8. Claimed.

EUDORA

“Tell me, Alpha Oslo…what do I need to do to win this prize?”

The words still hung in the air. I waited with bated breath for Alpha Olslo’s response and also for the moment when the hands of Alpha Tauren that was inching, crawling and teasing the flesh of the back of my thighs would finally reach the part of me that was yet to be defiled. If things went the way the grizzly Alpha wanted, it wouldn’t be that way anymore. I’d have my innocence torn to shreds that I would never be able to piece together anymore.

I didn’t know how long I would take the touch of his wrinkled fingers before I caved in. He was intentional with the teases. His fingers would inch up, tease their way close to my insides and make me react by clenching my thighs and my eyes hard while my breath hitches only for him to stop just as he’s about to force his way with his fingers. He repeated the sequence more than a few times. I was only a few seconds from being driven insane by the torture of not knowing the moment he’d finally touch me.

This development, it was every bit–if not worse–as irking as the thought of being a plaything for Conan on the side. Just as disturbing as being the second option, one to clean up after his Luna and if I had a choice between being Conan’s or Alpha Tauren’s, I knew I would rather die or run for my life than choose either one of those lives.

If only running was as easy as it dives into the sea of my thoughts, I’d be long gone the moment I was old enough to understand where I stood in the hierarchy of the wolves. It was impossible to run past the territory markers of the pack neither was it easy to get through the ones of another. The territory markers were three in all and they were like triggering alarms that carried the scent of intruders far away to the heightened senses of smelling the wolves of the territory possessed . We were a large community connected by our deep origins in such a way that a single wolf crossing the borders wouldn't be able to make it past the final territory without drawing attention to themselves.

So yes, I have thought of running away many times but for as long as I was connected to the pack and its members, there was no escaping. I’d be dead if I ever made it out anyway. Rogues lurked the borders of every pack, looking for the right moment to attack and an Omega like me stood no chance against a bitter, revenge driven, abandoned and blood-thirsty species.

Escaping was now nothing but a vague and abstract thing. The kind I could think of but not feel or execute. It is over now. I lost this battle a long time ago and I would be a spoil of war that I never even started.

“Father,”

I didn’t expect to hear Conan speak. And heavens, I did not expect the relief it brought along with it when I should hate even the littlest squeak from him . His usually deep voice was strained now, the depth of the rage he was holding back clear to anyone who cared to notice or listen.

Clearly no one did because Alpha Oslo did not even for a second spare his son a glance. His eyes were fixated on Alpha Tauren who was right beside me and still teasing his fingers around my flesh. Both Alphas seemed like they were passing a silent message between the both of them. Maybe a message of what I would be given out in return for.

The books I have read have given me more than enough information about the things Omegas got objectified for in the past but since the wolven traditions never changed, my guess was that those things would never change too. We get auctioned in return for riches. In return for alliances between Packs. In return for the pettiest things that made my stomach turn just by reading them in bold letters of black ink on white pages. They made me wonder what it was I would be worth as an Omega to Alpha Tauren enough to give something up.

It felt like forever before Alpha Oslo finally shifted in his seat with a crooked smile on his face. You see there is something about smiles like that that you do not have to think twice about the outcome of them. I already knew what would come next but the mind has been cursed to be in disbelief and full of hope until proven wrong or disappointed. My mind particularly still hasn’t healed from the last few blows but was still hopeful enough to not fear taking another hit.

“You see, I happened to stumble upon two clueless wolves talking about a new dispensation that I wasn’t informed about,”

The emphasis on ‘new dispensation’ was added by the drawl of his voice. It made the sound of those words ominous and worthy of being scared of.

Alpha Tauren’s finger stilled on my body before his hand fell away to the side. I was right. There was something about those words if it made Alpha Tauren act the way he did. I should be relieved that the torture of his teasing fingers have finally came to an end but my heart still wouldn’t stop beating in the way it isn’t meant to. Not when the air was now thick with tension after what Alpha Oslo said.

