Chapter 1: Better Dead Than Obedient 

Klein's POV

The only sounds I can hear right now are the crack of whips and screams echoing off the stone walls. I watched them, trembling, begging, crying as the heartless guards punish them here in the dungeon.

I shake my head in disgust. “Pathetic. What good does crying and pleading do when they know it won’t change a thing? They’re all idiots.” I turn my gaze away from the scene.

A few more minutes pass before the noise finally dies down. I look back to see the guards dragging their unconscious bodies across the floor. They toss them back into their cells like trash, leaving them half-dead where they fall.

“Weak,” I mutter under my breath.

A moment later, Keno’s voice echoes in my mind. > “That’s not exactly surprising.” I let out a short, bitter laugh in response.

Before long, the door to my cell swings open and two guards step inside.

“You’re free to go,” one says arrogantly, making me hiss in irritation.

I push myself up from the dirty floor and hold out my hands for them to remove the chains. The guard scowls but yanks the restraints off roughly. I flex my wrists, shaking my head when I see fresh cuts from where the metal dug into my skin.

“Get out of here! And try to behave yourself this time so you don’t end up back in here,” the other guard snaps.

I lift my head to meet his glare. “Seems like I’m here every single day,” I say dryly as they start pulling me toward the exit.

“I can walk on my own!” I growl, trying to pull free from their grip.

They say nothing but keep hold of me until we finally step out of the dark, stinking dungeon into the light.

“Fuck!” I curse as they shove me forward hard, nearly sending me sprawling to the ground.

My legs still haven’t fully healed from the punishment I got three days ago, they beat me with iron rods after I caused trouble.

Speaking of which… how’s that fool Rafael doing? Is he even still alive?

We got into a massive fight three days back. He and his friends tried to kill me, but luck wasn’t on their side, I’m not ready to leave this world just yet.

The guards beat all of us that day, but from what I heard, Rafael and his friends got it worse. Their gang’s the top group of bullies in this university, so the guards have never liked them much anyway.

“Get out of here already! Why won’t someone just buy you already? You’re making our jobs harder than they need to be!” one guard shouts at me.

I just grin at them. “You get paid well enough, you should at least work harder!” I call out before turning my back and walking away.

I can hear them snarling in anger behind me, but I don’t look back.

As I cross the field toward the left wing of the university where the boys’ dorms are located, I notice the stares from other students. I ignore them. I’m used to the way they look at me by now.

Besides, people like them aren’t worth my attention. They walk around with their heads held high like they’re better than everyone else, but the truth is we’re all the same , low-rank werewolves forced to live like slaves. But I’m different from all of them.

I’m a pure Omega, but unlike the others, I won’t bow down to anyone. I’d rather be punished over and over than cry, beg, or kneel for mercy.

In this world we live in, they say obedience is the only way to survive this cruelty.

But me?

That word doesn’t exist in my vocabulary.

If I want to make it through this life, that’s not how I’ll do it. Instead of begging for their kindness, I refuse and fight back to survive on my own terms, even if it kills me. Actually, death might be the only real way to be free. When you’re dead, there’s no more pain, no more fear, no more worry weighing on you every single day. When you die, it’s over, no more suffering.

The moment I push open the door to our dorm, I’m greeted by my roommate, who looks like he’s been used as a human punching bag.

“You look like a mess,” he says, eyeing me up and down.

I raise an eyebrow at him. “And what about you, bastard? You look like you lost a fight with a brick wall.”

He lets out a small chuckle at my remarks. “Fair enough. So… how was it down there?”

Instead of answering right away, I let my body collapse onto the worn couch and let out a deep, heavy sigh. “Hell as always. Same shit, different day.”

Sandro stands up from his chair and heads to the tiny kitchen area. When he comes back, he’s holding two cans of beer. He tosses one toward me, thankfully, my reflexes are sharper than his, and I catch it easily before it hits my face.

I pop the tab and drink straight from the can, emptying it in just a few gulps. Those damn guards hadn’t given me any food or water for three full days, my throat feels like it’s been rubbed raw with sandpaper.

I set the empty can down and look him over again. “So what happened to you? You really do look like shit.”

He shakes his head, taking a slower sip from his own beer. “Got into a fight this morning. Some assholes from the east wing thought they could push me around.”

I laugh hard at that. “That’s fucking brilliant! Why didn’t they throw your ass in the dungeon with me?”

“Lucky me, they just beat the crap out of me right there on the field and let me go,” he says, wincing as he shifts his weight. 

I let out an even louder laugh at that.

To be honest, I don’t really think of this bastard as my friend. He’s just one of the only people I bother talking to here. In this world, trust is a luxury you can’t afford , even the ones who seem kind might be your worst enemies in disguise.

Not that Sandro’s like that. I’ll admit it, he’s actually a good person. Kind, even. He was already here when I first got thrown into this hellhole of a university. Like me, he’s an Omega though his parents were both Betas, and he was the only one in their family born with our rank. The moment they found out, they brought him here and left him to suffer. Once they’d saved up enough money, they moved to another country and never looked back.

His story’s pretty damn sad, I’ll give him that.