The Terror of Proximity

Rebecca’s POV

The journey from the Omega barracks to the Alpha’s private wing had been the longest walk of my life. My legs felt like lead, my blood like ice. Every step was a step away from the meager safety of the shadows and toward the blinding, terrifying light of absolute power.

I had barely reached the servant’s passage before the whispers began.

“Look at her. A dirt-caste Omega, thinking she’s special.”

“The Alpha only took her to spite his father. She’ll be back in the kennels within a week, if she survives his temper.”

The cruelest words came from a group of lower-ranking kitchen Omegas. Even among the bottom rung, I was considered the absolute lowest the "dust-wolf." I was notorious for my total lack of shift, a physical failure that branded me as weak, pathetic, and utterly useless to the Pack. I was the Omega of Omegas.

I hated it. I hated having to wake up everyday and feel more human than a werewolf that I should have been. 

"A disgrace," one sniped, shoving her shoulder against mine, nearly knocking the small satchel holding my few belongings to the stone floor. "Go on, Alpha’s pet. Don't forget to lick his boots clean."

I pressed myself against the wall, eyes fixed on the floor, clinging to the mantra Maeve had drilled into me: Invisible. Obedient. A breath, nothing more.

But then, a shadow fell over us. A powerful, unsettlingly amused male scent, the scent of the Beta, Rhys.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" Rhys’s voice, though light, carried a chilling undertone of command.

The other Omegas scrambled backward, their heads snapping down. I froze, expecting the Beta to join in their cruelty, or worse, to deliver a punishment for causing a commotion.

Rhys stopped directly in front of the Omega who had shoved me. His large hand closed around her chin, forcing her head up. The snarky smile never left his lips, but his amber eyes were suddenly hard, predatory.

“Listen, little mouse,” he said, his voice dropping to a fierce snarl. “That particular piece of dirt is currently property of the Alpha.” He punctuated the word property with a slight, warning shake of her head. “The Alpha does not like his things damaged. If I catch any of you so much as looking at her with disrespect, Kael won’t skin you. I will. Now scatter.”

They fled, their fear thick and nauseating.

I remained fixed in place, trembling. Rhys released the Omega and then turned his unnerving gaze on me. He didn’t look cruel, just intensely curious.

“The Alpha is waiting, Shadow,” he said, giving me a dismissive wave. “Go on. And try not to break, little thing. I’d hate to disappoint Kael so soon.”

The casual protection, rooted only in my new status as Kael’s possession, gave me just enough courage to continue the terrible journey. 

I finally reached the Alpha’s wing. The air was cold, clean, and charged with his immense presence. When the guard ushered me into the living area, I felt the air physically compress around me. Everything was black granite, dark wood, and silver accents that looked unnervingly like polished blades.

Alpha Kael Volkov was standing by the panoramic window, his back to me. His presence was a gravitational pull, heavy and stifling.

“You’re slow,” his voice was a deep, gravelly vibration that resonated right through the floorboards and into my bones. He didn’t turn around. “If you are going to be my shadow, Rebecca, you need to learn to move with efficiency. And silence.”

“Yes, Alpha,” I whispered, ensuring my voice was barely audible.

He finally turned. His face was a mask carved from cold stone. “I am not interested in obedience born of fear alone,” he stated, his obsidian eyes locking onto my downcast head. “I am interested in absolute compliance. Here, you will not cower, but you will not speak unless spoken to. You will not move unless commanded. You are an extension of my will.”

I forced myself to hold the submissive stance as he approached.

“And one more thing.” His voice dropped, becoming intimately low and dangerous. “You will sleep here.” He gestured to a narrow cot tucked against the far wall. “Close enough that if I need you, I can reach out and touch you. I want you near. Understood?”

The word touch was a physical blow.

“Understood, Alpha.”

“Good. Now, unpack. And do not make a sound until morning.”

I busied myself with the small satchel. Inside, beneath a change of clothes, Maeve had tucked a small, stoppered vial of the herbal tea and a single, frantic note: Take this immediately, dear one. Don’t miss a single drop. It is the only way to keep you safe.

I understood. Maeve and Silas didn’t need to explain what the tea suppressed; I knew it was meant to dull the pathetic, powerless something I carried instead of a wolf. It was the only thing that ensured my survival.

I slipped the vial into the pocket of my borrowed servant tunic. I was trapped between two terrors: the Alpha, who demanded my silence and my compliance, and the constant fear that my useless, Omega blood would betray my weakness and earn me a far worse fate than service.

As I surveyed the Alpha’s meticulously ordered chamber, my mind betrayed me, dragging me back to the moment I left the barracks. The memory was a fresh, agonizing wound.

The light in our cramped Omega room was weak, but it was enough to illuminate the devastation on their faces. Maeve, my mother had been crying, her scent a suffocating mix of guilt and panic. Silas, my father, stood rigid, holding the shattered remains of my ceramic cup.The one that usually contained my suppressive tea.

“This is my fault,” Mom whispered, pulling me into a desperate, clinging hug. “We kept you too small, too safe. Now he’s taken you.”

Dad didn’t speak, but the look he shared with Mom,a devastating exchange of terror and understanding was worse than any scream. He clenched his fists, his body trembling, not with fear, but with a fierce, futile rage. He was ready to challenge the Alpha himself, a desperate, impossible battle he would lose in seconds. Mom placed a trembling hand on his arm, silently pleading with him to stay hidden.

“Be invisible, dear one,” Mom had managed, pressing the vial into my hand. “Obedient. A breath, nothing more.”

The memory was cut short by the sound of the Alpha turning in his bed. I snapped back to the present, focusing on the cold granite floor

I should have comforted them, I should have told them that their daughter would survive this but I didn’t and I hated myself more for that now. They were worried, so worried and I couldn’t speak a word due to the overwhelming fear and shock I felt then. 

I could feel the shake in my body, the outburst of tears that erupted from within. I cupped my mouth tightly, I cannot make a sound. I cannot wake him up. I let the tears fall endlessly from my eyes while I wondered how my life would be from tomorrow. 

I was no longer Rebecca, the worried daughter.

I was the Alpha's property.

His shadow.