Chapter 2

Kamari's Point of View

It hurt. Ripped and gnawed on parts of my heart. Nothing could ever compare to that pain. The sorrow that I felt. As if I had lost something I had already had. But Arik had never been mine and I had been foolish to believe he might be.

My father had been an Alpha once. Not because of his father but because of my mother. The daughter of an Alpha, thus her mate was meant to be the next Alpha. She a Luna. Rachel Enoch had adored me. Until I turned ten and showed her the color of my wolf for the first time.

Pitch black. 

Logically she had tried to have me kicked out of the pack. Who would want a mockery of nature as the next Luna? My father refused that I go alone and instead followed me. All because an Alpha-born woman didn't want a lowly-born black wolf for a daughter.

And I thought an Alpha would accept me now? Pathetic all around.

"Sort her out. Get her presentable and have her carry on with her work. We have important guests here today and we can't screw this up." His voice was devoid of any form of emotions. Nothing. It was as if he spoke about the weather.

All whilst I wanted to crumble.

Eris only nodded at him. Kissed him on the cheek. That somehow stung more than his actual rejection. Open affection to someone that wasn't me.

Once Arik was gone, Eris turned towards me. For a flash of a second, there was pity in her eyes. Until she focussed and a cruel smile replaced whatever else she might have felt. 

"You are a mess. We have extra uniforms in the closet," She scanned me once and the smile grew even crueler. "Not that any of them will be a fit but that is just life, you know?" With a shrug, she turned on her heel and opened the small closet behind her. The uniform she produced was several sizes larger than the one I was wearing. Looked more like a black bag than anything else.

"I can't..." I couldn't find the courage to carry on with the sentence. Felt it wither and die within my throat. This was the worst I had ever felt. Not even transforming for the first time was this bad.

Was my heart still inside my chest?

"I'm afraid there is no other option here. We are severely understaffed and I can't afford that you go home and cry into your pillow," Eris pouted and held out the bag for me to take. I caught the malice in her eyes before she could say anything else. "At least you are taking it a whole lot better than Zayan did. Poor thing cried like a baby when I rejected him." With that, she was out the door.

One staggering breath was all I could muster. The tears were sitting shallowly in my eyes. Every harsh word he said echoed through my body. My being. I couldn't understand why. This was not my first rodeo concerning rejection.

As a child. As a teenager. Now here. It was an endless cycle that seemed to carry on with no end in sight. 

"Suck it up, Kamari. You got this. Just a few more hours and you can eat all the ice cream your little heart desires." It was the worst pep talk I had ever had with myself. But it had to do.

Nolan was by my side the moment I stepped out of that awful room. His hand wrapped around my elbow on instinct. Shoved me a little to the side so that we were almost fully out of view.

"What happened?" He growled so close to my ear that I felt his breath fan the side of my face.

"I am not allowed-"

"Bullshit, Kamari. What. Happened?"

"Arik rejected me." It was the most I was willing to tell him.

One thing I had learned in all my years as an omega was never to talk out of place. Every wall you saw had thirteen pairs of ears. And all of those ears wanted to climb in rank someday.

Nolan's eyes met with mine. Hard. Angry. His fists clenched at his sides. I had half a mind to get away from him, just in case he wanted to take that anger out on someone. "Leave this to me." He breathed. 

And just like that, he was out of my peripheral vision. A shadow walking in darkness. 

Nolan's family was powerful. Deadly. Most of the high-ranked guards came from his line. But even his father wouldn't be able to do anything about this. It was well known that rejecting a mate or accepting them was all up to the pair in question. If both of them wanted to try, great, if neither, even better. One wanting to try and the other wanting to leave left the abandoned wolf no options.

I was going to die as an Omega.

***

"You can leave now if you want. You are rubbing people the wrong way with your negativity," Eris spoke in a harsh tone beside me. It took me a moment or two to realize what she was saying. To realize that I was now free for the rest of the night. 

Arik was handsome as ever. With his blonde hair twinkling in the fairy lights overhead. Dashing smile whenever he greeted someone. It was painful to watch but I couldn't get enough of it.

"Leave now!" Eris insisted and snapped her fingers in front of me. The sudden burst of sound shoved me out of my haze. The small smile I had on my lips vanished in an instant.

"Thank you for the opportunity to serve you tonight, Luna apparent. It was an honor." Custom words to be said at every dismissal. A sign of respect towards your elders and those in charge. I hated every last syllable.

Eris knew this. Smiled at me with a raised eyebrow. Her eyes followed mine and landed on Arik. She took a step closer to me. "Between you and me, you aren't missing much in the sex department. But man does his bank account look good." 

With a wink and a flurry of skirts, she was gone. Swallowed up by several people. They laughed and danced whilst I stood there stunned. Hurting. Dreading to tell my father any of what had happened. 

Gaelan Enoch was going to be heartbroken for me. As someone who got rejected in his life as well, I knew it would sting twice as bad to hear it from me. Another Enoch cast to the side. Rejected.

"Lily, I am heading home," I sucked in a deep breath with my eyes still lingering far from the other omega. Not a black wolf but a whole lot smaller than any wolf should be. She was already 22 and happily mated to another omega. "Eris gave me the rest of the night off. Just remember to run her a bath when all of this is done, okay?" It was my job to make sure Eris was happy after a party. Now it fell to Lily.

Lily only grunted in response. My heart sank further down. Even amongst the rejects, I wasn't wanted. A curse even to the lowest.

There was one place I could hide. One town over, there was a small tourist attraction. A town only filled with humans. Sometimes my dad would take me to the cafe there when the pack grew too small. When my anxiety kicked in.

Getting in the beat-up car he got me last year, I sped off. Cried to some odd choices of music. The last time I bawled was when my mother rejected me. After that, I learned my lesson. Until now. Until him.

The cafe was almost completely empty at this time of night. A waitress escorted me to the furthest window booth. Smiled down at me as I ordered one coffee. From the pity in her eyes, I knew I must have looked horrendous. But I hadn't come here to gain sympathy. Only to get away from those people. 

Everything was quiet, even the cars in the street seemed few and far between, which made the rumble of a motorcycle outside stand out even more. I couldn't help but look outside. See who had the balls to interrupt the silence of the night.

A large motorbike pulled in a few meters away from me. For a second I thought the person on top was staring straight into my soul. From the stature and height, it was fair to say that it was a man. This didn't sit well with me. I've had enough of men for the day.

Looking away, the waitress strolled over with my coffee. Usually, I took it white with sugar. Tonight I wanted it black and bitter. A more suitable representation of my soul.

"Fucking hell. You look worse than he said." The voice was deep and rumbly. Had a lilt to it at the end. I frowned at my cup and slowly looked up. Inhaled. Smelled the wolf within. And a whole lot of petrol mixed with cigar smoke. A heady combination.

"And who are you?" My tone was flat. Done. There was no use in being pleasant anymore. I was off duty.

"Your ticket to revenge, sweetheart."