Soccer Alpha Begs Me Back

The first thing I heard was the low purr of engines. Not just any cars, expensive ones, the kind that glide rather than rumble, carrying the smell of polished leather and wealth in their wake.

My eyes snapped open.

For a second, I thought it was another dream. Omegas like me didn’t wake up to the scent of luxury. We woke up to stale bread, cold rooms, and the knowledge that we’d spend the day serving someone else’s comfort. But… the sound was real. Growing closer.

Hope flickered in my chest. I knew it was stupid because hope was fragile.

But maybe…

Maybe the Moon was done playing games with me. Maybe this time, the mate the Goddess chose would actually keep me.

But doubt settled just as quickly. Three times I’d been rejected. Once in front of an entire pack. Each rejection was its own brand of humiliation, and the scars weren’t just emotional. The mate bond didn’t heal easily.

I threw on the first dress I could find, almost calling for a maid before the memory cut sharp. The house was empty. My father had fired them all when the debts piled too high.

I rushed to the front door.

A convoy of sleek black cars lined our cracked driveway. Wolves in dark coats stepped out, radiating power that pressed against my skin. But their smiles… were cold. Too cold.

One of them stepped forward, holding a parchment sealed in black wax. Behind him, another wolf set down crates filled with gold coins, rare jewels and gifts from treaties between packs.

It looked like a dowry.

Until the letter was read aloud.

“The Alpha of the Blackridge Pack regrets to inform you that he will not be accepting the mate bond.”

The words scraped something raw inside me. My wolf whimpered. My father’s expression barely flickered before he told me, flatly, “My office. Now.”

~oo~

His office smelled of stale whiskey and the slow rot of old money gone bad. He was already pouring himself a drink.

“We’re accepting their offer,” he said without looking at me. “You’ll go through with the rejection ritual tonight.”

I froze. “You can’t be serious.”

He sipped, with the expression of a man watching a burning building with a cigar in his finger. “Serious as a heart attack.” He announced, “The gold alone will cover—”

“Do you even care what this means?” My voice cracked, and I hated it. “Once an Alpha rejects you through ritual, the Moon curses your bond. No second chances. No children. No—”

“What has the mate pull ever given you?” His words were sharp enough to cut. “Rejection after rejection. You’re an Omega — a wolf without worth.”

Anger burned my throat, but so did shame because he didn’t lie. What has the mate pull ever given me?

Still, I couldn’t just sign my own death certificate. Being an Omega, the mate pull is all I have…but even that, is a curse.

Anger burned in my throat, what did I ever do to deserve this? If our family wasn’t in so much debt, I wouldn’t be forced to carry out the forbidden ritual. It is forbidden for a reason goddamn it!

“Mother died because of you! Because you couldn’t stop gambling long enough to pay for her treatment—”

The slap came fast and hard, cutting my words and spinning my head to the side. My cheek blazed with pain but it wasn’t foreign. I wish I could say this was the first time but that would make me the mother of lies. I didn’t even hold my pulsing cheeks, I just let it sting.

A sharp reminder that my father never let me forget that I’m a disgrace. He wanted a boy when I was born, every darn werewolf family knows I was rejected as a newborn and it was just my luck I wolfed into an Omega.

“You’ll do it,” he said, his voice low and venomous, “or I’ll have your little sister married off to the richest bastard I can find. She’s fourteen now. Old enough to be useful.”

My eyes widened and that was the end of my fight. Not Isabelle. I won’t let him ruin her life too.

“I’ll do it,” I said, and the words tasted like ashes.

~oo~

My sister’s room was the only safe place left in this house. She looked up from her sketchbook when I slipped inside, eyes softening at the sight of me.

“What happened?” she asked with worry in her eyes, reaching for the ointment on her nightstand.

“Nothing you need to worry about,” I lied, sitting so she could dab the sting away.

We talked about nothing after that. You know, the normal meaningless stuff you start to miss when you’re far apart but can’t quite figure out what it is.

You know it’s not about the shapes of clouds and the smell of summer rain but my chest ached knowing I might not have many more nights like this.

She fell asleep first, her hand still curled around my wrist. I stayed until the moon was high.

~oo~

The ritual clearing was deep in the forest, away from any pack eyes. The Blood Moon hung heavy overhead, its silver light bled into crimson.

They blindfolded me before leading me forward. My wrists were bound in stems of wolfbane. The poison burned against my skin and another set of hands gripped mine briefly before the officiant’s voice began chanting in the Old Tongue.

The mate bond flared, sudden and overwhelming. His scent pine smoke and something sharper wrapped around me, pulling me toward him even though I couldn’t see. My wolf surged forward, desperate.

Then came the words:

“I reject you, Avelyn Clay, as my mate.”

Pain ripped through me. It was claws inside my chest, tearing at my heart, at my wolf, at everything I was. I collapsed, choking on a scream.

Somewhere above me, the rope was cut, the bond severed and cold rushed in.

My last thought before the darkness swallowed me was a whisper I didn’t dare say aloud.

I didn’t even see his face