LOGINNora has spent her life in the shadows of her stepmother’s cruelty, surviving on scraps of dignity in a world where power is everything. As the daughter of a disgraced Alpha, she has no standing, no allies, and no future except the mate bond she secretly hopes for. But fate doesn’t just hand her a mate, it throws her straight into the path of Derek, the Lycan King himself. Nora’s next step could either crown her… or destroy her.
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NORA POV I knew she was going to slap me before I even turned around. The elevator doors slid open with a metallic ding, and I stepped out holding the freshly steamed dress like it was gold. Because it was. "You're late," Anna snapped, striding across the marble lobby of the StormDen Tower in her blood-red heels. "Again." “I had to re-steam it,” I said quietly. “The crease wasn’t—” Crack.Slap. Her hand collided with my cheek, sending my head jerking sideways. I bit back the yelp crawling up my throat. The dress dropped to the floor. “You don’t have to talk when I’m talking, You think I care about your excuses?” she hissed, voice sharp as glass. “Your kind should be grateful we even let you breathe.” I didn’t respond. I couldn’t, to avoid more troubles. Here upper-rank wolves in business suits sipped coffee and pretended not to see. Where Omegas in gray uniforms hurried past me like I was invisible. Where surveillance cameras blinked My name is Nora Dan. I’m not a thief. I didn’t steal anything. But I’m paying for both. When I was twelve, my stepmother Lillian worked here as a private cook. She cooked their food, and quietly stashed thousands of dollars in cash and gold from the Alpha’s vault. Then one day, she disappeared. Just like that. She left me behind. No one could find her, but someone had to pay. And I was the perfect target. An unranked teenage girl, No wolf form yet, No parents to protect me, Lillian’s stepdaughter. I became the debtor. The Alpha called it justice and Luna see it as fun.. She snatched the dress off the floor and shoved it into my arms. “You’d better scrub the hem. And if I see even a wrinkle, I’ll let Vanessa practice her kicks on your ribs again.” “Yes, Luna,” I whispered. I didn’t need to look in the mirror to know my cheek was already swelling. My wolf, lunara, whimpered inside me, aching to fight back. But I shut her down. We couldn’t shift, not here. Never. The StormDen Pack wasn’t some wild forest lodge where wolves howled at the moon and danced around bonfires. No, our pack ruled Sector 7 of New Haven City—a power zone filled with skyscrapers, law firms, luxury condos, and dirty secrets. The Alphas wore suits. The warriors wore black. And Omegas like me? We cleaned the bloodstains off their marble. I made my way down the service corridor to the Omega quarters no bigger than storage units carved out of the building’s lower basement. My room used to be a closet. It still smelled like bleach and rat poison. I splashed cold water on my face, ignoring the bruises blooming across my ribs. My stomach grumbled, because I’d already missed breakfast. Again. The pack tower housed over 400 wolves—ranked families lived on the upper floors with private balconies, spa-level bathrooms, and designer kitchens. Omegas slept in bunks or closets, lived off scraps, and worked sixteen-hour days. I cleaned, cooked, and served every hour of it counted toward a debt I would never repay. They said Lillian stole over two million dollars in cash, plus rare gold coins from the Alpha alliance chest. The Alpha branded her a traitor. But she was never caught. By the time I reached the banquet hall, breakfast was nearly done. In our pack, the high ranks always ate together in the hall each morning—Alphas, Betas, Gammas, and elite warriors at the front tables—while omegas served them and only ate after the hall was cleared. I kept my head down, slipping between tables as I cleared plates and refilled coffee. The high-ranking wolves ignored me or sneered. Some whispered “thief” under their breath. Others just called me “Debt Girl.” I was grabbing a tray from one of the side tables when he walked in. Asher. The future Alpha. The pack’s golden heir. Six-foot-five, charming smile, and sharp tongue. The kind of guy who kissed one girl in a rooftop jacuzzi and slapped me across the face when I tripped and spilled coffee on his designer shoes. My wolf should’ve hated him, because he’s wicked and mean as hell. But she didn’t, I don’t know why. Maybe because he’s handsome in a way that makes you look twice even when you hate yourself for it. Or maybe because his scent does something to me. Cinnamon and rain. I tried not to look at him as he entered the hall, but I felt my wolf stir. lunara. She moved inside me anytime Asher passed by He walked past without looking at me. Of course. Omegas don’t exist unless we spill something. I kept my head down and finished refilling the pitcher. I was halfway to the sink when Vanessa - Asher's girlfriend called out. “Debt Girl!” I stopped, I wanted to pretend I didn’t hear her. But it’s too late. She was already walking toward me, flanked by two of her friends in matching faux-fur shawls and fake smiles. “You didn’t scrub the grease off my breakfast plate,” she said loudly. “I cleared your table an hour ago,” I replied, quiet but firm. “You were still eating when I came by.” Her eyes narrowed. “Are you saying I’m lying?” “No, I—” “Did you just raise your voice at me?” Her friends gasped dramatically. One even pulled out her phone to record. I knew what was