chapter 1

Chapter 1

Soraya

  

"You are a disgrace, Soraya," my father hissed. 

  

The words were low, but his eyes were full of a weird kind of terror. Because right now he was losing his status. All because I was supposed to be the girl who poisoned the Luna. 

  

Which is a total joke, by the way. I can barely brew a cup of coffee without burning the water, let alone concoct a lethal herbal poison that specifically targets the Alpha’s mate. But hey, when a whole pack wants someone to blame for their Luna ending up in a coma, the girl who was the last one seen with the Luna’s tea is an easy target.

  

I stood there, shivering and soaked, as the Alpha stepped forward. He looked like he wanted to rip my throat out right there in the mud. 

  

"Soraya Thorne, you are hereby stripped of your rank," he announced. “You are no longer the daughter of the Beta line. You are an Omega. A servant to this pack until your debt is paid or until the Goddess sees fit to take your soul.”

  

The gasp that went through the crowd was almost funny. Like they hadn't been the ones talking about me in the cafeteria for the last forty-eight hours. I felt a surge of rage.

  

I wanted to scream that I was innocent. I wanted to point at the real traitors I knew were hiding in plain sight. But my wolf, Maya, was silent. She was curled up in the back of my mind, suppressed by the weight of the Alpha’s command.

  

"I am innocent," I whispered, but my voice was lost in the wind.

  

The next hour was a blur of me experiencing humiliation in different levels. 

  

They took my room. They took my phone. They even took my shoes. 

  

By the time I was shoved into the tiny, moldy basement of the pack house that was now my home, I was a shell of a person. I sat on the floor, staring at the gray stone walls, and made a vow. 

  

I wasn't going to die here. I wasn't going to let them win. I was going to find out who actually poisoned the Luna, and when I did, I was going to make sure they felt every bit of the pain I was feeling right now.

  

I couldn't sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the look on my mother's face as she turned her back on me. That hurt way more than the loss of my title. By morning, I was pretty sure I looked no different from a zombie.

  

There was a sharp knock on the basement door. It swung open, revealing a guard I used to go to school with. His name was Kalen. We used to flirt in history class. Now, he just looked at me like I was something he just scraped off the bottom of his boot.

  

"Get up, Omega," Kalen said flatly. "Your assignment has been finalized."

  

I stood up, my muscles aching from the cold floor. "Where am I going? Am I cleaning the kennels?"

  

He laughed nastily. "You wish. The Alpha decided you need a more rigorous re-education. You are being sent to Blackwood Werewolf Academy."

  

My stomach dropped. Blackwood wasn't just an academy. It was where the elite of the elite went to learn how to lead, and where the most troublesome wolves went to be broken. It was a playground for the rich and the powerful, and for someone like me, it was a death sentence.

  

"Am I a student?," I asked, though I already knew the answer.

  

Kalen smirked. "You are a servant, Soraya. Specifically, a personal assistant. You will be at the beck and call of the most influential students there. You are meant to be an example."

  

I felt a cold sweat break out on my neck. This was the fate worse than death. Being forced to serve the people I used to be equal to. I followed Kalen up the stairs.

  

The pack house was silent, but as we walked through the halls, the stares and whispers were a physical assault. My former Beta's daughter friends averted their eyes. Other Omegas, the real ones, lowered their gaze in pity and fear. The walk was a parade of my new status—an Omega. I kept my head high, ignoring the ghost of my mother's face.

  

We emerged out to the front of the pack house. I braced myself for the humiliation of a rusty transport van or maybe an old bus to carry away the pack's newest disgrace.

  

Instead, three identical, pitch-black SUVs were idling in the driveway. The windows were tinted so dark I couldn't see a thing inside, but the sheer, raw power rolling off them was thick enough to make my lungs heavy and my wolf shiver.

  

Those cars only belonged to one family.

  

"Wait," I said, stopping in my tracks. "Who am I serving?"

  

The door of the middle SUV opened. A guy stepped out, looking like he had just walked off a runway in Paris, except for the fact that his eyes were glowing a dangerous, predatory gold. He looked at me, and then he looked at the other two cars. 

  

Two more guys stepped out. They were identical. Sharp jawlines, messy black hair, and that same terrifying, beautiful face.

  

The Triplet Heirs. 

  

The Blackwood brothers. Lucius, Silas, and Jax. They were the future of the werewolf world, and they were famous for being the most ruthless, arrogant, and cruel men alive.

  

The one in the middle, Lucius, looked me up and down. A slow, dark smile spread across his face, and I realized immediately that he knew exactly who I was. 

  

"So," he said in a velvety voice. "This is the little Beta girl who likes to play with poison." 

  

He stepped closer, invading my space until I could smell the scent of cedar and rain on him. He leaned down, whispering right into my ear. 

  

"Welcome to the bottom of the food chain, Soraya. We are going to have so much fun breaking you."

  

He didn't wait for a reply. He just grabbed my arm and shoved me toward the open door of the car. I looked at the three of them, and for the first time since this nightmare started, I felt my resolve flicker. My new reality was beginning to sink in. I was to be their toy. 

  

Fuck. I was so doomed.