I looked at my reflection in the mirror of the shared dorm bathrooms. I looked like I had fought it out with a bunch of feral raccoons all night. My grey eyes had dark circles under them and my dark red hair was sticking up in every direction other than the one I wanted.
It was mid-terms, and anyone who asked what I was taking laughed when I said illustration as they assumed that a course like that would be easy and would not have things like exams and large projects. They however would be so very wrong.
I sighed as I finished washing and pulled my brush through the tangled mess on me head then tied the hair back with a black elastic. I finally then pulled out a small bottle of white bitter tasting pills, popped on in my mouth and used the nasty chlorine tasting tap water to wash it down.
I hated taking this medication but it was the only thing that kept me safe while I was staying on campus. It was a nauseating concoction that kept my body from announcing that an unmated omega lived on campus. I was safer with my family in our village where my Alpha father could protect me but there was a small problem with that. My Father was the pack leader and he had an omega son that didn't have a wolf. Which meant to the pack I was no better than a human and my father could only protect me for so long. So I saved everything I could, worked odd jobs, and found some summer work just so that I could afford to escape the pack and pursue my dream of becoming an illustrator for comics, graphic novels, and possibly even some concept art for video games if I was lucky.
The hard part? I was an omega, and most companies didn't like to hire us because of any issues that may arise in the workplace.
I raised my wrist to my nose and sniffed. All I could detect was the chemical scent that masked my pheromones. Good, now I could head to the studio to work on my mid-term project.
I left the bathroom and walked down the hall to my dorm room. There were a few bleary eyed students walking the halls now but not as many as there would be in another hour when morning classes officially started.
When I got to my door I opened it quietly and slipped inside. My roommate Chase was still sprawled out on his bed with his sheets twisted around his feet and his blanket shoved to the floor. He was a beta that was in the animation program. Arguably the most difficult programs at the school. The only time I ever saw him even remotely coherent was after he had his third cup of coffee for the day.
Omegas were only allowed to share a room with either another omega or a beta, as betas are not affected by an omega's pheromones. Not that I mind, betas have always at least been civil with me even after they find out I'm an omega. We also had the added bonus of being the closest dorm to the school with mated Alpha guards. As once an alpha is mated they no longer have any interested in another omega, or at least that is how it is supposed to work. There were still some out there that collected us like we are their personal play things. I shuddered just at that thought alone. It is why I keep taking my suppressants so that others will see me as just another beta.
I tossed my toiletry bag on my unmade bed and changed into my favourite jeans and hoodie. I then grabbed my sketch book and pencil case from the desk along with the backpack that was slung over my chair that contained everything else I would need for the day. I then stuffed my socked feet into my old and dirty runners, grabbed my dorm keys and walked out the door, leaving my less sleep deprived roommate to get a bit more sleep before he also shuffled over to the animation lab for the day.
The walk over to the studio was a quiet and uneventful one. I stopped by the closest canteen to grab a bottle of orange juice and a breakfast sandwich before I made my way over to the art and tech building. There was a bench in the hall that already had a napping student on it. They had probably pulled an all-nighter in the animation lab across the hall. I let them sleep as I stuffed my breakfast into my mouth and headed inside with my OJ shoved securely in my backpack.
"Hey Riley! Looks like you had a late night." My classmate Peter leaned back in his chair and grinned at me as I took my seat at the drafting table beside him.
"Can't talk...orange juice." I mumbled as I set my sketchbook down and pulled my bottle of juice out of my bag. I downed half the bottle before I secured the lid and greeted Peter.
"You are the only artist I know that doesn't drink coffee. I don't know how you survive."
"Coffee is gross." I made a face at him before I turned to my work. Peter just laughed and turned back to his project.
Peter was a childhood friend. We both grew up in the Dark Pine village and went to school there with the rest of the pack. He was also a beta along with both of his parents and even with my lack of wolf he still decided to be my friend. He was the reason I was able to survive the other kids before we went to high school in the human town that bordered the village. It was a transition school to get us ready to interact with the outside world and learn about the humans that inhabited most of it.
In my case it didn't really matter. My mother was human and she was accepted well enough and even though she would never be a proper Luna to the pack she worked hard and did her best. She had passed away when I was in my last year of high school. Which suddenly made my life a lot harder. The pack was without a Luna and my Father was in mourning which made me, the wolfless omega a target. I was dreading the upcoming break after mid-terms as I was 'encouraged' to come home for the break.
I shook my head to remove those depressing thoughts and dug around in my bag for my phone and earphones. I always worked better listening to music and today's play list would be a mix of my favourite k-pop bands. It didn't take long for the music to do it's work as I continued working on the rough draft of my short comic for my mid term project.