"You will never be loved, Omega. You we're born beneath us, and you'll die the same way."
Rhea groaned so loudly it could've peeled paint. The book snapped shut in her hands with a sharp thwack — third time in five minutes. 'The Omega Everyone Hated'. Hated by her now, too.
"When will Aiden stop being a war-crazy son of a bitch and start noticing how his pack is treating that poor Omega?" she barked to no one.
Still curled in the hanging egg chair bolted to her bedroom ceiling, she leaned forward, the oval-shaped seat creaking slightly under the shift. Her legs, long tucked under her, dropped to the carpet with a soft thud. The cream-colored throw pillow under her elbow suffered the brunt of her frustration — it went flying to the plush gray floor with a muffled fwump.
Wrapped in her champagne silk robe, Rhea looked like the picture of luxury-induced despair. Her shoulder-length brown hair was neatly brushed, not a single strand out of place, which was ironic considering she hadn't stepped out of the room all day. Her face was clean, slightly flushed from all the yelling at fictional wolves.
"Jeez," she muttered, rubbing at her temples with dramatic flair. "He's so caught up in his stupid war with Gunnar that he's not even seeing how heartless his pack has become. I wish I was there, I would've smacked him right in his handsome, clueless face. Idiot." She scoffed loud enough to echo off the walls. "Let Gunnar just win already and take that whole damn pack. Aiden clearly doesn't know how to run it."
Her room had a lived-in chaos to it. The pale pink walls were lined with overflowing bookshelves. Her bedside lamp was tilted, a pair of socks clinging to its base like it had been there a while. A pile of highlighters and sticky notes sat abandoned on her desk.
With a dramatic sigh, she launched herself out of the chair, grabbed the book like it owed her money, and stormed to the door.
She yanked it open, only to freeze mid-glare. Standing there, about to knock, was her brother — plate of fruit snacks in hand. His brows rose slowly, clearly used to these moments.
Rhea paused, blinking. Then narrowed her eyes like he was the one responsible for everything wrong with the fictional world she just left.
He stood barefoot in joggers and a black tee, dark curls flopping over his forehead, eyes twinkling with the kind of patience that only a brother forced into book drama duty could manage.
Without a word, she brushed past him with pointed annoyance.
"Let me guess," he called after her, shifting the plate in his hand, "the protagonist is being tortured, bullied, or dies unfairly?"
Rhea huffed, head high as she marched down the hallway. "Leave me alone," she said curtly.
Her brother followed like a resigned bodyguard. "Come on, Rhea, don't be like this. This isn't the first time you've read something like that. I don't know why you obsess over those tragic books and still complain every single time. It's not stopping you from buying another one with a suffering protagonist."
She whipped around with a sharp glare. "You're not helping, BB."
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. But seriously, you made me drive across town just to get you that book—"
"You don't get it," she cut in, clutching the book against her silk-wrapped chest like it was both precious and cursed. "There's this thrill, knowing the protagonist will get her comeback after the suffering. I live for the face-slapping scenes. The justice. The power."
Her brother tilted his head, eyes flicking to the book she was gripping like it owed her therapy money. "Then why do you look like you're about to drop it?"
"Because she's suffering too much!" Rhea groaned again, stomping down the final steps to the grand double doors of her private library.
Her brother rolled his eyes so hard it was a miracle they stayed in his skull. Not the first time she'd had a meltdown over a fictional tragedy — but definitely the first time she'd threatened to abandon a book mid-read.
"And what's worse?" she continued, voice climbing in outrage, "She bears the same name as mine. Rhea. Can you believe that? It feels like I'm the one getting dragged through the mud."
Rhea pushed the massive doors open with unnecessary force. The doors creaked open to reveal a sprawling, cathedral-like room.
The library was massive — two stories high, with shelves that stretched from floor to ceiling. A spiral iron staircase wound up to the second level, where more books lined the walls. Warm amber light spilled from antique chandeliers, illuminating row after row of perfectly arranged shelves.
"Oh. Now I get it." He followed her in, still balancing the untouched fruit plate like a server at a five-star spa. "Want me to deal with the bullies for you?" he asked with a smirk, clearly amused with himself.
Rhea shook her head, her lips twitching. She moved towards the "O" section. Every book alphabetically aligned. She slipped The Omega Everyone Hated back into its slot with the care of someone returning a cursed object to its resting place
Turning with arms crossed, an eyebrow cocked, she smirked. "How would you even do that, hmm?"
Her brother shrugged casually, shifting the plate of fruit to one hand. "Well, I'll just burn it or give it out, since it's obviously stressing you out. Problem solved."
Rhea gasped like he'd slapped her with a hardcover. She clutched her chest with both hands, eyes wide in horror. "You want to hurt my babies?"
She took two dramatic steps back, spreading her arms wide like a mother shielding her children from danger. Her voice was sharp, wounded. "Are you actually threatening to commit literary murder in my presence?"
"I gave a second option," her brother said with a grin. "Giving it out."
"Don't you dare," Rhea snapped, eyes narrowing. "Try it, and I'll ban you from ever stepping foot inside my domain again."
"Aye aye, captain," he chuckled, giving her a playful salute.
Rhea huffed like a queen dismissing a fool and turned back to the endless shelves. She started browsing through the lower section, fingers trailing along the neatly aligned spines.
