Torn Between Mates

“Dear, Moon goddess, please don’t let him hit me tonight,” Maddie prayed as she was getting ready to be picked up by her boyfriend. “Please…” Her voice was a whisper.

He had just called her randomly tonight and said that she should get ready, he wanted to take her out. It seemed like a nice gesture but really it was not. She really wished it was though.

Maddie was too tired to even go out and had told him but he didn’t care, whatever he said was the final say and she could do nothing about it. She was scared of him, he was not afraid to hit her or call her names; he had done so a lot of times already, but she was willing to endure all of that.

Was she stupid? Maybe. She was just an omega who really wanted to be accepted into society, find love and a mate before turning eighteen, and be happy. But besides her many limitations, fear of none of that ever happening really held her back.

Maddie Bennett was an outcast, the lowest of the low in a world that revered high-class werewolves like royalty and treated omegas like her as disposable. Born without knowing her parents, she lived in an omega house, a refuge for the town’s unwanted.

At now seventeen, she had no family, no mate, and little hope. Though she dated, no one saw her worthy to mark her as their own, including her current boyfriend. She was convinced that the guy was only with her because he could, that he had no plans of marking her; but she refused to give up on hope that he could.

The ringing of her phone pulled her from her thoughts and she inhaled sharply when she saw the name on the screen. Jacob. It was her boyfriend. She quickly picked it up in fear and spoke softly, “Yes?”

“Are you ready? I’m almost at your place,” The guy said, his voice deep and manly. His voice was not usually that deep, so maybe he was tipsy already.

She swallowed. “Yes, I’m ready…I just have to put on a jacket, it looks cold tonight.”

“A jacket?” He scoffed. “And mess up the outfit that I got you? F*ck, no. It’s barely cold, Maddie.”

Maddie did not have the nerve to complain. She swallowed again and replied, “Sure, you’re right.” She could literally feel her heart pounding in her chest as she waited for a response.

“Okay, I love you,” He replied in a mumble. “Maddie, I said I love you, say it back.” His tone hardened.

“I love you, Jacob,” She quickly replied, and the call dropped. Maddie could feel some tears welling up in her eyes but she decided to brush aside her emotions and finish getting ready before the guy came.

“Okay, Maddie, you got this,” She whispered to herself. “You just need to keep it together, the night will be over in no time,” She was adamant about motivating herself.

A few moments later, she found herself in the car of her boyfriend, being driven away. “Maddie?” The guy’s voice snapped her from her thoughts. She was often stuck in her mind, it was kind of her safe place.

She did not know she was being taken but she knew she dared not to ask. “Hmm?” She replied, trying to sound nonchalant. “I’m sorry, I was lost in my thoughts,” She confessed, flashing him a forced smile.

Jacob was holding the steering wheel with one hand and a bottle of beer in the other. It was his fourth actually. “That’s why I told you to have a drink or two, but you’re such a f*cking saint, aren’t you?” He laughed.

Maddie hated that he was drinking while driving but if she ever told him that, he might literally hurt her. So she knew how to keep her mouth shut. She swallowed hard, ignoring the sting of his words. “I don’t like the taste of alcohol, Jacob. I told you that.” She turned her attention to the passing scenery, anxiety gnawing at her.

“Suit yourself,” He scoffed, pressing harder on the gas. The car’s speed increased, and Maddie’s heart raced with it.

“What–what are you doing?” Her voice was edged with fear as she turned to look at her boyfriend who looked like he did not give a damn about anything, including their lives.

Jacob didn’t reply, he simply increased the speed of the car even more, the wind blowing in the vehicle freely. They were moving incredibly fast now and he was going all of this while holding the steering wheel with one hand and still taking gulps of the beer with his other.

“Jacob…” Maddie was basically crying from fear as she held her seat tightly.

“Shut the f*ck up and enjoy the ride!” He replied in a hard tone, flooring the gas pedal even more as a smirk grew on his lips.

They were going so fast and Maddie felt like she was about to throw up, her heart was pounding so hard in her chest and she could barely breathe. Her breath was coming in shallow gasps as the car raced down the dark, winding road.

The landscape blurred into a smear of trees and shadows. Her mind raced faster than the car, desperately searching for a way out.

“Please slow down!” Tears freely flowed from her eyes and she felt like she was going to die, her boyfriend was going to kill both of them.

Jacob’s laugh was chilling, with no sense of warmth or humor. “You think you can tell me what to do, Maddie?!” It seemed like he was having fun, playing with their lives as if they had spares. “You’re an omega, a f*cking nobody, so shut the f*ck up!”

“I’m scared, please,” She managed to say the words, full-on sobbing now.

“You’re always scared. That’s why you’re pathetic.” He tossed the empty beer bottle into the back and grabbed another one from under the seat, popping the cap open with one hand.

But just as he was doing that, a blinding light attacked the car and in seconds, they were heading straight into a truck moving towards them. Death smiled at them and Maddie closed her eyes, waiting to accept her fate.