Chapter One

“Why exactly are you still alive?” Eris spat.

The slap came so hard, it knocked me to the ground. Pain exploded across my cheek, as blood filled my mouth instantly.

I spat it out and made sure not to shed a tear.

Crying only made it worse.

Eris, my foster mother, narrowed her eyes at me. “Disrespectful brat.”

I lowered my head and said nothing.

Blood ran from my broken lip still, tainting the white tile beneath her bare feet. Before I could recover, another slap landed, hitting my eye instantly.

It felt like acid, and it burned so much. Yet, I held back the tears.

You’d think my body would get used to the pain. It never did.

I struggled to hold my knees from shaking. Weakness was a crime in the pack.

Whatever… because one day I would leave this place.

Even if the forest kills me or I have to crawl out with broken bones. I have survived too much to die like another forgotten omega.

The flesh around my lip throbbed, I could feel it swell.

“I knew we should have never taken you. You’re a curse. An omega with no origin should be hanged and left to rot.” Eris hissed and paced the open corners of the kitchen.

A bit of my blood coated her palm.

“I told you, Sam.” She faced her husband. “We should have left her to the deltas. They would have gotten rid of her and saved us from this disgust.”

“It’s okay, darling, I’ll handle it. You know she has her uses.”

“No. She has to be punished.”

I froze, a zapping rush of panic tore through my spine. My heart slammed faster into my chest.

When Eris uttered the word punish. It only meant one thing.

The hole.

No. Not that.

“Please…” The tears were harder to hold back now. “Please don’t.”

My lips trembled, and my knees shook. “I swear to the goddess I didn’t steal anything. I beg you, I didn’t take their sheep. I didn’t, I swear. Please, not the hole. Ma, please!”

“No need to beg. You know the rules.” Sam barked. “Your mother and I are the only people who care about you. The hole is a way for you to learn. You need to understand your place under my roof and in the pack. A slave who steals must be punished.”

What did I ever do to deserve this?

I cried harder. “I’ve never stolen anything, I beg you. Pl —”

“Harry!” Eris shouted for her son. He was also an omega, just like their three other foster children.

But I was the omega who remembered nothing of her past. Even among the omegas I was lesser.

Other children were never sent to the hole, it was a prison built for criminals.

And Harry was the one who held the key. Of all of them, my existence appeared to sicken him the most.

“Ma,” Harry stormed in. “I was about to join the Alpha’s hunting team. This better be good.”

“Aurora was caught stealing again. Take her to the hole.”

Immediately, his frown turned into an ugly grin.

“Harry, please! You know I didn’t do it.”

“I don’t give a shit what you do.” He fumed. “I told Mom and Dad that they should never let you out of the hole. My friends make fun of me because I have you as a sister. You might be an omega like the rest of us but everybody knows you’re from nothing. You stink of slavery and death. No wonder Mom and Dad want to —”

“Harry, that’s enough.”

As soon as Sam stopped him, he hissed and rolled his eyes. “It’s not like her knowing stops it from happening. We own her, and it’s our right to do with her as we please.” He grinned again.

My skin crawled with hatred and dread.

“Just take her out of our sights,” Eris ordered.

“Up,” Harry snapped, his foot slamming against my rib. “I don’t have to drag you this time do I?”

Gasping for breath, I held my stomach and struggled to my feet.

“You’re lucky we even keep you,” Harry sneered.

Before I could try to move, Eris belted. “Wait, I just remembered. The Alpha festival starts in a few hours. Unfortunately, we’ll have to hold off on her punishment till we get back.”

“What if they don’t take her?”

“Look at her,” Eris rolled her eyes and chuckled to her husband, “there’s no way she can be used for anything else.”

Father chuckled back, then Harry joined and soon three of them were cackling.

Their laughter reminded me of the hyenas I spent most of my nights trying to protect the sheep from.

After they left, I pressed my back against the wall, letting out a tearful groan as I melted to the floor.

I was alone in the quiet for one small moment.

Every one of my joints hurt, and my left eye ached from the inside, but at least no one was shouting at me–or hurting me.

Still, it didn’t matter.

What were they planning?

They had tried to sell me before but no one wanted a nameless omega. After years, I figured they had given up.

I had learned not to wish for things. Wishing made the waiting worse.

But tonight felt different.

Lately, the moon had begun to feel… different. Like it was watching me.

The air at night felt thick and threatening. Even the animals would curl tighter to my lap.

I didn’t know how, but I could feel something approaching the pack’s territory. Something grave.

And I didn’t plan to be here when it does.

“Aurora, get Bridget,” Eris snapped from the passage. “Tell her and the others to be ready in thirty minutes. And she should find a nicer rag for you. I don’t plan to be late for the Alpha’s party. So anyone who isn’t ready when I am can forget about tonight.”

