CHAPTER ONE

Past

KAIA

I adjust the strap of my worn canvas bag and glance around the bonfire, clearing one last time. The flames cast dancing shadows across the faces of my packmates, but I'm not really seeing them anymore. All I can think about is Vincent's hand in mine earlier, the way his thumb traced circles on my palm while we walked through the woods.

"You're glowing," my friend Talia whispers, bumping my shoulder. "Vincent Lopez has that effect, doesn't he?"

Heat floods my cheeks. An omega like me isn't supposed to catch the attention of the Alpha's heir. When Vincent first approached me three weeks ago at the pack meeting, I thought it was a mistake. Alphas don't notice omegas unless they need something lifted or cleaned.

But Vincent kept coming back. Walking me home from school. Sitting with me during lunch when his usual crowd of future Betas and high-ranking wolves shot confused looks our way. Last night, he kissed me under the old oak tree behind my house, and my wolf practically purred.

"I still can't believe it," I murmur, watching him across the fire. He's laughing with Trent, his future Gemma, their heads bent close over something. The firelight catches the sharp angles of his jaw, and my stomach flutters. At seventeen, Vincent already carries himself like the Alpha he'll become—broad shoulders, commanding presence, eyes that seem to see everything.

"Believe it," Talia says. "You're his mate, Kaia. Anyone with eyes can see the way he looks at you."

Mate. The word makes my heart race. I've dreamed of having a mate since I was old enough to understand the bond, but I never imagined it would be someone like Vincent. Someone so far above my rank it feels like reaching for the moon.

"I should go," I say, standing and brushing dirt from my jeans. "Mom expects me home before midnight."

Talia nods, but her attention is already drifting to a group of younger wolves playing some drinking game near the edge of the clearing. I make my way around the fire, intending to say goodbye to Vincent, but he's deep in conversation with Trent. I don't want to interrupt.

Instead, I head toward the tree line where I parked my beat-up Honda. The woods are quieter here, away from the laughter and music. 

I'm almost to my car when I hear voices. Low, male, coming from just ahead. I freeze, recognizing Vincent's distinctive laugh.

"—told you she'd be easy," Trent is saying, and something cold settles in my stomach. "An omega will give herself to anyone if the Alpha heir crooks his finger."

I step behind a thick pine tree, my heart hammering against my ribs. They can't be talking about me. They can't.

"Here." There's a rustling sound, like paper changing hands. "Your hundred bucks. Though I still think you should've aimed higher than some nobody omega."

"The dare was to seduce the most pathetic wolf in the pack," Vincent's voice cuts through the night air like ice. "Kaia Dawson definitely qualifies."

The words hit me like a physical blow. I press my back against the rough bark of the tree, struggling to breathe. A dare. It was all a dare.

"Still," Trent continues, "taking her virginity seems like overkill. You proved your point weeks ago."

"I wanted to be thorough." Vincent's tone is casual, bored. Like we're discussing the weather instead of the complete destruction of my heart. "Besides, she's actually not terrible in bed. For an omega."

They both laugh, and the sound makes bile rise in my throat. I clamp a hand over my mouth to keep from making any noise that might give me away.

"Your father would lose his mind if he knew you'd been slumming it with Dawson trash," Trent says.

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him. And it's not like I'm keeping her around. I got what I needed—proof that I can make any wolf in this pack roll over and beg. Even the bottom feeders."

My legs give out. I slide down the tree trunk until I'm sitting in the dirt, my whole body shaking. Three weeks of stolen kisses and whispered promises. Three weeks of feeling special, wanted, loved. All of it fake.

"Ready to head back?" Trent asks.

"Yeah. I should probably find Kaia and give her some excuse about why I can't drive her home. Don't want her getting any ideas about this being permanent."

Their footsteps retreat toward the bonfire, but I stay frozen against the tree. Tears stream down my face, hot and angry and humiliating. I was so stupid. So desperate to believe that someone like Vincent could actually want someone like me.

By the time I make it to my car, my tears have dried into something harder. Something that burns in my chest like swallowed glass. I start the engine and drive home through the winding mountain roads, my hands steady on the wheel despite the way my world has just imploded.

Mom is waiting in the kitchen when I walk through the front door. She takes one look at my face and sets down her tea cup.

"What happened?"

"Nothing." The lie tastes bitter. "I'm fine."

She studies me for a long moment, her dark eyes so different from my own blue ones. "Kaia—"

"I said I'm fine." I head for the stairs, but her voice stops me.

"There are things about our family you don't know yet," she says quietly. "Things I've kept hidden to protect you. But if someone has hurt you—"

"No one hurt me." I turn to face her, and something in my expression must convince her to drop it. "I'm just tired."

In my room, I sit on my bed and stare at my reflection in the dresser mirror. Same ordinary brown hair, same unremarkable face, same omega scent that marks me as lesser in everyone's eyes. What did I expect? That Vincent Lopez would actually fall for someone like me?

I pull out my phone and start typing a text to him, then delete it. Then type another one and delete that too. What is there to say? That I know the truth? That he broke something in me I didn't even know could break?

Instead, I open my laptop and start researching colleges. Far away from here. Far away from Moonfang territory and Alpha heirs who collect broken hearts like trophies.

By morning, I've filled out three applications. By the end of the week, I'll be gone.