Chapter 39 Casey
Casey
I growl wildly and pull back against the chain that is yanking me forward.
It’s futile, I know, but I won’t ever stop fighting.
I’ve got a huge metal collar on my neck.
It’s celebrating my new status in the pack as slave.
I thought I was the lowest I could go…apparently, feral omega is worse.
Now, I’m not breeder, I’m entertainment.
I heard a wolf say to their friend as they were passing the hole yesterday that it’s been a month since I came here.
A month in fur. A month in chains.
A whole month since I last saw them. I didn’t even get to say goodbye. The only good part of my existence are the memories I have of the wolves who loved me.
I understand this body completely now. I know all my capabilities and what I can do with them.
They have taught me how to learn the art of wolf in the fastest way possible.
Through trials of life and death. I know I freak them out; my silver-tipped black fur is so strange and unusual, and to add on my feral rage, well, even the strongest alpha is hesitant to go up against me.
I hear whispers about me being a demon. Even my mother wasn’t like me; she was a pale omega wolf.
Not even she was as ostracised as I am. Everything about me is wrong.
A month. Where are they? Are they happy? The questions plague me. Do they think of me?
My body aches. The fragile bond between us has been cut clean off and has left me to bleed out.
I can still feel the phantom pains of it tingling there, blossoming.
They say for a wolf to reject her bonds is to bring the worst misfortune down upon herself.
Maybe I’m cursed in multiple. Maybe I deserve this accursed fate.
The pain doesn’t let me sleep easily. I hear their voices; I catch their scents, and then I wake up and realise that it’s not them.
It’s just a dream, just a memory. They are gone.
Safe.
And I am here. Where I was always heading.
A slave to Pack Foster.
The ramp slams down, leaving a rectangle wedge of sunlight. I don’t want to go up there. Every time I do, there is something even more horrific that I need to learn.
They taught me to kill.
My soul aches over it. I was never supposed to learn to kill.
Would my mother and Freida hate me if they knew what I do now?
“Hurry up, Omega.” The rough voice of Desmond, who is my keeper, drags me out of my distracted, mournful thoughts.
They say omega like it’s a slur, like I’m the monster in this scenario.
Even as I ignore him, I know I can’t. Like I predicted, he waits up in the light; no one dares to come down here, and when I refuse, he barks a quick command.
I hear the shifters move, the rattle of the chain again, and then the tension returns as they all pull.
I’m dragged to a metal ramp, my claws scraping and leaving furrows.
They drag me up, even though I fight. Every day, or every other day.
I don’t know; I only see the sunlight when they bring me up to battle, but I fight them to stay in the dark.
The hole I was so afraid of is the only safety I have left.
I am a champion.
I’ve won more fights than my mother.
I’ve won more fights than any alpha.
They make lots of money betting on me, and my father…he reaps what he sows.
The collar pulls at my fur, at my bruised neck. It’s heavy, but I’m getting accustomed to it. What was it like not to wear it?
Where are they?
They drag me straight into a cage where the chain links are removed from the heavy circle of metal. Now it’s just me and the collar and the cage. I growl and sink low to my belly, taking note of everyone around me.
I mark them for death.
Jonas sits with Cindel. Their official five-year mating ceremony was last week. I had to fight at their celebrations. They dropped me in with five alphas, and I had to kill them all to survive. It didn’t pass my notice that the five were very similarly marked and coloured to my pack.
They were setting me up for death.
But I didn’t die.
I killed the alpha who tried to kill me. Then I killed the rest.
“Casey.”
I glance to the side and find my dad staring at me intently. I hate him more than I could ever have words to describe. He could have stopped this; he could have saved me, but he’s the worst kind of monster.
“You’re fighting an alpha from a different pack tonight. He owes big money, so he’s going up against you. Kill him, Casey. Kill him or I’ll kill one of the pups,” my dad whispers, and, with a horrifically gleeful laugh, he stalks off.
I close my eyes. The problem with being a prisoner here is they know all my weaknesses. After all, they had my entire life to figure them out.
My dad would kill children. He wouldn’t think twice about it.
The cage gate opens, and I step out. The alpha is massive and black. He looks so much like Riot that, for a moment, I hesitate.
Could I kill Riot to save a child?
No.
