Chapter 1

It all came crashing down moments before the ceremony. Joric, the Alpha I loved, had never filed the papers. He never planned to mate with me.

Tears pricked my eyes as I remembered the last time I saw him.

His hips ground against mine in a frantic rhythm, his teeth grazing the sensitive skin of my neck.

"Don't worry, Faelan," he'd whispered, his voice rough. "I've already filed the papers with the elders. The ceremony is just a formality. After the next Blood Moon, nothing can keep us apart."

I arched into him, kissing him back.

My wolf had howled with joy inside me. He's ours! Finally!

After all, Joric and I had been in love for five whole years.

But because of my low birth, we could never make it official.

For those five years, no matter how hard I tried, Joric’s mother, Senna, a high-ranking elder, had despised me.

She never spoke my name in public.

To them, I was just "that Omega." At every pack feast, I was seated in the farthest corner.

Even when I brought back rare kills from the hunt, Senna’s opinion never changed.

To protect me from the whispers, he said, Joric had me move back to the Omega quarters three years ago.

He told me to wait. He would convince his mother, file the papers, and then claim me on the Blood Moon. He wanted our claiming to be perfect. Undeniable.

So I obeyed. I went back, even though it meant living with Omegas from all seven packs of the Alliance.

I endured their taunts. They said I was a cast-out, a failed social climber who would be stuck at the bottom forever.

I said nothing. I just trained.

I poured everything into honing my wolf’s gifts, hoping to become strong enough to be a warrior.

One day, I would be the best Luna Joric could ever ask for.

And besides, those other Omegas didn't know my secret.

On every full moon, Joric came to me.

He’d kiss me under the stars, his body claiming mine, whispering his love over and over.

"One day," he'd promised, "the whole world will know you are my Luna."

His words echoed in my head now. A bitter joke.

I pulled myself from the memory, a sharp pain in my chest.

I never imagined that after three years of waiting, he would be claiming someone else tonight.

He’d been lying to me for years, all to hide the truth. The one he was really coming for was my stepsister, Giselle.

I stood and walked to the mirror. The red silk dress I’d chosen for tonight clung to my body. I had wanted to look beautiful for him.

How pathetic.

The woman in the mirror stared back with hollow eyes. A porcelain doll, beautiful and broken.

The noise outside was growing louder.

"The Alphas are here!"

"Get ready! It's starting!"

I could hear their boisterous laughter. The sound of footsteps grew closer, more numerous.

What a grand spectacle. All for Giselle.

Tonight, the brutal Alpha was also supposed to come, and his target was Giselle, too.

Alliance rules were clear. An unclaimed Omega could refuse the claiming.

All she had to do was hide.

But Giselle wasn't hiding. She wasn't running.

She was in her room, waiting quietly.

Waiting for an Alpha to carry her away.

And the one she was waiting for… was the man who was supposed to be my mate.