“Her,” Eddie said, pointing at Sara and walking towards her. She tried to shrink away, but Kai pushed her forward. Grabbing her arm, Eddie pulled her to the centre of the crowd. “I want her.”
The school president gave her a once-over, his cold gaze making Sara shiver in her shoes. “As you wish,” he told Eddie. “She has to serve you for three hours. Whatever you want, she is all yours.”
Sara bit her lower lip, feeling helpless. Such was the fate of Omegas. Other ranks could do whatever they wanted with you, and you would have no refuge because to them, you were nothing. Worthless. You existed to obey and do whatever was expected of you, no questions asked.
Having lived with the Alpha family in her pack, she had been spared the worst of it all. Even though she was an Omega, Victor’s family treated her as their own daughter-until what happened. Anyway, it meant that no one in the pack dared to do anything that would insult the Alpha family. The bullying she experienced at the hands of the Beta’s daughter and her friends paled in comparison to what could happen to an Omega who had no one to speak for them.
Eddie wrapped his hand around her upper arm and pulled her to him, pressing her body against his front. Leaning down, he whispered, “We’ll have so much fun.”
She knew very well what he meant. His touch and voice disgusted her so much, and she jerked her arm out of his grasp. As she took a step back, his mocking gaze locked on hers. “Think you can get away from me? You are mine for three hours, and you’ll do whatever I say.”
Sara’s eyes scanned the crowd, looking for an exit. She had no idea where she meant to run to…if she even got past the crowd.
“Of course,” the president said, “you can’t have her if she has a mate. If she does, her service to you will end automatically.”
It was at that point that Sara noticed Christian in the crowd. He was standing towards the back of the gathering, but with his height, he towered over everyone and she easily caught his eyes. Her heart drummed in her chest.
Would he save her? He was her mate…even though he wanted nothing to do with her. Still, he hadn’t rejected her yet. And what kind of werewolf stood by and watched his mate serve another? Not one with as much pride and ego as Christian Rivers was bound to have. Even though he didn’t want to claim her as his, he wouldn’t want others to know that his mate served another werewolf.
As Sara’s eyes settled on him hopefully, his blue eyes narrowed with warning. Even with the distance between them, she got his message loud and clear. She would be in trouble if she dared drag him into this.
Maybe he didn’t care about others finding out that the Rivers End Alpha’s mate served some other wolf… because he didn’t plan on anyone ever finding out she was his mate. He might not have rejected her on the rooftop, but he was definitely going to do it, soon.
“Do you have a mate, Sara Mae?”
Sara folded her hands into fists as the president’s mocking voice reached her ears. The crowd sniggered, as if they were enjoying her dilemma. They were.
“I suppose that’s a no,” the president said. “In that case, Eddie, the girl is yours. For three hours, after the end of the day’s classes.”
While the crowd around cheered her misfortune, Sara felt a bit of relief. She had two more classes in the afternoon. That was enough time to figure out a way to get herself out of this. Whatever happened, she wasn’t going down without a fight.
***
The moment the last class ended, Sara shot out of the class, took the stairs leading out of the building, and circled around to the back. Her last class had been in a perfect location-with a view of the forest beyond the school compound.
The second she had noticed that, she knew what she would do to avoid serving Eddie.
Her classmates followed, eager to see what she was up to. By that time, the entire school had found out about her service to Eddie, and everybody was excited to see what would happen.
The she-wolves who had been tormenting her because of Kai were especially ecstatic. There was no better way to remind an Omega of her place than to force her to serve another werewolf.
“She’s running into the forest!” Someone shouted from the crowd that had gathered to watch her escape.
“She must be crazy,” someone else shouted, his voice coming from the back window of the classes on the third floor. “Does she not know that the forest is full of rogues?”
Hearing that sent a chill down Sara’s spine, but she didn’t falter. She kept running towards the edge of the forest. There was no place to hide on campus. Even if the forest was full of rogues, she had better chances of survival in there…or did she?
“If I were her, I would just serve him,” another one said. “Three hours of service is nothing compared to what those rogues will do to her once they get their hands on her.”
“Let her go,” another added. “Good riddance.”
When Sara broke into the forest without anyone coming after her, she felt relieved. She hadn’t expected to get away without Eddie or the punishers trying to stop her.
But even then, she didn’t slow down. She ran as fast as she could, and after a few minutes, shifted into her wolf form so she could get farther faster.
But, it wasn’t long before the rogues caught her scent.
She heard them before she saw them. There were many. Not one, not two…at least four. She ran faster, refusing to give up.
You didn’t want to run into rogues, especially if you were an Omega. Rogues were unpredictable, and they loved torturing pack wolves who trespassed into their territories. Her schoolmates were right. Serving Eddie for three hours was nothing compared to what the rogues could do to her. What if they took her as a slave? What if they tossed her around while they tore her limbs apart for fun? What if-
She dug her paws into the ground as a huge black wolf rushed in front of her, blocking her path. She looked sideways, but there was nowhere to run to. Six rouges approached her from all sides, closing in, hackles raised.
The black wolf came closer, and she moved backwards. But that only got her closer to the ones closing in from behind.
She had only two options-to fight, or to surrender. Giving in without a fight, no matter how hopeless it seemed, wasn’t an option.
She rushed at the black wolf, taking him by surprise. He must have not expected an Omega like her to take charge.
She aimed for his neck, but barely managed a nip before he swept her away with his heavy paw, sending her flying through the air and to the ground.
She got up and faced him again. The others watched, not joining the fight. As if they knew their help wasn’t needed. Or maybe they were content just watching the show.
The black wolf circled her, sizing her up, as if determining the best angle to launch an attack.
Fear threatened to paralyse her. Was she going to die here? Was this really her end?
With a mighty growl, the wolf charged at her, and he was so fast that she had no time to react. Grabbing her by the neck, he slammed her into the ground. Then he opened his jaws, his eyes trained on her neck.
Panic rushed through her. This was it. Her luck, whatever little of it she had, had finally run out.
She squeezed her eyes tight, ready to embrace the pain.
But it never came.
Instead, a heavy weight settled on her body.
There were snarls and growls, but nothing sharp sunk into her neck.
She opened her eyes.
The black wolf was lying on top of her, unmoving.
And then something dragged him off her body, and she was suddenly staring at the most beautiful white wolf she had ever seen.
So, so white, and huge. Her saviour. Thank Goddess, she thought, still shaken by how close she had been to her death.
Her prayers of gratitude came to an abrupt halt when the white wolf opened his jaw and aimed straight for her neck.