Chapter 8. The Hood

It was quiet, the silence of the night echoing between Selena and her mother. The girl was hurt to the gut by what the woman had said, the words stabbing her.

“Mom…” She brushed aside her hurt and took a step closer to the woman, trying to touch her. “Why can’t you understand? Why can’t you see that I can not be with someone I don’t love? Why can’t you see that I don’t want to waste all of my years forcing myself to love a man who I will never love? You loved dad, didn’t you?”

“Leave!!” Selena’s mother suddenly shouted at her, almost as if the mention of the omega’s father had triggered her. “I love you, Selena, but Elijah’s right! You need to learn from your damn mistakes! You need to grow up! Take your things and leave.” She turned and walked into the house and climbed the stairs, disappearing.

The omega just couldn’t believe what was happening. She stood there, trying to wrap her head around it all. Was this really happening? Was she really being kicked out of her house?

“It’s all my damn fault,” She said to herself, her voice cracking. She walked towards her things by the stairs and grabbed them. Two suitcases.

She pulled them out of the house and before closing the door, she stared into the dimly lit place. It was late so her mom had obviously turned off most of the lights, it helps with the electricity bills.

Selena was tempted to cry, she was so scared and confused…so worried.

Elijah had kicked her out and said that they could never work again. He had told her that she could never see Lily again or he won’t take care of her and the thousands of dollars in medical bills. So yeah.

Then now the only place she thought she would be able to come and deal with her heartache and everything else, was now off limits. Her mother didn’t want her here.

Was Selena mad? Not really. But she was really hurt.

She knew that her mother cared for her, even though she couldn’t feel it right now…she knew. She knew her mother had no real choice and was doing this for her little sister and because she wanted to teach a lesson.

But the omega was not going to change her mind or values. She was still not going to spend the rest of her life with a man she didn’t love. That just didn’t make sense to her.

Selena sniffled, closing the door and then walking down to the sidewalk. This wasn’t a safe neighborhood so she had to be alert, she could get robbed.

She kept looking over her shoulders. There were not many people out because it was past midnight, but she knew criminals never slept.

She had promised herself that she wasn’t going to cry, but from the way everything in her life just kept progressively getting worse, she couldn’t hold back her tears.

The girl sobbed as she walked under the light of the full moon. She kept looking around though, she could shift into her wolf and try to protect herself if she was attacked, but that was as far as she could do though.

She had no idea how to fight. Wolf training was for the elite and not the less fortunate in this town. This place was the most classist place she had ever been. And maybe the only place too, since she was born here and had not really left even once.

After walking for about twenty minutes, she was almost out of the sketchy neighborhood, she just needed to get out and then she would stop worrying about being jumped and her things being stolen. Then she would focus on what she was going to do and where she was going to go.

But as she started to reach an alley, she started to hear a group of men talking. She froze, her heart now thundering in her chest.

She didn’t want to walk by and let them see her. There was no one out here to help her if anything were to happen. But also, she couldn’t just turn around and walk back. It was clear that her mom would not accept her.

And besides, she was already close to getting out of this hood. As soon as she’d get out, there would be guards all over the streets. She just needed to get out of here first.

Selena pulled out her phone and put it on silent before putting it back. She also tried her best to be as quiet as she could when she started walking again.

She held her breath as she reached the alley, she didn’t even attempt to look in that direction, she just kept looking straight forward as she walked.

And just when she thought she had made it and started breathing again, someone from the alley called out, “Hey, you!”

Selena didn’t even stop, she kept walking, increasing her pace and soon started running too. But with her suitcase, she was slow and got caught.

The first guy who caught up with her pushed her hard and she fell on the ground, her elbows scraping on the concrete, sending jolts of pain through her.

“Please, please!” She started begging, tears freely falling from her eyes as fear gripped her. She didn’t want to die, she really didn’t. It was well known in the town that thugs in this part of town were merciless; they would rob you and even if you didn’t fight back, they’d still kill you.

“What are you doing out here at a time like this?” The one who had pushed her asked as he stared at her. “Are you one of those girls who would let anyone f*ck them for money? Because I have been really horny these past few days.” He chuckled darkly, his words sending shivers down the omega’s spine.

“Oh my god,” Selena cried as she dragged herself away. She had never been this scared in her life. “I’m not! I’m not a courtesan!”

“Are you sure you’re not a prostitue?” The man smirked as he started to remove his belt while keeping his dark eyes on her.

This felt like the end for the omega.