Chapter 75: Chapter 75
I was drifting in that fragile space between sleep and waking when the sound of hurried footsteps tore me out of my shallow dreams. My heart lurched instantly every sound inside the Pack House was a possible threat, every sudden noise a promise of terror.
The door to the Omegas’ quarters banged open, the old hinges screaming. I shot upright, my pulse pounding against my ribs like it wanted out. Joan, who had been folding laundry by her bunk, flinched so hard the clothes slipped from her hands and spilled across the floor.
"Elara?" she gasped when the figure stumbled into the room.
It was Elara, breathless, her face pale with a clammy sheen of sweat. Her hair was tangled as though she’d been running her hands through it over and over, her chest rising and falling so fast it made her whole frame tremble. She slammed the door shut behind her and pressed her back against it as if she expected something or someone to be chasing her.
I rubbed my eyes with trembling fingers, trying to force away the fog of sleep. But the fear in Elara’s wide eyes snapped me awake faster than a slap.
"What happened?" I asked, my voice cracking with the dryness of my throat.
For a moment, Elara only opened and closed her mouth like a fish gasping for air. Her gaze darted around the room, to every corner, as though checking that we were truly alone. The other omegas inside had started gathering closer, their whispers layering into a frightened buzz.
Finally, Elara’s words tumbled out in a single rush.
"He killed him!"
The room went so still that I swore I could hear my own blood rushing in my ears.
"Killed who?" Joan whispered, her hands clutching at her apron like she needed something to hold her together.
Elara’s lips trembled before the words came, shaky and sharp. "The guard... the Alpha killed one of the guards. He he said the man was ugly. Just ugly. That’s all. And then he he snapped his neck and kill him.
The weight of her words crashed into us like a thunderclap. "Ugly?" That was all it took.
The crazy psycho has taken a man’s life in a heartbeat, because the Alpha didn’t like his face.
My stomach knotted so violently I thought I might vomit. The room seemed to tilt, and for a second, I pressed my palms to the mattress beneath me to steady myself. The others began to murmur in panicked tones.
"No, that can’t be true"
"Ugly? Just that?"
"He’s a monster he’s not even human—"
"Quiet!" Elara hissed, her voice breaking as she pushed away from the door. "If he hears us if he hears us talking like this, we’ll be next."
The omegas fell into a heavy silence. The air thickened, suffocating, as if the Psycho Alpha himself had suddenly entered the room.
I stared at Elara, at the raw terror carved into every line of her face, and I knew she wasn’t lying. She didn’t need to. This was exactly the kind of senseless cruelty he was capable of. I had seen him destroy things people over far less.
I swallowed hard, my throat dry. "Where?" I forced the word out, though I wasn’t sure I wanted the answer.
"In the courtyard," Elara whispered. "In front of everyone. He just laughed afterward, like it was some kind of joke. He even asked the others if they agreed if the guard really was ugly. And they nodded. They nodded because they were too afraid not to."
She pressed both hands against her face, muffling a sob that escaped anyway.
The image burned in my mind even though I hadn’t witnessed it: the Psycho Alpha, towering in his cruel confidence, tilting his head in mock curiosity as the guard begged for his life. Then, with one twist of his powerful hands silence. Lifelessness. A body crumpled on the ground while laughter echoed above it.
Joan pressed closer to me, her small frame shaking. I could feel her fear radiating into me, mixing with my own until I wasn’t sure which was hers and which was mine.
One of the younger omegas in the corner whimpered, covering her mouth. "If he killed a guard just for being ugly? then what about us? What if one day he says he hates the way we look?"
Her words made the silence heavier, pressing on all of us like a suffocating blanket.
It wasn’t just paranoia. It was a possibility. Every day, every breath in this Pack House was a gamble with death.
I pulled my knees to my chest, trying to keep myself from shaking apart. My eyes burned with tears that I didn’t want to shed. Crying felt dangerous, too like showing weakness that might somehow reach his ears, bring his wrath down on me.
"Elara," I said softly, my voice barely more than a whisper, "you need to breathe. You’re safe here. He’s not here"
"No one is safe here!" Elara snapped, her voice breaking into a sob at the same time. She gripped the edge of her skirt, her knuckles white. "Don’t you understand, Ellie? He doesn’t need reasons. He doesn’t need excuses. Today it was ugly. Tomorrow it could be the way we walk, or the sound of our voices, or nothing at all."
Her words struck something deep inside me, something raw and trembling.
And. She was right.We weren’t living anymore.