“I do not know what you are talking about,” Came Alpha Tauren’s gruntled reponse.

Alpha Oslo chuckled, “Sure, you do, Alpha Tauren. They were your men and it was at your Luna’s funeral rites a few months ago.”

A funeral? Alpha Tauren was mateless. Why did I not think of another woman in the picture since I stood by him? Hearing about his dead Luna was what gave me the courage to finally look in the direction of his daughter–soon to be Conan's mate of Conan.

I have never been more right about anything like I was about the beauty of Alpha Tauren’s daughter. It made me wish the ground would open and suck me in because I was nothing compared to her and shouldn’t be in a gathering like this with her. Her frame fit the standard of a normal girl my age and so did the features of her oval face. Everything about her shamed me and I’d want her for him too if I was Conan’s parents. Above all, she had the blood of an Alpha running through her veins.That one thing overruled all other things and I doubted it would have mattered to anyone if she looks just like me.

I tried not to envy all that she possessed but what was the point? It was all I could think of. I took the cue to stop looking at her when she narrowed her eyes at me.

She didn’t like me. I could easily tell because I was used to the look of disgust and irritation coming from people when they see me but hers seemed like a dislike that was beyond being incomparable to her anyway. Her eyes bore more than dislike and if I wasn’t mistaken, I sensed pain and sorrow. Maybe she didn't want to be there anymore than I did or she was mad that her mother was mentioned and I no doubt will be taking her place as the one to please her father till the pain of losing his mate finally consumes him like it does every wolf that loses their mate.

“You do not want to get involved in the Alpha–Delta project,” Alpha Tauren sounded like he had given up trying to hide a little bit of information from Alpha Oslo. I didn’t even understand what he meant but I knew I have never heard of the word Delta before. It made me curious though. Had me wanting to know how much I was worth and how much the old Alpha was willing to buy me off.

“Is that what it is called?” Alpha Oslo asked no one in particular, “Interesting.” He played with his beard.

“Father...” Conan called for a second time and he was ignored again for a second time.

“I want in on it, whatever it is. I know when something will bring huge benefits for you, Alpha Tauren and you have that look on your face right now. The one that tells me how beneficial this Alpha–Delta project would be to you.”

This was the bargaining stage. It was the final stage to decide if I would be going home with Alpha Tauren that night. Alpha Tauren was only one word away from taking me with him that night. His hands suddenly came around me again and pulled me closer to himself even as he was seated. My body stiffened at his touch again. God, I could never get used to this. There was no way I would survive living with this.

“It’s is a small price to pay for this prize here,”

Prize. It was all I would ever be.

Alpha Oslo relaxed in his seat, “It is settled then, in-law. We should toast to the double union.”

It is settled. I would be going to the Onyx moon pack with Alpha Tauren. The Alpha with greying hair and wrinkled bony hands that were a mirror of his face and its sagging skin. It was the most cruel thing to do to an eighteen year old but I was an Omega and it was a norm. No one could do anything about it.

Or so I thought.

The loud screech of a chair on the tiled floor of the dining hall broke the silence after the Alphas’ last words. Conan had been the one to push his seat to the back as he stood, eyes dancing with barely contained rage. It seemed like it was only a second away from unleashing the beast he carried inside of him even if it would surely be no match for the ones that the other two Alphas carried inside of them.

“Father, what are you doing?” Conan asked his father.

“Sit. Down.” Alpha Oslo commanded in a hard voice.

“No! You really aren’t doing this, are you? You are not letting a man old enough to be her grandfather take her away.”

“I will do as I see please for as long as she’s under my roof and that man you call a grandfather is your father-in-law, show some respect or I force it out of you.”

The Alpha power play made me barely able to breathe in the room with them. They both seemed like they unleashed part of their auras to make the other intimidated and after witnessing what happened on the day I got rejected by Conan, being in the room with them this way wasn’t ideal.

