I always left very early, before Hunter woke up, after every treatment. He was wild with the poison racing through his veins; he gripped me hard enough to turn his knuckles white and his eyes were frenzied, blind with lust. I dragged myself up, exhausted and weak.
I never let on what happened between us, though. Gradually I realised that he didn't just hate me, he hated all Omegas, and he’d already thrown me in the dungeon once. I couldn’t let that happen again.
If he knew, he might think I was using my body to seduce him, not cure him, and I wouldn’t be able to bear it. Worse still than the dungeon was the thought of him looking at me with hatred, and it was that slim bit of pride that kept my mouth shut.
Dragging myself to the kitchen, I winced with every step. I was particularly sore after last night, my thighs aching and my back bent out of shape.
“Here she comes,” muttered Phyllis, one of the other Omegas.
“Morning,” I said, forcing a smile.
“Bitch,” another hissed, their back to me. I ignored them.
“How’s your quest to become our new Luna going?” Phyllis taunted.
“Great,” I muttered, trying to move past them to start washing the dishes. The bright lights in the kitchen burned my retinas, and I squinted, one hand on my belly, as I edged away from the growing crowd of my tormentors.
"Enjoy your soup, ’Luna Jane,’” Phyllis hissed, before splashing my arm with burning hot soup.
My skin blistered where the soup touched it. I rushed to rinse it under the cold tap, but the other Omegas blocked my path. Tears pricked my eyes, but I refused to cry in front of them – no matter how much pain, physical and emotional, I was in.
As soon as I could I went to see Daisy. I could’ve dealt with the burn myself, but I needed to see a friendly face almost as much as I needed a cooling salve. I felt more alone than ever these days.
Seeing her little hut always made my heart pang. Here, the Moon Goddess had sent me a beautiful gift on my eighteenth birthday. When I woke up from the dream, I had nothing left.
I knocked with my good hand, my whole body sagging.
“Oh, Jane,” Daisy murmured, her hand flying up to her mouth. “What’ve they done to you this time?”
“Just a burn,” I muttered, looking down.
“Come in, come in.” She bustled inside, winding her salt-and-pepper hair up into a tight bun. I sat down on the edge of the medical cot as she washed her hands, well-used to this process. “I did some more digging into that poison,” she called.
“Oh?”
“Part of this poison is only effective against mates and can be used to enhance sexual desire. It seems to be hallucinogenic; however, it is not clear what the full composition is, or why he would forget that night. I‘ll keep researching.”
I reached for her and squeezed her hand. “Thank you.”
When she applied the salve to my arm, the smell of it made me retch. I bent double and threw up. Daisy held my hair back and muttered soothing nonsense to me.
“You’re feeling sick?” she asked when I was done, one grey eyebrow arching. “Does that happen often?”
“Only recently,” I said, chewing on the inside of my cheek. “But not normally that badly. I thought it was this.” I twisted around, gesturing to my latest gash. “I lost a lot of blood yesterday.”
She frowned. “Could you be pregnant?”
“I – no.” I shook my head. “Surely not… I did miss my last period, though. I just thought I wasn’t eating enough. I’m not exactly on a regular cycle.”
She clucked her tongue before turning away, rummaging around before putting a pregnancy test in my hand. She shooed me into the bathroom.
I hovered in the doorway, picking at my cuticles. “Really? Right now?”
“Right now, Jane.”
Five minutes later, my world came crashing down around me. Two bold pink lines came up in the results window. I was pregnant.“You have to help me,” I begged Daisy, my eyes flooding with tears. “You have to keep it a secret.”
She took me into her arms. "Of course, honey. I’ll do anything to keep you both safe. A child is a most precious gift!”
* * *Probably because of the command of the Alpha, they no longer dared to blatantly harass me. However, this didn't make my life easy either.I was careful to avoid covering my belly when they hit me or knocked me to the ground, even though my instincts screamed for me to. But, as time went on, I started to fill out; Daisy made sure I was eating more, and my belly started to grow. I felt as though prying eyes lurked around every corner, and when I struggled to control my hormones the men advanced on me like a plague.
