The Birthday Torment

FLASHFORWARD.

Matilda smiled genuinely. A real, bright smile that stretched across her face, making Corbin feel like the worst person to ever walk the earth. She looked around the elegant, bustling venue, her eyes tracing the high ceilings as she recalled their rather tumultuous history with this exact location. The very first time Corbin had driven her here, she had refused to even step foot onto the property. That initial stubborn refusal had sparked a massive, screaming argument between them, tossing heated words back and forth. The clash of their tempers eventually culminated in hot car sex right there in the parking lot, windows fogged and leather seats slick with sweat.

Years later, after so much had changed, she decided it was time to conquer her lingering fear of the place. She chose to revisit those old memories and face the venue head-on. Walking through those doors turned out to be one of the most touching, beautiful experiences she had ever had.

"Trust me, you're not getting rid of us anytime soon," Matilda joked, her voice light and teasing. She turned her attention to a passing waiter, requesting a different flavor of cake from the dessert tray.

"Damn," was all Corbin could manage to say.

A moment later, he felt a small, gentle tap on his shoulder. He turned around and a heavy, suffocating wave of sadness washed over him again. He forced his facial muscles to cooperate, trying to cover the creeping dread with a smile, but he knew the fake expression didn't quite reach his eyes.

She turned back, smiling widely at him. It was that genuine, pure happiness radiating from her that twisted the knife deep in his gut. She stepped into his personal space, wrapping her arms securely around his waist, and pulled him close against her body until there was zero distance left between them.

"We need to talk," she declared.

Corbin's heart instantly stopped beating. For a terrifying, split second, the loud chatter of the venue muted into silence. This was it. He just knew this was it. Frantic, overlapping questions raced through his panicked mind at lightning speed. *Did she know? How did she find out? Who told her?* His pulse hammered in his ears. Maybe he should tell her everything before she had the chance to call him out and destroy him.

"Yes, we do need to talk," Corbin agreed, his voice strained. He forced himself to turn toward his mother, who was standing right next to them, oblivious to the sudden tension. "Momma, can we be excused?"

His mother nodded her head frantically. She let out a series of muffled, agreeable sounds, unable to form actual words since her mouth was stuffed to the brim with rich chocolate cake.

Corbin didn't wait for her to swallow. He took Matilda's hand securely in his, feeling the soft warmth of her skin, and led her away from the crowded tables. As he guided her out of the building and into the cool evening air, a single terrifying, relentless thought echoed loudly in his mind.

He was fucked.

Gia's POV.

I woke up with a rare, hopeful smile resting on my face. It was a strange, foreign sensation stretching my cheeks, one I hadn't felt in a long time. Usually, I saw no reason to smile. My mornings were a dreadful reminder of my miserable reality, and my days always seemed to spiral downward, getting worse with each rising sun. But today, things were different. Today, I had my fingers crossed beneath my thin, scratchy blanket. Today was going to be a good day. It was a special day.

Today, I was going to find my mate.

I clung to the fragile hope that gaining a mate would change my life forever. Maybe then, the people in my pack would stop treating me as if I were somehow broken. If the Moon Goddess blessed me with a strong mate, maybe they would stop treating me like an unwanted freak they just wanted to scrape off the bottom of their boots. Maybe they would stop treating me like I was dirt on their shoes.

*But wasn't that exactly what you are?* a small, pessimistic voice whispered in the dark corners of my mind.

I closed my eyes, trying to block it out, but I knew the voice was right. It was the harsh voice of reason, warning me not to get my hopes up, reminding me that finding a mate wouldn't erase my reality. No matter who my mate turned out to be, I would always be an Omega. The cheated class. The weak, pathetic link of the pack hierarchy. The unwanted intruder of the group who brought nothing to the table.

I wasn't the only Omega in the pack. We numbered over twenty. Yet, somehow, everyone found me to be the easiest target of them all, including the other Omegas. I was picked on like there was no tomorrow. I was bullied daily, shoved into lockers, and insulted as if I didn't possess any feelings at all. Sometimes, the constant abuse made me stare at the ceiling and wonder why I was still here. What exactly was I doing staying in this pack? I had nothing to my name. I had no parents, no family, and no friends. I was just the poor, orphaned Omega whose existence mattered to no one. If I packed my meager belongings and left into the woods right now, what was I going to miss? What was I going to lose? More importantly, what were they going to miss?

