Chapter 1: the omega who shouldn't exist

Snow drifted silently over Black Crescent Pack, covering the stone streets in a blanket of white that almost hid the bloodstains frozen into the ground.

Almost.

Lyra Ashwood lowered her head as she hurried across the courtyard, balancing a heavy basket of freshly washed linens against her hip. Her fingers had long gone numb from the cold, but stopping wasn't an option.

"Move faster, useless omega!"

A sharp voice echoed behind her.

Before she could turn, something struck her back. The basket slipped from her hands, spilling neatly folded blankets into the slush.

Laughter erupted.

Lyra bit the inside of her cheek until she tasted blood.

"Look at her," one of the young she-wolves sneered. "She can't even carry laundry."

Another kicked one of the blankets into a muddy puddle.

"I heard she doesn't even have a wolf."

"That's because she's cursed."

"No," another whispered dramatically. "She's worse. The Moon Goddess abandoned her."

The words hurt more than the shove.

In a world where every werewolf awakened their wolf before eighteen, Lyra was twenty-two.

Nothing.

No howl in her heart.

No voice in her mind.

No strength beyond that of an ordinary human.

To the pack, she wasn't just an omega.

She was a mistake.

Lyra knelt in the snow, silently gathering the blankets.

"Leave them."

The girls froze.

Everyone turned toward the elderly woman standing on the manor steps.

Thalia.

The Alpha's housekeeper.

Though age had silvered her hair, authority still radiated from her.

"Don't you all have work to do?" she asked calmly.

The girls bowed before quickly scattering.

Thalia sighed before helping Lyra collect the blankets.

"You should stop letting them treat you this way."

Lyra smiled faintly.

"If I fight back, they'll only make things worse."

"You always say that."

"Because it's true."

Thalia studied the young woman.

There was something different about Lyra.

Not her beauty—though she possessed an almost ethereal grace despite her worn clothes.

It was her eyes.

Silver.

Not gray.

Silver.

Eyes that appeared only in forgotten legends.

Thalia had seen them once before.

Many years ago.

On the last Moonborn Queen.

She quickly dismissed the thought.

Impossible.

The Moonborn bloodline had vanished centuries ago.

Hadn't it?

A deep horn echoed across the valley.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

The entire pack stopped.

Even the birds abandoned the trees.

Thalia's face paled.

"He's back."

Lyra frowned.

"Who?"

The old woman's voice barely rose above a whisper.

"Alpha Kael."

___

Hours later...

The entire pack gathered before the massive obsidian gates.

Warriors stood shoulder to shoulder.

Children climbed onto rooftops.

Even the elders had come.

Everyone wanted to witness the return of the Alpha King.

A distant rumble shook the earth.

Then another.

And another.

Dozens of massive wolves emerged from the forest.

At their center walked the largest wolf anyone had ever seen.

His midnight-black fur swallowed the sunlight.

Golden eyes swept across the crowd.

Predators lowered their heads.

Warriors instinctively stepped back.

Even dominant Alphas couldn't meet his gaze.

Alpha Kael Draven had returned.

The giant wolf stepped through the gates.

Bones cracked.

Muscles shifted.

Within seconds, a tall man stood where the beast had been.

Dark hair.

Golden eyes.

Broad shoulders.

Scars marked his bare chest like reminders of countless battles.

Power rolled from him in suffocating waves.

Silence fell over the courtyard.

Kael didn't acknowledge the cheers.

He didn't smile.

He simply walked forward.

Cold.

Unreadable.

Untouchable.

His Beta, Rowan, followed behind him.

"The eastern rogues have been eliminated," Rowan reported.

Kael nodded once.

"No survivors?"

"None."

"Good."

His voice was calm.

Too calm.

The kind of calm that came after years of violence.

____

Lyra stood hidden behind the servants.

She had no reason to be there.

Servants weren't meant to look at the Alpha.

She lowered her gaze.

Then it happened.

A strange warmth spread through her chest.

Her heartbeat quickened.

Her breathing became uneven.

Something inside her—

Something that had been silent her entire life—

Stirred.

A voice.

Faint.

Barely audible.

"Mine..."

Lyra gasped.

No.

That wasn't possible.

She didn't have a wolf.

She looked up.

At the exact same moment...

Kael stopped walking.

The entire courtyard froze.

His golden eyes locked onto hers.

Time seemed to stop.

A powerful scent drifted through the icy air.

Not roses.

Not jasmine.

Moonflowers after rain.

Kael's pupils narrowed.

Impossible.

His wolf, silent for years, slammed against his mind with a single, thunderous command.

"Mate."

Kael's expression hardened.

The crowd looked between the Alpha King and the servant omega, confusion spreading across their faces.

Lyra's hands trembled.

She didn't understand why her heart was racing.

Why tears threatened to fall.

Why, for the first time in her life, she no longer felt... empty.

Kael took one step toward her.

Then another.

The crowd parted instantly.

When he stood only a few feet away, the silence was unbearable.

He studied her face.

Silver eyes.

Fragile frame.

Worn servant's dress.

An omega.

His mate...

...was an omega.

And not just any omega.

The weakest one in the entire pack.

Kael's jaw tightened.

His wolf roared in denial.

The Alpha King turned away without a word.

But before he crossed the manor doors, he spoke just loudly enough for the entire courtyard to hear.

"Bring the omega to my office."

Lyra's blood ran cold.

She had no idea why the most feared Alpha in the kingdom wanted to see her.

Nor did she know that, hidden beneath the skin over her heart, a faint silver crescent had just begun to glow. It vanished before anyone noticed.

Except one pair of ancient eyes watching from the shadows.

Someone whispered,

"So... the prophecy has finally begun."