Omega Mine
Chapter 1

The dungeons had been a torment for him.

At first.

It had once been difficult to assimilate to a life in the darkness, to a life where he was nothing but entertainment for the humans that had captured him.

Now it was easy.

He was called a mutant by his human captors. A freak and a beast, though none of those titles seemed quite right. He knew deep down in the darkest parts of his existence that he should have been labeled something else. That he’d once been feared and admired, though now it all seemed like a fever dream than the truth.

He was nothing in here but a murderer.

Once upon a time, he’d longed for freedom. For the chance to escape.

To just go home.

Now he couldn’t even remember the last time he saw the moon. Felt the breeze on his face, or scented a rainstorm in the air. He couldn’t remember a life before this. Home was nothing. No one. Every day that he spent locked in the dungeons below the fighting pits, the more he forgot what once mattered. Or if anything ever had before.

Maybe nothing had.

Each day it grew easier to forget that his formative years had been spent in a cage, only ever released to utilize his time killing mutants like himself for the amusement of others, all for a profit he would never see. All to stain his soul a deeper shade of black than it already was.

He’d spent years wiping out his own kind, proving himself the strongest and the worst of them all. And he was.

Fighting had felt brutal once. He’d been so young during his first fight, so inexperienced. He had not wanted to hurt anyone, still believing he had a say in anything. Still believing...

He shook his head in confusion. What had he believed? He couldn’t remember.

He’d been so naïve back then. So foolish. His first opponent had been in the dungeons longer than he had, and had known that refusing to fight would result in both opponents dying. It was kill or be killed down here, plain and simple.

He had almost died that first night in the ring. If he hadn’t been stronger, even as young as he was, then he wouldn’t have lived on to fight again and again. He wouldn’t have snapped his opponent’s neck, screaming in agony as he kept pulling and pulling until the tendons had shredded, severing the head completely from the body.

It had been traumatic. Horrifying. He might not remember much about his youth, not anymore, but he knew he’d been innocent until that moment.

He’d hated killing once. Feeling warm blood on his hands had made his skin crawl. The next time he’d killed had been easier, if only barely. And then again, and again, until he couldn’t remember a time when he wasn’t slaughtering someone. Now he craved that blood like a drug, relishing the high it gave him to take a life. There was nothing quite like it.

Even hearing the snapping of his opponent’s bones filled him with glee, and he relished hearing their roars of pain echoing in the ring as he tore them apart.

How many days had gone by since he’d come here? He didn’t know. Years, at least. He didn’t measure the days, only the amount of mutants he’d killed with his own two hands.

Currently his tally was at two thousand and eighty.

How long had he been down here? How long, how long...?

He was an adult male now, though horribly malnourished. Kept weak enough that he couldn’t do more than fight, train, eat and sleep.

Weak enough to remain contained.

He didn’t mind, not any longer.

He was nothing more than an animal, surviving on instinct and ensuring he was the best at what he did, even if it made him the worst of his kind, however many of them remained.

He wasn’t sure how he knew his kind was dwindling in population, more disappearing everyday, but he did. It beat at him during the day while he attempted to sleep, an urge that demanded he remember. But remember what?

He didn’t know. Only that he was here. Trapped, while the humans lived above him, cheering on his victories.

Trapped.

Trapped.

There was a hard knock on the metal door to his cell and he rose from his cot, muscles coiling with anticipation. He scented the human on the other side of the heavy door, relaxing a fraction. He liked this human far more than the rest. He was less arrogant, often showing proper respect, at least when they were alone.

Metal slid against metal and then a small rectangular hole appeared toward the middle of the door for a human guard to peer through, light filtering into his cell.

“You’re on in twenty, Seven. Warm up,” the guard warned, sliding the partition closed a moment later.

Seven smiled, his lips peeling back to reveal the fangs he intended to use to rip out his opponents throat.

“Going there is a mistake,” Sierra hissed, grabbing Josie’s arm to stop her from leaving the small, rundown house on the edge of town. “You know better than that, Josephine.”

“I have to go,” Josie replied, yanking her arm free. There was nothing that would keep her from traveling deep into the city. Especially not tonight when she’d been waiting for months for a chance to get a glimpse of the fights. “Ignoring a summons from the leaders of the city is unacceptable.”

Besides, she needed an excuse to pass the heavy wall surrounding the city center, and now she had the perfect excuse. She’d come to this exact location almost a year ago, part of the secret rebellion of Omegas that had been formed decades ago with the single purpose of freeing their Alphas and Betas from the tyranny of humankind. Of reclaiming their world.

Josie was only twenty three, so she hadn’t been alive to witness the total destruction of her own kind almost forty years ago, but she’d heard of a world where Alphas had ruled once, and she wanted that world back. Desperately.

