Nevada was already conscious. However, he refused to open his eyes and wake up to a very disappointing reality.
Well, not exactly his reality, but technically.
Nevada wasn't even sure if he passed out from his condition, or because he was too shocked at the current events.
But he was certain that he wasn't feeling well in both mind and body, so he decided to rest a little longer.
Still, no matter how much he willed himself to go back to sleep, he felt too uncomfortable.
The woman inside the room, who was sitting at his bedside, saw his eyelashes flutter.
She raised her hand to caress his cheek, but quickly pulled away when Nevada unconsciously made a woeful sound.
The boy was burning hot to the touch, but she couldn't do anything since it wasn't just a simple fever.
"My dear cub, are you feeling uncomfortable?" she weakly asked as she carefully placed more soft pillows around him.
Nevada pretended to be asleep even with the very uncomfortable feeling churning in his stomach.
He suppressed himself from making a ruckus at the cringy sound he had made at that slightest touch.
He felt hot all over, but he knew that what was happening to him was not just a simple sickness.
Since he couldn't fall asleep, he chose to scroll through the resources the system had downloaded for him.
The faster he could digest all the necessary information, the quicker he could adjust and plan what to do.
He needed it now more than anything because he realized he was sent to the wrong timeline.
Unreliable system, he darkly whispered in his heart.
Probably the only good thing about this system was its slight convenience. He could use it with his eyes closed and without moving a single muscle.
According to the information that came with the system package, this woman who was taking care of him was his foster mother, Miranda, who also happened to be the pack's luna.
Miranda was a kind and thoughtful mother to the previous Nevada. Her husband and the alpha of the Blue Crescent Pack was called Theodore.
The luna was infertile, so they both agreed to raise Nevada when they found him one winter day.
He was buried under a pile of snow, thin and malnourished, like he had been there for days but was still breathing and struggling to survive.
The couple raised him as the next alpha who will inherit the pack without investigating his origins.
Despite the contradictions of some elders and members, they still pushed through.
They also knew something was wrong when he grew up to possess a beauty that not even the most beautiful girl in their pack could rival.
The couple thought that it could be because of his parents' genes who must have been good-looking people. They also brushed off his thin and pale build with the same reason.
However, everything led to the present events.
Theodore was off somewhere trying to resolve their problem. He held such a grand naming ceremony, even inviting a few neighboring packs, only to be disgraced and humiliated.
Some wolves lost their reason and are still unconscious. Others, especially those who did not have a partner yet, developed an unhealthy desire for the wolf who had just come of age, Nevada, an omega.
Alphas went home as it was inappropriate to have outsiders staying in a pack where an omega was in heat and did not have a mate yet.
Most importantly, the lunas and other she-wolves developed a fierce hate for the omega.
Nevada thought he could still fend them off.
According to the information, he was a dominant omega. Normal alphas and ordinary wolves will be affected by his scent, and he could use that to his advantage.
However, the dominant alphas will be an issue.
Lucky for him, although the knowledge of this world about omegas and pheromones were still very lacking, he has the system backing him up.
The information was incomplete, but it could still use some help.
"How is he?" Nevada heard someone step in his room and recognized Theodore's voice through the original Nevada's memories.
"Unwell and uncomfortable. Honey, he doesn't have a mate yet," Miranda said, voice laced with warm concern.
Having no mate means either looking for someone who could temporarily mark and close his glands, or enduring the pain of never feeling the satisfaction his body needed.
But his parents did not want to decide for him, and they didn't know who to trust at this time.
With a heavy sigh, Theodore sat on the sofa and guided his wife to sit beside him.
"Listen to me."
Nevada's ears were alert. The couple was now whispering, but he could still hear them crystal clear since the room was quiet.
"The news has already spread and reached White Moon. It is out of our control now. The best we can do at this time is defend our territory and protect the pack. About our son…"
Theodore was not able to finish talking as Miranda's sobs already filled the entire room. Theodore closed his eyes and tightened his lips before standing up abruptly.
After embracing his tearful wife, he made his leave.
Nevada did not need to hear the details in full. He had the resources, plus it was obvious.
Omega was usually synonymous to the word "liability". His heat was going to be a burden if he didn't have a compatible alpha or a mate.
He was weak and would not be able to protect himself if he didn't know how to use his pheromones.
The most common course to omegas like him were either to be sold off or exiled. But omegas always have the same fate: die miserably.
In the original plot, his parents were too busy defending their pack that he was neglected. In the end, they were defeated and imprisoned, while the pack was colonized and their son led a tragic life.
Fortunately, Nevada had the resources and knew more things than the original owner of this body.
He was at an advantage, so he could do more and would have a more appropriate ending.
'Speaking of which, System, are you there?' Nevada called in his mind.
A static sound appeared out of nowhere till a familiar mechanical voice was heard.
[The system offers a 23-hour customer service. Do you need help?]
'Why does this person have the same name as me?' Nevada asked, pertaining to Nevada in the dimension he is in.
[This is also you, but in a different world.]
Nevada was stunned.
'So it was actually like that,' he thought.
He turned somber at the thought that this Nevada was a pitiful version of him.
'What happened a while ago, anyway? Why am I already sixteen?'
[To answer the host, there was a sudden glitch in the system. It landed you in the wrong timeline. Until the host finds the errors and fixes them, there will be more unexpected events like this in the future. Thanking the host for his patience.]
More errors.
Nevada's ears were going to fall off from hearing the word every time the system communicated with him.
The more Nevada listened, the uglier his expression was.
Miranda, who was sobbing earlier, had calmed down and was now wiping sweat off his son's face and neck. She worriedly took away the cloth when her son made such an expression.
"Dear? My little cub, mom is here," she comforted him.
Not knowing where to place her hands, she instead put them down and gripped her skirt.
Internally, Nevada was cursing the system, 'Fucking useless. Why am I even here, there is no helping this hopeless system.'
The system that gave such a bad first impression can only keep quiet and cry without tears.
Nevada did not reply any more while the aggrieved system remained silent, afraid to disgust its host more.
Nevada learned about the werewolves, about packs and ranks, the mind link, bonds, and most importantly, about heat cycles and omegas.
His already red face turned even redder, worrying Miranda until she could not bear it and had to step out.
She felt frustrated and sad at not being able to help her son that she could not watch him any longer.
The moment the door closed, Nevada opened his eyes and finally saw what the place he was in looked like.
A simple bedroom with nothing intimate except for the few picture frames displayed by his bedside table.
Nevada struggled to sit up, ignored the embarrassing state of his lower body, and leaned his back to the bed's headboard. He was still trying to adjust and make sense of all the information he read.
If the current events were still following the original timeline, then it should be any time now.
Just as he was thinking of it, the door to his room already flew open.
"Tie him up!" The leader of the girls who intruded into his room commanded, and he couldn't do anything other than to let them handle his sensitive body roughly.
Nevada braced himself.
He was just about to receive the very first beating of his life.