Echo.
I still couldn't believe my hears as we started to make camps. I couldn't believe father agreed and Easter couldn't believe her ears too.
"You won't give me to him, will you, father?" She kept sobbing after him as the men set up camp next to the river outside the forest.
They had to take care of everything in the castle before we could return so it was understood why we needed to camp out. Thankfully, they already made my tent and so I sat outside looking at Easter sob uncontrollably. "Who would you agree to something like that father? It is simply outrageous."
She was right, it was simply outrageous and I still can't understand father's motive behind agreeing to this absurd offer. Easter was his heiress and he knew she would kill herself if she ever found herself in that monster's cage.
I walked into my tent and settled quietly, pulling off all my clothes to wash myself with the washcloth and bowl of water. The tent was not a very large one, just medium sized with supplies needed in it and a sleeping bag on the floor. I had blood all over my body and seeing it reminded me of Dora. The scene of her being ripped apart by the lycans played before me again and I immediately buried my face in my knees, crying. She shouldn't have left like that.
It shouldn't be her at all. She shouldn't be among the innocents to die. What would I do without her? We've been friends ever since I can remember and while everyone in the pack treated me like a useless omega, she stood by my side. Now, I had her no more.
I kept on sobbing gently till I heard someone call out my name from outside. "Princess Echo, the Alpha king sent for you in his tent."
What? Me? The omega? I couldn't believe my ears at all. My own father sent for me. I couldn't believe it. My father only ever called in Easter for anything important, so why was he calling me now? I knew the truth, my father never cared for me as much as he did for Easter. She was always his favorite, the perfect daughter, while I was the disgrace of the family. He had never sent for me since I could remember and that meant this issue had to be somewhat life threatening, that was the only logical explanation.
I hurriedly wiped myself clean and changed into a dress before stepping out of my tent and headed towards the largest tent in the gathering where father and Easter was. I was the only one not always welcome in their midst so I choose to be a loner although it does hurt.
The guards pulled the tent open for me and I stepped in, feeling quite excited for whatever it might be that he called me for.
I didn't see Easter anywhere in the tent and I suspected she went out to take her bath too. I looked at father and his officials who were sitting there and looking at me like it was they first time they would be seeing me.
Well, maybe it was, I was almost non-existent after all.
"Father." I bowed. "You sent for me."
"Yes, Echo. Do take your seat." He said and I sat gently on one of the cushions, right opposite father.
"You might have been wondering why I agreed to Ceaser's proposal despite knowing your sister won't survive living with him. We all know that too because of her health conditions." Father said and I gritted my teeth.
Easter never had a condition but I wouldn't eat her out. She never had a condition and just faked it once and since then, they all believed her and treated her like an egg, a golden egg to be precise. It was very unfair that she wanted all their attentions but I wouldn't complain either way, she had their attentions even before that so why does it even matter?
I was the omega and she was the alpha, she was destined to always be the favoured child because she was born like our parents unlike me whom everyone thinks I'm cursed because for being an omega.
The alpha and Luna would never look at me once from the start and they didn't fail to show me I was their least favourite. I was a disgrace to them.
During balls, it was Easter in the spotlight. Our birthdays, she was always the one.
"So without wasting any time, let me get to the point. It would be a great opportunity to plant a mole inside the lycans' territory. Every one we've planted there never came back but here, there's a great opportunity and we have to take it but Easter wouldn't be the mole, you, Echo would be. You will go in place of your sister, as your sister." Father said and I looked at him, shocked for a moment.
I didn't know what to say.
"There's isn't much difference between your looks, you both have everything in common physically so he would be really easy to trick, he also does not even know your personalities or even names so..." Father said.
My father and his people wanted me to be the one to save our kind from the beast, even if it meant sacrificing myself in the process. I couldn't believe it, they wanted me to risk my life for them, even though they had never been good to me. They had always been partial between me and Easter, and now they wanted me to go on this suicide mission because I was supposedly stronger than Easter. Yet I could not help but have mixed feelings because for the first time in forever, they wanted me to help with something and not be in the shadow like I've always been, even if it was as a sacrificial lamb. So despite everything, I couldn't say no. I would do anything for my family and my people. Maybe this was my chance to prove myself, to show them that I was more than just an omega, that I was worthy of their love and respect.
"It is not an option Echo, you will..."
"I will go." I said and they all looked at me like I was crazy. I knew they didn't expect me to agree to this very fast but well, whatever, I was going.I don't mind going in place of Easter, as long as I was doing something to help the pack, I don't care how I do it or anything guiding how I do it. And it was also one of the most important task, very important to the pack.
"Do you know what you're going to face, Princess?" His beta asked me and I looked at him with a raised brow.
"She knows." My father replied and I was saved the stress of talking. I had no business with any of them, all I have to do is carry out father's request and maybe for once, he would acknowledge me as his daughter.
"Echo, this is not going to be an easy task at all. There will be obstacles and you have to make sure you won't get caught because it'll bring danger to you and us in this pack." He said clearly and I nodded.
"So all you have to do is simple, catch him in your net, seduce him and make him fall in love with you and then kill him." Father said and I was shocked they already hatched their plans so quick. "I'm sure it is something you can do Echo so are you ready for this, Echo?"
I nodded, determined. "Yes, I'll do it."
My father smiled, his eyes gleaming with pride. "I knew I could count on you. You are stronger than you think, my daughter."
I wanted to believe his words, to feel that sense of belonging, but deep down, I knew that I was just a pawn in their game. They didn't care about me. All they cared about was the survival of our kind.
As I walked out of the study, I could hear their whispers behind me. "She'll do it. She's the Omega, after all. She has nothing to lose."
And they were right. I had nothing to lose. I was just the Omega. But maybe, just maybe, I could prove them wrong. Maybe I could be more than just a pawn in their game. Maybe I could be a hero.
