To ruin an Omega

Chapter 280: Hazel of Troy

HAZEL

The water was scalding.

I didn’t complain. What was the point? They scrubbed at my skin like I was something dirty they needed to erase. The soap burned where their nails had broken the skin during the struggle. My ribs ached from where that fist had connected.

I stared at the bathroom tile while they worked. Counted the grout lines. Anything to be somewhere else.

When they finally hauled me out of the tub, my skin was red and raw. They didn’t pat me dry. They rubbed the towel against me hard enough to hurt. I bit the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood.

The dress they forced over my head was simple and plain, nothing like what I enjoyed wearing. There was no embroidery, no fine detail, nothing that felt like me. It looked like the kind of basic dress any Omega might wear.

The only reason that thing existed in my wardrobe at all was for dire moments, when it could be used to play into the purity image men worshipped so blindly.

They combed my hair without care for the tangles. I felt strands rip from my scalp. My eyes watered but I refused to give them the satisfaction of crying again.

When they were done, they stepped back. Delta looked me over like she was inspecting livestock.

“Eat.” She gestured to the tray now on my bed.

I looked at the covered dishes. Then back at her. “I am not hungry.”

Delta’s smile made something cold settle in my stomach. “That is not right.” She tilted her head, and I wanted to slap that expression off her face. “Perhaps when you were a Luna, you could skip meals with ease. But as an Omega, your health needs to be priority. Please eat or we force you to eat.”

The words hit me like another slap. As an Omega. That’s what I was now. Not a Luna. Not even close.

I turned to her fully. “You bitch. You are enjoying this.” My voice came out steady despite everything. “All those years of powerlessness and sucking it up to me. And now you want lickback.” I let out a harsh laugh. “Trust me. I will make you pay for this. What is worse than a bitch who doesn’t know her place is a traitor with no stand.”

Delta’s smile didn’t waver. If anything, it grew. “Make her eat.”

The other Omegas moved toward me.

“Fine!” I grabbed at the tray before they could touch me again. I couldn’t handle their hands on me one more time. I yanked the cover off.

It was oatmeal. There was some fruit and a two toast. It was simple food.

I took the spoon with shaking fingers and scooped up some oatmeal. It tasted like paste in my mouth but I forced it down. I looked at Delta the whole time. You thought. That’s what my expression said. You thought you’d get to force me again.

She just kept smiling.

I was halfway through the bowl when someone knocked on the door.

Delta retrieved the key from her pocket and unlocked it. The door swung open.

Mother walked in first. Then Grandmother Pauline.

For a moment, hope flared in my chest. I barely knew her. But I knew that Grandmother had always been stern to mother. She hated my mother’s guts most of all. Right now, that made us two peas in a pod. She’d understand. She’d see how they’d treated me and put a stop to this madness.

But the look on her face killed that hope before it could fully form. Disdain. Pure, cold disdain was written across every line of her expression.

I set the spoon down carefully and more importantly, I kept my mouth shut.

Pauline’s gaze swept over me. Her lip curled slightly. “Your mother here told me the shit you have been up to. Sleeping with beasts below your station. Acting out irrationally might I add.” She paused. “Unlady like and repulsive.”

Each word was a knife between my ribs.

She turned to the other Omegas who immediately bowed their heads. “Pack her clothes and other necessaries. She and I will be leaving this backwater pack in a few hours.”

My hands fisted in the bed sheets. The fabric bunched between my fingers. I looked at Mother. She wouldn’t meet my eyes. Then back at Grandmother.

That ship had sailed. I wasn’t escaping being shipped off to Lily of the Valley. The reality settled over me like a weight.

And somehow, somehow, Delta found it funny. I caught the corner of her mouth twitching. The sound that came from her throat was completely suppressed but it was there.

That alone… That alone grated against my nerves like sandpaper.

“So I go alone.” The words came out flat. “In territory I do not know. With no support. Friends and family.”

Mother finally looked at me. “It is not the end of the world.” Her voice was gentler now but it didn’t help. “I hear your wedding will most likely be in a month. We’ll be there then.”

“And after that, everyone goes home and I am still there.” I swallowed hard. “I cannot survive a space like that without allies by my side. It is a big pack. It will be cut throat.”