It was terrifying, to feel that helpless with a child inside me. But one good thing came out of it, aside from the life I was growing inside me: Hunter became more tender, more doting, more loving, during our monthly treatments. He started to sniff my neck, inhaling deeply and smiling to himself.
As my body swelled with our child, his illness stopped requiring sex for him to heal. We lay together, our legs entwined, my head on his muscular chest, and just slept. It was peaceful in a way I’d never felt before, and my dreams were always sweetest on those nights.
The peace of those nights dissolved the moment the sun rose, though.
“One-fifty-six! One-fifty-seven! One-fifty-eight!”
I was being forced to kneel on the cold ground, scrubbing the already immaculate kitchen floor. The other Omegas huddled around me, counting loudly as they made me wipe the floor two hundred times a minute. If I couldn’t do it, they would whip me.
I scrubbed as hard as I could, desperate to do the impossible task. I couldn’t get hurt, not now I was pregnant. Sweat pooled on my forehead, sliding down my temples and dripping into my sore, swollen eyes. Barely able to see, I squinted through my tears as I scrubbed.
My arms trembled from over-exertion. My nails were broken and blood seeped down my fingers. All of me hurt. I wished someone would help me, even if it was just this once. Save me, I begged silently. Save me, and save my baby.
But no-one came.
“Only one-sixty times a minute! Our ‘Luna’ is too weak.”
“We’ll have to wipe the rest for her.”
They laughed and laughed.
“Jane,” one of them cooed, “we’ll whip you forty times for not fulfilling the agreement. That’s fair, isn’t it?” They poked my face with the tail of the whip.
They didn’t need me to answer. They just wanted to see my desperate face and my broken heart. I closed my eyes in despair, hugged my belly, and curled myself into a ball as I waited for the first strike of the whip.
Then the door banged open. I looked up.
Hunter strode into the room. The Moon Goddess had heard my prayer! He’d come for me!
Silence swelled. Everyone was too intimidated by him to dare speak. Though he was smiling, his eyes were cold and he radiated fury.
He stalked over to me. He picked me up off the floor and took my hand in his, scanning the Omegas surrounding us.
“I always knew you Omegas were disgusting,” he sneered, a muscle ticking in his jaw, “but I still managed to underestimate just how vile you could be. Don’t touch her again. Got it?”
Then he dragged me out of the kitchen.
“Thank you for saving me again,” I murmured, trying to ease my hand out of his grasp.
“No need. It was Reg, my wolf. He forced me to come here.” He sounded worked up and a little fierce. “Why do you always get hurt? Every time I see you, you’re in tears.” He dabbed away my tears with his fingertip.
I sucked in a sharp breath before looking up at him. I could lose myself in those deep, dark eyes. “Why is it always you who saves me?”
He lowered his hand. Then, slowly, he moved closer to me, until his handsome face was only inches from mine. My heart thundered in my chest; I could feel his breath on my lips. “I had a headache,” he muttered, “and I was irritable just now, but now I feel relief. Whenever I’m near you, I feel relief.” His jaw flexed. “Why?”
“You tell me, Hunter! Why?” I pressed onto my toes and cupped his cheek. I couldn’t resist getting close to him and, damn it, I wanted to kiss him. It was instinctive. It was natural. It was right.
I didn’t have any family. I was so very lonely. Hunter was supposed to be my mate, the dearest person to me in the whole world. But even he despised me.
Someone screamed.
My head jerked up. The most beautiful woman I’d ever seen stood a few metres away from us, her face bloodless and her mouth twisted in an endless gasp. Blonde curls fell down her back effortlessly, and green eyes widened in shock and horror. “Hunter?” she cried, one hand going to her heart as she stumbled backwards, as if the sight of us alone had shattered her.
He dropped my hand immediately. “Amy!” he cried, rushing towards her. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to surprise you,” she blubbered, her almond-shaped eyes filling with tears – though none of them fell. “But you’re with another woman.”
“Her?” Hunter scoffed, shaking his head. “She’s just an Omega, Ames. She means nothing to me.”
My heart tore in two, but I was frozen to the spot. I didn’t want to break away from this moment. If I did, I would have to move on from it. Accept it.
“Then why were you holding her hand?” Amy asked snidely. Then her expression shifted, and she pouted. “And don’t talk about her like that, Hunt. Omegas are people too, just the same as us.”
