One

The breeding matron pointed at me, forcing my back against the kitchen wall. 

“Oil her up,” she snapped. She jerked her chin at her assistant, an omega girl already naked and slick with scented oil. “Make her wet enough for an Alpha's knot to slide right in.”

My stomach dropped. I had spent the whole evening scrubbing pots, fetching water, doing anything to stay away from tonight’s filth. 

"I'm not a breeder," I choked out. "I clean and serve.”

The matron’s laugh was cruel. "Tonight we need more girls. More alphas showed up than expected. Over fifty rutting cocks out there.” She stepped closer. “Strip, little one. Or I’ll have them drag you out naked and bent over the table myself.”

The omega girl snorted. “You’re twenty years old, Lira. Still pretending you’re special. Every servant here has opened their legs for an alpha at least once. You think some prince will pick an omega with no wolf and no status?”

Laughter bounced off the walls. My chest tightened until each breath hurt.

They thought I was avoiding sex because I wanted to feel holy.

They were wrong. 

I wasn’t afraid of sex. 

I was terrified of the consequences. Of what always happened when my kind was touched.

The omega grabbed my arm when I tried to pull away. “Behave. I won’t take Lady Selena’s whip for you. Strip.”

My fingers curled into the collar of my dress, pressing the fabric over my hidden mark. I wasn't an omega. I wasn’t alpha or beta either. I wasn’t anything this pack understood. I didn’t even know what I was.

Blackwood had been easy to hide in because it was careless. Sex, drink, and filth ruled this place. No one knew who I was or checked my bloodline. 

My hands trembled as I unlaced the dress. Although I'd hidden my mark with Moonshade paste, my wolf stirred anyway. The festival energy leaked through the walls and she felt it.

She hated it. 

Warm oil hit my skin. The omega girl rubbed it over my chest first, her thumbs circling until my body reacted against my will.

"Look at these tits," she muttered. “These will keep an alpha busy.”

I bit my lip until I tasted blood. Another girl slicked oil down my thighs and between them.

A tray was shoved into my hands. “Serve,” the matron ordered. “Smile. Arch your back. Make them want you.”

Every step toward the doors felt like walking into a grave.

The hall was packed with alphas sprawled on couches, pants open, cocks out. Girls rode them, faces twisted in forced pleasure. One omega was bent over a table, two alphas taking her at once. Sex and sweat clogged the air. 

Alpha Garrick sat at the head table. A slave girl was locked on his knot while he laughed and drank. 

Garrick needed alliances. He bought loyalty with flesh. His orgies were known across the region and tonight proved why.

General Knox spotted me first. The worst of Alpha Garrick’s men.

His eyes dragged over me, and he crooked a finger. “You. Serve me.”

My knees hit the floor as I poured wine. My hands shook. His teeth were yellow. His breath smelled wrong.

“Just how I like them,” he said. “Small and afraid.”

His hand closed around my wrist. Pain shot up my arm.

“I’ll knot you until you’re dripping,” he whispered against my ear. “Then I’ll pass you around and let my friends fill you.”

My wolf snarled inside me.

Don’t let him touch us. I hate him.

My grandmother’s voice whispered in my head.

“When your wolf rejects a male, don’t let them touch you. Even safer, don’t let any male knot you.”

She had said I was special, born on the twelfth day of the twelfth month, under a red moon. My mother had died bringing me into the world, right in my grandmother’s arms. When she noticed the mark, three shiny crescents burned into my skin, she knew I was a curse. The signs were glaring.

My grandmother should have handed me over to the elders for execution. She didn’t. She ran. We lived in ruins beyond Blackwood for twelve years, until sickness took her.

She told me the truth about my origin.

Long ago, a woman with the triple mark had driven three alpha brothers mad with want. They marked her. Bred her. Shared her, because none of them could let go. She loved them all, but the brothers turned on each other. Blood spilled. All three died on the same field.

The woman was executed for it.

As she was burned, she screamed, swearing she would return. And when she did, she would protect her mates and rise above the law.

Ever since, every child born with the triple mark was killed on the spot.

Until twenty years ago, when my grandmother decided to spare my life and damn the consequences.

I would not let General Knox touch me. For his own good and mine. But the problem was, I didn’t know how to save myself.

I stalled, then straightened to hand him the cup. He placed my hand on his crotch, and my stomach turned.

My eyes scanned for help. Guards lined the walls, ready to beat any girl who attempted to run.

Then a trumpet sounded.

“The Triad Alphas have arrived.” 

The shift was instant. Alpha Garrick straightened. General Knox cursed and shoved himself away. Relief crashed into me so hard my vision blurred

Three males entered. Power rolled in like a storm. 

They were feared everywhere. Wanted by every noble woman.

I crawled backward, trying to disappear when something strange occurred. 

Three scents crashed into my senses. Pine after rain. Smoke and spice. Frost-kissed night flowers.

Heat tore through my chest and burned down my spine.

I gasped. The tray slipped in my hands.The mark burned alive. My wolf surged awake. 

 Our mates are here! 

Across the hall, three heads turned at once.

No.

Goddess no. 

I had survived twenty years unseen.

And now the curse had found me