Victoria woke in a cold sweat but made no sound. She glanced at the alarm clock next to her head in her headboard cubby. It read midnight. She had made it to eighteen she realized as another wave of pain over took her. She would shift tonight and then she could leave this place forever.
She rose from her bed and made her way silently into the woods. Once she shifted she might find her mate. Maybe he would be from another pack and would take her far away from here.
The cold autumn air filled her lungs as her body began to twist and jerk. A million tiny needles seemed to be poking her skin all at once. She quickly stripped off her pajamas and dropped to all fours. Suddenly the pain eased a little and a deep male voice filled her head. 'Breathe omega. Just breathe.' a large wolf walked into her field of vision and she knew at once that this was Alpha Samuel Blood. He laid down in front of her as if to wait. 'Where is your family? They should be here.'
'Don't want them here.' Victoria barely managed through the link her Alpha had established with her. Normally a family link was the first one established but Victoria knew her parents didn't care if she lived or died during her first shift. Another wave of pain and Victoria crumpled to the forest floor, writhing in silent pain.
'It's okay to scream, little one. I know it hurts the first time.'
'It won't change anything.' And with that the memories of the abuse and neglect flooded the bond. As much as she wished that it hadn't the pain was all to real.
'I will have to speak with my son it seems. That is no way for an alpha to behave.'
'Speak to him if you want alpha blood. But it will not make a difference for me. I'm leaving. I won't stay here.'
'At least let me arrange for you to join another pack. You are to young to be rougue.' the pain eased and she looked down at her trembling paws. The fur was the same copper color as her hair.
'Fine. I will stay until you can arrange for me to join another pack.' She relented, not wanting to argue with the Alpha. He nodded and stood up.
'It's settled then. Run with me for a while.'
'Yes Alpha.' She knew he was slowing his pace for her. He took her to a small pond where she sniffed the scents of the other wolves and got a drink. After that he escorted her back to her pajamas and talked her through shifting back to her human form. When she caught her breath and was once again dressed he took her home.
"It shouldn't take long to make the arrangements, so be ready."
"Alpha! Our daughter-"
"Is right here." Alpha Samuel growled coldly. "Good night, Victoria." With that he turned and walked away. Once he was out of sight Victoria felt her mother grab her arm roughly.
"Where were you? Why are you covered in dirt? You stupid bitch!" She snarled viciously as she dragged her into the house. "You know better than to leave the house without permission!" She slammed the door as she shoved Victoria inside. "Well? Don't you have anything to say for yourself? We were worried sick about you! Answer me!" She grabbed Victoria by the collar and shook her violently.
Victoria just stared impassively at her mother, unphazed by her out burst. 'Why is she angry?' A small whimper came from the back of her mind.
'Who are you?' Victoria asked quietly.
'My name is Cameron. I am your wolf.' Victoria walked down to her basement room and took a quick shower before getting ready for school. She didn't care if her mother was angry at her. She had sighed in frustration and went to care for Victoria's baby brother who had come to see what all the yelling was about.
Victoria made it to school with little time to spare. The day seemed to be normal. She managed to get from class to class without running into Markus Blood and she was thanking the gods as she rushed around the outside of the building to get to math when she hit a solid wall of muscle. She landed hard on her ass as Cameron began to yip excitedly.
"Vic-Victoria?" She looked up to see Markus standing in front of her with a bewildered look on his face. She scrambled back away from him. "Are you okay?" He asked as he took a step towards her. She looked around and saw they were alone.
Victoria leapt to her feet and turned to run away from him. "Wait!" He said as he grabbed her hand gently. "Please don't run. I won't hurt you. I promise."
'Mate!' Cameron shouted happily.
'Cameron no! Not him! Anybody but him!'
"Victoria, I know you feel our bond. Please stop looking at me as if you want to run away." Markus was pulling her towards him slowly.
'I'm so sorry Cameron. I refuse to be his mate after everything he put me through. I have to reject him.' Images of all the times he bullied her ran through her mind and Cameron whimpered.
'Mate hurt us.' She said softly. 'Why would mate hurt us? Does he hate us?'
"Look, I know I haven't been the nicest to you in the past but this is me apologizing and hoping you will forgive me. If you give another chance I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you." He looked at her intensely as he waited for an answer. After five minutes he seemed to realize that she wasn't planning on answering him at all. "Well? Aren't you going to say something?"
"Do you think you deserve another chance?" Her voice was soft and shaking with tears.
"I apologized. What more do you want me to do? Just say the word and I'll do it." She could see tears welling up in his brown eyes.
"Let me go." She said quietly.
"No! If I do you will run. I want you to accept me. Not be afraid of me."
"I, Victoria Heart of the Blood Dawn pack, here by Reject you, Markus Blood of the Blood Dawn pack, as my mate and lover." She felt as if she had ripped out her still beating heart. As she looked up into Markus's stunned face she knew he had felt it as well. "I hate you Markus. Stay away from me." She turned and sprinted into the woods not caring about the rest of the school day. It didn't matter in comparison to the earth shattering pain she was suffering from. She heard Markus gasping for breath as he tried to come to terms with what had just happened.
Lucky for her it wouldn't be long before she left for her new pack. 'I'm so sorry Cameron. I had to do it.' She would never stop apologizing to Cameron for inflicting so much pain on the both of them.