Cursed Mate of Ancient Wolves

"You are all omegas. You are meant to serve. If dying is part of the service, then so be it."

Alpha Kane’s voice cut through the chill air. It struck the iron bars of our shared cage, vibrating through the bones of the six other women.

We huddled.

He stood before us. "Your lives are forfeit," he continued, his tone devoid of mercy. "A necessary sacrifice for the pack's continued peace."

A whimper escaped the youngest omega, barely more than a girl. Her tears streamed silently.

He ignored her. He ignored us all. We were livestock. We were a blood prize. We were nothing.

"Uncle," I called, my voice a thin thread against the weight of his words. It broke the deathly silence.

His head tilted. He walked close. His scent—blood, earth, and unyielding power—filled the confined space. The other omegas recoiled, pressing deeper into the corners of the cage. I held my ground. He was family.

"Uncle, look at me. It's me. It's Rosie."

His eyes, once kind, now held a chilling vacancy. Recognition, if it was ever there, was long gone, replaced by the alpha’s hard resolve.

"I am your alpha," he said. The words were a brand, searing me.

I nodded. My throat constricted. I swallowed, the movement painful. "Alpha Kane," I whispered, forcing the title past my lips. "I’m not an omega. You know this. I'm a daughter to an alpha. Your brother."

His jaw tightened. A muscle twitched in his temple. For a fleeting second, I saw a flicker of something human, something almost like pain, before it was ruthlessly suppressed. The wolf within him asserted its dominance, erasing the man.

"He's dead," he snarled, the words sharp and final. "Remember? I killed him."

The admission was a fresh wound, twisting in my gut. I had my hunches. I heard rumors. But there, he confirmed it.

My father, betrayed. My world, shattered. This monster, my uncle, had been his killer. I swayed.

"A fatherless pup is none but an omega," he continued, his voice regaining its steel. "And besides, I have to eradicate his lines and you happen to be the last of his blood."

His pronouncement hung heavy. It was not just a sacrifice. It was a death sentence for me, delivered with chilling casualness.

He stepped back, the distance between us widening. He gestured towards the thick, ancient forest looming behind us. Its trees, skeletal against the pale sky, seemed to claw at the heavens. "The Forbidden Forest," he announced. "That is where the old world pack of seven stays asleep. We want them to remain asleep. To do that, we have to feed them if we don't want them out."

A shiver, not of cold but of primal terror, ran through me. The legends of the Old World Alphas were whispered in hushed tones, tales of unbridled ferocity and ancient power, a power so great it demanded eternal slumber. And now, us.

"Your blood will sate them for the next decade," he declared. "So be happy. You're fulfilling a role."

The irony was a bitter taste. Happiness in death? A role in sacrifice? We were pawns, nothing more, in a twisted game of power and survival. I closed my eyes, briefly, fighting the surge of despair.

"Move it!" he barked. “You know what to do,” he said to the driver.

“Aye! Alpha,” the driver responded.

The lorry jolted.

The iron cage, our prison, grated against its bed as it began to roll.

"Uncle! Uncle!" I screamed as the vehicle slowly gained speed. "I'll go far away! I won't tell anyone about it! I won't challenge you!"

He turned. He offered no glance back, no sign of recognition, no hint of regret. He just walked away.

Then Aria, his daughter, appeared from behind him, a small, cruel smile twisting her lips. She raised a hand, waving to me with a dismissive, triumphant gesture. Her eyes, so like her father's, glittered with malicious glee. She delighted in my suffering.

Hundreds of metres away, we were in a field. And suddenly, the driver leapt out of the lorry and waved. It was set to auto-drive.

We watched him run back in the direction we came.

The lorry picked up speed and proceeded into the forest. The trees of the Forbidden Forest rushed towards us as dark, foreboding sentinels.

Inside the cage, the other omegas sobbed louder. Their cries were a deafening chorus that swallowed my own, small, desperate gasps for air.

I couldn't cry, yet. Just wondering. “Is this the end?”

A sickening crunch!

The lorry crashed into a massive oak and the impact jarring us violently forward. The world spun as metal shrieked against wood, and the screams of the other women intensified.

We were tossed, slammed against the bars, then against each other. My head hit something hard. Stars exploded behind my eyes.

The vehicle shuddered to a halt and tilted precariously. The engine groaned, then died, plunging us into an unnatural silence, broken only by ragged breaths and muffled sobs.

A digital countdown flashed on a small screen above the cage door, its red numbers stark against the metallic frame: 00:00:10.

Panic erupted. The other omegas scrambled, their bodies twisting, shoving. Nine seconds. Eight. Seven… Three. Two. One! The cage lock clicked with a loud, metallic clang.

It was said, “If you can run faster, you have an advantage”.

A chance. One by one, they bolted. Some launched themselves out with a desperate burst of speed and disappeared into the impenetrable darkness of the forest without a sound.

Others, less fortunate, let out a piercing shriek, a single, horrifying sound swallowed instantly by the vast, ancient woods. The screams were cut short.

On and on.

One by one.

Then, there was only one. Me.

I didn't want to make a drama out of it. No frantic scrambling. No desperate pleas. I stepped out, slowly and stood in the mouth of the wrecked cage.

The cold, damp air of the forest wrapped around me in a silent embrace. Death would not need chasing. Death would come to me. It would find me here.

I remembered my father and the pack. I was once the flower of the pack, protected by all. Until Kane. It’s such an evil world. No justice for the weak. My father was weak. My line was. And so I would die. It was the natural order of things, brutal and unyielding. The strong devoured the weak. Just as it happened in the animal kingdom. I was weak.

I stood there. Waiting. They say… “there's a peace in death.” I wanted that.

Out of the deep, impenetrable dark of the forest, I saw fire. No! Spots of eyes. Amber. A wolf. Then a figure emerged. Tall and impossibly broad. He fixed on me.

I closed my eyes. I didn't want to see his fangs. I prayed it would be fast. No pain. The end was here. I waited.

A hand, large and surprisingly gentle, grabbed my waist. A jolt, like lightning, shot through me. I went against my wishes. My eyes flew open. He was right before me.

He gasped.

"Salome?" he breathed.

Fear, cold and paralyzing, made me unable to talk. My tongue felt thick, glued to the roof of my mouth. I stared up at him.

"Salome?" he called again and his grip tightened. He pulled me closer.

His scent, unlike Kane’s, was wild, pure, like untamed earth and ancient magic. His eyes, a startling amber, were fixed on mine, searching.

I saw it then: a flicker of leniency, a hint of something softer in his gaze, especially with that name. Salome.

“Salome?” He called again.

I nodded. It was a lie. It was my only hope.

He pulled me flush against him, his arms wrapping around me, holding me tight against his powerful chest.

His embrace was a shock, unexpected comfort in the face of certain death. The warmth of his body seeped into mine, chasing away the chill. My head rested against his sternum. I heard the steady, powerful thrum of his heart.

"I think I have a reason to leave the Forbidden Forest," he murmured. "You're not safe here."

His words struck a cold dread in my heart. I knew what would happen if he didn't kill me. I knew what would happen if he left the Forbidden Forest. Chaos. Utter, unbridled chaos!

The others, the remaining Alphas of the Old World Pack, they would follow. Once again, the Lycan world would be under the threat of the bloodthirsty pack of seven alphas. All for me. All because of a name.

But it was life. A chance to live.

"I'm Salome," I said silently to myself. "Now and forever." And I prayed, with every fiber of my being, that he’d never find out.

“But who's Salome?” I wish I could ask him. But I spoke to myself.