maya
The alarm clock rang aggressively for the third time, its shrill electronic pulse awakening me from the amazing sleep I was enjoying. Groaning loudly, the sound muffled by my bedding, I stretched a heavy hand to reach out for the clock by my bedside, searching blindly whilst my face remained stubbornly planted on the pillow.
My nose twitched in irritation when my questing fingers found nothing but empty air. Still, I let my hand wander, whilst my mind calculated the familiar distance that has always been between my clock and my bed.
My face scrunched into a mask of confusion after a few seconds of wandering when my hands came up with nothing but the smooth surface of the nightstand.
Groaning again, a low rumble of defeat, I opened my eyes, not having any other choice but to face the light. The scrunched lines on my face relaxed instantly when I saw my mother standing close to my bed, a short, knowing smile playing on her face as she held the clock out of my reach.
“I still don’t understand your grudge against mornings, especially during school days,” she teased, her voice warm. “Worse, you are keeping the clock from doing its work. Get up, Maya. Today is just Wednesday; you still have two more school days to go before the weekend. Don’t give up yet.”
I sighed tiredly, the weight of the coming day already pressing on my chest.
“Can I sit back today? I can feel a fever coming,” I pleaded, tilting my head with a practiced pout on my lips and sitting up on my bed, clutching the duvet to my chest.
“No, you can’t. That trick wouldn’t be working on me again,” My mother replied firmly, a glint of amusement in her eyes as she put the alarm clock back down on its rack.
I knew that her just concluded statement had been because of the incident last week.
I had faked a fever and had managed to stay home in the glorious silence. Unfortunately for me, I had quit the sheets the moment the door clicked shut and strolled up to the sitting room to watch the TV when everyone was out. I hadn’t expected that she would be coming back so soon to pick up something that she had forgotten at home, and so, I had turned on the music channel, and worse, increased it to the highest volume.
I had been dancing with all my might to the songs, my arms flailing and my heart light, obviously celebrating my freedom from being away from school for a day. Perhaps that had been the reason why I hadn’t heard her come in through the front door.
She had been aghast and terribly annoyed that I had lied to her so boldly. But if she knew what her precious daughter was truly facing in school—the bruises that weren’t just physical—perhaps she would have let me stay, or would have paid some tutors to home-school me in safety.
But alas, telling her would be subjecting her to lots of heavy thinking, and I didn’t want to trouble her already burdened heart with my problems. She already had enough to deal with regarding my two elder siblings, who seem to see me as an outcast because of my wolflessness.
Yes. My name is Maya and I’m the only wolfless girl in my pack. I’m also an omega, or so they say, the lowest of the low. I’m actually beginning to doubt that I’m even a werewolf at all, since my mother is the only one that seems to genuinely like me in the whole pack.
I once asked if I had a different father, because her mate—my father—treated me just like the rest of the pack: like an eyesore, a pariah to be avoided. But she had laughed it off with a strained lightness and had cited that I was rather overthinking, before quickly changing the topic of discussion.
A sharp snap of a finger in front of my face brought me back to the present with a start.
I had zoned out again. I did that a lot these days.
Well, you can’t blame a girl for trying to hide in the safe zone of her mind; in there, I’m in total control of the scenarios that my mind creates, something I definitely don’t have a shred of in the real world.
“What are you thinking about? Get your lazy ass out of the bed now! Breakfast is ready,” My mother stated, her tone shifting to a no-nonsense command. “So, take your bath and hurry out of here. Your siblings are almost done with breakfast and they will soon be off. Be fast, so that you can secure a ride with them.”
When she left, I exhaled heavily, wishing a spirit of sickness would just infiltrate my body right now. Even though I hated the ache of being sick, I preferred that physical pain to going to my lame school, especially today. Today could be tagged doomsday for me.
Taking in a deep, bracing breath, I got up from my bed and trudged to my bathroom to freshen up, not wanting anyone to call me out again for being slow. After I was done, I threw on an oversized polo and oversized jeans, hiding my shape from the world and finishing off the weird look with clunky Nike boots and a baseball cap pulled low.
I didn’t even check myself out in the mirror; I never thought it mattered since, for some cruel reason, my siblings think that I’m fat and ugly. And I didn’t need my reflection to echo that to me.
Not that I even had a mirror… not anymore.
Well, I’m from the only Lycan region in the state. Our Alpha, a Lycan, is a benevolent king—though only to his own pack and colonies. I have heard horrifying, blood-chilled tales about him and his ruthless conquests. No wonder he had had three demons as sons.
I hissed, a sharp intake of air through my teeth, before I could stop myself when I thought of the three boys who appointed themselves as my nemesis. The sound was too loud in the quiet room I just stepped into, instantly attracting the sharp attention of the people on the table.
“Maya, what is the meaning of that? You think that the food we are eating is trash?” my father, Gordon, said out aloud. Hostility rang through his voice like a bell, a coldness that only died down slightly when my mother tapped him gently on his hand.
“I’m sorry, Dad,” I said, my voice barely a whisper. I kept my head hung low, my eyes fixed on the floorboards, and my hands clasped tightly in front of me. I bit my lips hard when I heard my sister scoff, a wet, mocking sound from across the table.
“It’s okay, Maya. Sit down. You are already late for school,” My mother mentioned, her voice a lifeline.
I nodded quickly, before pulling out a chair and sitting down with stiff movements.
We were having a simple breakfast: waffles, eggs, and bacon. So, how could my father say that the reason why I had hissed was because I loathed the food? They were like my favorite breakfast pile!
But I wasn’t surprised though. He never knew anything about me, and he never cared to learn.
