“Hi, babe. Meet me at the college. I have a big surprise for you ;
”
Sara’s face broke into a grin as she read the message from Victor, her boyfriend of three years. She tried not to let her mind run away with her as she rushed around her room getting ready to go meet him, but she couldn’t help it.
It was her eighteenth birthday. The day she had been dreaming about for so long. Now that she was eighteen, she and Victor could really get together as mates.
They had been dating since they were fifteen, and Victor had turned eighteen a month before. Now she too was eighteen…and she had a pretty good idea what his big surprise was about.
He was going to propose. She had dreamed about the day they would formalise their union for years, and she couldn’t be happier that the wait was over.
After getting dressed, she left the house and started the walk towards the college. She wondered what kind of surprise he had in store for her. If he had prepared it at the college…did that mean he was going to make a public proposal?
She was smiling to herself and not paying attention to herself, so she didn’t see the foot stuck in her path until she tripped over it and almost stumbled to the ground. Luckily, she caught her footing quickly and managed to avoid a fall.
She turned to see who had tripped her and found herself facing three girls she was never in the mood to deal with.
“Oh, look who it is,” the one at the centre of their lineup sneered, giving Sara a once-over.
“What do you want?” Sara demanded, looking from Melody to her two companions, Stella and Bianca. The three were missing their usual gang leader: Laura, the beta’s daughter. Which was fine with Sara. Dealing with three girls who hated her guts was better than dealing with four.
The group had been bullying her for as long as she could remember, but mostly after she and Victor started dating. Victor was the Alpha of their Blood Moon pack, and the Alpha King. Sara was an Omega who just happened to be adopted by the Alpha family.
Laura and her friends had never liked that an Omega like her got to date the Alpha King, and they made sure to remind her of her unworthiness whatever chance they got.
“Where do you think you are going?” Bianca asked, reaching forward and pushing Sara’s shoulder with her hand.
Sara stepped back and glared at her. “None of your business.”
“Haven’t you guys heard?” Stella asked. “It’s her eighteenth birthday. Look at how dolled up she is. It’s obvious she is going to seduce Victor.”
Melody scoffed, narrowing her eyes at Sara. “You are truly shameless, aren’t you? Do you really think Victor will settle for an Omega like you? He has been playing around with you for years now, but I bet he’s going to ditch you soon now that he is 18.”
“I know, right?” Bianca seconded her. “If I were you, I would scurry along before I got humiliated. An Alpha King and an Omega? Oh please.”
Stella twirled a strand of her brown hair around her finger. “Maybe we should save her the humiliation, girls. Now that she’s eighteen, she could be having grandiose thoughts about being formally mated to him.”
“What a joke,” Bianca scoffed.
Sara sighed and turned to walk away, not interested in humouring them any further. She had heard such things from them before. She wasn’t going to let them faze her today of all days.
She didn’t care what others thought about her relationship with Victor. They had been talking trash about her being with him for three years now, but guess what? She was still with him. Whether they liked it or not, she and Victor were going to be mated, and they could choke on their jealousy for all she cared.
“Where do you think you are going?” Stella demanded, grabbing her forearm and keeping her from walking away.
“Let me go,” Sara demanded, trying to release her arm from Stella’s grip.
“What’s the hurry for?” Stella asked. “We haven’t given you your birthday present yet. Bianca, get the bucket.”
Birthday present? Bucket? Sara watched Bianca skip away, a sense of foreboding filling her.
“I don’t want anything from you,” she told Stella, still trying to free her arm. “Let me go!”
“Come on, you’ll like it,” Stella promised. “We took our precious time to prepare this present for you. You’re not allowed to say no.”
Bianca reappeared, carrying a bucket in her hands. Stella finally let go of Sara, shoving her away. Sara huffed and rubbed the place she had grabbed her forearm.
Stella stepped towards Bianca and helped her hold the bucket. Before Sara could catch on to what was happening, the two girls swung the bucket and emptied its contents on her.
“Happy birthday!” they yelled between gales of laughter.
Sara stood frozen to the path as smelly brown water cascaded down her hair, shoulders, and body. The three girls walked away, laughing among themselves.
Cursing, she looked down at her outfit. The pretty sundress she had so carefully selected was now drenched with dirty water. So were her sneakers.
“You can’t keep letting them get away with treating you like this,” her wolf, Edna, groaned in her head.
“It’s fine,” Sara told her through her thoughts. “They won’t be able to do it for much longer.”
Once she was formally introduced as the Alpha King’s mate, they wouldn’t dare do any of this.