I hate that, but I’m that selfish, and it would be easier to kill myself than kill him. But I could kill this alpha.
Riot. My soul screams for him.
Where are they?
I step out of the cage, ignoring the jeers, the fury, and bloodlust of the crowd. The pack. My birth pack. They are the feral ones.
The walls of their makeshift fight arena are twenty feet high. Too high for a wolf to escape from. They can stand and look down into the hole from above. Watching whatever torture they try to lay on whomever they’ve shoved in the dark.
I’ve been here before. Hell, I’ve lived here.
For years, the thought of returning had my knees weak.
Now I feel nothing except a deep desire to return to the dark.
I understand the blood-soaked ground. The crowd’s jeers are as familiar a song as the ones that play on the radio.
My old life feels like a dream and is slipping further and further away.
This is what is real now.
The dirt in this place is drenched in my blood, it may as well be hallowed ground. The black wolf shakes his fur, all cocky and proud. He flicks an ear, showing off. He’s young and not very bright.
I don’t bother with that nonsense. No one expects me to be civilised, anyway. I just slink low to the ground, my ears flat, teeth exposed.
They say I’m crazy. Feral.
They aren’t wrong. I don’t think I’m sane anymore.
He focuses on me, and I can see the desire to destroy me in his eyes. He wants the glory of taking out an omega. They all want to hurt me.
Fine.
Give it your best shot.
He lunges. I barely move. I don’t need to. He’s inexperienced. Everything he does is for show. He’s not a fighter; he’s never needed to fight to survive.
The crowd cheers as he attacks again, but my father, the monster who gave me half my genetic code, sits up with a smug smile and his arms crossed. He knows I will win.
I refocus on the alpha in front of me.
Jonas is up there; I can feel him. He comes to me every night, trying to coax me to shift.
I won’t do it.
The black lunges, his teeth exposed. I dart in and open up his jugular and then dart away and sit down, watching as his eyes widen and blood fountains across the dirt.
The crowd lets out a boo. I’ve stolen their entertainment. I’ve let them down a good solid show.
How selfish of me.
I hate them; the loathing inside me is growing.
The black male alpha collapses to the dirt, his life pumping out of him and onto the ground. For a moment, I forget he’s not Riot, and I stare, panicking, did I kill him? Is he alive?
No, Riot is safe, I sent them away.
I turn and stalk back to my cage, going in and sitting with my back to the opening.
“Omega, fight me.”
I whip around and find Cindel in the hole.
I look up at my father.
“No!” he thunders.
I take a step towards her. If I die because I’ve killed her, it will be worth it. I take another step.
“CASEY! Get in your cage!”
I ignore the alpha because that’s the one thing an omega can do. I can ignore the commands of any wolves.
I listen to no one.
Cindel moves towards me. I hear Liam cry out. People are frantic, trying to get to her. The dead wolf at her feet is just another obstacle in my way.
“OMEGA!”
I ignore them all, right up until another wolf lands heavily in the pit. I turn and find Jonas.
He bares his teeth.
The two of them think they can take me? I refuse to back down. When Jonas attacks me, I attack back. I get hold of his hind leg and bite down, breaking it in the same spot as Wrath broke it.
He howls.
Cindel lunges for me, but, suddenly, there are sparks between us. I leap back, growling, and am slowly forced back into my cage. Step by reluctant step, they steal my chance for vengeance.
They use electric cattle prods that have been supercharged to deal with rabid wolves. I should have killed her when I had the chance. I should kill them all.
The chain is attached, and I’m pushed back into the dark hole, the ramp lifted, sealing me in. I go straight to my corner and curl up, tucking my nose in my tail.
There’s only one thing that keeps me going these days.
His vow.
Khaos promised he would come.
Deep in my heart, I don’t think he will come, but it’s a nice thought. I don’t feel so alone.
I can feel myself losing my humanity. With each kill, with every untreated wound, with each inhumane fight, my determination to be something other than this is fading.
I am vengeance. I am fury.
I will be the end of the Foster Pack.
I just need to wait for the right moment. All I need is one chance. After all, I don’t have anything else to live for.
I ignore the stench and my growling stomach and close my eyes, drifting into a world where I hear them talking just in the other room. I catch their scent. And I have hope.
A tear slides down my muzzle and onto my tail.
In my dreams, I’m still Casey.