CHAPTER 1: THE BETRAYAL

KATHLEEN

I held up the new panties and lingerie, staring at them with a mix of nerves and embarrassment.

Tonight, at the full moon festival, I'd decided to give Troy — my boyfriend, my virginity.

He'd waited patiently. He'd respected my wish to hold off until I was certain he was my fated mate. And I was certain.

From the very first day he stepped in and protected me and my little sister from the pack bullies, I knew.

People had called him strange for it. They whispered that the Alpha's nephew had no business bothering himself with a lowly, rejected omega.

"She's just an omega. She doesn't deserve love."

"Her father's a drunkard and a disgrace. She's a waste, just like him."

Those words had followed me my whole life. Even among the lowest ranks, my father's drinking and his bitter tongue had made us the pack's favorite joke.

But Troy never cared what any of them said. He chose me anyway. He'd invited me to the festival himself. He'd sent me this gown.

I slipped into the lingerie, then the dress. It fit perfectly. I turned once in front of the mirror and let myself smile, just for a moment.

Downstairs, my seventeen-year-old sister, Sam, lay shivering on our worn-out couch. Our aunt sat beside her, carefully spooning bitter herbal medicine past her lips.

"Sam," I whispered, kneeling next to her. "I'll be back before midnight, okay?"

She tried to nod. The movement barely registered.

It broke something in me every single day, watching her fight this hard just to keep breathing.

Her blood pressure is dangerously high. She needs brain surgery as soon as possible.

The doctor's exact words, still lodged somewhere behind my ribs. I knew Troy would have handed over the money without a second thought if I'd asked.

But I never asked. I never even told him. I didn't want him thinking I was only with him for what he could give me.

I pressed a soft kiss to Sam's forehead and left for the festival.

I arrived late.

The hall was already packed, loud with music and laughter. I slipped inside, ignoring the usual stares that followed an omega like me wherever I went.

My eyes searched the crowd for Troy.

Something felt off tonight. More warriors than usual stood near the entrance, and people kept glancing toward the doors like they were waiting for someone important to arrive.

A head maid appeared suddenly at my side.

"Kathleen. Fetch the wine from the kitchen. Troy's waiting for you in his room after."

Heat rushed to my face. I knew exactly what tonight meant, and I was ready — or I thought I was.

I nodded and hurried toward the kitchen. The moment I reached the door, I froze.

Soft, wet sounds. Skin against skin. A woman's breathless moan.

"Ahh... don't stop—"

"Your body's gripping me so tight. You're perfect."

I nearly laughed under my breath. Some couples can't even wait until after the festival. Horny fools, everywhere I turned tonight.

Then the woman spoke again, her voice dropping low, mocking.

"So why are you still keeping Kathleen around?"

My blood went cold.

I pressed my ear against the door.

"You think I'd ever actually want that omega?" Troy's voice, unmistakable, cold and amused. "She's naive. Soft. Easy to manipulate. I only kept her around long enough to take what I wanted and toss her aside after."

My heart slammed against my ribs. Naive. The word alone cut somewhere deep, because I couldn't even argue with it.

"Harder," the woman moaned. "You don't need her anymore. I'm your mate."

Sara. The girl he'd introduced to me as his step-sister.

"Yes, Sara," Troy groaned. "You're my true mate. That worthless omega was so starved for kindness she never questioned a thing I told her. She had no idea I only wanted what was between her legs — and I made her the pack's laughingstock while I was at it today."

They both laughed, like they'd already won something.

I stumbled backward. Tears burned hot and spilled over before I could stop them.

My trembling hands shoved the door open.

Troy was still buried inside Sara, her body spread across the kitchen table. The second his eyes landed on me, his face drained white. He yanked himself out of her immediately.

Sara slid off the table with a slow, satisfied smile, like she hadn't just detonated my entire life.

Troy was sweating, taking a step toward me. "Kath — I can explain—"

"Explain sleeping with the girl you called your step-sister?" My voice cracked down in the middle. "While I was on my way to give myself to you?"

"It — it's not what it looks like." He stammered, glancing at Sara, then back at me.

My gaze dragged over him, head to toe, hurt curdling into disgust.

Two years. Two years of feeling safe with him, feeling chosen for the first time in my life.

I searched through every memory I had of him, every walk home, every time he'd told me he respected me too much to rush this — looking for the exact moment I should have seen through it.

There had to have been a crack somewhere. There always was, wasn't there?

But all I found, over and over, was a man who'd seemed so unlike everyone else who'd ever looked at me like something to step around.

I couldn't stop the tears now. Every gentle word, every soft touch, every promise — all of it had just been a means to an end.

He'd wanted my virginity, and he'd wanted me humiliated in front of the entire pack while he took it.

It cut deeper knowing he'd planned every second of it. He was exactly like everyone else who'd ever looked down on me. Worse, even.

I didn't wait for another lie. I turned and ran.

The main hall was still packed with people. I shoved through the crowd, desperate for the exit, my vision blurred with tears.

"Everyone, halt."

The command cut through the noise like a blade. The entire hall went silent — silent enough that a dropped pin would have echoed.

Beta Fin stood at the entrance. Tall, massive, a scar carved brutally across his face.

Beta to the LYCAN KING of the Oreblack Lycan city.

A mad King who almost never left his own territory. But whenever his beta showed up somewhere else, it usually meant something cruel was about to unfold.

Every pack feared him. His name alone was enough to cause panic.

"All unmated wolves, step aside," he ordered.

My stomach dropped. I needed to get out. Now. I turned toward the nearest door—

"Beta Fin!"

Troy's voice rang clear across the silent hall. He stood there with his hands tucked casually in his pockets, completely composed, Sara at his side.

‘He's not even nervous.’ That was the thought that landed hardest.

He looked entirely at ease calling out my name in front of an entire pack.

"That omega, right there, trying to leave," he said, pointing straight at me. "She'll be perfect."

Beta Fin's cold eyes locked onto mine, and a shiver ran straight down my spine.

Troy kept going, his voice pitched loud enough for the whole hall to hear.

"She's a virgin. Wolfless. Unwanted. Exactly what the great Lycan King needs for a surrogate."

Two of Beta Fin's warriors started toward me.

I stumbled back, my heart slamming against my chest. "What — what are you talking about?" My voice came out shaking, broken. "Troy, what do you mean? What's a surrogate?"

They seized my arms.

I twisted and fought, yanking hard against their grip. "Let go of me! Troy — what are you doing?! Someone, explain this to me!"

No one did.

Some faces watched me with helpless pity. Others laughed outright, pointing.

How long had he been planning this?

Weeks? Months?

Had every gentle word been a countdown to this exact night, this exact humiliation, dressed up as love the whole time?

I kept fighting as they dragged me forward through the silent, watching crowd, tears streaming freely down my face.

They forced me down, roughly, at Beta Fin's feet.