"Mother, are you okay?" Ava asked as she approached her mother gently.
"And what did you mean about history repeating itself?" She inquired curiously.
Sophia wiped her eyes quickly, composing herself.
"I didn't say anything about history. You must have heard wrong." She denied.
"But I clearly heard—" Ava wanted to insist but got cut off.
"Enough! I'm tired, Ava. I need to rest. And bear this at the back of your mind, you can't be with the Alpha's son." Sophia maintained, her voice coming out sharper than she intended.
Ava stood there, watching helplessly as her mother retreated to her room, closing the door firmly behind her.
Inside her room, Sophia collapsed onto her bed, her shoulders shaking with silent sobs.
"The memories I have fought so hard to bury are surfacing again, threatening to destroy everything I have built..." She thought.
"Moon goddess, what am I supposed to do? If she finds out... If anyone finds out the truth..." She whispered into her pillow.
The weight of her secrets pressed down on her chest, making it hard to breathe.
"How can I protect her? How can I tell her the truth without destroying her?" Sophia questioned the empty room, but no answers came.
~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, at the Alpha's manor, Ethan stormed through the front door, his eyes blazing with renewed anger.
"Victoria!" He yelled for his sister angrily.
Then he found her in the living room, holding a mug of tea.
"You have gone too far this time." He snapped at her.
"I was merely putting that omega in her place." Victoria replied flatly, barely glancing at him.
"By physically assaulting her? You could have hurt her!" Ethan growled.
"Oh please, as if I would waste my energy actually hurting her. I was just teaching her a lesson." Victoria scoffed.
"You will stay away from her, Victoria. I mean it." Ethan maintained firmly.
"Or what, dear brother? You will choose her over your own blood?" Victoria stood up, challenging him.
"If I have to—" Ethan wanted to retort but a loud voice stopped them.
"What is going on here?" Alpha Jenkins' deep voice cut through their argument.
Both siblings turned to see their father standing in the doorway, his imposing figure demanding attention.
"Father, nothing important. Just a small disagreement about... pack protocols." Victoria said, quickly composing herself.
Ethan opened his mouth to speak, but Victoria shot him a warning look.
"Really? Because I could hear you two from my study." Alpha Jenkins raised a questioning eyebrow.
"It is about that omega girl, isn't it?" He asked, his eyes fixing on Ethan.
"Father, Victoria attacked—" Ethan began but Victoria interrupted smoothly.
"I didn't even know you know about the escapade already. I was merely concerned about our family's reputation. You know how people talk when they see Ethan with... someone like her." She maintained.
Alpha Jenkins studied both his children carefully before facing the female.
"Victoria, leave us."
Victoria smiled triumphantly at Ethan before leaving the room.
"Son, you need to be more careful about who you associate with. Not everyone in this pack is worthy of a Jenkins' attention." Alpha Jenkins said persuasively and placed a hand on Ethan's shoulder.
"Ava is different." Ethan insisted.
"Different isn't always better, son. Remember who you are. You have to know that she is not in your league. I won't have you embarrass you." Alpha Jenkins declared firmly, his tone low but menacing, left no room for further argument.
~~~~~~~~~~
The following morning at the pack kitchen, Ava tried to focus on her work. But her mother's words and Victoria's threats kept disturbing her mind.
"Ava, what are you doing just standing there?" Lady Hazel, the head cook, called out, sounding as angry and cranky as always.
"Those vegetables won't chop themselves unless you do!" She snapped at her, making Ava snapped out of her thoughts.
"I will get right to it, ma'am." Ava responded, grateful for the distraction.
Then she pushed back the thoughts and started chopping the vegetables.
She was halfway through her task when Elora, another kitchen servant bumped into her deliberately.
"Are you supposed to be standing in the walkway? What is wrong with you?" Elora sneered even though Ava wasn't guilty of the accusation.
"Whatever!" Ava mumbled and ignored her, used to the treatment. Ever since Ethan had started showing interest in her, most of the pack members, especially some servants like her, had grown cold towards her.
The kitchen was unusually quiet. Usually, there would be chatter and laughter, but today everyone seemed to be whispering and throwing glances her way.
"Did you hear? The Alpha's son was seen with her again." One of the younger helpers whispered to another.
"She must have bewitched him somehow. No way would he look at someone like her otherwise. Aren't we just like her, how come he isn't seeing us but only her?" Came the reply.
"I heard Victoria found them together and even punished her." Another voice added.
Ava's hands trembled slightly, but she kept chopping.
"They own their mouths, let them say whatever they feel like saying." Ava thought to herself and scoffed.
"Hey Ava, can you tell us what you did to get the charming Alpha's son wrapped around your fingers?" A harsh voice called out and the others laughed in mockery.
Before Ava could react, someone pushed past her roughly, making the knife in her hand fell.
Everything happened so fast.
There was a crash, a scream, and then silence.
Ava found herself on the floor, surrounded by broken dishes and scattered vegetables. But that wasn't what made everyone gasp.
"She is bleeding!" Someone pointed out.
Ava couldn't tell where the blood was coming from at first. Then she saw it – the deep gash across her palm.
However, that wasn't what frightened her the most.
"Why do they look horrified?" Ava thought to herself as everyone backed away from her.
As she observed, she realized they weren't looking at her wound.They were looking at her blood.
"That is not... that is not normal, is it?" Elora whispered to someone beside her.
"What kind of omega is she?" Sarah asked, her voice trembling.
Ava looked down at her hand, and her heart sank at what she saw.
"What?"
Her blood wasn't red.