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Pearl Gem

"W...what?"

"You heard me right, Pearl. You are suffering from heart disease. It developed from prolonged emotional trauma, and I'm afraid... it's severe. You have only three months to live. Ninety days to be precise. I'm so sorry."

Those were the doctor's words. Gentle, final as he stepped out of the office, leaving me rooted in place, drowning in shock. My lips moved but no sound came. Perhaps I misheard. Perhaps there was a mistake. Doctor Sarou must be wrong.

With trembling hands, I flipped through the papers he had handed me, my heart pounding against my ribs. The truth stared back at me in sterile ink. Diagnosis. Prognosis. Terminal.

My knees weakened. But I couldn't cry, not yet. I could only stare at the wall, unseeing, unblinking. The world blurred, and then the tears came. Hot, silent, relentless. Tears of dread. Of heartbreak. Of helpless rage.

The room spun around me, and I staggered toward the window, gasping for air. But the breeze that met me was no comfort. It slapped me hard, cold and cruel, like the truth. A wind that whispered of chains and shadows. A wind that reminded me who I truly was. A slave.

Quietly I moved away from the window and exited the hospital to hail down a taxi. It is a cloudy night when I settled at the backseat to head back home.

"The Omega ghetto." I said to the taxi driver who nodded and pull out.

My name is Pearl Gem Valley. A name that, like the chill of the wind, cuts deep. I am an Omega, born into the Valley clan, a family whose name speaks volumes about our place in this world, always below. In the werewolf Empire, Omegas are marked by their clans, each one a harsh reminder of our worth. The Servan clan, a name that screams of servitude; The Bond clan, defined by chains and captivity, Bondage; The Lowe tribe, forever cast as the lowest of the low; The Noar clan, whose name speaks of having no rank at all. And then there's mine. The Valley clan. Always below.

An Omega is not a person. We are tools, background noise, the dirty hands that feed the proud mouths of nobles. We bow from the cradle. We bleed for scraps. And we smile, even when spat upon.

But irony, it seems, has a cruel sense of humor. For the lowest in the Empire often have the purest homes. My parents were that kind of miracle. In a world so starved of love, they fed each other from the depths of their souls. They had nothing but gave me everything.

I was simply named Pearl. No grandeur. No legacy. But to them, I was rare. A Gem, Precious. Loved. And then three years later, Bright came, my younger brother, lighting up our world with a joy only he could bring.

My mother, a florist, made beauty from bare petals. She crafted wonders from nature's simple offerings, and to me, she was perfect, with no flaw I could ever see. My father, a cobbler, worked humbly at the Valley shop which he shared with my mother, where he made shoes for the resident in the Royal castle, a place we Omegas called the Noble's wall.

Day after day, he bent his back, letting the nobles try on shoes as he smiled through the humiliation, all the while holding on to the quiet dignity that came with his work. Over the years everything had gone well, until love decided to grow from a very unwanted place. The night I met Kade King Majesty.

The night I met him, the world shifted and since death is coming… I might as well start from where it all begins

***

Five Years Ago (FLASHBACK).

“Moon Goddess… Moon Goddess… Moon Goddess…” I whispered under my breath as I made my way home beneath the full moon, the air thick with midnight stillness and I can feel the empire still cloak in mourning for our Alpha King who just passed away.

The party had stretched longer than expected, and I’d stayed behind to collect my payment because I needed it for my hair. The landmarks had delayed me, and by now, my parents would be pacing with worry. No doubts.

Royce was supposed to come pick me up, but I guessed he wasn’t coming. Maybe his shift ran late. I already leaned on him too much, my best friend, always helping.

With a sigh, I looked up at the silent road, hugged my coat tighter, and started toward the Omega Ghetto when a sudden glare caught my eyes.

Headlights.

Cars.

A convoy?

Royalty?

I quickly stepped aside and bowed my head as protocol demanded, waiting for the cars to pass. But then it suddenly came.

CRASH.

The sound shattered the peace of the night and my heart jumped with it.

Screeching metal. Screams. Fire. The cars twisted like paper, flames erupting around the wreckage. A horrific symphony of pain and chaos.

For a moment, I stood paralyzed in horror, unable to move. Then slowly, so slowly, my legs carried me toward the wreck. My eyes scanned the scene for signs of life. Nothing.

Dead. All dead.

Or so I thought until a faint sound made me turn, heart racing. And there he was, Lying in a pool of his own blood.

Kade King Majesty.

The Alpha Prince.

“Your… Highness?” I whispered, frozen in place.

No response came from him. He only lay there, motionless.

“Your… Highness?” I said again, voice trembling.

Still, nothing, which brought me to knelt beside him, fear clutching my chest, and I tried again.

“Kade King?”

For a breathless second, silence, Then softly his eyelids fluttered. Golden eyes opened and locked with mine.

And in that moment something shifted inside me. Something I couldn’t name. All I knew was this.

Kade King Majesty is a young man sculpted in a sinfully beautiful way and… I… I couldn’t look away.