Chapter 1 - My new home.

Alison

LIVING IN THE BLACK VALEY was no picnic, but living as an omega was possibly the worst position anyone could be in. The moment you could turn, you had to go through the rank trials, and you were placed according to your performance. Your future depended solely on how you ranked in the trials and not the rank you were born under. What a lie?!

Only the ones who had proven their strength could rule. The children born in ranked houses usually won since they were given more training and didn’t have the work schedules we had, so in my mind, the competition was rigged. But I would give it my all in any case. I attacked each challenge with everything I had. I was strong. Nobody had any idea how hard orphans worked in this place, but there was no big surprise when I didn’t make it. Being tired after working all day was apparently no excuse! I was named an omega and shipped off to work straight away without the opportunity to do more.

They didn’t even give me the opportunity to grab my things from my room in the orphanage. Not that I had a lot. All the woman told me was that we had a long way to go, and she didn’t have time to waste. I followed the woman called Bridget out of town. We shifted as soon as we were well out of town. At least, we could run out here.

In town, I sometimes wondered if the people had forgotten they were actually werewolves. Since the curse was lifted many years ago, werewolves have been able to shift at will and most of them spent most of their time in their human form. I had heard that things were different in the border lands. As we made our way to wherever it was, she was taking me. I kind of hoped we were going to one of the border towns.

The city people didn’t like the border towns, but I had seen the wolves come through town from time to time and I thought they were just amazing. They all looked stronger and more tanned. They were warriors who protected the rest of us from the evils that lurked outside our borders. If I was lucky, I would be mated to one of those warriors and he would protect me.

I have always been able to take care of myself. I fought my own battles, but it would be nice to have a strong male there to fight when I physically wasn’t able to. We didn’t camp anywhere, so by the time we reached my new home I was dead tired. I had never run as far as that or been in my wolf form for so long. What kept me going was the hope that they would give me a bed and some food once we reached our destination.

Sadly, my hope was dashed when we shifted and walked into the alpha house. His scent was stronger than any other I had ever smelled. He stood more than a head taller than I was, and his broad shoulders made him look like a bit of a brick.

“This is our new omega, alpha.” Bridget lowered her head and smacked me on the back of mine when I still gaped at my surroundings.

“She can start in the kitchen. I don’t want her running around in front of the men.” He hardly looked at me before he turned around and continued his conversation. I was a little confused, but I followed Bridget to the back. My stomach was growling, but I didn’t want to ask for food while she introduced me to the cook. The cook looked agitated as she showed me what she wanted me to do. She turned her back on me while I sat down on the floor and started cleaning the cupboard.

I was feeling a little faint, but I fought the urge to pass out and kept going. I knew my life wasn’t going to be easy. The moment I came in last in that last race, I knew I was going to be treated like trash. It didn’t stop me from hoping for better. From the looks of things, they couldn’t possibly treat me worse than I had been treated in the orphanage.

I worked until finally the cook told me to join her. She had prepared a plate for each of us. I was shocked and relieved to find fresh bread and cheese. I was beginning to think they would feed me only potato skins! Her entire demeanour changed as soon as we sat down to eat. She explained how things worked in the pack and, if I was honest, it scared me a little more than meeting the alpha.

He didn’t sound like a nice man, so I would do my best to avoid him as far as possible. I was relieved to find out my room was almost beside the kitchen and that I didn’t have to walk about the pack house. According to what the cook told me, he hardly ever came into the kitchen, which was a huge relief.

Spenser

I knew that people saw me as arrogant, cruel and ruthless, but what else did they expect me to be? I had to protect those under my care! Nobody but my father understood the constant pressure I was under. The Rogue king had declared war on our kingdom! The crazy wolf believed that we had kidnapped his kid and had since been trying his best to prove it by crossing our borders constantly. Our king was just as crazy! His demands were unbelievable, but that was what it was. It was my duty to protect the border. It was my duty to serve at my king’s will. Our pack territory wasn’t the right place for females, but I couldn’t very well tell my pack members to keep them somewhere else.

So, I had no other choice but to keep fighting until every single rogue was killed! In the meantime, the capital city kept sending us the omegas they didn’t want in the hopes that I would send them out to fight this war. Losing so many warriors was beginning to cost us dearly. If only they sent me more males! I could work with males, but most of the time, I had to deal with more females, which was the last thing we needed!