1 - Careful What You Wish For

GREY’S POV

Tick-tock. Today, I finally die.

The ear-piercing 6:30 morning alarm rings throughout the self-contained room right before our supervisor, a very mean-faced Delta who has never once smiled since the day I met him, slams the iron door open.

I swear I hear the wall creak from the impact, followed by his hefty voice. “Lads! Get yourselves to the assembly now!”

Mr. Manchester. His dark eyes are enough to make the hair on the back of my neck stand, and I rush to the bathroom to get washed up before the other Omegas start rushing in and everything turns choking and cramped.

Omegas aren't students here. Imprisoned behind these bricks, our lives are worthless and it all started after the great war.

However, today is when it all stops.

I’m turning eighteen, and I can’t wait for the best birthday present. 

Please, please, Universe. Grant me my wish. Grant me death! A blissful escape from this hellhole, when I finally stand in front of the Alpha Kings for the first time today.

The hallway swims with students, bodies pressing against one another, until I find a spot to stand. Not long after, the Dean walks to the podium. Only the click of his shoes echoes, and the entire hall falls silent. The air grows so quiet even breathing feels too loud before he speaks into the mic.

“Students, today is a very special day. In the New System, Omegas are classified with a primary designation, one that decides what path you’ll walk for the rest of your lives. As you’re aware, the auctioning is done annually, and once again, today marks another.”

His eyes search the crowd for a moment before he continues. No one dares make a sound. No one dares stare back at him.

“The Alpha Kings arrive in an hour. In the meantime, there’s food and drinks in the dining room. Get fed, have your goodbyes, and your grades shall decide your future.”

“Bollocks,” I whisper under my breath as I glare at him. If looks could kill, he'd be rotting in hell. I guess I'm the only one who thinks that’s just a fancy way of saying they’ll feed us like chickens before the slaughter, but instead, everyone cheers.

Everyone except me.

I’m always the stubborn one who won’t clap. From my peripheral vision, I see my archenemy.

Mrs. Dominion.

I swear she’s hated me since the day I set foot in this academy. Well, more like since the day I was dragged into it. As far as I remember, I was about 6 when they found our hideout. I was taken away from my mother and my twin sister. Ever since then, I haven’t seen them, nor can I remember their faces. I don't even know if I’m an identical twin.

I pray against it, because when I look at my frame in the mirror, covered in bruises, I don’t want to imagine my sister looking the same way.

Chills crawl down my spine, and I snatch my gaze away from her. Then I hear the Dean drop a bomb that twists my stomach.

“Oh, new information, students. We’ll be graced with the presence of the Prime Alpha King, along with the seven Alpha Kings. What a great day!”

A round of applause erupts again.

No. No, no, no. This is really bad.

Nikolai Blackwell.

My breath hitches as his name settles in my mind. I don’t pay much attention in class, but even I know he never attends auctionings. He’s the kind of ruler who doesn’t need to show up for people to fear him.

So why would he come to this year’s auctioning? And why North America’s academy?

I shove the thoughts away as everyone begins filing out of the hall. My head drops as I walk down the hallway, remembering the faint mantra my mother used to whisper to my sister and me before sleep.

'To your last breath, never be broken. Not in spirit. Not in mind. Not in body.'

I’m repeating the words when my ears catch the sound of a blow landing on someone’s face. Of course, Brian Locke is getting beaten by fools who think themselves better Omegas than the rest of us because their grades are excellent. 

Just before another lands on the poor boy, I rush forward and drag him back.

“Stop this at once, Thorne!”

Jeffery Thorne laughs. His two minions behind him double over, clutching their stomachs like something hilarious is happening.

“Look who came to save another pathetic soul,” he sneers. “You know, you’re the reason Omegas are called weak. Y'all bunch of Bleeders. You know that’s what you’re gonna be classified as, right?”

“Sounds like you care an awful lot,” I snap. “Didn’t know you had a shred of good left in that dark heart of yours.”

Jeffery is a different kind of asshole. Another archenemy of mine. Honestly, almost everyone here hates me and can't wait to get rid of my presence. I’m too loud. Too crazy. A twisted way of saying I don’t share their slavery mentality.

Everyone here thinks that if they become “perfect students,” they’ll earn good grades and become Feeders. No Omega wants to be a Bleeder, so they mimic their oppressors to feel superior.

It’s a game. And it’s repetitive.

“Fvck off, Sylvester,” Jeffery says, stepping forward. “That brat owes me an apology.”

“No. Let him go.”

He laughs. “Look around. No one cares about you playing hero. The auctioning begins soon. You should be shivering right now, knowing what fate awaits you.”

As if that’s new.

I’ve grown used to the fear, but I won’t let him carve it into Brian too. I glance around. The Beta guards by the entrances don’t even look up. The scene unfolds right in the middle of the dining room, and no one intervenes.

“You know what?” I say, heat flooding my veins. “You’re right. The auctioning is all anyone cares about. That’s why I’m taking my revenge right here. Finally.”

I throw everything I've got into the punch, and Jeffery crashes to the ground.

Three years ago, this bastard snitched on me when I tried to escape. The punishment didn’t just strip me of innocence, it left a scar across my back. My skin tore like paper from the beating. That was the last time I attempted an escape. Brian saved me then. He helped nurse the wound, so this is my payback.

“How’s that for a messed-up Omega?” I yell. “Look around you! You’re the slave, in spirit, in mind, and in body!”

“And what is happening here?”

Goosebumps erupt when I see Mrs. Dominion. My mouth freezes, unable to defend myself as Jeffery scrambles toward her.

“He hit me! I didn’t even do anything. Look at my nose, it’s broken! My face... my flawless face!”

Her perilous gaze locks onto me. Damn, she's been waiting for this chance.

“Get him, guards!”

I try to step back but hit the dining table instead. My hand closes instinctively around a bread knife. Useless, because two Deltas appear out of nowhere and slam me to the ground.

I try to speak, but Mrs. Dominion grabs my chin and forces my eyes up to hers.

“Well,” she says coolly, “since you want to prove resilience till your last day here, I’ll do you a favour.”

She turns to the guards. “Take him behind the curtains. Grey Sylvester will be the first to meet his superiors.”

“No, no, I swear, I didn’t hit him intentionally. Please. I—”

My heart pounds so hard my fingers and toes shudder. My blood feels poisonous as my throat dries in presence of fear.

I don't prepare for it to be this early or for things to go this way. But this is what I want, right? To die today.

Maybe because I want it so badly, life is granting it faster than expected.

As I'm being dragged out of the dining room, I’m still scared as hell for what happens next.