Chapter 1

Raziela

‘Just breathe through it,’ my wolf whispered to me, ‘It will pass. It always passes.’

The fire started in my belly, then it licked its way up my spine, through my veins, until every inch of me was burning.

Every six months, I had to go through my heat like every omega my age, but for some reason mine always felt like it was a curse, it turned my body into a prison and my mind into a battlefield.

I was on my cot, curled into a tight ball, with my fingers digging into the thin mattress as another wave of cramps seized me, causing me to whimper and choke on my breath.

The door to my room slammed open, crashing against the wall, causing me to jolt and attempt to pull myself into a sitting position, but another wave of cramps seized my entire body, forcing me back down.

Madame Helen, the head omega trainer, stood in the doorway. Her small, dark eyes scanned my trembling form with utter contempt.

"Get up, you lazy bitch." she sneered, "You think you can lay here all day and stew in your own filth? Raziela, I’ve told you time and time again that the world doesn’t stop because you’re in heat!”

"Madame," I whimpered, "It's… it's bad this time. R-really bad.”

She strode into the room, her boots heavy on the floorboards. "I don't care if a hellhound is tearing its way out of you. Alpha Marcus is hosting the annual pack banquet tonight. This is the most important event for any pack and ours is no different. Every hand is needed. You are no exception."

"I can't," I pleaded, "I'll… I'll disturb the guests. My scent…"

Her hand moved faster than I could track. A sharp, stinging slap snapped my head to the side, causing my cheek to explode with pain and hot tears welled in my eyes.

"You have twenty minutes to make yourself presentable. If you are not in the main hall, ready to serve or I’ll drag you by your hair and chain you in the kitchen like a dog. Do you understand me?"

I could only nod, my entire body trembling as another fresh wave of my pain crashed into me, but I couldn’t even fold in on myself, for fear of what Madame Helen would do.

She straightened up, tossing a small, waxy paper packet onto my cot. "Take these. They're suppressants. They'll hold you for a few hours."

She turned and left without another word, leaving the door open as she walked out.

The suppressants were a lie. We all knew it. They were cheap, faulty pills that barely skimmed the surface of a true heat, or heat as intense as mine, and most times they failed at the worst possible moments, but right now I didn’t have much choice. I swallowed the two chalky pills dry.

Somehow, I managed to pull myself together, and staggered into the bathroom. I scrubbed my skin raw, braided my hair tight, and slipped into the plain black uniform we were required to wear for formal occasions. The fire in my stomach still raged, but the pills helped to simmer it.

By the time I stepped into the banquet hall, my head was spinning. The air was thick with pheromones and perfume. I kept my eyes down, forcing one foot in front of the other.

I kept twirling the bracelet on my wrists. It was the only thing I had that proved that I once had a family. The people at the orphanage where I grew up had told me that the bracelet had been around my wrist when they had found me at their doorstep.

It had my name engraved on the back of it, and had a stone that was the same emerald green of my eyes, but that was all there was to it. But I never took it off.

Madame Helen found me by the kitchen entrance and her fingers dug into my arm like talons as she pulled me to the side.

"Raziela take this," she said, her voice low and dangerous. She pressed a silver flute of bubbling champagne into one of my hands and a cold, plastic keycard into the other. "Suite 3B upstairs. The guest of honor wants champagne."

My blood ran cold. "Madame, I—"

"Your order is simple Raziela," she cut me off, her eyes boring into mine. "Don’t speak, don’t even breathe too loud. Deliver the drink and leave immediately.” She whispered. Her fingers dug into my wrist, sharp enough to cause a bruise.

“Be on your absolute best behavior and you leave the room immediately. If you cause any trouble, if you embarrass this pack in any way, you will pay with your life."

The threat was not an exaggeration. For an omega like me, life was conditional. It always has been. This glass of champagne in my hands was worth more than my life.

My heart hammered against my ribs as I walked up the stairs, the champagne flute trembling in my hand. The Suite was at the end of a quiet hallway and I took a deep breath as I reached the door. I swiped the card, and pushed the heavy door open.

The room was dark.

Not dim, but a profound blackness that swallowed the light from the hallway as soon as the door clicked shut behind me.

I couldn't see anything and my breathing became a deafening roar in my ears.

"Hello?" I called out, my voice barely a squeak.

There was no answer, so I took a hesitant step forward, one hand outstretched in front of me, so I could get a sense of direction, and then it hit me.

A scent.

It wasn't like the confusing mix of pheromones and perfumes in the banquet hall.

This was a singular, overwhelming force. It smelled of Tonka bean and ambrosia. The scent was raw, primal and it slammed into me, bypassed my will, and went straight for the fire of my heat.

I choked on the heady scent of my own arousal that immediately filled the room.

I heard a growl come from the corner of the room, and the flute slipped out of my hands. I barely registered the sound of the glass as it hit the floor and shattered.

I tried to fight it, I wanted to, but I couldn't. I just couldn’t. It felt like my body was no longer mine, I felt completely possessed in the presence of this stranger, and when he pulled me into his arms, and buried his nose in my neck, my mind and control broke apart.

