CHAPTER 1

The heavy oak door of the servants' scullery slammed against the stone wall with a deafening crack.

​"Still sitting there staring at the fire, Aria?" Guard Commander Garrett shouted, his heavy boot kicking the wooden stool right out from beneath me.

​I stumbled, catching myself against the edge of the soot-stained hearth before I hit the floor. The cold ashes clung to my palms.

​"I was waiting for the kettle to boil, Commander," I muttered, forcing my gaze to remain fixed on his mud-spattered leather boots.

​"You don't get to wait for anything, Omega trash," Garrett growled, leaning down so close I could smell the stale ale and dried blood on his uniform. "Sienna is in the East Wing suite for the weekend. She demands you attend to her personal baths and dressing before the sun crests the trees. If she waits even a second, I’ll strip the skin off your back myself."

​My throat tightened. "Why me? There are a dozen servants in the lower halls. Why do I have to be her shadow?"

​"Because she asked for you," Garrett sneered, grabbing my collar and shoving me violently toward the door leading to the upper estate. "Now move! Before I give you a reason to cry."

​I stumbled down the stone corridor, my teeth grinding together so hard my jaw throbbed.

​Sienna and I had been born on the exact same night, under the bloody light of a harvest moon. Once, she was my closest confidante. We had run bare-legged through the midnight pine woods, sharing secrets under the stars, promising that when we turned eighteen, we would stand side-by-side in the pack hierarchy.

​That was before the ambush at the northern pass.

​My father, Marcus, had been the Gamma—a legend on the front lines whose courage was respected across three territories. My mother, Helena, worked in the pack hospital, treating every wounded wolf with gentle hands. We weren't blood royalty, but we were honored.

​Then came the night the Alpha’s seal was stolen and the border scouts were slaughtered in their sleep.

​My father was framed. The blood-soaked seal was planted inside his armory, hidden beneath his spare breastplate. No one listened to his pleas of loyalty. He was dragged to the center of the courtyard, stripped of his title in front of the entire pack, and thrown into the deepest dark of the underground dungeons for life. My mother was demoted to a disgraced omega maid, and I was dragged right down into the mud beside her.

​Sienna had stood in the courtyard that night. She hadn't shed a single tear for the family that used to feed her. Instead, she had stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Beta, her eyes shining with cold, naked ambition as my father was dragged away in silver chains.

​When the old Beta died of his rot months later, Sienna’s father claimed the mantle. Overnight, Sienna became the Beta’s pampered princess. And I became her footstool.

​What made the humiliation poison to my veins was how effortlessly she claimed the attention of the pack’s deadliest rulers. The Alpha’s three charming sons—the ruthless triplet heirs: Malakai, Kieran, and Silas. Dangerously handsome but ruthless. They revolved around her like dark, hungry predators. They showered her with stolen silk, fought for her favor, and bowed to her every whim. Everyone in the territory knew that when Sienna turned eighteen in three days, one of the triplets would claim her as his Luna. Or perhaps all three would share her in a blood-bond.

​I grabbed the silver tray from the kitchen counter, holding a heavy porcelain cup filled with steaming, dark tea.

​Just endure until your eighteenth birthday, I told myself, my knuckles white against the edges of the tray. Find your fated mate. Even if he’s a low-ranking rogue or a packless outcast, anything is better than rotting in this house.

​Reaching the double doors of the East Wing suite, I sucked in a sharp breath and knocked twice.

​"Enter," Sienna’s silky, mocking voice echoed through the wood.

​I pushed the heavy door open, keeping my head bowed strictly toward the velvet rug beneath my feet. "Your tea," I said quietly.

​A wet, filthy gasp tore through the air, followed by the low, dangerous rumble of a man’s throaty chuckle.

​My eyes flicked up for a fraction of a second, and the blood instantly drained from my face.

​Sienna was sprawled back across the massive four-poster bed, her dark hair tangled against the silk pillows. She wore nothing but a sheer crimson robe that hung open at her hips, completely exposing her pale, bare thighs and the smooth curve of her waist. Straddling her stomach was Silas—the youngest and most unpredictable of the triplet Alphas.

