The Stargazer's Alpha

Ch. 22: It's a Curse

Grauberg wasn't just a secret den of werewolves. It was also a small town, with a tightly knit community. That part turned out to be scarier than the werewolves, even scarier than the rogues. Their attack was intense, but short. The whispers behind my back, though...Oh, Goddess, did they last!

I didn't have to imagine what they were saying, because werewolves were neither subtle creatures, nor used to keeping their voices down.

The kindest in the pack pitied me. An Omega who set her eyes on their Alpha, who was all but fated to be with the incomparable, bright-star Scarlett Beaumont, their Luna to be...such a pathetic thing.

The she-wolves who coveted Harold went on and on about my dress. Did she have to shop at Beas'? Could she've been any more obvious? So desperate to catch a man! Can't blame her, but...an Alpha? A Beta? Please!

Little did they know that I would have handed Harold to any willing she-wolf, if it were up to me.

The cruelest gossips wondered if the Alpha gave the Stray-turned-Omega a reason to act the way she did by satisfying his pent-up needs on her. Nobody could be this delusional without something, right?

Thousand times, I wanted to turn around and wipe the snide smiles off their faces, shove my ring under their noses, and tell them that their precious Scarlett was a liar. And a thousand times I dashed into a bathroom stall or some other safe corner to choke back my tears.

My outings became limited to sneaking to the sacred trails three times a day. Before work. At lunch. After work and until way after dark. Finding more forks on each path, or revisiting the Night's Mirror Lake and the Moon-at-Noon Well.

Almost a week after the ill-fated Ball, right after my lunch pilgrimage, I was pounding the computer keyboard blindly. I found exceptionally fresh deer droppings on the sacred werewolf trails and zero wolves.

For that non-result, I had to suffer the usual slander as I snuck back into The Olympian. It still played in my mind like a broken record. Of course, the rogues rutted her! The question is, was it in Seattle or during the attack? Why wouldn't Blake cancel this senseless wait for the Omega to go into heat? He's too old-fashioned.

"Nobody said it would be easy, earning the pack's respect," Mie said from her desk.

I grunted. "It's like high-school all over. And it is unfair. Like, what did Beas ever do to be shunned?"

Mie grimaced in surprise. "They didn't mate."

"That's what I mean. Completely unfair!"

"Unfair how?" Mie folded her hands over her still barely noticeable baby bump. "All shifters are small populations, so they need to breed and not inbreed. We are born with this responsibility."

"So you want Beas to go against their nature just for the good of the pack?"

"The Doc is a thornback too, but she's respected, because she doesn't flaunt it." Mie wrinkled her nose. "Don't be like Beas, Celeste. Earn the pack's respect."

Earn their respect, huh...If only I hadn't already failed hard in that area!

I expelled a heavy sigh. "Guess, I should be grateful that you didn't bite my head off for making a fool out of myself at the ball."

"Wish I could, but it would scare the twins if you came to dinner headless. They are still skittish."

"Is that still on?" Frankly, I was surprised. Everyone pointedly avoided me, so Mie who obsessively protected her family's social standing, should have uninvited me too.