Caged

Chapter 1.

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CAST Photos above: Thalia (left) and Everett (Right)

Six years. I hadn't been back in my home pack's lands in six years. I never thought I'd actually be able to make it on my own when I walked across our southern border and out into the world at seventeen with nothing but a duffle bag and the clothes on my back.

As I stepped back across the border now at the age of twenty-three, I could barely even remember that girl who'd left so many years ago. She was just a child full of desperate sadness and loss, yet filled with hope and wonder for her path ahead of her. She had been courageous and strong, never looking back at the pack who'd shunned her for simply being born without a father.

Once my mother had died, I knew I couldn't remain as a solitary omega in the pack. If I was going to be forced to live alone, then I was going to do it own my terms. I'd had no idea how hard that would actually be.

But now, after everything that had happened, I had no other choice but to return home. He'd kept me on the run for three years, and I was out of places to hide. It was time to face my demons head on and find a way back into the pack. If I wanted to survive, I'd have to.

As I made my way slowly through the woods, memories of my childhood began to flood into the forefront of my mind. I could see my mother as clear as if she were right in front of me. She'd tried to make my life as easy as she could given our outsider status. No matter how often I'd asked, she would never reveal who my father was, or why she willingly let us live the life of omegas in our own pack. It was something we'd fought often about, but now she was gone and I was more alone than ever, with an ever-constant shadow following me. As I crossed the border, I couldn't help but think of her.

I miss you mama. I'm home now.

I could hear her singing softly to me as I cried myself to sleep each night, wishing that the moon would have given me a mate like all of the others. The day the oracle revealed that as an Omega I was not entitled to a mate given by the heavens, I was heartbroken. I'd seen my mother live through her pain every day without her mate. It was a loneliness I did not wish to inherit.

Now I'd give anything not to be living with a constant demon following me everywhere I went. I was completely isolated and yet never fully alone, always waiting for the other shoe to drop as I moved to the next town to avoid detection. He was never far behind, which meant I couldn't stay in one place too long.

I can't believe I'd fallen for him. I had been so stupid to believe his lies, To believe the facade he'd allowed me to see, and now I'd have to live with him following behind me for the rest of my life. I'd forever be looking over my shoulder while I waited for him to find me.

--Six Years Before--

"I'm so sorry Thalia, but your mother has passed on. She succumbed to her illness and has finally left this earth." The healer's voice sounded distant, muffled in my ears as I sat staring at my bare feet resting on the chest wood floor.

She couldn't be gone. She was too strong to let a simple sickness overcome her. How could she leave me alone like this?

I felt a gentle squeeze on my shoulder before the door clicked shut behind the healer as he left. I felt numb, like this was all just a dream and I'd wake up any second. I pinched myself hard on the back of my arm and winced at the pain. It was definitely real.