Chapter 4

Mama said making friends would be harder the older I got.

Since Pyka had been my only friend growing up, I thought that would be it. 

Surprisingly though, I wasn’t having that problem anymore. Aside from Angie and her brother Galen, I made a couple more friends. Omegas of course. I still didn’t feel comfortable around the Alphas, no matter how nice Jordan was to me. 

Angie introduced me to Nella, Bailey, and Felix. Pyka introduced me to Sherry and Llewlyn. 

That made eight. Eight new friends. Seven more than I had before. 

It felt nice to be included. 

Out of the nine of us, three were already betrothed to Alphas. Galen had Jordan, which I knew. Nella was betrothed to an Alpha named Janet and Felix was paired with an Alpha named Ulrich. 

It will be four soon. Sherry’s parents have been talking to another family about mating him with their Alpha son. 

I wouldn’t be surprised if Pyka got snatched up soon too. He was already making a name for himself around the school. He became a completely different person around the Alphas. Sweet, obedient, angelic. Paired with his small frame and pretty features, he was everything Alphas wanted. 

Everything I wasn’t. 

It was no secret that I was not one of the desirable Omegas. Alphas sneered and laughed when I walked by. Some went out of their way to intimidate me. I submitted. I always submitted. 

But it never stopped. 

I asked Mama one day. 

“Mama, how come I’m not pretty? Why don’t the Alphas like me?” 

Mama had been washing the dishes while I did my homework in the adjoining dining room, set up at the table. Her hands shook and her body went rigid at my question. Those bright blue eyes widened in shock. 

“Did Mother even like you?” I looked like Mama. I had her hair, her features, her frame. I always thought she was pretty but maybe she wasn’t. Maybe that’s why Mother was angry all the time. Maybe Mother thought she was ugly. 

I’m ugly. 

Will I get a mean Alpha like Mother?

The plate Mama had been washing clattered in the sink. Her hands gripped the edge of the counter, knuckles turning white. 

“Why would you say something like that, Caleb?” her voice was low, shaky...sad.

“I look like you, but the Alphas at school all tell me I’m ugly. My other Omega friends think so too, even though they won’t say it. And Mother hates us. It must be because we’re ugly, right?”

Mama didn’t answer so I pressed.

“I’m gonna have a bad Alpha like Mother, aren’t I? My Alpha won’t love me either.”

Mama’s shoulders shook and tears slipped down her cheeks. She didn’t bother wiping them away. Instead, she turned to me and opened her arms. Slowly, I rose from the table and went to her, tucking myself into her familiar warmth. She squeezed me tightly. 

“You are not ugly, Caleb. Far from it. And you will have an Alpha who loves you and cherishes you everyday for the rest of your life. I will make sure of it, if it is the last thing I do,” Mama said, running her fingers through my hair. 

She lowered us to the floor, still holding me. We stayed there for a while, sharing each others’ warmth and comfort. I hadn’t realized I was crying until I pulled back and saw the wet stains on her shirt. 

She smiled at me and wiped my cheeks dry with her thumbs. After kissing my forehead, she pulled us up. Patting my cheek once, she ushered me back to the table. “Go finish your homework and I’ll give you a piece of cake. Don’t tell your sisters though, it’s for after dinner.”

I grinned at her and hurried to my work. 

She continued to wash the dishes while I did my homework and happily devoured the cake she brought me. 

I noticed she hadn’t said anything about Mother. 

Guess Mother hated us after all. 

* * *

Mama was pregnant. 

I noticed that she had been acting strange these past few weeks, but last night at dinner, she finally announced it. 

It should have been good news, but there was a heaviness in the air. I looked at Mother who had continued to eat as if Mama hadn’t said anything. It was surprising considering that was what Mother had wanted. Mother had been forcing Mama every night. 

And Mama. 

Mama looked sad. 

She tried smiling at me when she caught my stare, but I saw right through it. And she knew it.

For the next few weeks, I stepped up. Helping Mama with dinner, setting the table without being asked, taking care of Senna who was still sick, making sure the others were quiet so as not to disturb Mama and Mother, and a bunch of other things that I should have been doing all along. Before I didn’t understand what being an Omega meant. 

Now I do. 

Mama grew more and more tired, having to stop to vomit more often. Her ankles grew swollen and her face shifted from flushed to pale at alarming rates. 

I always imagined pregnancy to be something special...magical. But this was anything but. 

It was Hell.

And I would have to go through it, multiple times if my first litter didn’t contain an Alpha. And I would do it alone. 

Because Mother did not raise a finger to help Mama when she needed it. She barely even Scent-Rolled her. Just enough to keep Mama and the pups alive, nothing more. They didn’t talk anymore either. 

The house was silent and cold. 

And nothing about it made it seem like a home. 

It was then that I came to the conclusion that I didn’t want an Alpha. Not when this was what I had to look forward to. But I knew it wasn’t my decision. Omegas needed Alphas. That’s just the way it went. 

My feelings only intensified as Mother started talking about bringing me to meet possible Alpha mates. Mama was too sick to protest any of Mother’s candidates. Not that I thought she would.

Mama rarely talked anymore. She always had this dazed look in her eyes, staring off into space. My sisters didn’t seem to notice. They didn’t notice anything that wasn’t directly affecting them and since I took up all of Mama’s duties, their way of life continued. 

I was worried though. 

Worried enough to bring it up to Mother. 

She was sitting in the living room with the television on, but not watching anything. Her focus was on the folding table in front of her with a spread of documents. Work or Alpha stuff, I didn’t know. Most likely a sign not to bother her, and I probably would have turned around and left if I hadn’t glimpsed Mama’s face again. Blank and unseeing, in the dining room. 

Working up the courage, I finally approached Mother. 

I didn’t say anything, keeping my head bowed, waiting to be acknowledged. For a while, Mother didn’t say anything, though she obviously knew I wanted her attention. 

When she finally put her paper down and looked up at me, expression stern and unfriendly, I showed my neck in submission immediately. 

She waved off my submission. “Speak, pup. I’m busy.”

“I’m worried about Mama,” I said quietly. “She’s not–”

Mother cut me off with a dismissive sigh, picking up her paper again. 

In a panic, I did something stupid. I placed my hand over the paper she was reading. 

It took two seconds, maybe?

Two seconds for me to go flying into the wall. A furious growl exploding out of Mother. Papers were scattered, the table knocked over. She stood there, shoulders heaving, eyes dangerous, glaring at me. 

I whimpered. 

“Submit.” 

I tried to roll on my back, but I was in too much pain and couldn’t manage. 

“Submit!” 

I tried. 

I tried so hard, my body trembled in fear, in pain. My eyes blurred with tears. My shorts grew wet as urine began to seep through. 

I didn’t eat dinner that night. 

And I never brought Mama up again.