Nothing.

I shook my head, forcing my eyes open to stare at the chipped paint on my ceiling. No. Not today. I was not going to think about my sorry excuse for a pack today. I refused to let any of them ruin my morning. They didn't care about me, so why should I give a damn about them?

I checked the time on the cracked digital clock sitting on my nightstand and let out a heavy sigh. It was time to drag myself out of bed and head to the bathroom to get ready for what would likely be an uneventful day. Unless my mate actually belonged to this pack, then my day was going to be chaotic.

Then, reality hit me like a bucket of ice water. My temporary hope shattered into a million pieces, and a cold dread quickly returned to my stomach.

It was also Kael's eighteenth birthday.

I groaned in agony, dragging my hands down my face. If I was looking for an eventful day, I had certainly found it. The Alpha's arrogant, entitled son shared my birthday. Kael was always hell-bent on throwing massive, lavish parties every single year to celebrate himself, and it was compulsory for everyone in his age group to attend. Unfortunately for me, I had slithered into that age bracket, despite being two years younger than him, and I dreaded that fact with every fiber of my being.

Every year, without fail, I was forced into a corner at his birthday parties. Each celebration became more horrid and humiliating than the last. But this year was going to be pure torture. Kael was turning eighteen. In the werewolf world, eighteen was a volatile age, especially for unmated wolves. Hormones raged, primal instincts went haywire, and they became aggressive and unpredictable. Kael hadn't found his mate yet, and his wolf would be on a hair-trigger.

I pushed myself out of bed and headed for the shower, letting the lukewarm water wash over my slender body. I hadn't always been built like this. I wished I was naturally thin, but my current frame was the result of a bad case of appetite loss. The stress of living here meant I never ate properly, and the malnutrition had taken a severe toll on my body. Ironically, years ago, I was bullied for carrying extra baby fat. Now that I had slimmed down to skin and bones, my top bullies—Kael's elite group of friends—just called me 'Slender Woman'.

Kael himself wasn't directly one of my bullies. He rarely paid me any real attention, but he always stood by and watched as his friends called me cruel names and threw my belongings into the dirt. He would just snicker, shake his head, and go back to locking lips with his latest conquest of the week. He was an arrogant asshole.

Stepping out of the bathroom, I walked over to the small pile of folded clothes in the corner of my room. I picked out one of my best outfits, which was just a worn-out black dress. The fabric was frayed and faded, long overdue for the garbage bin, but I had no choice but to wear it. I had zero money for new clothes. I survived solely on the pack's basic trust fund, a meager allowance given as a replacement for the pack not having an actual orphanage.

I shoved my feet into my worn-out, scuffed sneakers and grabbed my faded canvas bag. Opening my bedroom door gently, I peeked out into the silent hallway. Left. Right. Empty. No one was there, exactly as I planned. I always made sure to wake up hours early, sneaking out before anyone else in the pack house stirred to avoid crossing paths with them.

I slipped out the back door and started my walk, knowing full well that school wouldn't open until seven o'clock—more than an hour from now. Since I had time to kill, I took my usual long route, winding through the dense, dew-covered bushes until I reached my destination.

I stopped across the street from my old bungalow.

It was a modest house, nothing extravagant, but looking at it made my chest ache. It was my childhood home, and I loved it more than anything. I stood there, clinging to the fading memories. This small plot of land was the only place I had ever felt free, the only place where I could take a deep breath without fear. But I didn't have that anymore. The second my parents died, the pack council seized the property. They took everything away from me, leaving me with nothing but the clothes on my back.

As the sun finally began to peak over the horizon, casting long, haunting shadows across the pavement, I knew I couldn't stay any longer. I never owned a cellphone—there was no one alive or willing to contact me anyway—but my internal clock told me it was time to move. By the time I reached the imposing front doors of the high school, I took a deep, shaky breath. I mentally braced myself for my daily dose of morning torment, secretly praying to the Moon Goddess that my mate was currently standing somewhere inside the building. The thought alone made my face light up brightly. If I found my destined mate right now, I could finally escape. I could avoid Kael's posse entirely.

