03 Going Through The Motions 3
The truth was, I’d been considering looking for work outside the pack. Back when Tomas and I were together, I felt like I had more freedom. Being his partner meant I could bend the rules a little without much consequence. But now, as just an Omega with no connections, leaving pack boundaries for work could be seen as insubordination. It was a risk I wasn’t sure I could afford to take.
“I thought about it,” I admitted. “But now that Tomas and I are over, I don’t think it’s an option. I’m just an Omega again, Heather. I have no protection.”
Heather’s brows furrowed, her determination flaring. “You don’t need him to protect you, Emma. You’re stronger than you think. If you want to leave, we’ll figure something out. There are opportunities out there, but you have to be brave enough to take them.”
Her words stirred something in me, a tiny ember of hope amidst the ashes. Maybe she was right. Maybe it was time to stop letting the pack, the hierarchy, and Tomas’s betrayal define my life. It wouldn’t be easy, but for the first time, I felt the faintest glimmer of possibility.
“Maybe,” I murmured, though I wasn’t ready to fully believe it yet. Heather didn’t push me.
" Is there any space for me at the diner where you work?” I asked, my voice tinged with desperation. Heather hesitated, her lips pressed tightly together, and I felt my stomach churn. Something was wrong. She was trying to spare me.
“Please, Heather, just tell me. My heart’s too broken for suspense,” I urged, my voice breaking slightly. Her expression softened into one of regret, but the pity in her eyes told me I wasn’t going to like what she had to say.
She sighed deeply. “When Audrey left, I tried to convince the manager to hire you, Emma, but he refused. He said… he said your father’s problems with the mob would be bad for the diner. Everyone in town knows about your father, Emma. They know he owes not just the Salvatore family but three other mob families. It’s not just a small thing anymore—it’s serious. People are scared of your family. They think being close to you puts them at risk.”
Her words hit me like a punch to the gut. Heather’s voice trembled with anger as she continued, her frustration spilling out. “I know he’s your father, Emma, but I hate him for what he’s done. He’s still gambling! Thinking he can win enough to fix everything when all he’s doing is sinking you further into trouble. Why can’t he work? Why can’t he just stop and get a job to pay off his debts?”
I didn’t respond immediately, my mind a storm of emotions. Anger. Embarrassment. Shame. She wasn’t wrong. My father’s gambling was the root of so many of my problems, and while I couldn’t change the past, I hated him for how his choices had made our family outcasts. No one wanted to associate with us for fear of being dragged into his mess. Even in Celio, a town trying to resist the mob’s control, we were considered dangerous by proximity.
I sighed, trying to push down my emotions. Heather wasn’t wrong to feel the way she did. I couldn’t even argue with her, though the words hurt. Marrying me would have meant Tomas was tied to the mob through my father. That much was undeniable. I hated Tomas for his betrayal, but even I couldn’t fully blame him for wanting to avoid the disaster my family represented.
As the evening fell, Heather suggested we go to the pack’s forest to run in our wolf forms. At first, I hesitated. My body felt heavy with exhaustion, and my heart still ached. But the idea of escaping, even temporarily, was too tempting to resist. I needed the freedom that came with running as a wolf, the liberation of shedding my human troubles.
The walk to the forest was long, but Heather and I chatted to keep our minds occupied. As we passed through the streets, whispers and laughter followed us. I didn’t need to hear the words to know what they were saying.
The gossip was always the same: Emma, the desperate Omega, trying to claw her way up the ladder by snagging a beta. They laughed at how miserably my plan had backfired, how Tomas had discarded me for someone more “suitable.” They thought I was a fool, and honestly, they weren’t entirely wrong. I had believed I was in love, believed Tomas loved me back. But to him, I was just a convenient distraction, a placeholder until his true match came along.
Heather squeezed my arm gently, grounding me. “Ignore them,” she said softly, and I nodded, forcing a smile. I wouldn’t let their cruel words sink in. Not tonight.
When we reached the forest, we stripped off our joggers and tucked them into the hidden hole of an old tree. It was our secret spot, one we’d discovered as children. We always hid our clothes there before shifting, knowing it was a safeguard against the pranks some wolves liked to play. If your clothes got stolen, you’d have to go home in human form, stark naked, which often resulted in embarrassment—or worse, a run-in with the human police.
For Omegas like us, being caught streaking meant humiliation and punishment. We couldn’t afford that.
Once our clothes were safely hidden, we shifted. My wolf form felt like a release, a shedding of all the pain and burdens of my human life. As my paws hit the earth and the wind ruffled my fur, I felt alive in a way I hadn’t in weeks. I pushed myself to run faster, letting the forest blur around me as I raced ahead. Heather’s wolf followed close behind, her presence steady and comforting.
In this form, I felt free. Free from heartbreak. Free from my father’s failures. Free from the whispers of the pack. If only I could stay in wolf form forever. Life would be simpler, purer, without the constant weight of societal expectations or family disgrace.
We ran until the moon climbed high into the night sky, our wolves reveling in the exhilaration of movement. For those precious moments, I wasn’t Emma the Omega. I wasn’t a girl scorned by her lover or crushed by her father’s debts. I was just a wolf, wild and unburdened, running under the stars.