CEO's Runaway Mate and Her Cubs

Just, she couldn\'t know what that meant yet. It hadn\'t happened before in the pack...

There were a couple of Omegas, weak and old wolves who would receive less than the others when sharing resources, but they weren\'t bullied like that. Just left behind if there wasn\'t enough for everyone. They had been Omegas for a long time, and they even seemed used to it.

Either way, not one of them thought about going solitary. Life out from a pack was still worse.

But, for Amanda, things were different. She was in punishment, meaning she was not just disposable but also guilty of... Guilty of something, it didn\'t matter what.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves and brace herself. She couldn\'t do anything against seven wolves, and her initial plan had failed already. The adults weren\'t going to help, not even to warn someone from the inner circle of the pack.

She had been protected by Renato\'s name for the whole time. When he had become an Omega as well, that protection had faded away. It wasn\'t his fault, but she did resent him a little. He shouldn\'t have talked back to the Alpha like that!

Oh, but... Whose fault was it, in the end?

She shook her head, confused by her own thoughts. There were two sides of her fighting each other. One blamed her brother and herself, but the other was convinced they weren\'t really at fault and the Alpha had made a bad decision... The Alpha being wrong? Impossible!

She looked at her bullies again, and her mind returned on track. She had to survive them before having time to wonder about the meaning of life.

«Let me go,» she tried, her tone low, and her head bowed.

The boy pushing her for the whole time caught her hair and pulled, forcing her to look up at him.

«Hey, don\'t order me around,» he said. «You are no one!»

«Then forget about me... If I really am no one.»

«But you must be funny to play with. We will let you go... Eventually.»

«If... If you let me go now, I won\'t tell anyone. I promise!»

«Oh, but we want you to tell everyone,» a girl shouted from behind them. «It\'ll be even more fun if you make a fool of yourself in front of the pack. Isn\'t that right, freak?»

Her defences crumbled down, and she lost any motivation to fight. All alone and surrounded, there was nothing she could do. Truly nothing.

No amount of threatening, screaming, or begging would have helped her. She was their toy for that day, and it didn\'t matter what she did.

She closed her eyes and tried finding a space in her mind where to hide, but it was difficult with her hair being pulled with so much strength. A bit more, and her skin would have been torn together with the locks.

It hurt so much, but nothing compared to the scratches on her forearm. All five claws were deeply stuck in her meat, her muscles screaming because of the cut.

Tears started flowing down her cheeks, and her lungs sobbed, but she bit her tongue not to shout. There would have been time for that later when their wicked games got even worse.

«It\'s no fun like this,» he murmured, then.

He let go of her, and she fell to the ground, lifeless. She sat there, finally opening her eyes and observing what would come next. Blood stained her clothes while she hugged her wounded arm. It was going to heal, either way, but such deep cuts required a few minutes, at least.

She wasn\'t that quick at healing, by the way. How long would it have been for her? Half an hour? Oh, only if they didn\'t do anything worse.

«Run!» he ordered.

Her mind was crossed by a revelation, and she remembered that guy\'s name.

«Armando!» she said. «Your name is Armando!»

She wanted to add something, but she kept silent because - maybe - it was better. He had a crush on Lucretia, but she didn\'t consider him one bit.

So, it was like that. Did he want to get back at her for hanging out with Lucretia all alone? Or was he jealous of Renato?

Whatever the case, he had enough reasons to hate Amanda. At least, in his own wicked logic.

«So what? It\'s not like my name will stop me,» he said. «And I said: run!»

«Why?»

«We want to chase you.»

«No, you want to chase me. They don\'t really care...»

The others were standing around them, carefully watching and silently having fun. They wouldn\'t have hurt her - they still feared revenge - but they wouldn\'t have stopped Armando either. If anything, they would advise him how to make things funnier.

«You run,ì; we chase you. Is that right, guys?» he said, crossing his arms.

His eyes were glowing, a sign that he would have used the wolf\'s powers. What point was there in running away? Amanda had given up already.

If she followed his will, the torture would have lasted longer. Like this, they could just get it over with and let her return home sooner.

«I didn\'t say you could choose,» he muttered, looking at his sharp claws. «Moreover, if you manage to run away from us, you\'ll be safe. Let\'s play a game. If you reach the next inner circle, we won\'t follow you there.»

Amanda sighed. They were on the outskirts. The following inner circle wasn\'t all that far... There was some hope she could make it, but it still sounded like a trap. They would catch her, and that would have been so painful.

Yet, staying there and waiting wouldn\'t have improved her situation either. She didn\'t have much choice, and both her options were horrible.

She wished she had the energy to get up and run, but she had just given up.

«I didn\'t give you a choice, freak,» Armando repeated. «I said, run.»