“She’s my medicine,” Hunter ground out. “That’s all.”
Amy sniffled. He pulled her into his arms so gently that my heart ripped again, leaving it in bloody quarters. “I don’t understand,” she whimpered, nestling into him.
“I have headaches, fevers, and bouts of sickness. I don’t know why, Ames, but the Omega makes it go away.” Amy sobbed into his neck. His arms tightened around her. “I promise you that I will find a way to fix this.”
Seeing him hug another woman hurt more than any whip. I wished he hadn’t saved me. At last I broke free from my stupor and ran as fast as I could back to the pack house. I hid in my room, burying my face in my folded arms, breathing heavily through my mouth. I couldn’t think beyond this moment, past this present agony.
The door banged open. I didn’t even have the energy to lift my head.
Rough hands grabbed me, pulling me up and dragging me out of my room to the basement. “In a month, the Alpha will announce his new Luna. To keep you away from her, you’ll be kept in the basement,” he told me. “You aren’t allowed to leave without the Alpha’s permission.”
"I can't believe it,” I sobbed. “I don't believe he would do this to me. I didn't do anything wrong! Why would he do this to me? I want to see the Alpha!" I begged until my voice went hoarse, but nobody listened to me.
From that day on, I became an invisible person in the Storm pack.
Every day I stayed in that dark basement. There was only one tiny window, one slanting beam of light that fell across the floor every day, and I stared out of it at the snow like a fool. I’d thought he’d felt something for me. I’d thought – It didn’t matter what I’d thought. It mattered that I’d been an idiot, that I’d fallen for his gentle touches, for the forehead kisses and the strong arm wrapped around my waist at night, for every time he’d saved me, and now I was stuck here.Stuck here, in a dimly lit basement with no company but my own thoughts. I cradled my belly, looking wistfully out at the snow. I did nothing but act as his medicine, make him medicine, or talk to our baby. It was so quiet in here that I could hear every one of my shallow breaths, and the sound drove me mad. It was so silent that I started to miss the back-breaking work I’d been forced to do before. At least I’d had people talking to me then – even if it was to call me names. Anything was better than this.
Moonlight caught the side of his handsome face, chiselling it starkly against the blurry backdrop of snow. Why was he thinking of me on a night like tonight? Surely he should be with his new Luna. The thought curdled my stomach and I started to turn away, tears pricking my eyes and my hand moving to cup my belly. I didn’t know what to do. I stood frozen, a deer in the headlights, a thousand ideas and dreams racing through my head. A shadowed figure, walking swiftly towards him, snagged my gaze – and crushed my dreams. Hands covered her face and her shoulders shook with tears. She moved into the slant of moonlight, and I knew for sure then that it was Amy. Perfect Amy. He looked up, too, and his face twisted with emotion. I’d never seen him look at me like that. My Alpha – not my Alpha, not really – went to her and comforted her, pulling her head to his chest and pressing a kiss to her bowed forehead. It was his tenderness that broke my heart. When he looked at me, his eyes were ful
That night was the longest of my life.Everything outside was cool and still, the snow settling upon the slumbering earth. Inside was a haze of bright pain and burning heat, from the ceaseless throbbing between my legs to the condensation dotting the windows. Agony raged through me, a constant I knew as well as my own name. I dozed lightly, too exhausted to stay awake and too full of adrenaline to sleep. A kiss of silver moonlight spilled into the room, brushing over my bent legs. Some might have considered it a blessing from the Moon Goddess; I knew it was a curse. Delirious with pain, I tried to roll away from the slanting beam of moonlight.And then I heard them. The first cries of my newborn child.My heart swelled. Groggy and broken, every shattered piece of myself joined back together as I heard that beautiful sound. Pulling myself upright and thanking the stars above that Daisy lived in the westernmost part of the pack, well away from anyone that could hear the screams of my ba
