an Omega?

“Father, I promise I have been wearing it,” Seraphina said, her lower lip jutting out. “I have not taken the amulet off once.”

“There are disturbances in the city,” Gideon replied. His voice was low and edged with caution. “Have you heard?”

“It is the Blood Moon, Father. The phase before it always causes this.”

“The Alphas will be at their lowest power just before the Blood Moon.” He studied her face. “Is the plan in motion?”

Seraphina smiled and gave a confident nod.

She had once been the jewel of the Hale family, a renowned beauty and the perfect heiress. She had been promised to Lucian Blackrock, their union meant to create the strongest alliance their world had ever seen. All of that vanished the night the fire devoured the Hale estate. Only then did they understand that the Blackrocks never wanted unity. They wanted the Hales erased.

Thousands from their clan burned that night. Only Seraphina and Gideon survived.

At least, that was what they believed.

Across the city, the youngest Hale was curled over her bed, clutching her stomach. Aria had no idea what was happening to her. She had eaten nothing unusual. In truth, she had barely eaten at all. Yet a sharp, wrenching pain kept twisting deeper and deeper inside her.

“Rebecca?” Aria whispered into her phone. “I do not feel good. Something is wrong.”

“What is it? Is it your stomach?” Rebecca asked. Her concern bled through instantly.

“Yes. How did you know that?” Aria pressed a hand to her abdomen.

“The amulet. Oh no. The potion is reacting. Your wolf is fighting it. Come home right now. I will get a friend to come pick you up.”

Before Aria could say another word, Rebecca ended the call.

Her wolf was fighting the potion? Why? Omegas were supposed to grow weaker before the Blood Moon. Nothing about this made sense. Her vision blurred as the pain rolled through her again.

She grabbed a few clothes and whatever she could fit into a small bag. A car horn sounded outside her apartment. When she peeked through the curtains, her eyebrows shot up.

A Mercedes waited at the curb.

Aria had always assumed Rebecca was barely surviving on her own wages. She had never imagined her knowing people with luxury cars.

A man stepped out and glanced up at her window. He lifted a hand in greeting as he opened the passenger door.

Aria hurried down the stairs and climbed in. Her breath came out shaky.

“Thank you,” she murmured.

“My pleasure. You are Aria, right?” the man asked, giving her a quick look from the corner of his eye.

“Yes. And you are…?”

“Dean,” he answered with a warm smile. “A friend of Rebecca’s. She is farther out than she expected, so the drive will take a little while. In the meantime, take this. It should ease things a bit.”

He handed her a small jar filled with something that looked almost fluorescent.

Aria stared at it. “I did not think it was legal to bring things back from Chernobyl.”

Dean laughed. “It is a herb. It will help. You might feel a little strange afterward.”

“And how am I supposed to trust you if I am not in my senses?” she asked, lifting a brow despite her pain.

“Leap of faith, Blondie.”

“I will take it if the pain gets worse,” she muttered, leaning forward as another wave hit her. “I am fine for now.”

“Sure you are,” Dean said as he reached for the radio. “You keep telling yourself that.”

Back in the city, Damian stared at the camera screens in front of him.

“This was the only cleaner?” he asked.

Mrs Adler nodded. “Yes sir. If she did something wrong, I can fire her right now.”

“No. She did a good job. I want to see how she managed it. You can leave.”

The moment he spoke, everyone scattered.

When the room was finally empty, he replayed the footage.

A girl walked into his office. Small, drowning in the oversized uniform, headphones in, nodding slightly to whatever she was listening to. But she didn’t come in like someone there to snoop. She moved slowly, almost cautiously, as if she needed to understand the space before cleaning it.

She touched the bookshelf lightly, then paused and looked around before picking up the framed picture on his desk.

That made him lean closer.

The entire bookshelf and the general decor had been done by Lucian. Damian rarely even looked at it. But the way the girl studied the picture… she looked at it like she was trying to recognise something. Or someone.

Her face wasn’t clear, but he could see the blonde hair and her slight frame. Much smaller than he had imagined a mate would be. Not an alpha. That realisation sank heavy in his chest.

Then he noticed it.

She was limping.

His expression changed before he could stop it. Something sharp pulled inside him.

“Adler,” he called, voice low but firm.

She rushed back in, nervous. “Yes sir?”

“Why was she limping?”

“Oh… she said she has a problem in her leg from birth.”

Damian stared at the paused frame again. The girl moving around the office, doing her job while favouring one side. He didn’t respond immediately.

“So she isn’t an alpha,” he muttered more to himself.

“Sir no... she is an Omega. Anything else I can tell you?”

“Nothing. You can go. Delete the footage. Tell anyone who asks the cameras weren’t working.”

Adler left quickly.

Damian exhaled and shut the laptop with more force than necessary.

An injured wolf. A runt. Someone the pack would either pity or eliminate. His family would never accept it. His father would kill her without a second thought.

He opened the file he had requested about her. He barely read two lines before pushing it aside and throwing it into the lowest drawer of his desk.

He told himself he would forget her.

He told himself she couldn’t be his mate.

But the image of that slight limp replayed in his mind long after the screen went dark.