Joan’s hand found mine under the blanket, squeezing it desperately. I squeezed back, though my own hand trembled.
For a long time, none of us spoke. The air felt brittle, ready to shatter under the weight of our fear. I kept imagining the sound of a neck snapping, crisp and final, echoing in my head over and over until I thought I might lose my mind.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to run. But I stayed still, curled in my bed, my breath shallow.
In that silence, the Psycho Alpha was everywhere. In the creak of the floorboards, in the wind scraping at the windows, in the beat of my terrified heart.
And deep down, I knew Elara was right.
If he could kill a man for being ugly, then it was only a matter of time before he turned his gaze on me.
The door opened sharply, without hesitation, and every omega in the room froze where they were. We didn’t need to see her to know who it was. Only one person walked with that kind of purpose, heels clicking against the stone floor, spine straight as a blade.
Elizabeth. The Alpha’s Aunt.
"Up." Her voice cut through the silence like the crack of a whip.
Several omegas scrambled to their feet, though most of us stayed frozen on instinct, unsure if moving too quickly might be seen as disrespectful. Elizabeth stepped further inside, her gaze sweeping over us like she was counting bodies, measuring worth. The air around her seemed to grow colder with each step.
She stopped near the center of the room and folded her hands in front of her. Her face was calm too calm, the kind of stillness that made my stomach churn.
"Rose."
The name landed like a stone in still water, rippling through the room. All heads turned to Rose who was sitting near the back of the quarters, stiffened visibly. She was young, only a little older than me, with soft features and hair that fell over her face as if she were always trying to hide. She rarely spoke unless spoken to, the kind of omega who tried to shrink into the background and avoid attention. Now there was no background left for her to hide in.
Elizabeth’s gaze locked on her, sharp and unyielding. "Come forward."
Rose rose to her feet shakily, her knees trembling beneath her thin dress. She moved slowly, as though each step forward cost her more strength than she had.
Elizabeth didn’t raise her voice, but her words carried the weight of finality. "From this day forward, you will serve as the Alpha’s personal omega."
Gasps broke the silence before they could be swallowed back. My own chest constricted so tightly I couldn’t breathe.
Rose’s eyes widened, horror blooming across her face. "M-me?" she stammered, her voice barely audible.
Elizabeth didn’t blink. "Yes. You will replace Ellie."
My heart stopped. It was like ice water had been poured down my spine. All eyes shifted to me, and I felt the blood drain from my face. My mouth opened, but no words came out. Replace me. The words echoed in my skull, sharp and cruel. My body went rigid, my hands clutching at the blanket beneath me until my knuckles turned white.
Rose shook her head violently, tears welling in her eyes. "No—please—no. I—I can’t. I’m not—"
Elizabeth silenced her with a single glance. "This is not a request, you will resume immediately
Rose’s lips trembled, her shoulders shaking as sobs threatened to burst out. But no one dared comfort her. No one dared move.
Elizabeth’s gaze swept over us again, sharp and cold. "Understand this, all of you. When i make a choice, it is final. Resistance will not be tolerated. Her voice dropped lower, heavier, until it seemed to crush the room itself. "If anyone here forgets that, they will join the guard whose neck was broken yesterday."
The silence after that was unbearable. You could almost hear hearts beating too fast, breaths being held too long.
Rose finally collapsed to her knees, her tears spilling freely. "Please," she begged, her voice breaking. "Please don’t make me. I don’t want to go."
Elizabeth looked down at her without pity. "Want has nothing to do with it.
The words struck like a death sentence.
I couldn’t stop the tremor that went through me. My stomach twisted violently as guilt and relief warred inside me. Relief that it wasn’t me anymore. Guilt that someone else was being forced into that nightmare. Guilt that I had wished, prayed, begged for freedom and now Rose was paying for it.
Elizabeth turned her cold eyes back to me, just for a moment, as though reminding me that none of this was truly my victory. That freedom was an illusion, and punishment could return to me at any time.
Then she nodded once. "Rose will be taken to the Alpha after she has prepared herself. See to it she is ready."
With that, Elizabeth pivoted and left the quarters, the door closing behind her with a heavy thud.
The silence that followed was deafening. Rose’s sobs filled it, raw and broken. The others watched her with wide, helpless eyes. No one moved to help her not because they didn’t want to, but because they couldn’t. To comfort her now felt like defiance of the Alpha’s will. And I sat frozen on my mattress, shaking, every nerve in my body screaming. Poor Rose