Crowned by the Moon, Rejected by the Alpha.

The silver plate vibrated in Aria Winters' hand as she swept through the crowded room, the worn leather boots barely touching the shiny stone floors, rubbed in a glitter in honor of today’s encounter shining on the faces of the shadow pack, laughing, drinking and praising the hunt. Their voices trembling in the rays like a long cry on the moon.

She was invisible here, as always. A spirit dressed in the uniform of a servant hides among the bodies of wolves, who hardly recognize their existence except that they empty boxes or give orders for more food. By the age of 19, Aria had perfected the art of invisibly moving through space and becoming so small and banal that even her scent seemed to fade into the background, a useful skill when she was the only Omega in the pack, the weakest of them, the wolf without the wolf.

"More wine, Omega," smiled Beta Marcus Thornfield and did not look at her as he held the glass in front of her. 

Engraved with the seal of the lunar pack and a ghostly crescent, the heavy silver cup struck its temples hard enough to shed tears. He swallowed the groans in his throat. Each sign of pain would bring more cruelty, clearer memories of his position on the rigid chain of the pack.

"Yes, Beta," she whispered, her words almost swallowed by the noise of the party all around.

She filled his cutlery with expensive wine from a remote cellar, the kind of luxury he took for granted while still arranging the same three clothes and in the houses upstairs, in kitchens where the smell of meat and herbs never completely disappeared from his hair and clothes.

Marcus never thanked her. Recognizing her services would mean acknowledging her existence, which the Shadow Claw pack seemed to avoid. It was useful, even necessary, but part of it. How could it be if her wolf had never been out, when eighteen years of waiting and praying for the moon goddess only brought disappointment and murmur about the curse that fell on the abandoned child who found her twenty years ago? Limits?

The memory of this story, told in cruel whispers by the children of the herd who wanted to remind her of her origins, still burned like acid in his chest. Found in a blanket torn by the signs of the northern border, no trace of belonging to the family or clinging to its small form, only the faint smell of pine needles and everything else, something adults never recognized. The pack took it for work, not love. They took care of her, protected her and did their work when she was old enough to use a broom, but never forgot that it was charity, an obligation, a burden that they carried with little hidden resentment.

 "Watch where you’re going ,freak."

A hoarse voice brought Aria back to the present just in time to stop her from meeting Lyric Shadow bane, Beta’s daughter whose golden hair and amber eyes gave her the feeling of being kissed by the sun. At twenty-five, Lyric was everything that Aria wasn’t: beautiful, confident, powerful and absolutely safe in her pack hierarchy. Her wolf was strong, her offspring pure, her bright future with possibilities. It was also when the whispered conversations that Aria felt while serving meals were exactly that the woman would become the next moon before Alpha Kale finally choose a partner.

 "I’m sorry," Aria muttered, looking back as she was taught; never make eye contact with your superiors. Do not speak until we tell you, and never forget your place. The mantras that had entered her infancy flowed into her mind like a prayer, holding it firmly to the reality of its circumstances, even as something deep in her chest-Something suspected of rebellion, She raised her chin and mouth with Lyric’s disdainful gaze. 

"Its you." The voice of the text flowed with the kind of occasional cruelty that resulted from a life she considered superior." I don’t think we should expect too much from someone who doesn’t even have a wolf. Tell me, Aria, what exactly is the point of being with you if you can’t perform even the most fundamental function of our kind?" 

The words strike like physical blows, each carefully selected to cause maximum damage. Around them, silent conversations as pack members turned to see the fun, their faces showing varying degrees of joy and unpleasant recognition. It was not the first time that Lyric decided to publicly humiliate the Omega of the pack, and it would not be the last. It was a memory, a demonstration of the natural order, a means to reinforce the boundaries that held everyone in place. 

"I’m serving the package as best I can," Aria replied, her hands so clenched around the tray that her fingers turned white. The formal words tasted like ash in his mouth, but they were safe words, acceptable words, the kind of response that could satisfy Lyric’s need for mastery without degenerating the situation into something more dangerous. 

"Do you really?" Lyric approached, her perfectly guided hand holding out on the finger the worn cloth of Aria’s servant-a shapeless brown thing that had been so often repaired that it was more thread than original. 

“Honestly, it looks to me like you’re just standing where someone worthy should be.” “Someone who can have something besides drinks and clean the floor." 

