“My children,” the Goddess greeted in silvery tones.
I didn’t lift my head. I didn’t want to look at her. Not when I knew what she was going to command.
“Your lives have been difficult of late. I am pleased that you still remember to show me gratitude despite the trials you have faced. For this, I will give you a blessing. The darkness in the valley has not been vanquished, and you are its next target.” The Goddess paused briefly as murmurs of fear flowed through the pack.
Jace stepped forward. “We thank you for this warning, Goddess. It is a blessing to know what to look for.”
I lifted my head then, staring at the beautiful woman bathed in silver light. She tilted her head toward us, a small smile playing on her lips.
“My blessing, Jace Murdoch, is this. I will tell you the omega whom the four alphas must take to wife to protect this pack. She is the one the darkness wants to destroy. And she is the one who will save you, if you will let her.”
The murmurs grew louder, though I didn’t see how anyone couldn’t have expected this.
Who is it?I clamped my jaws over the question. My wolf snarled, tail swishing. For the good of the pack, I would accept any of them. Even though I hated omegas, I loved the pack too much to defy the Goddess.
“Jasmine Philips,” the Goddess cried. “Step forward.”
Chapter 2 - Jasmine
“Jasmine Philips, step forward.” The Goddess’s lovely face pointed directly at me as she spoke.
My hands felt cold. My stomach turned, and my head felt so light I thought I might pass out here and now. At first, I was certain that I’d misheard. Maybe she had demanded Jaspine Phipils. It took me a moment to realize that the omegas around me, the ones that had avoided me through the years to ensure they weren’t caught in the crossfire, had backed even further away from me.
“Jasmine,” the Goddess called again. She gestured toward me, a small smile on her lips. “Yes, it is you that I called.”
Everyone was staring at me. Well, everyone except one particular alpha. Owen’s dark brown hair hid his face from me as he kept staring at the ground, but every inch of him was tense. The other three were tense, too, and angry, but not like him. I slowly started forward, my breath shallow in my lungs. Would the Goddess send a bolt of lightning to take me out if I tried to run?
Probably. And it wasn’t death itself that I should be afraid of, but rather what would happen to my soul next. There was an afterlife, there had to be, so what sort of punishment awaited a lowly omega who defied the Goddess in such a way?
I tried not to look at the alphas. I tried to keep my eyes on the Goddess, telling myself that she knew what she was doing and she wouldn’t decide to hand me over to my tormentors for no reason. But I couldn’t keep my eyes on her.
Owen Niche. Dark brown hair. Light green eyes. The occasional tattoo. The first boy who had ever hit me when wewere five years old. I heard he still had anger issues, though I hadn’t interacted with him in years now.
Jace Murdoch. Golden blond hair. Dark brown eyes. No tattoos that I knew of, which was a shame, because they’d look good on him. Out of all the alphas, he was the one that I distrusted the least. He always seemed to be level-headed when talking to the pack.
Killian Thompson. Black hair. Violet eyes. Both ears were pierced, along with one eyebrow. He was the most beloved of our alphas, the one that everyone wanted to fall into bed with, even the pack members who weren’t attracted to men. Hell, even I would have gladly let him take my virginity once, even when he was tormenting me.
Renz Hattie. Dark blond hair. Dark blue eyes. Absolutely covered in tattoos. I heard he got a new tattoo every time someone mentioned that it looked unprofessional or said they didn’t like it. He was an alpha that always did his own thing, damn the consequences.
And now I was going to be their wife.
I reached the stage and climbed up, bowing low toward the Goddess. I wanted to say something. I probably should have humbly thanked her, but my tongue was glued to my teeth, and I couldn’t think of what to say.
Except to beg her not to make me do this.
“Jasmine Philips is the omega of my choice, to be wife to the four Alphas of Tyrell,” the Goddess said. She stretched out a hand over me, but didn’t touch me. “You will act accordingly.”
The silvery light faded, leaving me half-hunched, my newly betrothed having witnessed it silently. They didn’t say a word. Neither did I. The pack looked on in horrified silence.
It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.
I’d longed for a different life. Ever since I was small, I’d been treated with mistrust and disrespect. All omegas were charged with being secretly evil, just not evil enough to warrant capital punishment. I couldn’t recall a time in my life when I wasn’t aware I was treated differently from the other orders within the pack.
But I ended up being singled out, even among the omegas. It started with Owen, and that day he hit me. The teachers on the playground saw it happen and scolded me for being in the playground. Omegas weren’t allowed to play with the children of other orders, so it was only right for Owen to discipline me.
From then on, I became his personal target. And since the other three were his best friends, they followed his lead. They went out of their way to be cruel to me, all the way through to our teenage years. They were the main reason why I was homeschooled all through high school.
Since even then, they were going to be the next alphas, nobody questioned their treatment of me. The others in the school followed them, tormenting me. There was only once when they used their influence to exert any measure of protection, and that was when my life was threatened. The four of them had taken over the town’s radio system and unequivocally condemned violence against the omegas, and called me out by name.
