CHAPTER ONE

Lyra Veyra Kane

“Scrub very hard, Omega. The stones are still red.”

Those words streamed inside my head.

I pressed the rag into the cracks of the training yard, my fingers were already raw as blood smeared deeper instead of fading away and the laughter only grew louder behind me.

“Pathetic. You should’ve been born human, maybe then you’d fit somewhere.”

The higher-ranked wolves stood above me, their arms were crossed and their figures stretched over me as if I wasn't even worth the ground I was on.

“Do you hear me, Lyra? No wolf will ever want you. You'll die on your knees with a rag in your hands.”

That made me pause as I slowly lifted my head, meeting his mockery eyes, my throat was tight but my voice came out above a whisper. “Better on my knees by choice then begging for scraps like you.”

Everyone knew me to be an Omega, in fact, every single person in this Pack but they also knew I spoke my mind when things got too upsetting.

I watched a smirk slide off his face, a growl followed next, rumbling from his chest but before he could even respond to what I had thrown at him, the whistle for the feast rang across the yard. They left me with muttered curses, their boots stomping away.

I stayed until the last streak of blood added from the stone, then I watched my hands in the well. The water stung and turned pink, but that didn't stop me until I got to see my reflection clear. My stomach twisted at the thought of walking into the feast hall reeking of soap and sweat, but no one cares how I looked. I was the Omega, always at the bottom.

By the time I entered, the hall was alive. Meat roasted over open fires, mugs clanged and laughter very loud in the gathering. I kept my head down, slipped to the back. My plan was to eat silently and leave before anyone thought to remind me where I belonged.

There are also many other Omegas, some who had special abilities and were bought by the pack elites and many others who still had a “say” in the pack but I was nothing to anyone, just an orphan Omega with no strengths and many weaknesses.

I was still taking my food slowly when I felt heat surge through my body in an instant. I felt a presence in front of me and slowly looked up, only to find cold blue eyes locked to mine.

My eyes were locked with Alpha Lucian Draegor!

His stares burned straight into me and something hit like a punch to my chest. My breath caught, the world swayed and I knew.

Mate.

Gasps erupted through the hall. Someone hissed my name like it was a curse to them. Others began to gossip, shock on their faces, they were still trying to process if they had witnessed or seen right.

“She can't possibly be, she's just trying to get attention to herself, so shameless.”

Lucian didn't blink, he just pushed back his chair, his presence overwhelming in the room. He came to me and stopped so close I couldn't breathe.

“Go.” That was the only word he said and it didn't take me a second before I felt my legs back on the cold ground as I walked away. 

I was still trying to process what just happened when I saw a man walking toward me, I immediately recognised him to be the Alpha's Beta, Beta Rydan.

“The Alpha commands you to go to his room.” That was the only word he said before leading me to the Alpha's territory. I was then led to the Alpha's room and now I was seated on the Alpha's bed!

I had spent about an hour sitting and staring at nothing exactly, I could only watch his room but never dared to touch anything. My body ached so bad and I was about dozing off when the door flung open.

I jerked up the bed, watching the Alpha walk in, his eyes on me, my eyes landing straight on the floor. I dared not look into his eyes. 

I watched him slowly take off his black leather jacket lined with wolf fur.

My breath wasn't steady as heat surged through me. I had never felt like this before and it was a strange feeling to me, I was so hot I couldn't control myself and I swear he had noticed how distracted I felt. I felt his hand close around my waist as a small sound escaped my lips and that was the only thing it took for him before taking my mouth.

“You're mine.” I heard him growling. “and no one will take that from me.”

My body melted against him as my fingers clutched his clothes as if I'd fall apart without him.

The next sound I heard was my clothes being ripped off as he slowly carried me in a bridal style, close to his bed. He laid me down slowly before planting kisses starting with my lips, down to my legs, that night, I wasn't the useless Omega. I was his, the Alpha's and for the first time, my life had changed totally.

*

I woke up to voices outside the chamber door. At first, I thought I was still dreaming, but I could hear people talking cold outside and it sounded so important.

I tried walking out to see what was happening when the next word only made me halt. “She is unfit to stand at an Alpha’s side.”

“A stain on Blackfang’s pride.”

My chest tightened as I sat up slowly, pulling the sheet close to me. The voices belonged to the council. One who had been accused and punished by one of the council, I knew it was Elder Marrek speaking. 

I stood up and crept closer to the door, every word sinking into my head. “If the Alpha does not act, the pack will. She is weak, and Omega, nothing but just a burden. Sell her before this book brings ruin.”

I pressed my palm flat against the wood, my heart beat was so hard it drowned the rest, but I waited, I was desperate to hear the Alpha's voice. He had to speak, he had to stop this.

But the only thing that responded back to me was silence and after a few minutes, I heard him, but not the words I needed or wanted to hear.

“I'll not stand against the council's decision.” 

The ground slipped under me and my throat burned as I bit my lip to stop the sound that was clawing up my chest. He was my mate, the one fate had given me, and he said nothing to protect me. A part of me was surprised and most part of me wasn't. I really expected it.

The door creaked open as I stumbled back. Lucian stood there, his eyes fixed on me but I couldn't recognise the man from yesterday night. Behind him, two guards entered without hesitation.

“Take her,” Marrek’s voice ordered from behind.

Their hands gripped my arms very tight, dragging me forward before I could even find my words. I looked at Lucian, waiting for him to stop them but he didn't move, just stared at me.

My feet hit the cold stone, bare and scraping as they pulled me through the corridor. Wolves were out now, gossips trailing after us. I could hear some rumours loud and clear. “She chased the Alpha and seduced him into believing she's his mate.”

My face burned, my eyes glassy but I held my head up, refusing to let the tear in my eyes fall.

The council chamber loomed ahead me, its doors wide open. The guards shoved me inside as I watched the Elders lined the long table, their eyes unforgiving like being mates with the Alpha was the worst thing ever.

Marrek stood up. “Lyra Veyra Kane. By the decision of the council, you are to be sold before the moon sets.”

My knees almost buckled. The guards held me but I barely even felt their grip. My ears rang and my chest hollowed out. I turned toward the Alpha, my “mate” but he wasn't here. He had stayed behind.

Marrek’s month curled into a sinister smile as he delivered to me, the last blow. Walking close to me, he whispered into my ears. “The bond has been severed. You are no longer the Alpha's mate.”

Pain tore through me so hard, it got so hard to breathe. My heart lurched, a piece of me ripped away. My wolf howled inside.

I wanted to scream, to say something but no sound came out of my lips. The only thing that was sure in this chamber was the certainty that I had been cast aside my own pack, stripped of the only hope I ever dared to hold on.

And before the moon set, I would belong to someone else.