Chapter 1

                                    

                                          
“A group of stray alphas and omegas have been captured where they were living in an abandoned house near the train tracks, more on this story at eleven.” Rain’s head jerks up as the news anchor speaks these words, then he remembers himself and drops his head quickly, staring at his hands that are holding skeins of yards for his human.
The old woman doesn’t seem to notice, she only says, “You are so lucky, Rain that you have a loving family.”
These are the same words Rain has heard repeatedly for as long as he can remember. “Yes, auntie.” he says quietly, knowing it is expected of him.
She looks at the clock on the mantle and says, “Oh, go change your collar and grab the leash, Stop wants you to accompany him to the races tonight.” She says this as if a great treat is being bestowed on Rain.
Rain cringes inwardly. The old woman is kind enough to him as long as he obeys all her rules, but her grandson is a different story. Cruel and malicious, Stop takes great pleasure in hitting or kicking Rain when his family isn’t looking. He is always careful to never leave bruises where anyone could see.
The worst part is Rain technically belongs to Stop. He had been gifted to him as a pet when Stop had been eight and Rain had been three. Stop had a cruel streak even then. The only good thing is that Stop usually ignores Rain unless he needs a punching bag or he wants to show Rain off as a symbol of his status.
“Rain, hurry,” the old woman says, her tone darkening slightly that he hadn’t immediately moved to obey her.
“Yes, auntie, Rain is sorry. Rain’s mind wandered slightly.” Rain says and goes to his small room to change clothes. Stop will want him in designer omega clothes tonight to further show off his status. He puts on an expensive leather collar to match and clips the leash to it.
Just as Rain finishes he hears Stop yelling for him. Rain quickly moves to the hall and bows down, offering the leash to Stop.
Stop wordlessly grabs it and pulls Rain along so quickly that if he doesn’t run to keep up he will be strangled by the collar around his neck.
The race is loud and noisy, Rain isn’t sure he likes it. Stop has been working on his dad for months to use his connections to get him an invitation from P’Pakin and finally he succeeded. Stop’s friend Bas is with him, Rain doesn’t think Stop actually likes Bas but the other man is good at boosting Stop’s already inflated ego.
“Woah,” Bas says, “you really did get us in.”
“Of course,” Stop answers, puffing out his chest. “Who do you think I am?”
“I thought you were bullshitting.” Bas says.
Stop makes to hit Bas, but the other man quickly puts his hands up and grins saying, “You really are so cool.”
This appeases Stop who says, “I thought this race was supposed to be something special. Looks like a bunch of amateurs to me.”
A voice behind him says, “Then would you like to race my friends, no one here wants to race him tonight.”
Stop looks him over, sneering at his clothes that don’t have a designer label, and says, “Sure.”