~~

Over an hour later, we were walking into a large hall filled with a noisy, primed crowd. The moment I stepped inside it was obvious I didn’t belong.

No one looked in my direction but I could sense their heavy dismissal come in sneers and mocking giggles. Unconsciously, I wrapped my arms around my sides. Hoping they could shield me from their hateful eyes.

The rest of the pack mingled and caught up with their friends, no one was paying enough attention to me.

If there was any moment to carry out my escape, this was it.

Cautiously I scanned the hall. There were three exits, two of which could lead me out unnoticed. The guards probably wouldn’t care. They’d rather question me coming in than leaving.

It was possible.

The more I thought about it, the faster my veins thumped with excitement. Every member of the pack was here. I could easily walk out into the forest and no one would even notice.

Quickly, I made my way through the crowd. Careful not to touch anyone or look at them.

The exit was so close, it was right in front of me. My escape and freedom were dangling like a delicious promise before me.

Or so I thought.

Sharp fingers suddenly dug into my elbow and yanked me away from the exit.

I was dragged into a dark corner away from the hall. My back slammed against the cold stone wall and a hand clamped over my mouth, trapping my scream in my throat.

“You’re mine for the night,” a rough voice whispered against my ear. His breath was hot and foul against my skin. “I paid in full. Stay still.”

His grip tightened around my waist, pinning me against the wall. I struggled, kicking and twisting, but he was too strong. My lungs burned as his hand pressed harder over my mouth.

This was their plan.

They had sold me.

His fingers slid across my neck and shoulder. I thrashed harder, but it was useless.

No.

Please, no!

I searched the darkness for help.

But no one was ever coming.

The hairs on my back spiked as I felt his fangs graze the side of my neck.

If he marked me, I would belong to him forever. I could feel every restraint I summoned slipping.

An omega like me with a false mark was better off dead.

No. No!

My vision blurred as his arm tightened around my throat. Darkness crept into the edges of my sight.

Maybe… it would be easier to stop fighting.

No Aurora, wake up!

A strange voice echoed through my mind. It drifted back and forth like a broken echo. Yet, it was familiar.

Don’t let them take more from you.

The whisper was distant but familiar.

Fight.

As I sank deeper into the darkness, the voice dragged closer to the surface.

Wake up!

My body suddenly jerked with a surge.

The next moment, the pressure around me disappeared. All that was left was the dark, and no hurt.

It felt like hours had gone by when my eyelids fluttered half-awake.

I stumbled forward, gasping for air. A wounded growl sounded behind me. Confused, I turned.

The man who had caged me was now on the ground, clutching his stomach. Blood poured through his fingers and pooled on the floor around him.

A look of horror in his eyes as he glared at…me?

I tilted my head to the side, absolutely confused by his expression.

His eyes were wide with terror, fixed on me.

On my hands.

Slowly, I lifted my fingers. That was when I saw the blood dripping through my palm.

My breath caught in my throat. My chest hammered against my ribs. I did that to him? I tore his flesh open. Me?

Without another thought, I turned and ran.

I dragged my hands across my dress, smearing the blood away. I ran faster than I’ve ever tried to in my life.

Cold air slapped against my lungs, hurting my sore ribs but I only went faster. That couldn’t be me. I was the weakest in the pack. Someone else must have hurt him.

My family’s plan was worse than I ever imagined. But now it truly did not matter because I planned to run away without ever looking back.

The night was empty and cold but I kept running.

Till my body crashed into a fence.

A fence made of heat and muscle. My skin could feel its warmth and a pulsing beat.

“Who’s chasing you?”

My head swayed back when the fence spoke, and in the most soothing, deep voice I’d ever heard. It wasn’t a fence, but the heftiest man to grace my sight.

When he shook me a little, I realized his arms were around my shoulders. And foolishly, I was ogling as the moonlight favored his face. It was impossible not to.

His hands felt strong and good against my skin… too good.

The moment our eyes met, he froze. His shoulders stiffened like they were struck. His chest rose in a sharp breath, as the world around us vanished.

His eyes glowed electric blue, like an ocean calling to me.

He smelled like rain on warm stone. Like something the earth had made before it learnt to be afraid.

Something about him plunged me into a strange, sweet-smelling haze I was ready to stay trapped in forever. Never, in the life I could remember, did my heartbeat feel no fear.

Our eyes remained locked with each other. The air became intoxicating and thickening by the second.

That wasn’t what shocked me the most. It was my wolf. For what felt like the first time, she blinked awake from her slumber.

My stranger seemed to sense this as he dropped to my nape.

Gently, he used his teeth to edge my wild dark hair out of the way and took a long, slow whiff of my scent.

His eyes darkened. My wolf beckoned.

Together we growled.

“Mate.”