Chapter 3

I didn't tell Elara what happened in Kael's study. When she asked about the stew, I said I'd tripped. She frowned but let it go.

She was a good Beta. A good friend. In my first life, my disappearance had destroyed her—left her wandering the rogue territories for five years, broken and dying. The guilt of that still sat in my chest like a splinter of silver.

I thought the matter was buried.

Then, the next afternoon, I overheard Kael's voice through Elara's sitting room curtain. He was speaking low, careful.

"Lyra saved your life, I know. But she's still an Omega, Elara. They're… opportunistic. They bond to whoever feeds them."

Elara's scent sharpened with confusion. "What are you saying, Kael? Lyra would never—"

"I'm saying be careful." His tone hardened. "You don't know what she's plotting. Maybe she wants more than gratitude."

There was a pause. Then Elara laughed, a little uneasy. "Kael, you're being ridiculous. You're always so cold to her. Do you… not like her?"

Another pause, longer this time. "I don't think about her at all," he said finally. Too quickly.

But before he left, he muttered something under his breath that I barely caught: "Not again."

I frowned but dismissed it.

I stepped back from the curtain. My heart was steady. His opinion of me didn't matter anymore. I had my contract. I had a plan.

Three days later, Elara bounced into my room with a folded piece of paper and the scent of excitement rolling off her.

"Lyra! I've found someone for you."

I blinked. "What?"

"A wolf," she said, grinning. "From a trading family in the south. His name is Grayson Thornwood. Beta. Wealthy. Respected." She pressed the paper into my hands—a sketch of a broad-shouldered man with honest eyes. "He's looking for a mate. Not for love, necessarily. He travels for work and needs someone steady to manage his household."

I stared at the drawing. "Elara, I don't think—"

"Just meet him," she insisted. "Please? Kael's grandmother is pushing him to fill the manor with 'suitable Omegas' for breeding. I'd rather help you find a good future before she decides to auction you off to one of her allies."

The word breeding made my stomach turn. In wolf packs, low-ranking Omegas had no rights. They were assigned, claimed, used. I had seen it happen.

"One meeting," I said.

Grayson Thornwood was exactly as advertised. Steady. Polite. He smelled of cedar and road dust. He didn't leer or posture like the Alphas I'd grown up around.

"I won't pretend this is a fairy tale," he said over tea in the manor's garden. "I need a mate to watch my territory while I'm away. You need protection. It's a fair trade."

I liked his honesty. "And you don't care that I'm an Omega?"

He shrugged. "My mother was an Omega. She ran our family pack better than any Alpha could." He paused. "There's one thing. I work for a powerful wolf. He's… intense. But loyal. If you mate me, you'll be under his protection too."

I didn't ask who. It didn't matter. Anywhere was better than here.

"Yes," I said. "Let's do it."

When I told Elara, she squealed and hugged me. "I'll start your dowry chest tomorrow!"

But when Kael walked in and saw the betrothal contract on the table, the temperature in the room dropped.

He picked it up, scanned it, then looked at me. "Grayson Thornwood? The merchant?"

Elara nodded happily. "Isn't it wonderful? Lyra's going to the southern territories. Far away from here."

Kael's jaw tightened. "No."

We both stared at him.

"No?" Elara echoed.

He set the contract down with exaggerated care. "Thornwood is barely a Beta. His pack is small. And an Omega from Blackthorn manor mating a traveling salesman?" His lip curled. "It's beneath her station."

Elara frowned. "Kael, you're always saying you don't like having Lyra around. Now you're complaining she's leaving?"

He opened his mouth, closed it. For a moment, he looked almost lost. Then his expression shuttered.

"Fine," he said flatly. "Marry the trader. See if I care."