Chapter 1

Khalid is my mate. The realization seemed more and more untrue as I thought about it. Bell, my wolf, couldn’t contain her excitement and wanted to be in the arms of her mate immediately. And so did I.

  But as I watched his graceful and eloquent movement, my heart shattered into a thousand pieces. Khalid was the son of the Alpha—the first son for that matter. And me, a poor and weak Omega girl, was mated to him. How in the universe would that work? I was in the very lowest of class and he was in the very highest. There was no way he wouldn’t be despised by my existence if he realized his mate was an Omega.

  Just as I was looking at him, his eyes suddenly met mine. All the pores in my body froze at that moment. Time seemed to stand still as our gazes locked. I felt like I was drowning in the depths of his eyes. But then, his gaze shifted, almost immediately. And I wondered if he had really looked at me or I was seeing things.

  As I stood there, lost in thought, the head of maids appeared beside me, her voice piercing the air. “Hey, you! Dirty thing. What are you looking at?”

  I turned to face her, my heart still reeling from the shock of seeing Khalid. She was a huge woman, an Omega twice my age, and pompous too. Many Omegas get rejected if their mates aren’t also Omegas, and if their mates happen to hate Omegas. But if they're lucky enough to get accepted by a non-Omega mate, they're immediately respected. And even though they're still Omegas, no one dares address them as that again. Because the title of your husband is your title.

  That was the case with this head maid. She was mated to the Chief of Gamma, and she'd taken it upon herself to insult and abuse Omegas whenever she could, because she was “no longer” one of us.

  “If only you could work half as hard as you stare into space. You have a tray in your hands, but you'd rather stand there, stare, and daydream of things you'll never be. Now get out of my sight and make yourself more useful.” Her words stung, but I knew better than to react. I bowed and walked away, the weight of her disdain settling heavy on my shoulders.

  As I made my way to the kitchen, the sounds of the celebration grew louder. Today was the Alpha's birthday, and the pack house was buzzing with activity. Dancers performed with loud music in the pack hall, while men fought with swords for entertainment. The rest of the pack enjoyed the endless food and drink, but the Omegas were left to work, unpaid and unappreciated.

  My stomach growled as I poured drinks into the tiny glasses on the tray. I hadn't eaten since morning, and it was already after 6PM. My job was to serve drinks, and later, I'd join the other maids to wash the dishes. Just another day in the life of an Omega.

  Someone nudged at me, and I turned to see a sweating Nora. She was also an Omega and a maid like me—one around my age who always insulted the world and its unfairness.

  “Mia. There you are.” She smiled at me and looked around us. “We should disappear into one of the empty stores and eat something. The house is so busy. Nobody would notice.” 

  I looked at her suspiciously. Nora had always been a risk-taker and had never been caught once, even though I’ve never agreed to being her accomplice.

  “And our duties?”

  “Nora,” she pouted. “I’m starting to wonder if you enjoy working. There are many other maids in the house. You think it would matter if nobody sees us for a few minutes?”

  I rolled my eyes and hissed, slowly moving out of the room with the tray in my hands. I felt the mate bond as I walked, and I threatened to shut Bell out if she kept being restless, even though I knew I couldn’t.

  “Maid,” someone called, which prompted me to look. A man wearing a silk robe waved at me. From his appearance, I could tell he was one of the guests from another pack. 

  I bowed as I handed him the tray so he could take a cup. He took one, and I bowed again before turning to leave.

  “Wait.”

 He walked from behind me to stand at my front. “You look quite ravishing for a maid, even despite the fact that you stink.”

  I stood still, staring straight at him. His words must sound demeaning to his ears, but somehow they didn’t hurt me one bit. I’ve heard worse in my life, and I’ve felt worse. I was just a little annoyed that he was wasting my time.

  “Thank you. But I have to continue my duties now.” I made sure to bow again and started walking away before he held my shoulder.

  “Where do you think you’re going? I’m not done with you. Hand that tray to any other maid or drop it on the floor and come with me.”

  I tried to suppress my anger as I thought of what to say to him. “With all due respect, my Lord, the head maid won’t like that. There are many more people I need to serve and—” 

  “This dirty Omega. Since when is it that your type has the right to object to the actual wolves? Do you know who I am?”

  “I don’t care who you are! Go fuck yourself and leave me alone,” I screamed at him, and then realized that it hadn’t come from me but from a furious Bell.

  His “actual wolves” comment had triggered Bell, who was already anxious from the thought of never being compatible with her mate.

  He was shocked at my outburst, or rather Bell’s. But how do I explain to him that my wolf sometimes works on her own and I hadn’t meant to insult him?

  My body trembled where I stood. I knew there would be vast consequences for what I just did. I felt some presence starting to thicken around us, including other maids that were confused about what just happened and wondering if they actually heard me insult a highly esteemed guest.

  “You…” I heard him growl. “You’re going to pay for this.”

  Claws extended from his fingertips. And with a flash, I saw it coming for my face before I heard a louder growl.

  “Don’t you dare lay hands on my mate!”