Chapter 2

Maxine's POV

"I can't bear the shame of your failure any longer, Maxine," he spat. "I'm giving you away to Alpha Liam. He's the only Alpha who would take someone like you. Perhaps he can instill some semblance of discipline into you."

The words hit me like a physical blow. For a moment, time seemed to freeze. 

"Don't do this, father," I begged, "Please, don't leave me with him. You heard the stories, I promise, next year I'll come up." 

But my pleas fell on deaf ears. I clung to him desperately, my fingers digged into his legs as he turned to leave. 

The omegas surrounding us pulled me away. I watched helplessly as my father disappeared into the distance, his figure dwindled until he was nothing more than a distant memory.

***

My life was never easy. My mother died giving birth to me. My father wanted a son. 

However, that didn't stop him from giving me a proper upbringing. He hoped I would grow up to inherit his strengths. That wasn't the case. 

And now, after failing to transform and having no Alpha, he has accepted me, he has finally given up on me. 

Despite how much I begged, he turned a blind eye to me. 

"Well, well, well." My new owner, Alpha Liam, entered the room. He had his Omegas toss me into a dungeon. No, a dungeon was tidier than this place. I was basically treated like trash. 

"Are you enjoying your new home?" 

My lips were glued tight as I was overtaken with fear. 

"When I ask you a question, I expect an answer!" His thunderous voice startled me. 

"Y-yes, sir." 

"Good," He snapped his fingers. "That's enough training for now, you can move to a better room." Apparently, he's giving me the carrot and stick treatment. 

Alpha Liam - People revered him as a powerful dictator who was in love with the thrill of a hunt. Battles where most would consider the option to retreat, he merely viewed them as an opportunity. 

Why would father leave me with a man like him? The Omega's led me to my new room. It wasn't a luxury, but it was a thousand times better than the last one. 

The last time I went through such an embarrassing and dreadful moment was during my childhood. 

My father tortured me when I was just twelve years old. All because I was late for my training session. Since then, I have never been late again. 

But this pain, it cut deeper, it was a pain accompanied by abandonment. It carved a larger wound in my already scarred heart. 

"Give it dinner." Alpha Liam ordered his omegas before shutting the door, leaving me to my own misery. 

I huddled against the cold walls, tears mingling with the darkness that enveloped me.

He didn't even refer to me as a person. "It", he called me. 

I cried, and cried, and cried until I was dried out of tears. I was so tired I didn't realize when I dozed off, not caring to touch the morsel of food that was shoved into the room.

I was treated worse than a prisoner. 

When I opened my eyes the next morning, a small glimmer of hope flickered in my chest. Maybe everything that had happened so far was just a nightmare, and I would wake up to find myself back in my old life. But as reality set in, I realized that this was my new normal.

The surrounding silence was deafening, amplifying the emptiness that hung heavy in the air. Time seemed to lose all meaning, disappearing into the abyss of my solitary confinement. All I could feel was despair washing over me like a tidal wave.

I found myself existing in a state of suspended animation, unable to move or think beyond the confines of the cold and sticky ground beneath me. It was as if my world had shrunk down to nothingness, leaving me alone with my thoughts and fears. Despite the overwhelming sense of hopelessness, I knew deep down that I had to keep going. This wasn't the end - it was just a new beginning, and it was up to me to make something out of it.

As I lay there on the ground, contemplating what lay ahead, I felt a newfound sense of strength rising within me. No matter what obstacles came my way, no matter how dark things might seem at times, I knew that I had what it took to overcome them. With each passing moment, I felt more determined than ever before to rise above this challenge and emerge stronger on the other side.

So even though despair threatened to consume me whole, I held onto hope with all my might. For as long as there was even a glimmer of light left in this darkness, there was still a chance for me to find my way out and into a brighter future.

I existed in a state of suspended animation, my world was reduced to the confines of the cold, sticky ground beneath me. 

I ate cold and stale bread, the bed was hard and rough, and it caused my back to ache. 

With the passing of every moment, I was constantly reminded of my vulnerability in this desolate place. 

The icy tendrils of loneliness wrapped around me, suffocating any semblance of hope or comfort.

Every heartbeat echoed with the resonance of solitude, a relentless reminder of my isolation. The shadows danced mockingly, casting eerie shapes against the cold walls, taunting me with their silent laughter. 

I longed for reprieve, for a glimmer of light to pierce through the suffocating darkness and illuminate the path to salvation.

But salvation remained elusive, a distant dream shrouded in the impenetrable veil of despair. 

The darkness pressed in on all sides, its oppressive weight-bearing down on me like a suffocating embrace. 

"When will it end?" 

I yearned for the warmth of human connection, for the comforting embrace of companionship, to banish the shadows that lurked in the recesses of my mind.