Conan stood stubbornly against his father in a fight but all I saw was a man who already lost. He lost from the moment he rejected me and then made me feel worthless when all my life he has been the only one to make me feel like I am worth anything at all.

“I will not let you do this!” Conan’s voice boomed again.

“Alpha Oslo, it seems your son has taken a liking for this innocent prize over here,” Alpha Tauren stated the obvious and it was intentional. He said it to taunt Conan knowing fully well that there was something going on under the surface.

“He’s just a boy, forgive his disrespect,” Alpha Oslo said and then he turned to look at me for the first time since I stood in the hall with them.

“Eudora,” He called. His voice was cold. Void of any emotion towards me. He was staying cruel to me till the very end.

“Go to your room and pack your things,” He commanded.

“Father!” Conan’s voice came again.

“Now!” Alpha Oslo bellowed at me and I jumped out of Alpha Tauren’s hold, scampering away towards my room while holding my breast from spilling out of the tight clothes.

Once in my room,I slumped to the ground by my bed and the waterworks came pouring down my face. I was in tears again. It was a constant part of my life now. To avoid getting punished by Alpha Oslo, I quickly wiped off the tears on my face and rushed to my closet to start packing the little things I owned in a duffel bag that could fit them all.

I left out every single thing I got as presents from Conan every year even though he was away. They’d only be reminders of the pain and betrayal that still made my heart bleed.

The door jerked open while I was packing. I turned swiftly because the musky scent of the man I was just thinking of hit my nostrils. The anger like burning fire in his eyes made me back away.

“Conan…” I called helplessly. How was he here in my room? How did he leave the dining hall?

“You whore!” He bit out.

He took long strides to reach me and I tried to run away from him as I got reminded of the last time he was in my room like this. The things he did and said to me.

“Conan, please…” I begged him on impulse because I wasn’t sure I was willing to take whatever he was going to dish out at me. He reached me and gripped me by the wrist before I could run any further. He gripped me and brought me around to come face to face with him before grabbing me by the neck and pinning me against my wooden closet.

“Did you do this? You did this, didn't you?”

I shook my head, “I swear to the goddess, I know nothing about this.”

His grip hardened and I winced. That would be another mark.

“You lying whore! You dressed the part!”

I yelped and scratched his hands with my fingers for him to let go of my neck. He didn’t, instead he tightened it. We heard footsteps coming towards my room and my eyes burned with tears and hoped that someone would save me from him.

In my face he said, “I will find you, I will find you and bring you back to me. Wherever you are.” His face held a dangerous promise and momentary defeat. He let me go but not without scratching me on my cheeks as he did with the claws of his wolf that had somehow elongated from him pinning me to the closet like this. I didn’t even feel the pain until I sniffed out my own blood. The grip on my throat was more painful.

I bled through the opened skin. I crawled away from him and held myself in my arms. When he glanced at me for the final time, I could have sworn I saw the softness in them as his eyes took in my bleeding cheeks that would no doubt leave a scar but he just turned away and walked out of the room.

I didn’t have the time to tend to my wound and simply wiped the blood with a cloth before I packed the rest of my things up so I could leave. I bumped into Luna Eleanor on the way out.

I didn’t know what I expected from her as I was finally leaving the house but she also chose the same path the Alpha did.

“Be good.” Was all she said to me as I walked off.

Alpha Oslo, Alpha Tauren and his daughter were waiting outside for me by their car and the old Alpha grinned with pride as he set his eyes on me.

I hid the scratch on my cheek with my hair, letting it fall like a curtain over my face. I stopped in front of Alpha Tauren and he flashed me another crooked smile from crooked teeth.

“I can’t wait to have my prize tonight,” he said in a low voice only I could hear and then flashed me another smile as he leaned away from me.

It was real.

I was now claimed.

The claimed prize of Alpha Tauren.