Alpha’s Mistake Chapter 02
The next morning, I ran some errands and came home to find the living room stacked with cardboard boxes.
My mom was directing the Omega servants to carry my desk and dresser out of my room.
She didn’t even look up when I walked in.
“Oh, you’re back. Good. Go help them finish up. Nicole got into the pack’s Beta Academy. Training’s gonna be brutal, so she needs a nice, bright room to unwind in.”
She pointed to the storage closet at the end of the hall. Maybe nine feet by nine feet.
“Your Omega Academy doesn’t have real training. The storage closet’s fine for you. It’s not like you need anything fancy.”
I stood in the doorway and watched the servants sweep everything off my bookshelves into boxes.
My tactical notes. Drawn over countless days and nights.
Now they were trash on the floor.
Nicole walked up to me, eyes already red.
“Natalie, I’m so sorry. I told Mom we didn’t have to switch rooms, but she said—”
“She said what?” I cut her off.
Nicole blinked, like she didn’t expect me to respond.
“She said… I needed the better environment,” she whispered.
Hugo walked out of my room carrying a cardboard box.
He set it down and dusted off his hands.
“Natalie, Mrs. White is just looking out for Nicole. You’re going to Omega Academy. No point hogging that big room.”
He stepped closer and reached for my hair out of habit.
I tilted my head and dodged again.
Hugo’s hand grabbed air. His brow furrowed.
“There you go again, acting like everyone’s out to get you. Nicole’s parents died defending this pack. We owe her. Grow up.”
I looked at his face, so full of moral superiority, and almost laughed.
They wrecked my future. Now they were taking my room.
They did something wrong, yet they still stood on a pedestal and pointed fingers at me.
“Fine. I’ll move.”
I walked past Hugo and went straight into my room.
I crouched down and started picking up my things.
Hugo followed me in and tried to help.
He picked up a sniper rifle model off the floor. The one he gave me for my twelfth birthday.
Back then, he said he knew I wanted to get into United Pack’s Special Ops program, so he had a craftsman custom-make it for me.
He promised to give me one every year after that.
But ever since Nicole showed up, his eyes had never landed on me again.
He wasn’t paying attention when he picked it up. The scope hit the table leg.
Crack.
The plastic scope snapped off and shattered on the floor.
Hugo froze for a second and looked down at the broken pieces in his hand.
“Sorry. Slipped.” His voice had almost no apology in it. Then he tossed the ruined model into the trash can like it was nothing. “It’s not like you’re gonna be a sniper anyway, going to that school. No point hanging onto useless crap.”
I stayed crouched on the floor, staring at the broken pieces in the trash.
I used to treat that thing like treasure. Sat it on the most visible spot on my desk.
Every night, studying until my eyes burned, I’d look at it and feel like I could keep going.
Now it was just scrap plastic.
I stood up, took the few remaining books about urban counter-terrorism and special operations out of the box, and tossed them in the trash too.
Hugo watched me, confused.
“Why are you throwing those away?”
“You said they’re useless.” I dusted off my hands. “You’re right. They are.”
Hugo stared at my calm face, and something flickered in his eyes. He could tell something had changed.
Before, no matter what he broke of mine, I’d be sad for days.
But now, I didn’t even flinch.
Hugo stepped forward and patted my shoulder like he was doing me a favor.
“There you go. You’ll stick around the pack for Omega Academy. When there’s a full moon, you can come home and help Mrs. White with patrols. And when Nicole’s back from school, you two can hit the mall together or something.”
I ignored him, picked up the box with my toiletries, and turned toward that dark, cramped storage closet.
No windows. Just the smell of mold.
I set the box down and pulled out my phone.
A new text waited on the screen.
Final confirmation from United Pack Elite Warrior Academy.
[Ms. Natalie White, based on your performance in the preliminaries, we officially invite you to join the Shadow Strike Team reserves. Full scholarship and equipment stipend have been deposited.]
I locked my phone and started slowly making up my bed.
When I first got that letter, I actually thought about staying in the pack.
I thought about taking care of Mom and Dad. About not being so far from Hugo.
What a joke.
Nicole changing my application? In some twisted way, she actually did me a favor.
