CHAPTER TWO: THE CRUELTY OF ELARA

The first strike was from behind, a quick, stinging slap that sent my head forward. I stumbled, my hands going up to rest on the rough wood of the table. Laughter erupted around me, a grinding of sound across my already frayed nerves.

“Look at the Omega,” Elara's voice was dripping sweetness, a hard irony to the venom in her eyes. She circled around to stand in front of me, a hunter toying with her prey, her perfectly trimmed fingernails flashing in the dim of the Omega quarters. “So clumsy. Just like her mother.”

The words hit me like a body blow, a kick in the guts that took my wind. My mother. They would be bold enough to speak of my mother, of the woman who had given everything to me, of the memory I held close to every point of my soul. My hands knotted up in fists, my fingernails biting deep into my palms. I would not give them the pleasure of seeing me react. I would not allow them to watch my hurt.

“Leave her be, Elara,” a trembling voice called up in the corner. She was one of the younger Omegas, Maya, her eyes wide with fear. Her defense was half-hearted, a mere whisper.

Elara's smile was wide, a hard glint in her eyes. “Oh, look who’s a hero,” she sneered, turning to face Maya. “Don’t you remember your place, little one. You’re just as useless as she is.”

Maya shrank back, her eyes on the floor. The rest of the Omegas, a tight cluster in the dimness, said nothing, their faces contorted in a mixture of terror and obedience. They knew better than to get in her path. Elara was Damien's pet, her power untouchable in the pack. Cross her, and it was a death sentence.

Elara's face came around again, her hate-filled eyes blazing in her face. “Think you’re better than us, don’t you?” she sneered, her voice low and nasty. “Think you’re too high to be in this existence.”

I didn’t reply. I stared at the scratched wood of the tabletop, my hand splayed across it in a desperate effort to feel something else, to be grounded in something other than my fury. If I looked at her, if I allowed her to see my fury, I knew I would burst.

“You’re nothing,” she raged on, her voice growing more powerful. “You’re a plague on this pack. A dirty half-bred, born of a whore.”

The words seemed to echo in my ears, each one a stabbing hurt to my heart. My mother… to insult her in such a manner. Tears flooded my vision, but I blinked them brutally aside. I would not allow it to happen. I would not give it to them.

“Look at her,” Elara sneered, her hand waved towards me in a careless motion. “She’s pathetic. She can’t even meet my eyes.

A hand twisted in my hair, twisting my scalp brutally hard. Pain lanced up my scalp, my hair roots screaming in shock. I gasped, my eyes finally meeting Elara’s. Her face was twisted in fury, her hate-filled eyes blazing in her face.

“You think you’re such a big shot, don’t you?” she sneered. “Think you’re better than everyone else.”

I tried to get a word in, but she was too quick. Her other hand shot forward, slapping my face hard. The force sent my head bouncing off of the tabletop, a shock of pain up my skull. I hit the floor hard, my head bouncing hard on the hard floor.

The room was a cacophony of sound. Her victorious laughter was punctuated by the terrified whimperings of the other Omegas. I was on my side on the cold, damp floor, my head aching, my face on fire. I was tasting blood in my mouth.

Elara loomed over me, her face twisted in contempt. “You’re nothing,” she said again, her voice heavy in malice. “You’re a disgrace. You’re lucky you’re alive.”

She booted my side, her heel connecting with my ribs. I screamed in pain, curling around myself, trying to shield my battered body. The other Omegas looked on in silence, their faces pinched and white. They knew better to get in her way. They knew what happened to anyone that got in her way.

Elara’s assault didn’t subside, a furious battering of kicks and punches. I was helpless, laying there, bracing myself for impact, trying to block out her laughter, her shouting. I closed my eyes, picturing my mother’s face, her friendly smile, her loving eyes. Her face was my shield, my sanctuary in this hell.

I was just starting to think I couldn’t take anymore when Elara’s assault stopped. I was gasping for air, my body screaming in pain, my heart in pieces.

Elara stood up, her chest heaving slightly. She looked at me, her face twisted in disgust. "Clean this up," she said, her voice cold and demanding. "And get out of my sight."

She stormed out of the room, her laughter lingering in the air. The other Omegas began to move, their gazes nervously in Elara's direction. They knew their job. They knew that they would need to clean up after her, to destroy all evidence of Elara's savagery.

I tried to stand up, my body complaining at every move I made. My head was pounding, my ribs aching, my cheek burning. I looked around at the room, my eyes coming to rest on the other Omegas. Their faces sympathetic, but they didn't move to help me. They couldn't. They were too scared.

I took a rag and got to work scrubbing the blood off of the floor, the metal tang of it in my lungs. As I scrubbed, my mind wandered to my mother. She had always told me to be strong, to never give up, no matter how bad it got. She had taught me to be kind, to be caring, to stand up for what is right. I knew my mother would be ashamed of me if she saw me now, cringing on the floor, acquiescing to this abuse. But what was I to do? I was an Omega, lowest of the low. I had no strength, no voice. I was at their mercy.

I scrubbed in silence, my heart heavy in my chest.

As I scrubbed blood from the floorboards, a small fire of resistance smouldered in my soul. They would break my body, they would insult me, they would take my dignity, but they would not destroy my soul. They would not take my memory, my love of my mother, my belief in the power of kindness.

I would live, I was certain that I would live. I would survive this hurt, this humiliation, this brutality. I would survive for my mother's memory, for the lone wolf that lived in me yet. And one day I would discover a means of freedom in this hell. One day I would be free.