Page 23 of The Sad Omega
Perhaps he’d let me go.
It was wishful thinking and I knew it. He might not care about me, but he loved the power he exerted over me. My legs moved faster.
My paws padded soundlessly over the twigs and leaf litter on the damp earth as I wound my way higher up into the mountains. I could no longer hear the betas making their patrol, and I quickened my pace. The night pressed in around me like a loving cloak. In this form, I was a creature of the night, traveling quickly, silently, unafraid of the darkness. I was thankful there was no moon yet, for my pale fur would glow iridescent bathed in moonlight and might betray me. It would rise soon though, I needed to get more distance between me and the packhouse.
Suddenly there was a commotion way down at the base of the mountain, a jumble of shouting voices and a wolf howled. A shiver rippled through my coat and for an instant I froze, trembling. It was Zarbius. He must have finished his game early or decided it would be fun for he and his friends to torment me.
I loped away as fast as I could, unworried about making noise now, I was high enough that any sound I made would be slow to reach them, if it even did. Speed was more important. The higher I went, the more the howling of the wind filled my ears, drowning out the sounds of pursuit. I was fairly sure I was already beyond Zarbius’ territory, but that might not be enough to deter him, so I kept going. The trees were thinning out, providing less concealment and to my horror, the moon was rising, casting its unearthly glow over the forest and its inhabitants. The forest was a kaleidoscope of black and white shapes and I was acutely aware how luminous I had become.
For a moment, the wind eased, and as I strained my ears I made out the sounds of pursuit. They were faint, but the fact I could hear them at all meant they were traveling faster than I had expected. They must have shifted and were hunting as a pack, and I was their prey. Terrified, I raced through the forest, fear lending me an endurance I didn’t know I possessed. My breathing grew ragged, rib cage heaving as I struggled to bring enough oxygen to my laboring muscles. I rushed headlong through the forest, leaping over fallen branches, skirting around rocks, scattering leaves and twigs in my panic.
I didn't see it concealed beneath a layer of autumn's discarded leaves.
SNAP!
Vicious steel jaws clamped shut around my paw, crushing the bones, and flinging me headfirst into the ground. I whimpered in pain and despair. I was trapped! I tried wrenching my paw from the trap, but it was useless, and all I achieved were lightning bolts of pain searing through my body. The scent of my pursuers carried on the swirling breeze. They must be close. They could probably smell my fear.
Desperate, I considered chewing off my paw to escape the trap, but even if I didn’t bleed to death, with only three legs I wouldn’t be able to outrun my pursuers.
It no longer mattered.
I lay still, resigned to my fate. I was going to die tonight.There was no point adding to my pain. It was excruciating. It was overwhelming. Dizziness washed over me in waves, the trees spinning above me. A high pitched buzzing rang in my ears. A black mist closed in on my vision. I fought to remain conscious, trying desperately to stay awake, knowing what was to come would be far worse as a human. But I couldn’t hold on. Lapsing into semi-consciousness, I lost my wolf form.
???
Zarbius’ cruel laugh roused me. He was standing over me as my eyes fluttered open. He bent down and opened the trap, releasing my shattered wrist, pulling the trap carefully away from me. For a brief instant, I thought he might be merciful, but that foolish thought was rapidly erased as he stamped his foot down hard on my shattered wrist, grinding it into the dirt. Shafts of pain speared up my arm. I screamed. Zarbius laughed.
“Pathetic fool!” he scoffed. “Thought you could run away, did you? You little vermin! I’ll teach you to run away!”
He stamped on my wrist again. The screaming in my head faded to a loud buzz and I lost consciousness again. When I came to, he was standing threateningly over me, a couple of his alpha friends waited a couple of paces away, the betas in a half circle behind them. They had all shifted back to human form, standing there naked, staring at me with eyes bright and eager, pupils blown. I knew what was coming and I closed my eyes. Zarbius kicked me and I yelped.
“Open your eyes, slut!” he growled at me. I didn’t, offering what meagre resistance I could, even though it was pointless.
Zarbius bellowed in rage, and ground my wrist into the dirt viciously. I screamed, writhing, back arching, the damp earth cold against my skin, my body wracked with shivers. My eyes were open now. I was terrified.
He stood above me, one leg planted in the dirt on either side of me, his posture intimidating. His cock was thick and hard as he stood over me. He spat on me.
“I’ll teach you your place,” he snarled. “Filthy little omega. I’m going to fuck you senseless, then I’m going to hand you over to the pack to discipline you, one by one. You know what that means, don’t you?” He sneered as I shivered and trembled at his feet.
I hunched in on myself, trying to curl myself into a ball, trying to hide, though there was no possibility of that of course, but still instinct demanded I do something.
Zarbius kicked my legs apart, exposing me again. He laughed, a mocking cruel sound.
“You'll love it, won't you, slutty omega? You'll be begging for it,” he taunted.
I was beyond terrified. I knew precisely what would happen and, worse I knew what he was trying to achieve. It wasn’t the first time. This time, I knew I wouldn’t survive the night, but somehow there was something immensely freeing in that knowledge. That wasn’t the cause of my terror. No, not at all. I would welcome death tonight. But no, there was more. As if raping me in front of the pack, and then handing me over for his buddies and the betas to rape me themselves wasn’t humiliation enough, I knew he was aiming for more. He wanted to add shame and self-disgust to my absolute humiliation by frightening me into a forced heat. He wanted me engulfed in the misery of my body’s heat-lust betrayal.Feeling my slick running despite myself, hearing myself beg my rapists to fuck me. I’d hate myself. But I’d have no control over it. My humiliation and shame would be complete. For a sadist like Zarbius, there would be no greater triumph.
I closed my eyes and willed my mind to calm. I couldn’t stop what was about to happen to my body and I would die tonight, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of a forced heat. I sent my mind to better places.
Zarbius thrust his hand between my legs and howled in frustration. There was no slick. That wouldn't stop him, I knew. This was going to hurt but I was beyond caring. If I could avoid getting thrown into heat, then I won. It didn’t matter what they did to my body because tomorrow I’d be dead, and it was going to hurt anyway. But I’d have this one significant victory.
His inability to frighten me into a heat incensed Zarbius, and he took me dry and rough. I screamed. I felt liquid running between my ass cheeks and for a horrible moment I thought my slick was running and I nearly panicked, but the metallic smell of blood comforted me, though it meant he’d torn me.
He controlled my body, but he didn’t control my mind. I heard him graphically describing what he and the betas were going to do to me, but it only half-registered. I was far away, floating on a sea of pain, but thinking on happy things. Maybe I smiled, because suddenly there was a sharp pain in my side and Zarbius' foot was pressing into my ribs. I yelped, but the sound seemed to come from a distance. I was lost in thoughts of Irian and Talius. It made me happy to know that some alpha mates loved and cared for their omegas. Irian clearly loved his alpha, and I’d spent enough time with the two of them, to notice how Talius cared for and protected his mate. I was glad I’d met them. They’d both been kind to me, and Irian’s friendship had helped me through some difficult times in the last few months.
These were pleasant thoughts and somehow distracted me from what was happening to my body, allowing me to dissociate from the reality of what was occurring.
The abuse went on for hours. Zarbius was especially cruel, inflicting maximum pain and damage, no doubt because of my refusal to succumb to my fear. I screamed, I sobbed, and finally I whimpered and wept silently. But throughout that long night, I kept my thoughts on the love between Irian and Talius and somehow that helped me endure. I wished wistfully that I could have experienced that affection myself, but I would die happy thinking about them and savoring my small victory, avoiding the ignominy of a forced heat.