​His shirt was thrown on the floor, revealing the broad, heavily tattooed expanse of his muscular chest and shoulders. His large, calloused hand was buried between her bare thighs, his long fingers working forcefully against her wet flesh, while his lips trailed bruised, biting kisses down her throat.

​Sienna let out a loud, shamelessly high moan, arching her spine off the mattress and grinding her hips upward against his heavy hand. Her dark eyes locked directly onto mine over Silas’s flexing shoulder, gleaming with cruel satisfaction.

​My wolf snarled violently inside my chest, but I forced my face to remain dead, unbothered. I set the tea down on the bedside table and stepped back toward the exit, desperate to escape the heavy, suffocating scent of sex and copper in the room.

​"Hold it right there," Sienna purred sharply.

​I froze, locking my knees.

​Sienna wrapped her legs around Silas’s waist, dragging his face down to hers. She kissed him viciously, her tongue sliding into his mouth with an audible, filthy squelch that echoed off the high walls. Silas growled low in his chest, his broad hand shifting from her groin to grip her waist, squeezing her flesh so hard his knuckles turned white as he devoured her mouth.

​When she finally shoved him back, her lips were swollen, slick, and bruised red. She slid off the mattress, letting the sheer crimson fabric trail over her hips as she stepped out of bed wearing nothing but a micro-pair of matching lace bottoms.

​Silas stayed on the bed, leaning back against the headboard with his muscular chest heaving, his heavy, dark eyes glazed with dark lust as he watched her strut toward me.

​Sienna picked up the tea, swirling the piping-hot liquid slowly. Her eyes dragged over my patched uniform, her lip curling into a bitter sneer.

​She took a tiny sip, instantly spitting it back into the cup before her face twisted with dramatic rage. "What kind of slop is this?" she hissed.

​I clenched my hands into tight fists, forcing my tone to stay flat. "It is the spiced black blend you ordered, brewed as requested."

​"It tastes like gutter water!" Sienna spat.

​Before I could draw another breath, she jerked her arm back and threw the scalding hot tea directly across my chest and neck.

​The boiling liquid splashed through my thin uniform instantly, searing into the sensitive flesh of my neck, chest, and collarbone. An agonizing gasp tore from my throat as the sharp heat bit deep into my skin. The intense sting shot straight through my nerves, making the skin turn bright red under the dripping brown mess.

​On the bed, Silas didn't even blink. He just rested his chin against his knuckles, watching the tea drip down my chest with cold, amused indifference.

​"Next time you serve me garbage," Sienna whispered, leaning in so close I could smell the heavy musk of Silas's slick on her breath, "I’ll pour it straight into your eyes. Apologize."

​The heat burned like liquid fire against my skin, but I swallowed the copper taste of my own anger. "I apologize," I whispered, keeping my head lowered. "I will fetch another."

​"Don't bother," Sienna sneered, waving her manicured hand dismissively as she turned back toward the bed. She climbed right back onto Silas’s lap, wrapping her bare legs around his hips. Silas gripped her waist tight against his naked groin, his teeth immediately sinking back into the soft crook of her neck.

​"Get out," Silas growled against her skin, his voice thick with unspent lust, not even bothering to look at me.

​I turned on my heel and walked out, my chest throbbing with every step. The skin beneath my collar was raw and blistering, but I kept my chin up until the heavy doors clicked shut behind me.

​I leaned back against the cold stone corridor, taking ragged breaths as tears of pure pain burned behind my eyelids.

​"There you are, Aria," a harsh voice barked.

​I looked up to see Guard Commander Garrett marching down the hallway toward me, his face grim and tight.

​"Alpha Malakai wants you in his private quarters," Garrett commanded, his eyes flicking briefly to the dripping, scalding stain on my chest before looking away. "Right now."

​My stomach dropped into an icy void. Alpha Malakai was the eldest of the triplets—the most terrifying, cold-blooded commander in the territory. He never summoned an omega unless he was ready to execute them.

​"Why?" I managed to choke out, my voice trembling despite my best efforts. "What did I do?"

​Garrett shook his head, his tone laced with cold warning. "I don't know. But he’s wrecked half his room, and he looks like he's ready to tear someone's throat out."