"It's just that the book was everywhere on social media," she muttered, voice rising again as she ranted, "and what I didn't expect was for the Omega to be suffering that much. And the alpha...ugh, he's so obsessed with this stupid rival pack war that he doesn't even know what's happening under his nose. I bet that Omega will become his mate, but guess what? He doesn't deserve her. Stupid, stupid alpha. Why didn't the author put her in Gunnar's pack instead? He might be a lunatic, but at least he'd have protected her. Rhea doesn't deserve all this bullying—"
Her brother, now leaning against one of the shelves, picked at his ear with his free hand like her voice was just background music. It was — at this point, her dramatic book breakdowns were as common as her skipping meals over a cliffhanger. Still, the way she took every injustice personally never stopped being amusing.
Rhea groaned as her fingers failed to land on anything interesting. "Nothing interesting down here," she muttered. With a grunt, she dragged over the sliding ladder, the wooden frame creaking faintly as she climbed up toward the upper level.
"Be careful," her brother called, watching her ascend. "And please—at least eat something. I made this fruit specially for you."
"I wish I could get inside that book and wreck those bullies myself," Rhea continued, ignoring him completely as she scaled the shelves like a woman on a righteous mission. "Just pop in there, claws out, and start flinging omegas into safety and alphas into walls."
"Rhea," he groaned. "Please eat something, okay? Please?"
"I want to be there so bad…" she muttered, rummaging through a higher shelf. Then suddenly, her eyes lit up. "Found it!" she yelled, raising a thick hardcover into the air like it was a sacred artifact.
That excitement shook the ladder.
The frame wobbled beneath her feet.
"Rhea!" her brother shouted, the plate slipping from his hand and shattering against the hardwood floor.
Her arms flailed, trying to grab onto a shelf or rail, but the ladder tilted further, the entire structure toppling with her still clinging to it. A scream tore from her throat, and then...
CRASH.
Books scattered. Wood cracked. Her body hit the ground with a sickening thud beneath the fallen ladder.
"Rhea! Rhea!" her brother dropped to his knees beside her, shoving the heavy ladder off her with trembling hands. Her robe was bunched beneath her, hair spilled messily across the floor, and blood...blood, was soaking into the wood beneath her head.
Pain seared through every inch of her body. Her back felt like it had shattered. Her limbs tingled. Her head throbbed. Her vision blurred, everything moving like smoke.
Am I bleeding? she thought faintly. Her hand lifted, brushing something damp near her temple.
"Don't move!" her brother said, panic tightening his voice. He dug into his pocket with fumbling fingers, grabbing his phone and hitting the emergency line.
"Hello? Yes—I need an ambulance. Right now. My sister...she fell. Head injury, she's bleeding. She's in pain, she's on the floor, she's barely responsive. We're at 101 East Whitestone Mansion. Library wing. Please hurry."
Before he could say more, the library doors slammed open. Three boys burst in.
"What happened?" one shouted, breathless, his chest heaving.
"We heard a—" another began, only to freeze mid-step when they saw their baby sister lying there, motionless, in a growing pool of red.
"RHEA!" all three yelled in unison, rushing forward in a panic.
"Oh my god—Rhea—what happened to her?" one cried, dropping to his knees, reaching but unsure where to touch.
"Don't move her!" her brother barked, ending the call and waving them off. "Don't touch her! She could've broken something."
Rhea's breathing was shallow, and her ears buzzed. The pain was sharp and everywhere—her side, her back, her head pounding in time with her slowing heartbeat. Everything was starting to tilt, colors bleeding together. Her brothers' voices were distant now, echoing down a long tunnel.
She blinked slowly, struggling to keep her eyes open.
Then, as her brother leaned closer and gently cupped her face, his voice broke through the fog.
"Rhea—stay with me, okay? You're gonna be fine. You'll be okay, I promise."
And that was the last thing she heard before the dark swallowed her whole.
*******
Rhea groaned.
Her head throbbed like someone had decided to host a metal concert directly inside her skull. Her limps, every single one—felt impossibly heavy. Pain rolled over her in waves—not sharp, but deep, like her muscles had been torn apart and glued back together wrongly.
What the hell was that? she thought, struggling to remember anything past the sudden ladder wobble. Did I fly from that godforsaken ladder?
She winced as a dull, throbbing pressure surged behind her eyes. She tried to lift her arm. Nothing moved.
And I'm still alive? Wow. Talk about being favored by the gods. I'm rich and favored...yepee.
A weak chuckle escaped her lips—and immediately backfired. Pain shot through her ribs like her lungs were wrapped in thorns.
I'm really going to have a serious words with big bro Jake, she thought bitterly. What kind of wicked ladder did he get me? Is he trying to kill me? He's dead when I...
She froze. Something was... off.
Pain was expected. The aftermath of falling off a damn ladder—sure. But this? This was different.
Her skin tingled in weird places. Her limbs felt stretched wrong. Like her body had been molded into a shape that didn't belong to her. Her fingers—when they finally twitched—felt longer, bonier. Her legs were trembling from barely anything. Her whole frame ached like it had gone hungry for weeks.
Why does my body feel like this? she thought, her breath hitching. Like it's not mine at all...
Her throat was dry as sandpaper. She sank deeper into stillness, afraid to confirm what her instincts were screaming.
She kept her eyes shut tight. Partly from the dizziness, partly because she didn't want to see it. Not the sterile hospital ceiling, not the swarm of overprotective brothers pacing around, not Mom clutching her face in melodramatic despair.
Ugh...how long have I been out?
She was just mustering the nerve to crack one eyelid open—
WHAM!