Grandmother Pauline waved a dismissive hand. “I’ll give you one of my Omegas. They will be loyal and cater to your every whim. I’m sure that settles it.”

“And I am grateful for that.” I forced the words out. “But they will still be a stranger in many ways to me.” I looked down at the tray, at the half-eaten oatmeal growing cold. “I would appreciate the Omega you give to me. But it will not make me any less alone.” A bitter laugh escaped. “But I guess this is also a consequence of my stupid actions.”

I turned back to my food and picked up the spoon again even though my stomach churned.

Mother sighed. The sound was heavy in the quiet room. “Delta can follow you then. She is your person.”

My head snapped up.

Fuck, it worked.

I really thought my mother’s heartless little game would stand the test of time. But I underestimated how much sway I had over her heart as well.

I smiled then turned to Delta.

Her face had gone pale white. All the color drained out of it like someone had pulled a plug. Her eyes were wide. Her mouth opened slightly.

Terror. Pure, unfiltered terror.

I turned back to Mother. The smile stayed on my face. “Thank you.”

Delta made a small sound. Almost a whimper.

I took another bite of oatmeal. It tasted so much better now. I chewed slowly, savoring it.

But in truth, I savored the look on Delta’s face more.

She’d wanted lickback. She’d enjoyed every moment of my humiliation. Calling me an equal in more ways than one. The rough hands, the scalding water, the way they’d torn my clothes, hit me and held me down.

And now she was coming with me. To a strange pack. Where I’d have all the time in the world to make her regret every single thing she’d done to me today.

Where there’d be no Mother to run to. No familiar faces to complain to. Just me and her and whatever I decided to do.

The Omegas started pulling clothes from my closet. They moved quickly, efficiently. Packing my life into bags like it meant nothing.

Grandmother Pauline watched them with critical eyes. “Make sure you pack appropriate attire. Nothing too flashy. She needs to present well but not ostentatiously.”

“Yes, ma’am,” one of them murmured.

Mother walked to the window. She looked out at the grounds below. “The car will be ready in two hours. Be prepared.”

I kept eating. Slow bites. Taking my time.

Delta still stood by the door. Her hand had gone to her throat. I could see her pulse jumping there.

Good. Let her be afraid. Let her spend the next two hours imagining what I’d do to her once we were away from here. Once we were in Lily of the Valley where nobody knew her and everybody would know me as their future Luna.

“Hazel.” Mother’s voice pulled my attention. She still faced the window. “Behave yourself at Lily of the Valley. Do not embarrass us further.”

“Of course not, Mother.” My voice was sweet. Compliant. Everything she’d wanted to hear. “I’ll be on my best behavior.”

Pauline snorted. She didn’t believe me.

But it didn’t matter what she believed or did not believe.

I was allowed to act out given I had no more choice in the matter. It would have been no problem at all. If the man that was supposed to take me as his bride wasn’t so hyperfixated on Fi.

I killed the thought because all it did was make me angry.

What mattered at the end of the day was that I was going. That I had no choice. That my life as I knew it was over.

And if I was going down, I was taking Delta with me.

I finished the oatmeal and set the bowl down gently. “May I have some water?”

One of the Omegas hurried to pour me a glass. Her hands shook slightly as she handed it to me.

I drank it slowly. Watching Delta over the rim of the glass. Watching the color refuse to return to her face. Watching her realize exactly what she’d signed up for without meaning to.

Revenge would be bloody. I’d promised myself that in the bathroom while they held me down. To anyone who had done me wrong.

But maybe it could also be slow. Methodical. Drawn out over days and weeks and months.

Maybe that would be even better.

I set the glass down and smiled at Delta again. “I’m so glad you’ll be coming with me. It’ll be nice to have a familiar face.”

She didn’t respond. Couldn’t, probably.

Mother finally turned from the window and looked at me briefly. But she didn’t say a word.

She took a deep breath and then she left. Grandmother Pauline followed.

The door closed behind them with a soft click.

Delta locked it again but her hands fumbled with the key. It took her three tries.

I leaned back against the headboard and watched the Omegas pack my things. I watched Delta try to compose herself and fail.

Two hours until my old life ended completely.

Two hours until my new one began.

And Delta would be there for all of it.