Chapter 5 –– Caught up in thoughts

Adriana's Point of View

Standing in the dressing room, I looked in the mirror to check that my hair, makeup, and coloured contact lenses were still okay before I left. I had to be careful not to be seen without the coloured lenses. I had violet eyes, which were extremely rare. My mother had homeschooled me for this reason. She wouldn't explain why I had to keep my eyes coloured other than to say it was a life-or-death situation.

One last check. Everything was looking good, so I was out the door, ready to go onstage. Six months ago, I got a job at the Luna restaurant. Not only was it my first job, but it wasn't difficult, and I used my musical skills. The owner and all staff members were Wolf-Shifters. Still, we also catered to many human customers who were totally unaware of us. It was a fantastic gig; I loved being a musician and enjoyed most of it.

Only most of it, though. What I didn't like about it was getting hit on by over-entitled male customers. Just because I was an entertainer, playing the piano and singing during their evening dinner, they felt they had the right to treat the rest of me as if I were for sale. Occasionally, James, my boss, would have to step in and get rid of them. He was like a father figure to me. I felt I could trust him totally.

However, no matter who propositioned me, it wasn't going to happen. Hell no! Turning them down was something I was experienced at. They were all revolting humans, and I found none of them appealing. Even if they had been Wolf-Shifters, I wasn't interested. I suppose I looked pretty good, and wearing an elegant evening gown that accentuated my curves probably didn't help. It still didn't give them the right to expect something more from me. I didn't usually speak to any of them, and I certainly didn't lead them on.

As for why I turned them down… it wasn't that I didn't want or like sex. Eventually, it was going to happen—I wasn't against the idea. But I just didn't want to give it away.

When I was younger, I'd always dreamed of saving myself for my true mate. The idea felt special, almost sacred, as if it were something only they should have. If he ever turned up, that is. For years, I held onto that hope, that belief that the Moon Goddess had someone destined for me. But as I grew older, I realised there was a problem with that dream.

A neighbour, a sharp-tongued woman the same age as my mother, had shattered it one afternoon with a single sentence: "Omegas like us don't even have wolves. We're not going to have a mate." Even though she was including herself, her words seemed cruel, but the truth stung even more. Omegas, the lowest rank in the pack hierarchy, didn't have wolves or mates. We were expected to serve, to fade into the background, unnoticed and uncelebrated.

That conversation stayed with me, shaping the way I saw myself and my future. I stopped imagining a mate out there waiting for me. I stopped hoping for something that wasn't meant to be. If I didn't have a mate, then what was the point of holding out? But despite that, I still couldn't entirely convince myself to let go of the idea. I didn't want to give something so intimate and personal to someone who wouldn't see its value.

Everything changed.

It was the day I turned eighteen, the age when non-Omegas felt the presence of their wolves for the first time. For me, it was supposed to be a non-event. I wasn't expecting anything, not a shift, not a voice in my head, nothing. But when it happened, it hit me like lightning.

I was stunned when I met my wolf. She was strong, fierce, and undeniably real. For years, I'd been thinking I was less, telling myself I wouldn't have this part to myself, and yet here she was, proving them all wrong. Suddenly, everything I thought I knew about myself, about my place in the pack, was turned upside down.

Now, with my wolf beside me, that dream of saving myself for a mate didn't seem so impossible after all. Maybe I did have one. Maybe I wasn't as lowly as they thought. And maybe, just maybe, I was worth more than anyone had ever told me.

My mind kept dragging me back to the past, to the story my mum told me about joining the pack I was part of. The way she spoke about it had always seemed strange... too vague, too rehearsed. She was from another pack that had been attacked by rogues. Everyone had been slaughtered except for her. She'd managed to escape and join our current pack.

When she sought refuge here after the tragedy and had been taken in by the Black Wolf Pack, she was heavily pregnant with me. We were assigned Omega status, which put us relatively low in the pack hierarchy, but we were treated well enough. There was always enough to eat and a place to live.

When Mum passed away four months ago, it was about a month before my 18th birthday. It still didn't feel real. The pain of losing her lingered like a shadow I couldn't shake, especially with all the unanswered questions she left behind. I personally believed she had died of a broken heart. She'd always spoken so fondly of my father, her eyes lighting up whenever she mentioned him, saying he was her true mate. She said it was a secret that she and my father were true mates, and I wasn't allowed to tell anyone. But it struck me as odd and didn't make sense, not when I found out that Omegas didn't have wolves.

Now that I had my wolf, the gaps in her stories seemed larger, more glaring. I now realised my mother had been hiding something about who we were, but I couldn't figure out why. What was so important that she'd kept it a secret, even from me?

At the time, I didn't question it. I was just a kid, and I trusted her completely. But now, looking back, I realised how peculiar it all was. Maybe it was her way of telling me, in her own roundabout way, that we were in hiding. That we were pretending to be something we weren't.

As for my father, I didn't even know his name. Every time I'd asked, she'd evade the question, her expression closing off like she was protecting some great secret. It was maddening now, knowing she'd taken that information to her grave.

I wish I could ask her why I had a wolf when she claimed to be an Omega. She'd never told me the truth about my father or where we came from. There were so many questions, and now, there were no answers. All I had were fragments of stories, pieces of a puzzle I couldn't solve.

And the biggest question of all? Who was I really, and why had my mother worked so hard to keep it hidden?

It had only been three months since my wolf introduced herself to me. Her name was Calliope, which was just perfect because her name meant 'beautiful voice'. I only hoped that each time I sang, I did her justice. She seemed to like it, so I was happy. I didn't know what she looked like yet, as we hadn't had our first shift yet. She told me it would happen when we were ready. I asked her why I had a wolf because Omegas didn't have wolves. She wouldn't explain other than to say the Goddess doesn't make mistakes.

This also meant that I would have a mate. Calliope explained that this might take time. She would let me know when he was close. She felt he was close by, but she couldn't pinpoint him. I was part of a massive pack, so they were bound to be part of the same pack. I wasn't sure I actually wanted a mate at all. What also worried me was their reaction to finding out an Omega had a wolf. I couldn't even talk to my mother about it. I can only assume she had a wolf, considering what she told me about her past.

Damn, these morose thoughts. What I needed to focus on right now was entertaining the crowd. Most of them were humans, though a few werewolves were present. They were mainly further up the hierarchy than I, but I wasn't there to mingle with guests. I was there to entertain and rebuff men, and tonight was just another night.

It was time to go and perform, so I left the dressing room. The noise from the front of the house clashed with the busy sounds coming from the kitchen. It sounded like there was a full house tonight.

As I approached the front of the house, something was off with my wolf, Calliope. "What's wrong?" I asked her, but she ignored me. It was off-putting, but I couldn't dwell on it, as it was time to start.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, put your hands together for our lovely musician tonight, Adriana Argenté," announced James. Standing just offstage, I took a deep breath and walked forward.