Omega and the beast

Chapter 48

I shivered, rubbing my arms while trying not to fall apart completely. It was pitch black except for a little moonlight that filtered in through the small, barred window above me. The light barely reached down to me, only touched my shoes slightly.

I sobbed, hugging myself while huddling under the only somewhat whole blanket which was at hand in this hellhole.

Thor demanded Geneviève to bring me here, to a deep crater covered with large boulders on the edge of the village. It was still inside the wall but far from everyone else. I had to climb down a small ladder to get there through a barred gate.

The cold winter wind from outside made the chilly and damp den worse but thankfully there was a pile of old, albeit damp and damaged, sheets I could huddle in.

I knew I would feel better by shifting into my wolf form, my fur being better protection than some old blankets and my linen shirt. But somehow I liked the feeling of being frozen to death. Because it took away a piece of that deep pain within me. The pain which reminded me of everything I thought I had, but which was taken from me in the blink of an eye.

I leaned my head back against the cold stone wall, looking up at the moonlight through the window. I've been searching for a trail to follow my whole life. I have felt both lost and confused. It felt like whatever I was doing wasn't pushing me forward, like I was at a crossroads and whatever path I tried to take was leading me back.

But then Reed found me. He found me in the forest, and he took me under his wings. He brought me home, and from that day I have been happier than I've ever been.

I thought he was a snob, a rich and grumpy twat with his snobby manners and grumpy glare. How he was overprotective, odd but yet so... captivating.

I sobbed, burying my face to my knees while hugging them. I suddenly had everything I needed. I had it all and then most of all Reed. He gave me more than a safe road to travel, he gave me his hand to guide me, his heart to love me...

And now I had nothing left but the painful memories. I wish I could go back to the night we met. When everything turned around and I found the meaning of life.

Not being a stupid alpha's bitch, not being a shifter or odd omega. No... The meaning of my life was Reed, IS Reed and always will be. Whatever he was.

If he were a poor peasant I would still follow him. And if I lose him now, there's nothing left to live for. If the ring of alphas judges Reed, if he dies in the fight for me or if I am otherwise taken from him for good...

But I don't know what I'm supposed to do to prevent that from happening. Wait the time out down here, probably freezing to death whatever they try to do to spare me, or submit and at least sleep in a warm bed?

But if I stay here I stand my ground and prove how I AM claimed. How I don't let myself be cowed. But can it be seen as me just being brainwashed? Didn't our claim count just because I was born a man? If I could get pregnant, would that help?

Tears dropped down at my cold knees as I sobbed heavily. Reed warned me about these kind of shifters, but also claimed that our claim would protect me. And I bet he thought so himself.

I wondered what he was doing in this now. Was he also sitting and crying in a cold crater? Half-naked, hungry, and left to torment and sorrow? Would it danger his pack to fight for me? Was I worth it?

I flinched when two rats ran over my feet, fearlessly climbing into the pile of blankets that I was sitting in. One nipped at me, and I tried to kick it away, screaming, just to make it jump at me. I screamed again, huddling back as I tried to fence the vermin off.