Chapter 1.

Amira’s POV

They always stared. Like I did not belong. Like I was the invisible stain on the marble floors of Montgomery Moonrise High that could not be taken off no matter how hard they tried.

I kept my head low. Always low because that was what Omegas did. We walked fast, kept our scent muted, and made sure the Alpha-blooded wolves never remembered our names or our faces.

The only reason I had gotten a scholarship in this elite school as an Omega was because I was the smartest girl of my age in Montgomery Moonrise City, and Montgomery Moonrise High (MMH) didn’t want to lose me to another elite school.

From my first day here at MMH I knew I would never fit in. Although my uniform was brand new because the school gifted me one when I got admitted, my shoes and back pack looked old and worn out, my ginger hair was always looking like an unkempt bird’s nest.

I knew my place and for almost a year I stayed in my lane, avoiding any form of being noticed. But that didn’t stop the bullying, Brianna and her pack of friends, Declan and his football teammates, and other people who felt the need to always humiliate me.

I had no friends in the school, nobody wanted anything to do with me, but apparently I did not mind, I always swallowed their insults like freshly squeezed orange juice. Because replying back meant more bullying.

But today, something cracked in me. Somebody has painted in red “Omega Bastard” on my locker and I just wanted to pounce my anger on whoever did it. Yes I was from a broken home, and yes my father abandoned us and remarried when he found his fated mate, but that was not enough reason for these spoiled brats to always use it to mock me. I mean I have a father and I know who he is, but just everyone keeps calling me an “Omega Bastard”.

Students giggled as I struggled to wipe it off with my palm and it did not come off.

In frustration, I walked quickly into the classroom and took a seat, because I knew standing and looking at my locker too long would make me do something I would probably regret.

“Ginger haired Omega Bastard, you are in my seat. Now! Flea.” Brianna Lowell’s voice rang out like a polished whip. Her perfect blond waves bounced as she cat walked into the classroom, flanked by two lesser Luna wannabes, freaking Riley and Wendy.

I looked up from my desk slowly and saw the mock in her eyes, and there and then I just knew, I knew she was the one who painted those hurtful words on my locker. And for God’s sake, I sat here every day this semester. She never noticed until now. Why?

“I am sorry, l will leave now.” I said softly as I gathered my books to put back in my back pack. But I froze as I saw the hint of triumph In her eyes, and that's when I realized that today was the day I would stand up to the queen Bee of the school. “I did not realize your name was engraved on it,” I replied, voice even and cold, then I sat down again.

A hush fell over the room, even if I had dropped a pin at that moment I bet everyone would have heard the sound of it falling on the marble floor.

My stomach twisted in fear, but I kept my face still. The snickering started, quiet at first, from the lower-ranked Betas and a few others in the back. But it grew louder.

Because I had talked back.

Because I was the Omega nobody, who dared to snap.

Brianna’s eyes narrowed like a she-wolf ready to pounce on its unworthy prey. “Watch your tone, Ginger Dawson. That seat was reserved for Alphas and not filthy dogs like you.”

My anger increased, my blood boiled as. I was not going to keep quiet today, I was going to speak up, no matter what. “Since when Brianna? I have sat on this seat throughout this week.” I placed my backpack on the small table attached to the seat, then calculated my words before I spoke again. “And I was told this was a school,” I paused, gently sliding my books into my bag, “not a royal court.”

A gasp echoed behind me, small screams and giggles from students in the classroom.

She stalked closer. “You think this is funny? Right?”

“No,” I said, rising slowly to my feet. “But it’s fun watching you realize I am not afraid of you anymore.”

A louder laugh burst from someone behind us, one of the sophomore Betas who ran into our classroom after hearing voices arguing. Then another. The air vibrated with stunned amusement.

I met Brianna’s gaze and for the first time… she looked off-balance, out of control. I was talking back at her in public and she did not like that. And it was making the queen look like a clown to her loyal subjects.

I had nothing, no status, no lineage, no shifting gift.

But she had everything to lose. Especially her image.

She turned to the cheerful crowd in anger. “What’s so funny?” Then she turned to me, her lips curled into a practiced smile, though her amber eyes flared with so much rage. Then the rage calmed, and she came even closer to me. “Ginger! You are braver than I thought,” she said sweetly. “Maybe we started off wrong. You are… quite interesting, Amira. And I like that.”

I blinked.

What?

What the hell?

What the actual hell?

Brianna, accepting defeat?

That felt impossible, and when I thought she could not surprise me anymore, she looped her fair arm around mine, like we were suddenly friends and steered me toward a path leading to the door.

Whispers followed us like perfume, her minions joined us behind obediently.

My instincts screamed in fear and excitement, I should have pulled her arm away from my shoulder, but I forced a neutral expression and walked with her.

“Have you ever heard the story of the fox and the rabbit?” she whispered low in my ear as we exited the room.

I did not answer.

“The fox smiled at the rabbit every day.” She said, brushing nonexistent dust off my sleeve. “Until one morning, the rabbit didn’t wake up.”

My spine stiffened, what kind of story was this? Was it meant to scare me or to compliment me?

She stepped back with a sunny grin. “See you at lunch, bestie.”

And just like that, she was gone.

I stood frozen in the corridor, adrenaline still spiking in my blood, my heart beating like a talking drum.

Even if the story she had told me about the fox and rabbit should have scared me, it didn’t

I had stood up to the Queen of Montgomery Moonrise High.

And instead of me being afraid, I was excited, because now the fox had noticed me and she was watching me with admiration, or was she really?