3. Luna
Luna
E verything hurts. I guess in a way I’m being dramatic because as I catalog all my pains as I wake up, not everything actually hurts.
But still, I feel like I’ve earned the right to be dramatic, at least in my head.
The pains that are the most concerning are the ones along my ribs and back. The pain in my jaw is a little annoying, and there’s probably a colorful bruise where my dad hit me, but that won’t stop me from doing what I have to do.
My eyelids feel like they weigh two tons. Luckily, they’re only swollen from the tears I cried and not any black eyes.
I crawl over to the thin mattress in the corner and wrap my blanket around my shoulders. Clients pay more for it, so I only get to wear a tiny nightgown down here. It’s probably the worst possible thing to try and run away in.
That doesn’t matter. I can’t stay here. I’ve never truly fought back. Not like I’m planning to now. There’s a first time for everything, I guess.
I push myself up and onto my feet, hunching over when a wave of nausea hits me. I dry heave, sweat appearing on my brow. Lucky me, I have nothing to throw up.
I eye my target and stumble towards it. The window at the top of the cellar leads outside the house. If I can get to it and pop the screen out, I should be able to get outside.
I’m not moving half as fast as I’d like to, but I manage to drag over a couple of cardboard boxes lying around in the corner. The stack wobbles beneath me as I climb up it.
I push against the wooden window frame as hard as I can, biting the inside of my cheek so hard it bleeds as I try to stay quiet. The abused muscles on my body scream in agony. The window opens with a creak.
The cold winter air hits me, sending goosebumps rising along my skin. I drag myself through the small opening, scraping my knees along the concrete. My fingertips become wet when they touch the thin layer of snow on the dirt lawn.
This is it.
I close the window behind me, hoping it’ll buy me more time if there isn’t a draft in the cellar. And then I run.
My bare feet pound against the pavement, quickly growing so numb I stop feeling them. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to stretch my legs out and run like this. I can’t help but take a deep breath to make sure this is real.
The pain that racks my chest with every movement reminds me of why I’m doing this. I don’t know where I’m going, all I know is I need to get away. Which means I need to get off the main road.
I hear a horn in the distance. The horn of a train. Perfect. This is exactly what I need. Something that can help me get away as far as I can.
I turn towards the sound, pushing myself through a couple more blocks of old-looking houses before finding a train yard. I stumble over the first set of tracks, letting out a small cry when the sharp rocks underneath me slice into my legs .
My tears cool on my cheeks and I let out a painful cough as I try to catch my breath. I can’t stop here. I can’t.
I push myself up to my feet, thankful for the adrenaline and cold numbing the pain. I cross a couple more tracks, weaving through stationary cars, heading for the steady noise of the moving train I heard earlier.
Relief floods my body when I spot it, moving along the tracks at a steady pace. I spot one of the cars with an open door and squeeze my hands into fists.
I can do this. It’s moving slowly enough for me to make it. I just have to time it right.
With the rest of my strength, I sprint, grabbing the handle of the door and hauling myself up and into the car, crashing to the floor. The pain is so blinding that it takes me a second to catch my breath.
The train car I’ve found myself in isn’t empty. There are big pillars of chain fencing lying on pallets.
Now that I’m not running anymore, I feel the throbbing stings of the open wounds on my feet from running over those rocks so carelessly. When I manage to drag myself up, I see my blood leaving streaks along the metal floor. My lungs are starting to sting with how cold I am.
I drag the door closed to try and get rid of some of the wind.
It feels like the heaviest thing I’ve ever moved.
I fall to my hands and knees after, my vision growing hazy.
I have to crawl to the corner of the train car, sobbing when I see a thick moving blanket lying crumpled in the corner.
It smells like dust and metal, but I’m just grateful I have something to keep me warm.
My thin blanket feels rough against my skin as I try to wrap the cuts on my feet as tightly as I can in an attempt to stop the bleeding.
I curl into a ball, insulating myself from the rest of the world, and let myself fall into the dark .
I’m usually the kind of person who can wake up really quickly unless something’s wrong with my body. It’s a skill I’ve had to develop. Sleeping makes me vulnerable and not paying attention to people who want attention is dangerous.
There’s something seriously wrong with my body right now because everything feels hazy as I struggle to wake up. It’s not even the pain this time. The cold makes it difficult for me to feel anything at all.
I thought that the cellar I stayed in during my heats was freezing, but that was a warm desert in comparison to the cold I can feel in my heart right now.
I force my eyes open slowly, feeling like they weigh two tons. There was obviously a reason my body woke me up.
As I blink away the haze of sleep, the eery silence surrounding me sets in. The consistent sound of the train moving along its tracks must have lulled me to sleep. We’re not moving anymore.
I shrink back into the corner of the train car when I hear the voices outside.
“Let’s get these fences to the trucks as soon as we can, it’s fucking freezing out here,” A voice calls.