Unfortunately, my terrible luck persisted. Life was a cruel, horrible game, and I was convinced it hated me.

I stepped into the bustling hallway, keeping my head down, but it was useless. At the far end of the corridor, I spotted them. The imposing figures of Kael's posse were walking directly toward me. It was too late to run. Too late to hide, shrink, or disappear into an empty classroom. They had spotted me, and they were never going to pass up a prime opportunity to bully the pack's weakest Omega.

Kael was noticeably absent from the group, likely sleeping in for his birthday, but his soon-to-be Beta best friend led the charge. Theron strutted down the center of the hall, a dark, demonic smirk plastered on his handsome face.

"Slender Woman!" Theron shouted, his booming voice echoing off the metal lockers.

Panic surged through my veins. I spun around, desperate to scurry away in the opposite direction. I took two fast steps before my forehead slammed hard into a solid surface.

"Holy..." I wheezed out, stumbling backward. My hand flew up to nurse the throbbing spot on my head.

I hadn't hit a wall. I had bumped hard into Vivica Slater, the Beta's arrogant daughter.

"Where do you think you're going?" one of Theron's cronies sneered, blocking my escape path. I was tempted to curse at him for pulling such a jerk move, but I kept my mouth tightly shut. I was trapped. All eight members of the posse had me cornered against the lockers.

"Cat got your tongue?" Vivica asked, stepping closer.

Her voice was irritating, grating on my nerves like nails on a chalkboard. Vivica had always been bitter and vicious, but she grew ten times worse ever since Kael publicly announced she wasn't his destined Luna. For years, she had paraded around acting superior just because she had Beta blood. Her crushing rejection was the greatest birthday gift I had ever received when I turned fourteen, but right now, her bruised ego made her dangerous.

"Didn't you hear my sister talking to you?" Theron growled, stepping directly into my personal space. The sheer size of him blocked out the overhead lights. "A person of Beta blood spoke to you, Omega, and you ignored her. You must be punished for that."

A sinister, cruel smile broke onto his lips. Before I could flinch, Theron lunged forward. He snatched my faded bag right off my shoulder. The worn fabric ripped under his immense strength. With a harsh grunt, he threw it forcefully to the floor. The broken latch gave way, spilling all my heavy textbooks, loose papers, and broken pens across the linoleum tiles.

"No," I whispered, dropping to my knees in panic. I scrambled frantically, sweeping my trembling hands over the floor, trying to shove my damaged books back into the torn canvas.

Theron didn't back away. He crouched down right in front of me, his shadow swallowing me whole. His large, cold hands shot out, forcing my chin up with a bruising grip so I had to look into his merciless eyes.

"Look at you," Theron spat, his voice dripping with disgust. "You are nothing. You will never be anything but a useless piece of shit to this pack."

The harsh words pierced my chest. My vision blurred, and a single, hot tear betrayed me, sliding down my cheek to hit his thumb. I hated myself for showing weakness.

Theron noticed the tear and let out a wicked snicker. He turned his head to look at his friends. "Tears," he mocked loudly. "The bitch is crying."

The group erupted into cruel laughter, mirroring his mockery.

Theron turned his piercing gaze back to me, his grip on my jaw tightening painfully. "Maybe you should go cry to your mummy and daddy." He paused, his lips curling into a vicious sneer. "Oh, wait. They're dead because you killed them."

The accusation hit me like a freight train. All the air vanished from my lungs. The grief I had buried deep down clawed its way up my throat, suffocating me. He shoved my face away hard. I tumbled backward, my shoulder slamming into the metal lockers as he stood up to his full, towering height.

He looked down at me as if I were a diseased rat. "Why don't you just do all of us a favor and leave? I am damn sure that we would all be better off without you."

Dismissing my shattered existence, Theron didn't even wait for a response. He threw his thick arm over the shoulder of his destined mate, Sabrina, and pulled her close.

"Come on guys, let's go," Theron commanded.

They walked away down the hallway, their laughter echoing in the air, leaving me shattered, sitting on the cold floor amidst my ruined belongings, questioning my own existence.