happening. I should’ve stayed silent. But I was tired, hungry and my cheek still burned from Anna’s slap. “I didn’t raise my voice,” I said. “I only said—” Slap. But this time she missed. I stepped back just in time, and her hand sliced through the air. Gasps rippled through the room, Some Omegas froze. Even ranked wolves looked up. Vanessa blinked. Shocked and Embarrassed. Then her eyes lit up like she’d just seen an opportunity. “She tried to hit me!” she yelled. “Someone get Asher—she attacked me!” My heart dropped. “What?” “I was trying to correct her,” she whined loudly, grabbing her arm like I’d twisted it. “And she lunged at me!” I hadn’t moved. I didn’t even speak. But as I turned slowly and of course, Asher was standing right behind me, now I get it, the only reason Vanessa is putting out this show. His eyes scanned the room. Took in Vanessa’s fake tears, the half-circle of witnesses, the phone camera. Then he looked at me. He didn’t ask questions, looking straight into my eyes.. “On your knees,” he said coldly. I didn’t move. “I said on your knees, Omega.” I lowered myself to the floor, palms flat against the tiles. Cold and sticky with gravy and spilled juice. He turned to the room. “From now on, Nora Den will scrub the entire banquet hall before and after every breakfast meal. On her knees. With a wire brush. No gloves. No shoes.” My breath caught. “Maybe that will teach you not to raise a hand against a ranked wolf,” he finished, voice like steel. I wanted to scream, how could he just believe that bitch But my wolf just whimpered and curled back inside me. I saw the way Vanessa was smiling behind him. She’d won.NORA’S POVThis will be the third time the makeup artist is adding a final touch to my face because the makeup has been sitting there for almost two hours now, and the ceremony will start in about fifty-two minutes.It’s finally our mating ceremony.Yes, Derek didn’t waste time on it. It was fixed barely a week after our return.And the reason this makeup has been melting on my face since morning is because Lyra took full charge of my wedding dress. She refused to let me see it until today, saying, “The queen deserves to be surprised.”I had begged, pleaded, and even tried to sneak a peek yesterday, but she guarded that dress like it was made of gold.The door suddenly opened, and we all turned, thinking it was finally Lyra, but it was Maya. Even my little bridesmaids—Liora and Phoebe—were already tired of waiting for her.Maya walked in carrying a small box of accessories. “You look nervous,” she said with a teasing smile.“I’m not nervous,” I said,
NORA’S POV“I’m sorry,” Derek repeated, his voice low and rough. He covered his face with one hand, still staring at the ceiling for a while before letting out a deep breath. Then he sat up, looking like someone who was trying to gather all the courage left in him to face something long buried.I knew he wanted to talk about what happened six years ago.He reached for my hands and held them, his palms warm but slightly shaking. I looked at him, and in that moment, I saw the man who had carried too much for too long. His jaw was tight, his shoulders tense, but his eyes told me everything—guilt, regret, and exhaustion.“I don’t even know where to start,” he said quietly. His voice was rough, like it hurt to speak. “I betrayed our bond out of carelessness.”My chest tightened hearing that. I knew he was talking about Ariana. But truth be told, I didn’t leave only because of her. I left because I didn’t want his people turning against him because of me, not afte
NORA POVIt shouldn’t be surprising that everyone knows who the Queen Mother is by now, but what surprised me was how gently she held Liora. Her voice came out calm but playful as she asked, “And where are you going, little one?”She tilted her head a bit and added, “Running away like a rat?” then turned her eyes toward me.I quickly bowed to greet her and stepped forward to take Liora, but she gave me a sharp look that made me stop in my tracks. I looked back at Derek, unsure what to do, but his eyes met mine with that calm, steady look that told me it’s fine.The Queen Mother smiled faintly. “I didn’t bite,” she said, her tone light, and a few people around us laughed softly.Well, no one should blame me if I still think she does bite.Liora looked up at her with those big innocent eyes. “Are you my grandma that my cousin told me about?” she asked.For a moment, everyone went quiet. I even had to blink twice. Cousin? She was already calling Phoebe her c
NORA POVJust as expected, Dorcas didn’t even say much. She just looked at me and said I should be patient. That was all. I didn’t even know what to think. Before I could say anything, she had already walked off.After some minutes, Derek came to get me. We entered a Rolls-Royce Phantom. Lyra and Gerrick left with Maya and Mira in another one.Now that it’s just me and him, I seriously don’t know how to react. I’m so nervous for no reason that I don’t even know where to put my hands. Maybe I’m not even nervous, maybe it’s just how everything suddenly happened and no one is explaining anything. I looked at Derek as he passed a message to one of the guards through the car window before he aggressively loosened his tie. The car started moving and I looked at him again, expecting him to say something, but he didn’t.He just unbuttoned the top of his shirt, and that’s when I saw a tattoo of my name on his chest. He didn’t have that before. My heart just stopped for a seco






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