The crowd around her had grown, forming a free circle that kept Aria at the center of its attention like a deer surrounded by predators. She had a feeling that the thick, heavy bunkers would be paid if they felt weak and floated and decided to jump or turn and look at the trap.

Her heart beat violently in his ribs, like the wings of a bird in a knot.

 "Enough, Lyric."

The voice that broke the tension was silent, deep and charged, of a guy who didn’t need volume to be heard. The crowd instinctively withdrew and cleared the room for a man who moved like a predator he had never hunted before. Alpha Kale Blackthorn was tall and stable, built all the power and control, but shares his eyes that moved people. Silver gray like the moon on steel, clear, illegible, full of old and unknown things.

At twenty-six, Kale led the Shadow Claws Pack for eight years because his father was in a train collision. He had the kind of presence that caused fear and admiration. Alpha who could always see a room with a look or a light with a word. Her dark hair fell on her neck and rubbed against a midnight shirt thinner than anything Aria touches. And when it moved, it never showed grace, but restraint.

He was the most remarkable man Aria had ever seen, though she never recognized him aloud, not even in the intimacy of her own thoughts. This path resulted only in pain and humiliation, as men like Kale Blackthorn simply wanted the women who weren’t set back or expressed dissatisfaction with their poor care. He didn’t deserve your attention anyway, and was probably the best. The last thing I needed was to develop feelings for someone who was so above his position that he might as well have been of a different species.

 "Alpha, "Lyric said, her posture changing with every heartbeat. The wild predator surrounding Aria like a shark, the smell of blood had disappeared; in its place was a bright woman with sensuality and confidence, warm orange eyes like she had turned to be the pack leader. 

" I only reminded Omega of his duties. Sometimes the lowest ones need guidance to remember their place." Lyric’s look at Aria moved; her silver eyes seized the trembling plateau, the defense of her shoulders, the way in which her gaze was directed to the ground, as if the stone patterns contained the secrets of the universe. 

Something blinked in his face, too fast to interpret, too complex to understand, before his expression reverted to the usual controlled authority mask.

"And what is her place?" he asked, a faint curiosity in his voice that sounded more dangerous than pure rage.

"Serve you and your superior standard." Lyric’s reaction was like a carillon in a summer breeze, beautiful and warm and totally without heat. Like the real wolves of the pack feel comfortable and carefree, "Right, Aria? "

The way she pronounced the name Aria gave her a rather dull look, something that left a bitter taste on her tongue. Aria felt the heat going up her hips and sliding down her thighs. The kind of burning discomfort that wanted to disappear falls on the ground and disappears in that place where it never belonged, never loved, a small memory of the burning love of the herd. 

 "Look straight ahead."

The order was soft but absolute; Aria looked up and saw Kale’s gaze; time stood still for a moment. Something is going on between them, a strange electrical connection.

Then it disappeared.

"Your duties are for the whole pack," said Kale with his eyes on Lyric." Not for those who have forgotten that leadership is a service and not a privilege. ''

 "Sure, Alpha," Lyric said firmly.

"They have shown why the goddess of the moon needs time to reveal companions," he continued, "leadership is nothing but humility."

When the crowd dispersed, Lyric was pale and with narrow lips, his orange eyes blinked with something unreadable.

"I’m sorry," she said.

Kale turned to Aria, hands outstretched on the plateau and heart beating in her ears.

"The wine is from Bordeaux" he said carelessly. "1982, an excellent year, do you know the wine?

 "Not really, Alpha."

"No wonder this wine is too expensive to be wasted by someone who doesn’t appreciate it."

The words should have done that, but their tone suggested otherwise.

"I should get back to work," Aria whispered.

"You should do that," he said, but he didn’t back down; he took a bottle from her tray and brushed her with his fingers.

Touching her, she shook a bit.

The rest of the night was not clear. Aria worked instinctively, tormented by silver eyes and the weight of possibilities. Some looked curiously, others with the bitter bite of bitterness.

A few hours later, she climbed the narrow staircase into her small room above the kitchen, the only place that belonged to her. There, she was finally able to breathe.

She sat in bed and looked out over the moonlit forest; somewhere behind the trees was a world of which she was a part of. But tonight, this world seemed to be at hand.

Tomorrow will be the ceremony of the world, serve and see how others find their partner.

But something was moving in the lower chest.

Hope.

A dangerous and impossible hope.

The moon was full and bright, projecting silver promises on all the world below. 

And for the first time, Aria dared to believe that perhaps her fate was about to change. 

Even if your heart breaks before you let go.