The Weak Omega Is Hidden Luna

"Move your desk, Elowen. You're breathing my air."

I gripped the edge of my wooden desk and dragged it an inch to the left. The metal legs scraped harshly against the linoleum floor.

"Further," Chloe snapped.

I didn't argue. I pulled the desk again, widening the empty gap between us. On my right, a boy named Mark had already shoved his table entirely into the aisle just to avoid sitting near me. An invisible quarantine zone formed around my seat.

"I don't know why they even let her take AP Calculus," Mark muttered to Chloe, not bothering to lower his voice. "It's a waste of a seat."

"Right?" Chloe rolled her eyes. "She's an Omega. She doesn't need math to pop out pups."

I kept my eyes glued to my notebook. My handwriting blurred for a second, but I blinked the moisture away. Senior year at Fogwood High. My final countdown. Just a few more months of this, and I would be gone.

The lunch bell screamed through the hallways.

Chairs scraped. Backpacks zipped. The classroom emptied in seconds. No one looked at me. No one ever did, unless they wanted a target.

I packed my textbooks, grabbed my brown paper lunch bag, and slipped out the back door.

The cafeteria was a war zone I refused to enter. Instead, I navigated the back corridors, avoiding the main locker bays, until I reached the old physical education storage room. The heavy metal door creaked as I pushed it open. Dust danced in the single beam of sunlight cutting through the high window.

I sat on a stack of blue gymnastic mats and pulled out my homemade turkey sandwich.

"Just get through today," I whispered to the empty room.

I spread my mock exam papers across the mat. The college entrance exams were next week. My grades were the highest in the district. It was my only ticket out of this prejudiced, suffocating town.

The metal door slammed open, rebounding off the concrete wall with a deafening crack.

I jumped, clutching my sandwich.

"Look what we found hiding in the dark."

Raven strutted into the room. She was an Alpha, tall and broad-shouldered, with a cruel smirk permanently etched into her face. Three girls trailed behind her, blocking the only exit.

"I'm just eating lunch, Raven," I said, keeping my voice steady.

"Did I give you permission to speak?" Raven stepped closer. Her heavy sneakers thudded against the floor.

"I'm not bothering anyone."

"Your existence bothers me," she shot back.

Raven kicked her leg out. Her boot caught the edge of my plastic tray. It flipped into the air.

My sandwich hit the filthy floor. The open carton of milk tipped over, sending a white, sticky wave directly across my mock exam papers.

"No!" I dropped to my knees.

I scrambled to pull the papers away, but it was too late. The milk soaked through the thin sheets. Months of meticulous notes, formulas, and study guides bled into illegible blue smears.

"Oops," Raven laughed. "My foot slipped."

"Why did you do that?" I asked, my voice cracking.

"Because you need to learn your place." Raven stepped forward and planted her shoe directly in the center of my ruined calculus notes. She twisted her heel, grinding the wet paper into a gray pulp.

I clenched my fists. My nails dug into my palms until the skin stung. Do not fight back. Do not give them a reason to suspend you.

"Please move your foot," I said softly.

"Why do you even bother with this garbage?" Raven gestured to the mess. "You think getting straight A's changes what you are? You're an Omega, Elowen. A born burden."

One of her lackeys snickered from the doorway. "She probably thinks some rich, powerful Alpha is going to swoop in and claim her."

"Claim her?" Raven barked a loud, mocking laugh. "Look at her."

She reached down and grabbed my chin, forcing my head up. Her grip was brutal.

"You're pathetic," Raven sneered. "This weak little body couldn't handle a fated bond if it slapped her in the face. You're defective. You'll never awaken a bond. You're going to spend your entire life as a punching bag, entirely at our mercy."

I stared into her eyes, refusing to let the tears fall. I reached out and silently peeled a torn piece of my study guide from beneath her shoe.

"Are you ignoring me?" Raven's voice dropped.

"I need to clean this up," I muttered.

"I'm not done talking to you!"

Raven's hand shot out. She grabbed a fistful of my long hair and yanked backward.

Pain flared across my scalp. I gasped, my hands flying up to grab her wrist.

"Let go!" I cried out.

"You don't get to give orders!" Raven shoved me hard.

My feet tangled together. I stumbled backward, flying across the small space. My back slammed into the sharp edge of the metal storage lockers.

The impact knocked the breath from my lungs. A sharp, ugly pain blossomed between my shoulder blades. I slid down the cold metal and hit the concrete floor, coughing to regain my breath.

"Next time I talk, you listen," Raven spat.

The warning bell for fifth period echoed through the thin walls.

"Come on, Raven. Let's go before Coach gets back," one of the girls whined, checking her phone.

Raven gave me one last disgusted look. "Clean up this mess, Elowen. It smells like trash in here."

They turned and walked out. The heavy door clicked shut behind them. Their laughter faded down the hallway.

Silence filled the dusty room.

I sat on the floor, my knees pulled to my chest. My back throbbed with every shallow breath. A massive bruise was already forming along my spine.

I pressed my face into my knees. The cold from the metal cabinet seeped through my thin sweater.

A single tear escaped, tracing a hot path down my cheek. Then another. Soon, my shoulders shook with silent sobs. I hated this town. I hated the people in it. I hated the unfairness of being born an Omega in a place that treated us like dirt.

I wiped my face with the back of my sleeve.

"Stop crying," I ordered myself.

I crawled forward and began peeling the soggy, ruined papers off the floor. The ink was completely gone. The hours I spent writing them were wasted.

"It doesn't matter," I whispered to the empty room. "I'll rewrite them. I'll read the textbook again."

I shoved the ruined papers into the trash bin.

I am going to survive this year. I will ace those exams. I will get a scholarship to a university so far away that no one from Fogwood will ever find me. I will escape.

I grabbed my backpack from the mat and slung it over my uninjured shoulder.

But as I stood up, a strange, burning sensation flared at the base of my neck. Right where a mating mark would go.

I dropped my bag. My hands flew to my nape.

It burned like a lit match pressed against my skin.

My knees buckled. I hit the floor hard, gasping for air.

Omegas didn't present until they were eighteen. I was only seventeen. My birthday was still months away.

A sweet, heavy scent began to fill the small room. Vanilla and wild jasmine.

My scent.

It was happening. Right now. In the middle of the school day.

And I was completely unprotected.