THE RISE OF AN OMEGA

Isabella’s POV

I had made up my mind to go with Kira and Ryker to find the moonstone. Due to my personality, people found it hard to believe that I was really going with them. Kira and I had bad blood between us a few months ago.

Okay, let me rephrase that. I was the one who had hated her for no just reason. Maybe I was jealous that I could see and tell that Ryker had fallen in love with her, even though he tried to hide it so I wouldn’t notice, but I did.

Ryker and I were engaged at the time, but due to my thirst for more power and desire to be greater, I couldn’t remain in the pack. I wanted to go out to fight and get stronger. The Luna of a pack isn’t permitted to do things like that, but I wasn’t just any kind of wolf; I was different.

I wasn’t wired the same way most female wolves were. Some female wolves feel like the best thing that could happen to them was to be mated or married to an Alpha, but I didn’t feel like that.

I loved Ryker, but not enough for me to quench my hunger for more power, the will to get stronger. So that was why I left the pack.

Coming back to meet Kira in the pack, seeing the way Ryker looked at her and the way he would protect her whenever matters concerning her came up, made me angry. It made me sad and jealous, so I hated her.

And then when I heard she had become the Moonkeeper, it annoyed me even more. I wanted to test her power, so I called for a duel. Surprisingly, I was defeated, but I wasn’t truly shocked. I had sensed that she was a strong one from the very first time I saw her.

It’s probably another reason I disliked her too. She was strong but she didn’t know her strength; she was oblivious. She was scared and had a weak heart but a strong resolve. All of those were what made her weak, but after my fight with her, it was as if she evolved.

Seeing her take me down made me angry, but also I was glad that we had a female wolf with such strength on our side. Before Kira, no one else could defeat me. Ryker could try, but he would have a tough time.

Another event that increased the respect I had for her was what she did during the battle with Asher’s pack. So I already had a soft spot for her in my heart.

That day, I swore to devote my life and time to her because it was worth it. All my life, I had been waiting for someone who could reduce me, who could make me want to bow, want to serve, and I found that person.

Kira.

So when she and Ryker came talking about the moonstone journey, I didn’t even think twice about joining the crew that was going.

We set out for the moonstone forest. The journey took days and nights, but finally, we got there. We arrived at a strange place, and then we walked up to the location, hoping to see what would crawl out from under. That was when the ground beneath us quaked, and we all fell in.

I opened my eyes to darkness, with the smell of dust, rocks, and debris making my nose itch. I didn’t need to call the names of the rest, as I could only hear one single heartbeat. I knew it was only I and someone else that was there, so I followed the heartbeat sound to find the person.

And then I saw Marcel under rocks; I helped him up. Shortly after, I began to hear a faint heartbeat. I knew that it was Clara’s. We both helped her out.

While trying to find a way out, something came to attack us. We were able to save ourselves, but something more eerie, more powerful came, and it was really terrifying.

I had never felt fear in a long time, but this energy that surrounded us sent shivers down my spine. The shivers I felt were the last thing I felt in the real world, only to wake up in a dark place.

It felt like I was staring into the abyss; nothing was there, no sign of life. And then suddenly, everything changed into a somehow familiar environment.

Why am I here?

What’s this place? I thought.

I began to walk down the tiny path road. As I went deeper into the path, I began to remember the place.

This place.

It was where I had spent my childhood days as an adopted kid with my adopted parents.

As I went closer, I saw a house. Our house.

That wasn’t the most surprising part of it all; I suddenly saw my little self playing around in the little garden on the balcony of our home. Smiling and laughing happily, but the happiness was soon cut short when my adopted father came and held me by the ear, pulling my ears.

It hurt. That wasn’t all; as he pulled little me’s ears, I could feel the pain too. Suddenly, a wave of bitterness hit me.

"I have told you not to ever come back here, you weak, useless bitch," he yelled.

"I am sorry, Dad, please, it hurts," my little self said, begging him, but he was adamant.

"You never listen to instructions, Isabella. I will make sure you regret this," he said, his voice firm.

He pulled the little me to the fields where he had a pole stand, rested me on it, and began to tie me around it.

Adult me begged and cried, but he couldn’t even hear me. I couldn’t even touch him or even her; I couldn’t touch anything in this place. It felt like I was a spirit. I was feeling every pain that the little me was going through.

After he had tied me up, little me kept on begging for mercy, but he didn’t listen. He brought out a long whip, and he used it on me.

Suddenly, I was replaced by little me. I was the one tied to the pole. My father kept beating me until I passed out.

I opened my eyes in a very quiet place. As I looked around, I tried to find my adopted father, but he was nowhere to be found.

I heaved a deep sigh of relief. I still felt every single pain. It was so fresh.

Why was I going through something that I had gone through years ago? Why was I going through things that I had buried a long time ago?

I thought for a while, but I couldn’t find any answer. I knew that something eerie was in play; I knew that there had to be something dark surrounding all this.

But how to get out of it, I didn’t know.

Just as I sat on the floor, I began to hear familiar laughter, the laughter I dreaded for a very long time, the laughter that abused me, the laughter that tormented me for years.

"Who’s this beautiful she-wolf?" one of the four men asked, grinning.

"She’s beautiful indeed," the second one said.

"I would love to experiment on her," the third one said, licking his lips.

I tried to stand up, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t even feel my strength; I felt weak just like I was when I was ten.

It dawned on me that I was reliving that horrible scenario. I felt helpless and weak; I tried to cry for help, but no sound came out of my mouth.

What’s going on?

Why can’t I fight back?

"Let’s all take turns in knowing how sweet she is," the fourth man said.

"No, please, you can’t do this to me," I begged.

But they all grinned ominously.

And that’s how they came at me one by one, raped me.

Until the fourth person. When he was done, I couldn’t move; tears rolled down my eyes.

They all giggled as they spat on me before finally walking away.

I still didn’t understand why I was going through all these things.

As if that wasn’t enough, I saw myself back in my adopted father’s apartment. I still felt the pain from being molested by the four men. They were wolves; I had claw and fang marks all over my body.

My father called me and saw those marks and assumed I had been messing around with boys at a young age. He pounced on me and began to beat me.

And then the part I hoped wouldn’t happen, happened.

"You’ve tasted young princes; now you are going to know how old princes taste like," he laughed ominously.

As he was about to enter inside me, my adopted mother came in. I had hoped she would stop everything, but she only looked at me briefly. Even though my eyes were beckoning her for help, she turned a blind eye and left the room.

I was raped by my adopted father.

The news went around the community that I had seduced my father and some other men into having sex with me, so people hated me. They cursed me, stoned me, and banished me.

As I walked down the lonely path, sad, tears rolling down my eyes, I saw a strange passage to my left. Something kept calling to me, promising me revenge and power if I came in.

Without thinking twice about it, I headed in the direction of the voice. As I went through, I was suddenly pulled out of the realm of unending nightmares.

Coming back to reality, I still felt so much pain, and I was reminded why I became so brutal and merciless.