CHAPTER ONE

"THE REBELS!"

A raw shriek ripped down the corridor.

It was instantly drowned out by the loud thuds of clashing steel and the sharp crack of gunpowder.

My eyes snapped open.

My body lurched forward in bed, chest heaving as a violent cough tore through my throat.

My limbs felt soft. Useless.

As if I was still trapped by the weakness of the chronic childhood illness that had locked me away in this palace until my eighteenth birthday.

For twenty years, I have been the hidden, fragile shame of the Royal Alpha family.

I am an Alpha prince with zero knowledge of politics, zero self-defense training, and zero understanding of how the court works.

I don't know why the kingdom runs the way it does.

I dont know why these Omegas are rioting.

I don't know what they're fighting for.

The only thing my father ever drilled into my head was a single terrifying truth.

''The rebels are wicked Omegas, and they want to kill you and our family.''

The word left a bad taste on my tongue.

This wasn’t the first time they attacked.

But this was the first time they reached the inside of the palace itself.

"Hide the prince!"

Another shriek echoes right outside my door.

My blood ran cold. Chills rattled down my spine.

I scramble across the mattress, but my weak legs buckle immediately.

I fell hard against the floor. The silk sheets tangled around my ankles like a trap.

Still, I forced myself up on trembling knees.

I dragged my body to the door and pressed my ear against the wood.

The scents mingling in the air are a mixture of intense emotions. Thick. Dizzying.

Terror. Fury. And blood.

So much blood.

But beneath it all...

A strange, blended aroma of hope.

'Hope for what?'

There is no doubt that the guards assigned to my door are already dead.

My teeth grit in absolute frustration at my own uselessness.

'If only I could fight like a true Alpha.'

Hurriedly, I pulled a decorative ceremonial sword down from the wall display. It was far too heavy for my hands, but its cold weight was the only shield I had.

I threw the door open and peered into the dark corridor.

'I am a true alpha. I won't hide anymore.' I screamed it in my mind.

But the sight outside my room makes me freeze.

Bodies littered on the hallway.

The carpet feels sickeningly wet beneath my bare feet.

Trembling, I trailed the blunt edge of my sword across the face of a corpse.

My face went pale.

It was one of our new Beta recruits. The one who had once clumsily spilled juice on my legs.

His throat was torn open. Blood pooled across the floor.

But right next to him lay other bodies, dressed in tattered, non-imperial gear.

A bitter laugh left my mouth, as my eyes welled with tears.

Some of them were rebel Omegas. They risked their lives just to hunt us down.

'Why? What did we ever do to them?'

Realizing how vulnerable I was, I scrambled back into my chamber and locked the door.

'If those assigned to protect me were dead...

I am next.'

'Don't be a cowardly idiot. Protect the palace, you worthless prince.' My inner Alpha growled in my ears.

But I ignored him. My hands trembled as I locked the door.

But the moment it clicked...

A thick, unfamiliar metallic scent filled the room.

My body froze.

From the corner of my eye, a shadow moved behind my bed.

Before I could raise my weapon, a pair of rough, strong hands locked around my throat.

And with a terrifying ease, the intruder slammed me backward against the wall. The last of my breath was knocked out of my lungs.

My ceremonial sword clattered uselessly to the floor. While I am entirely pinned, completely helpless against his dominant strength.

"Don't move." A low, dangerous voice.

The sharp, freezing edge of a silver dagger pressed directly against my throat.

I looked up through the dim light, heart pounding like a trapped bird.

The assassin wore a stark white veil, obscuring the lower half of his face. But his scent gave him away instantly.

A male Omega.

But he didn't smell like the weak, submissive Omegas my father told me about.

His scent was different. Predatory, and something... dangerous.

My breathing grew more labored.

'I'm going to die tonight.'

At the hands of a rebel Omega.

And, not just any rebel, but their leader. Judging by the tattoo on his dagger.

Tears streamed from the corners of my eyes, his grip is tight and strong.

Desperately, I writhed against him. Carefully, because I couldn’t move recklessly. Not with his strength. Not with a blade at my neck.

But as I struggled, my hand slipped.

And brushed directly against the exposed skin of his wrist.

Pain.

A sudden, white blinding flash of hot pain shot through my body.

It didn’t strike my neck, or my hands. Instead, it pierced directly into my lower right ribs.

Searing into my flesh just above my waist. Like a branding iron.

Pinned against the wall, I let out a painful, breathless gasp.

Across from me, the dominant Omega rebel stiffened violently.

His grip on my throat vanished.

He stumbled backward, hand flying to his back.

A sharp hiss escaped from behind his veil.

He clutched his spine, eyes wide with an emotion I never expected to see in a rebel.

Shock and disbelief.

Neither of us moved. The air between us shifted, suddenly too hot, like the space itself had caught fire and was pressing down my ribs.

He looked down at me, knuckles trembling.

Staring at the fragile Alpha he just pinned to the wall.

He could kill me right now to end whatever this pain is. Or at least he should.

Instead, he slowly lowers the dagger. My throat tightened.

"W-wait," I try to stop him, carefully and nervously.

But he ignored me. Without a single word, he steps back into the shadows.

He threw open the balcony doors. And vanishes into the chaotic bloody night.

I collapsed onto the floor, clutching my burning waist. My heart roared in the silence of my room.

A bitter laugh escaped me as I hugged my knees. Staring at the now-empty balcony.

The universe and its sick sense of humor.

I, a fragile Prince who knew nothing of war...

Was now at the mercy of the rebel leader who just left me branded and burning in the dark.

I buried my face against my knees.

The realization made me weak.

'I finally found my mate.

And, he was not someone I expected.'