She was convinced anything would be better than this hell. Of having to hide her identity, taking scent blockers religiously to help keep her status of Omega hidden in the fear of being hunted down for sport and then slaughtered. Wearing someone else’s scent to keep the brainwashed Alphas at bay that would otherwise recognize her lack of scent in an instant and turn her in to the humans to be exterminated.

Those Alphas were called Mongrels, too evil to be saved and rehabilitated; essentially rabid dogs for humans that needed to be put down.

Once upon a time, Omegas were precious. Valued and sacred. Worshiped by their Alpha mates. Now they were almost extinct, more of them being killed every day.

There was a lot riding on the intel that was lurking within the city. Apparently there had been several sightings of someone resembling the Alpha Prime, a male that was their ruler by blood and by right. He’d been missing since the world had been flipped upside down, but if he were still alive, then he was the chance they were counting on to spark hope in their cause.

Rescuing him would be the shift in the tide they needed to declare open warfare against the humans.

She just needed to catch a glimpse of him, to take his scent into her lungs to determine if he was related to the acting Omega Prime that had created the rebellion all of those years ago; Bethany.

“Someone else can supply them with rice and eggs.” Sierra shook her head, her long black hair falling down her back as she turned toward the front door. “I’ll send for Thomas to go, not you.”

Thomas was a human in their small town, but he wasn’t involved in any of their scheming. Sending him would be a waste, and she’d been waiting patiently for months for this opportunity.

Josie grabbed Sierra’s hand, stopping her from doing just that.

“No,” she whispered to her friend. “It has to be me and you know why.”

Sierra shifted until she was facing Josie, a forlorn expression on her face. “You’re close to your heat. Going there now could blow your cover. It is a mistake,” she reiterated, her breath catching. “What if something bad happens to you?”

Josie’s eyes softened, and she squeezed the hand she was holding in reassurance. Her and Sierra were close in age, and it hadn’t taken much for them to form a close friendship. Though Sierra was human, she was part of the rebellion, and they’d been inseparable since Josie had moved here.

“My heat is weeks away, if not longer. I’m not worried about that, and you shouldn’t be either. I’ve been in this town for months, hoping for an opportunity to get past that wall, and now is my chance. I have to go.”

“I’m really worried something will happen.”

“It won’t.”

“What if they can tell you’re an Omega just by looking at you?”

Josie shook her head. “They can’t tell, not with me.” The future of her entire race depended on it.

Omegas who had never met their true mates before were considered ‘dormant’. She might smell different than humans, but she resembled them more than her own kind.

No fangs, no glowing eyes, no pointed ears. Josie would always look distinctly human until she found her true mate, which was unlikely as most of her kind was gone. It stood to reason that her mate either hadn’t been born yet, or had already died quite brutally. Her kind were known to live an exceptionally long time, their bodies aging very slowly, but their longevity didn’t matter if they were being hunted down and executed without mercy.

Sierra took a deep breath, nodding once. “I know you’re going to be alright, that this is what we’ve been waiting for, I’m just nervous and I hate that the summons stated only one person could deliver the supplies. The thought of sending you in there alone… it feels wrong.” She dropped Josie’s hand, heading toward the front door. “Okay, let’s pack up the cart and hook a horse up to it.”

The door creaked loudly as Sierra pried it open, stepping out into the cool evening air. The sun had almost completely set, leaving a small hue of purplish orange in the sky. It was beautiful and Josie took a small moment to simply bask in the atmosphere around her.

She loved the outdoors, and hated being trapped inside. Maybe it was a predisposition of being an Omega, but she didn’t care. She’d spend her days and nights outside if she could, no matter the time of year.

Following Sierra toward the middle of the small town, Josie waved at a few humans that passed by, adjusting some of her clothing. She wore Sierra’s outfits each day after the human had slept in them, allowing for her scent to seep into the fabric. It was a great method to keep her secret safe, but Sierra’s clothes were a size bigger, hanging loose on Josie’s frame except for her breasts, where the shirt was tight.

“You’ll go into the stadium for payment,” Sierra informed her as they walked. “The guards should take you to one of the offices near the ring inside, and after that they’ll tell you to replace your own way out. That’s when you’ll have a chance to observe the fighting ring. Do you have any questions?”

Josie shook her head no.

“Just keep your head down,” Sierra continued, nerves making her voice high-pitched. “You know how the men in the city can be with women. Don’t let anyone rile you or try anything. Just get in, take a quick look around, and get the hell out.”

They made it to the supply store as the sun disappeared from the sky. Jingling keys in hand, Sierra unlocked the front glass door, stepping inside. Josie followed, each step toward the food located in the back room making her more anxious.

She was really doing this. Really going on her first search for the Alpha. Could she be so lucky to replace information to send back to Bethany? She hoped so, even if her intel was that the Alpha wasn’t here.

Sierra turned abruptly, giving Josie a quick hug. “Are you ready?”

No.

“Yes,” Josie lied, hugging her friend hard.