Hunter's POV I'm Hunter Burns, Rogue wolf and the Alpha’s son. I grew up in the Storm pack but, given the choice, I’d take being a Rogue any day. I hate all Omegas and my father, Alpha Dylan. Whenever I lost control of my life, it was because of them. I craved control. Four years ago, I became a Rogue. Two years ago, I became an Alpha amongst the Rogues. I left my father’s pack, the Storm pack, at fifteen. Everything I’ve built since then has been because of me - not him. My own pack thrived in the human world. Unlike the Storm pack, which shunned humanity, I chose to embrace it. My members and I were doing well; so well that we created our own business group, ‘R,’ where all my pack members work. But we still needed our own territory back in the werewolf world. So when my Beta, Carl Beck, told me that he was near the Storm pack and its Alpha was dying without an heir, I was shocked. I’d left him behind, hating him so much I’d never wanted to think of him, let alone see him, agai
Hunter’s POVI had to re-adapt to life in the Storm pack. It was so different here, far from the human world, without the dizzying nightlife and crowded city streets; the air was clean and crisp, with no exhaust fumes clouding over the sky. There were no electronics, no modern technology, nothing to distract myself with.And it was quiet. Too quiet.Nothing had changed since I’d last been here. Home. I wanted to scoff at the idea. It didn’t feel like home. Not after what had happened to my mother…I shook myself. There was one way to distract myself: Reg. As the sun lifted its groggy head over the horizon and my clock ticked towards six, I let him out for a run around Lake Pear. It was the Alpha’s exclusive lounge area, which meant nobody else could enter it. Peace, or something close to it, beckoned at last. I hoped.Life was a boring bliss here, except for my inexplicable headaches. Daisy said that I was indeed poisoned, though she had no way to cure it. The Omega, Jane, had turned o
Daisy’s POVI’d never thought the Moon Goddess would make it up to me in such a way. The wood of the doorframe bit into my palm as I leant against it, watching Jane drive away. My heart pinched slightly at the sight of her departure. I thought I would be sad when she left, but no, I was happy she was leaving.Now I had everything I’d always wanted.I lowered my head and pressed a gentle kiss to the little girl’s forehead. She cooed; I tightened my arms around her. I would keep her safe.“From now on, you are my daughter,” I murmured. “I think I’ll call you Ava. Ava White,” I breathed. “Hi, sweetheart. My little Ava. I’m your mommy, Daisy White.” I grasped her tiny hand in mine, and I knew what love was as her minute hand curled around my index finger.” So nice to finally meet you.”“I’ll tell everyone that someone left you on my porch,” I whispered, peppering her little face with more and more soft kisses. She had huge blue eyes, but I didn’t think anyone would associate her with Jane
Jane’s POV6 years laterMy hands brushed tentatively over our belongings. Even though I had made the choice to move to Moonrise City with my two boys, I couldn’t help but hesitate yet again while packing my things.And it was his fault. Hunter Burns, the father of my children, was often there. It was one of his main bases. Though I had not seen him, my mate, for six years, he had not become a stranger to me. I still heard about him.He ran his two packs well. His R pack was doing exceptionally, and he was using his substantial wealth and influence to help others. He, his Luna, Amy, and their daughter Ava frequently attended charity dinners to raise money for children with Aphasia. He’d even set up foundations for them. It seemed as though Hunter had settled into his life with his pretend mate – and, though I’d tried to leave him firmly in my past, my ears always perked up when someone mentioned Hunter Burns.I’d even caught a glimpse of their little daughter, Ava. She was about the s
Jane’s POVI tried to run, but my body was frozen to the spot. I couldn’t move.My mate, Hunter Burns, looked straight at me. My heart thundered in my chest; my mouth went dry. Then he started walking in my direction.I tried to wet my dry lips as he neared me. He was as handsome as I remembered – no, even more so. He was perfect. Still rigid with fear and excitement and terror and shame, all balled up into one, my heart leapt up into my throat.Then I heard my two boys’ voices.“Mommy! Mommy!” They grabbed my hands and shook them.No. I couldn’t let him know about my darling snow angels. My sweet baby boys. They looked exactly as Hunter had when he was younger, with their dark hair and wide blue eyes. I couldn’t let him see them. I had to stop him.Squatting down, I took them both into my arms. “You have to run,” I whispered. “Run, boys, run! Do you remember what I told you? There are bad people here, bad people that want to take you away from Mommy. You have Aunty Rose’s phone numbe