V I C T I M
All of the wolves in my pack were taught the same things.
Present only at the Presenting Ceremony.
Share your heats/ruts only with your mated partner.
Do not kiss until the priest gives permission at the Mating Ceremony.
Hugs are never permitted between those of opposing secondary sexes, unless they are in your family.
I personally thought the rules were bullshit, but the Preservee Pack looked down on you if you betrayed these traditions.
While I didn’t fully understand, this pack was still my family, I belonged to them. So when I was torn away from them, and chose to break all of the rules I was grown up to follow, there had to be a good reason? Well, I guess I’ll let you figure out for yourselves.
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The most dangerous pack was the Corrupts. They were led by the most feared man known to man, Landon Hill. Even saying his name was enough to get repulsed looks by everyone around. Nobody knew what he looked like, which made everyone constantly on edge, even though it was highly unlikely that Landon would ever come to our pack, there were reports of murders taken place in the pack community next to us, and the way they were killed were supposedly so gruesome and vulgar that only Landon Hill would ever do it.
All of the victims were unmated, female omegas, which meant that the unmated female omegas in our pack were heavily monitored for safety, and guess what? I just so happened to be an unmated, female omega. But I doubt that Landon Hill would ever want anything to do with me, so I felt comfortable for the time being. I obviously wasn’t the prettiest in the pack, but I preferred it like that. I didn’t like attention.
The best times in my life was being able to sit around and bullshit with my two best friends. They shared the same opinions and perspectives as I did, but the wildest of us was Josie. Josie secretly had a boyfriend who was an alpha. Typical people from the Preservee Pack would think Josie was disgusting for dating Justin while not mated, but me and Olivia understood. We were only 19, and our parents were pressing us to find our mates soon. Normally people in this particular pack were mated by the age of 21, and having pups by 25. We didn’t blame Josie for having a boyfriend, and we were both happy that she trusted us enough to tell us.
“Guys. I think I might be pregnant.” Josie blurted out one night while we were at my house. Luckily, nobody was home, but Olivia spit her water out and sprayed it all over us.
“PREGNANT?” Olivia and I said in unison. That wasn’t possible! Our parents told us all that in order to conceive pups, you had to be mated first. Unless that was all a lie that parents told children as an enforcer to follow all of the rules.
“Well yeah. I haven’t gotten my heat yet, and it’s weeks past due, and I’ve been moodier and my boobs have been really-” Josie got cut off by Olivia placing a hand on her mouth to shut her up.
“I don’t understand, Jo. I thought that you and Justin had to be mated in order to have pups.” Olivia said what was on both of our minds.
“That’s what I thought too! Justin and I came to the conclusion that our parents were lying to us. They didn’t want us to have sex with anyone until we were mated, which is pretty understandable, but I wish that they would have just told us so we could be prepared. Even if it is looked down upon.”
Me and Olivia each took deep breaths before we each grabbed one of Josie’s hands, squealing “WE’RE GONNA BE AUNTIES!”
Josie let out a relieved exhale and smiled at both of us. “Thank you,” she said “thank you both so much for supporting me.”
We leaned in to give her a hug, “of course, babe. We always have your back. We all have each other’s back.” I said.
--
Days passed, and on Friday, when me, Josie and Olivia would normally meet up, Josie didn’t show. It wouldn’t have been a big deal if she had called or texted us, but the fact that she didn’t and she was carrying pups? Olivia and I began to panic.
So, when we saw Justin walking past the café, we immediately ran after him.
“Justin!”
He turned around in a full 360 before giving us a smile and a wave. We rushed up to him, “Justin! Have you seen Josie? She isn’t answering us and we’re worried because she’s with-” I said, almost blurting out that she was with pups when Justin immediately clasped a hand over my mouth. After giving a questioning look, I nodded and he removed his hand.
“No. I haven’t. I was actually on my way to her house to bring her some vitamins and food that’s apparently good for the baby, do you guys want to tag along?” He asked and we both nodded. He said it quietly that only we could hear before we turned to the direction of Josie’s home.
Me and Olivia were always a few steps ahead of Justin, who was keeping his composure whilst me and my friend were jumping to the worst possible scenario. Maybe it was just an omega thing- overthinking- but as we approached her house, we knew we weren’t just overthinking.
Police cars swarmed outside of her house, and that’s when Justin finally realized that something was wrong. He dropped the bags he had been carrying and darted to the fence, if he had to run any further he might have shifted, but he reached the fence before the fur could surface to his skin.
“What’s going on?” He asked immediately and the officer looked at his neck for any mating marks.
“I can’t disclose that information, son. You aren’t the victim’s mate.”
Me and Olivia let out a growl before walking over to the officer.
“Victim? What do you mean victim?” I said. Justin was fighting his inner alpha, I could tell. It wanted to surface and figure out where his girlfriend- and most importantly his pup- was. He was letting off a sour scent that made even the officer flinch. I knew that if he continued, he would be detained, and by the look of things, Olivia did as well. So, I walked over to the distressed alpha while Olivia pressed the police officer for more information.
“Hey, listen. Calm down.” I said before pulling Justin into an embrace. I didn’t care if I lost the respect of everyone who was watching, it wasn’t technically a law that said unmated omegas and alphas could hug, it was just something society expected.
I could tell from the sound of Justin’s heart that he was struggling not to break down right now, and I was feeling the same, but I needed to stay strong for Justin. He was a good friend of mine, and him seeing me succumb to sadness might just push him over the edge.
A few minutes later, Olivia came over and joined us in the hug, and the three of us stood there in an embrace, we eventually broke apart because we needed to hear what Olivia had found out, and by the paleness of her face, I could tell it wasn’t good news.
“There’s really no easy way to say this. Last night, Josie was um, she was dismembered.” She said before letting out a choked sob. Justin took a huge breath before turning his attention back to the police officer before him. He began to let off an intimidating scent as he store the beta officer in his eyes, letting out a threatening growl.
“Listen. The ‘victim’ was my girlfriend. She was also pregnant with my pup. I want to know what happened to her. I have the right.”
The officer’s face scrunched up for a second before relaxing and taking a deep breath.
“Josie Miller was found in an alleyway last night. She had been decapitated and her organs were taken. We believe the person responsible was the leader of the Corrupts, Landon Hill. I’m very sorry for your loss. Therapy programs, as you know, are provided for those who have lost their pup.” The officer recited.
I heard from far away, and felt my knees about to give out. My best friend was murdered by the leader of the Corrupts.
Landon Hill was now in my pack territory and now? We were all in danger.
I was incredibly afraid that I could’ve jinxed myself by saying I wasn’t worried about getting harmed by the Corrupted, and that Josie’s death was a way of the world mocking me.
