Chapter 3: Power of an Omega's blood

~~~Aurelia POV~~~

"Hazel! Hazel, wait!"

I had barely stepped through the school gates when something small and fast crashed into my side.

"You waved at me," Daisy said, grinning up at me, curls bouncing. "You actually waved back yesterday. Did you finally crawl out of your shell? Usually you just do this tiny nod and pretend you're invisible."

I blinked. "Did I?"

"Every single day. Like I'm going to tell on you." She hooked her arm through mine and dragged me toward the steps. "Come on. I saved you a seat in herbology. And if you say no, I'll tell Uncle Ravik you're being mean to me."

I almost tripped.

"You wouldn't."

"Try me." She laughed. "He'd just stare at you until you apologized. He does that to the whole court. It's terrifying."

I laughed with her before I could stop myself.

It felt strangely warm. Daisy talked the way other people breathed, never pausing, her stories tumbling over each other. Which teacher was secretly afraid of the sea. Which boy got caught kissing the headmaster's niece. How her uncle had finally agreed to let her visit the northern markets next month, as long as she took two guards.

"Two!" she said, outraged. "Like I'm a jewel someone might steal."

"Maybe you are."

She beamed at me. "You say the nicest things when you forget to be shy."

I had no idea what to say to that.

Hazel's memories rose around me like warm water. A hundred lunches. A hundred shared notes. A hundred small kindnesses from the only person in this school who had ever chosen her. I could feel how much Hazel loved Daisy.

And I could feel how terrified she was of losing her.

----

After the bell, I crossed the lower corridor alone, arms full of herbs from the greenhouse, when a hand shot out and knocked the whole bundle to the floor.

"Look at that," a voice drawled. "The orphan's gone clumsy."

Three of them again. The same girl from yesterday stood in front, arms crossed, smile thin and bright. The other two hovered behind her like shadows.

"Pick it up," I said quietly.

"Funny. You said that yesterday. Are you a broken record?" She stepped closer. "But yesterday, nobody was watching. Today you've got your little princess hanging off your arm, and it's disgusting."

"Leave Daisy out of it."

"Why?" Her eyes glittered. "You think she actually likes you? She feels sorry for you. Everyone does. She's the Lycan King's niece, and you're the charity case her family feeds."

Something cold slid down my spine.

The charity case her family feeds.

I thought of Aunt Kathy scrubbing a clean pot. Then her words, 'The Lycan King has done enough for us.'

"Careful," I said.

The girl laughed. "Or what?"

A hand shoved my shoulder and I stumbled back. Another yanked my hair. A third caught my wrist and twisted until I gasped, the corridor tilting around me.

"We're going to teach you your place," she whispered. "Maybe then you'll stop waving at people who don't want you. Everyone noticed, you know. The nerdy orphan finally grew a little ball."

She dragged me through a side door into a narrow stone alcove, far from the teachers' rooms. My shoulder hit the wall and my head cracked against the rough stone.

Pain flashed white.

"Get off—"

My voice wasn't loud enough. One of her friends kicked my books across the floor, and the corner of a metal clasp caught my palm as I threw up a hand to protect myself.

A line of red opened across my skin.

The girl's grip tightened. "See? You even bleed pathetic."

A single drop fell.

And I felt it.

A strange pulse deep in my veins, humming like a plucked string. The drop of blood trembled in the air, and for one heartbeat, it shimmered. Faint gold, like sunlight caught in glass.

The girl froze.

Her eyes lost focus. The hand on my wrist went slack.

"Let go," I whispered. I didn't know why I said it.

She let go.

Her friends stared at her, confused. "Why did you—"

"Step back," I said.

All three of them took a slow, stiff step back.

My heart was pounding. I could feel it, a thread of something warm and heavy stretching between me and the girl's mind, like a rope I hadn't known I was holding.

What am I doing?

I yanked my sleeve over the cut and the thread snapped. The girl swayed, blinked hard and pressed a hand to her head like she was waking from a dream.

"What..." she mumbled. "Where..."

I grabbed my bag and ran.