After My Alpha Claimed Me, I Ran Away

The pestle felt heavy in my cramped, aching fingers. I brought it down hard against the dried yarrow root, grinding it into a fine powder. The Moonveil Pack’s Omega healing ward was little more than a dilapidated shack at the edge of the territory. It smelled constantly of cheap bleach, damp wood, and the bitter tang of medicinal herbs. But the smell I couldn't ignore today was the scent of my own fear.

I stopped grinding and stared at the crumpled piece of paper resting on the edge of my scratched wooden counter.

*Final Notice: Medical Termination and Eviction.*

The words blurred as my eyes stung. My mother, Amy, was lying in the back room, her breathing shallow and rattling. The pack charged exorbitant fees for Omegas to receive even basic care, and I was out of time. If I didn't pay her medical debts by tomorrow morning, they would cut off her treatments and throw us out of the ward. She was too weak to survive a week outside these walls, let alone a winter.

The heavy wooden door banged open, hitting the wall with a loud crack.

I flinched, instinctively pulling my shoulders inward to make myself smaller. Three Delta warriors swaggered into the cramped clinic. They smelled of pine needles, sweat, and the casual arrogance of wolves who knew they could do whatever they wanted to someone like me.

"Look what we have here," the lead Delta smirked, leaning heavily against my workstation.

"Please," I murmured, keeping my eyes cast downward. "I'm working."

He shifted his weight, and his elbow deliberately caught the edge of my mortar. The heavy stone bowl tipped over, crashing onto the filthy floor. Hours of carefully prepared yarrow root scattered into the dirt.

My breath hitched. I dropped to my knees, my hands hovering over the ruined medicine.

"Oops," the Delta snickered.

"Why do we even let a wolfless Late Bloomer touch pack medicine?" his companion sneered, kicking a piece of the broken mortar closer to my knee. "She’s twenty and hasn't even shifted. You'll probably poison someone, Omega."

I bit the inside of my cheek so hard I tasted copper. My wolf was a silent, dead thing inside me, a fact the pack never let me forget. I didn't snap back. I didn't defend myself. I just kept my head down and started sweeping the ruined powder into a pile with my bare hands. Pride was a luxury I couldn't afford. Not when my mother's life was on the line.

Hours later, the clinic was dark. I sat on the edge of my lumpy mattress in our tiny living quarters, staring at the pathetic pile of dollar bills and coins in my lap. Forty-three dollars. The debt was in the thousands. I buried my face in my hands, a silent sob tearing through my chest. I had failed her.

*Chime.*

My pack-issued communication device lit up on the nightstand, casting a harsh blue glow across the dark room. I wiped my