let the rain pour down on me.
It felt good at first, but the more it landed on me, the more anger started growing within me. Was I cursed? Why couldn't I find a mate like every other wolf? Why couldn't I even like a woman long enough to bed her?
Why did they all irritate me?
The rain suddenly stopped falling on me, and I looked up to find an umbrella.
"My lord! Why are you under the rain? Is everything alright?" A guard asked, and I followed the hand holding the umbrella to his face.
As I glared at him, a perfect idea came to my mind. "Prepare the car; take me to the whore house."
If none of the higher-ranked female wolves could make my wolf ache for them, it was time to try the lower ranks.