The sound of other train car doors being wrenched open has my heart jumping to my throat. They sound like the whoosh of an executioner’s blade. The sounds banish all lingering feelings of sleep.
There are fences in this train car. It’s only a matter of time until they find me. How stupid was I to fall asleep? The moment the train stopped moving I should have started running again. I need to get as far away as possible from anyone that could hurt me.
Light from floodlights in the train yard shines into the train car as the door is opened.
Chilly fresh air flows through from the outside. I would be grateful for it since it’s gotten pretty stuffy during my time here if it didn’t carry with it the potent scent of alphas. They’re not as unpleasant as Alpha Niall’s, but they’re still obviously alpha scents .
“Holy fuck, what’s that smell?” One voice asks.
“Is that peppermint?” Another adds.
I’m going to die. There’s nowhere to run. They’re going to tear me apart when they do. They can already scent me.
My perfume twists in the air, turning sour with my terror. My heart is pounding so hard that my vision starts to grow hazy.
Boots sound against the metal flooring as someone climbs into the train car.
“Is that blood?” The first voice asks.
“I think that is. Shit, is someone hurt in here?” The second voice adds.
“Let me check.”
They’re going to find me. They’re going to humiliate me. They’re going to hurt me. They’re going to make me wish for death. They’re alphas, after all. It’s in their nature to dominate.
There’s no point in hiding. There’s nowhere to hide here.
I catch the eye of the first alpha and his shock is evident.
“Oh my god,” he says. “Call the bosses right now, there’s an omega here.”
“Fuck, I guess that’s an explanation for the smell. Let’s get her out of there.”
The moment he moves towards me, part of my brain short circuits. I scramble backward, my feet kicking against the pallet beside me, all in a futile attempt to get away.
“Hey, hey, hey, don’t do that!” The alpha in front of me says, lunging towards me.
A scream leaves my lips when he grabs my arm. I fight against his hold on me, which only makes his grip tighter. I don’t hear anything he says, all I know is fear.
He hefts me into his arms and away from the safety of that musty blanket in my corner. He’s big. Like all alphas are. And the way his body covers me makes me feel like I’m suffocating. I’m going to die.
He jumps down from the train car and I shove away from him. I slam into the hard gravel, crying out when the impact reverberates from my hip throughout my entire body. The ground is sharp and unforgiving.
My thin nightgown does nothing to protect me. Not from the ground, not from the cold, and not from the gazes of all the alphas surrounding me.
Everywhere I look, I see huge men. Huge alphas. I’m completely surrounded. I have nowhere to run where they won’t immediately catch me.
They’re going to tear me apart. I barely survived one alpha, I’ll never survive this many.
“What the fuck is going on here?” A deep voice booms. “Why is there a screaming omega on the floor?”
I curl into a ball, hiding my head in my arms, my throat instantly closing so the only noise I can make is quiet, strained sobs.
I don’t even have to lift my head to know that the alpha who just spoke is the most dominant alpha I’ve ever encountered.
Just a single sentence has me trembling at his feet.
He didn’t even use his bark and my body refused to continue screaming out of fear.
“We found her in the train car, she was hiding behind pallets of fences, so I brought her out.”
“Screaming and kicking like that?”
“I—I didn’t want anything to fall on her.”
“Calm down, Madden,” another voice calls. “Let’s just get this taken care of so we can all get out of the cold.”
Taken care of. What does that mean for me?
These men are obviously in charge. They’re dominant and powerful enough to be able to command other alphas.
I peek through my arms, my tears cold on my cheeks.
The alpha who just spoke scrubs a hand over his face, as if he’s exhausted.
His hair is a light brown. Along the sharp wind swirling around us, I catch the scent of a pine forest. It catches me off guard.
Why does he smell so nice? Not that I’ ve met very many alphas since my awakening, but no alpha has ever smelled anything remotely close to pleasant.
The alpha who first yelled, I think his name is Madden, at least according to the other alpha, is absolutely huge.
From my position on the floor, he looks like a giant.
His hair is dark. So are the tattoos peeking up and over the collar of his jacket along his neck.
With the floodlights above us, shadows cross his features, making the large scar across his cheek look even more menacing than it probably normally does.
What shocks me so much that I think I let out a little gasp is the hint of his scent. It’s the rich scent of dark chocolate. Who would have ever thought an alpha this vicious-looking would smell something so close to sweet?
Not me.
If these alphas are in charge, that means they’re the ones I have to please. If I can please them, will they be merciful? Will they protect me from the rest of the alphas here?
I roll over, my knees stinging as the cold gravel reopens my earlier cuts. I prostrate myself at their feet, trying to keep my trembling to a minimum. Revulsion at these familiar acts twists in my stomach. There’s no way I’ll survive all of these alphas. I have to do whatever I can to survive.
“P—please,” I choke out. “Please, alphas, don’t hurt me. I’ll—I’ll be a good omega for you.”