Dove
It’slikeI’mrunning through a pit of tar as I will my sluggish legs to move.
By some miracle, I made it to the mainland, and now I run on foot through an overgrown forest. I won’t give up; I refuse to be the archetypal lost princess in a fairy tale. I am not the damsel in this tale.
I will be the hero; my own hero. What other choices do I have? It’s not as if three shining white knights on horseback will come and rescue me anytime soon.
That sweet little girl who once dreamed of falling in love is long gone now. She got slapped in the face by cold hard reality, and it hurt. A lot. Yet she got herself back up and carried on.
That’s the only thing I can do now. I am not weak. I will prove to the world that omegas are strong.
As if to add insult to injury, I trip on a twisted tree root, landing gracefully on my arms, and I just hope to God that there aren’t any traps hidden in these woods. Gin traps are the worst. They trap the animal’s foot, breaking its leg in the process, and I shudder, scrambling back to my feet.
I will not become prey. It’s just unfortunate that I lost my shiv at sea. Now I don’t have a means of protecting myself from alphas and predators alike.
I’m not completely helpless though. I used to hunt with my grandfather back when we lived in our cabin, so I have some knowledge of the wilderness.
My grandparents were the only family I had in the world, and now they’re dead. Killed by the government just because they loved their omega granddaughter.
The moment I awakened at the age of sixteen, they carted me off to the woods, and we managed to live in our own mini paradise until the government found us.
It’s a day that will forever be etched in my memory. The day that I saw my grandparents die before my very eyes.
We had strayed too close to a town one day, and then someone reported us to the government. All omegas are to be reported to the government from the moment they awaken, and anyone who is caught harboring one is to be sentenced to death.
I’m a valuable specimen, after all. How dare my selfish grandparents keep me all to themselves.
We were too poor to afford suppressant pills to hide my designation, so we had no choice but to hide in the woods. My grandfather had been an alpha and my grandmother a beta. If it weren’t for my grandfather, I would have considered all alphas cruel, but he’d been one of the kindest souls I ever knew.
And now he’s gone.
Why did I have to awaken as an omega? Why couldn’t I have just been beta like my father? It’s not fair. But life isn’t fair. No point in dwelling on what could have been. Best to focus on the future.
That’s all I have now.
I wipe my dirty arms and legs. I’m covered in cuts and bruises, and it won’t be long until I drop from exhaustion. Yet I can’t stop. There’s no time for rest.
My mind wanders to Ravyn. Was it the same for her after she escaped?
Ravyn was not your typical omega. She was not soft-spoken, sweet, or well-mannered. While she may have been beautiful, she had a dirty mouth, and it got her in trouble far too many times.
That was why she had to escape in the end. They were going to humanely euthanize her. That’s killed, for those in the back row. Ravyn was a broken omega who could never be tamed. She had too much free will. Too much individuality.
The alphas at the OCC hate that.
I was always more lenient. When I first arrived at the compound, I was terrified and I could barely meet anyone's eyes. I never even knew how to fight.
While others may describe me as shy and weak, Ravyn knew deep down that I had fire in me. She taught me how to fight, and it always annoyed the heck out of Lark—our third cellmate. I can almost hear the redheaded omega whispering in the dark again (Ravyn always trained me after the lights went out).
“You two are going to get yourselves killed…”
Lark knew how to be a good omega, and I hope she found happiness after she left the OCC.
I stop reminiscing about the past, pausing at the sound of rushing water, and my heart leaps to my throat.
A stream.
I’m so thirsty; I’ve been running for hours. I swallowed far too much seawater after I escaped the compound, so I’m seriously dehydrated right about now.