It didn’t matter that I couldn’t see this man’s face, that I didn’t know what his name was, or who he was.

There was only his scent, and it felt like a command my body could not disobey.

The room, my orders, Madame Helen’s threats—they all dissolved into nothing.

The only thing my mind could register was the wet slapping of skin against skin, his growls as he rammed into me, over and over again, and my loud moans as my body opened up even more to take it all.

.

.

.

Two weeks later…

“Are you sure she was the one you saw that night?” I heard a voice from behind me and my heart dropped to my stomach.

The sharp clang of a metal pot being dropped into the sink barely registered in my mind, as I tuned into the conversation that was starting up just behind me.

It had been two weeks since that night. Two weeks of living with the shameful memory of how I lost my virginity. But the memory wasn't the worst part.

The worst part was, that night wasn’t a secret at all. My mistake had spread around the pack like wild fire.

“Of course! I’ll recognize those wild curls anywhere in the world. I saw her exit the hotel and I kid you not, there was cum dripping down her legs.” The girl finished and a single tear slid down my face.

“Ewww!” I heard a chorus and laughter rang across the room. I bit my tongue to hold back the sob that was threatening to escape my lips.

How my hair had unraveled from that tight braid I put it in was still a mystery to me, but to be honest, most of that night was a mystery.

“She probably begged for it, threw herself at him.”

The words echoed all around me, but I tuned them out. I couldn’t take it anymore. Since the night at the banquet, two weeks ago, the rumors had flown around and it quickly turned into different versions.

My life in this pack was already very hard, being an omega and a runt already made me the laughingstock of the pack, and I always tried to keep my head down. But after that night at the banquet, my life had taken a deeper plunge.

The whispers didn't stop around me now, they never did, so I kept my head down as I scrubbed the pans harder, while the girls around me called me names like whore and slut.

I wasn’t any of that, in fact prior to two weeks ago, I had never slept with anyone before.

I had just lost control and made a mistake.

My chest tightened. The hot, humid air of the kitchen suddenly felt thin and suffocating. I swayed on my feet, blinking rapidly to chase away the black spots that were starting to dance in front of my eyes, but they only worsened and my breath hitched in my throat.

I can’t breathe.

My grip on the plate slackened. The jeering sounds of the other girls blurred. The darkness that had swallowed me in that hotel room rose up again.

I felt my knees buckle, and then the world around me dissolved into blackness.

***

A loud beep echoed in the background, forcing me to peel my eyes open. A wave of white light rushed at me, and I hissed, quickly shutting my eyes again.

Goddess, my head hurt so bad.

My eyes flickered open again, slowly this time and I was greeted by a white ceiling. There was a machine propped beside me, whirring slowly. White walls stared back at me, and the scent of antiseptic caused bile to rise at the back of my throat.

“You're awake.” Someone muttered beside me, and I turned quickly to look at him.

“Zane?” I called softly, trying to sit up in bed, groaning when my entire body protested from the movement.

“Careful now. I think it’s best if you keep laying down. I’ll raise the bed instead.” Zane offered, inclining the bed so I could still lay but see him properly.

As he stepped closer, his scent tickled my nose. It was pine and the smell of the earth after it just rained, it was so familiar and warm that it immediately put me at ease. His long blonde hair was packed into a man bun at the back of his head, so I could see the frown on his temples.

“What are you doing here?” I asked again, noting how he kept avoiding my eyes.

Zane was the only friend I had in this pack, that’s if I could even call him that. He was a low rank warrior and we hardly spoke, but he was always kind enough to help me whenever he could. Snacks here, helping me get out of punishments there. We were not exactly close, but he was the closest thing I had to a friend.

But I hadn’t seen him in two weeks. Not since that night.

"I was passing by the kitchens," he explained, his gaze fixed on a point on the wall just past my head. "Heard a crash, went to check and I found you on the floor, unconscious. So I brought you here."

Oh!

I thought he hated me now. After the rumors of me being a whore spread, I thought he saw me that way too.

“Umm, thank you.” I whispered, “I can’t be here for long though, I won’t be able to pay the fees.” I said, chuckling nervously as I moved to get out of the bed.

"Stay put, Raziela."

Zane’s voice was firm. It wasn't loud, but it had a sharp edge that stopped me cold. I looked at him, truly looked at him, for the first time and he still wouldn’t meet my eyes. His jaw was tight, and he kept flexing his hands on his knees.

The atmosphere in the room shifted. This wasn't just about him helping me after I fainted. He knew something.

My heart began to pound a slow, heavy rhythm against my ribs.

"Zane," I said, my voice barely audible. "What's wrong?"

He finally looked at me, and I wished he hadn't. The kindness that was usually in his eyes was overshadowed by a deep, gut-wrenching pity that made me wince. He looked like a man tasked with delivering a death sentence. He opened his mouth, then closed it again.

He took a deep breath, and the sound felt unnaturally loud in the quiet room. "The doctor… he ran some tests to see why you collapsed." Zane’s eyes dropped to my stomach, just for a second, before flicking back to my face. His own was pale.

"You're pregnant." He finally spoke.

The two words he uttered didn't just land; they detonated, shattering the fragile remains of my world.