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Home / Werewolf Short Story / Before the Marking Ceremony, Alpha Heir Brought Home a Marked Omega / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of Before the Marking Ceremony, Alpha Heir Brought Home a Marked Omega: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

16 Chapters

Chapter 1

The day I was shipped off to marry Kane — the Alpha of a minor border pack — I became the gossip of the entire pack.The same people who had fawned over me for years, back when I was going to be Luna, changed their faces overnight."Well, well. The first discarded Luna the North family has ever produced. Come see her off — she looks pathetic."My cousin, who had never liked me, burst into my room with a face full of complaint."Everyone in the realm knows you were rejected. This is your fault. You couldn't hold on to the Heir! Every girl in my circle is laughing at me."There was an old prophecy about my family. The women of the North line carried the strongest pups. That was why, for generations, every ruler had put his claim on one of us before she was old enough to understand what that meant.And now I was the first one ever to be thrown out.Humiliated, on top of it.I raised my head and looked at her coldly. "This isn't my fault, Lyra. Dignity is something you give yourself. No on

Chapter 2

I followed Kane, and the scent of Evelyn was already gone from the air.He didn't seem bothered by it. His stride was steady.But as we got closer to his chambers, my nerves started to climb.He must have noticed, because he spoke without looking at me."You don't need to be nervous. This is the side wing. You'll be staying here."The side wing?If I didn't get the Alpha's mark tonight, I'd be a laughingstock for the rest of my life.And yet — I didn't actually want the mark. Not like this.I bit my lip. "I could... stay with you."He caught the meaning. He was quiet for a beat. Then he laughed. "Alright."I changed into my nightclothes and slipped into the bed as carefully as I could, trying not to draw his attention.But my whole life I'd been raised for one thing — to marry Lysander and become Luna. I had pictured him a thousand times. And now, right at the finish line, the man had been swapped out.Was I really going to let myself be put into another man's bed, just like that?I he

Chapter 3

Morning light came through the window. Kane was still on the floor, shirtless, a red mark bruising his shoulder.Guilt caught me off guard.But one night in his rooms was enough. From that point on, no one in the Outer Reach dared look down on me.The news that Kane hadn't rejected Sabrina made it back to the Royal City, though. And Luna Evelyn threw a fit about it.She demanded every young female wolf in the Outer Reach be sent out to harvest wolf-poison herb for her — to treat her inner wolf, she claimed.That herb only grew on the edge of Shadowfen. Any adult male scent too strong and the plant died on the spot. Only females could harvest it. The younger, the better.The Outer Reach didn't have many young females to begin with. I was one of them.If we didn't send anyone, our rations for the year would be cut in half.In that moment, I understood — Evelyn still had feelings for Kane. She was jealous.Kane didn't seem to notice. There was just a flicker of weariness on his face. "She

Chapter 4

On the days Evelyn wasn't stirring up trouble, things in the Outer Reach went smoothly.Even without an official Luna title, the things I did every day were noticed. The people here seemed to accept me completely.They were too embarrassed to apologize for mocking me when I first arrived. Instead they sent small gifts in secret, asking Kane to deliver them for them.I smiled.These people were worth ten of the hypocrites in the Royal City.The Dark Wolf pack warriors trained every day. They were braver than the warriors up north, more loyal to their Alpha. But the Outer Reach sits between several territories, and we were raided constantly. The young fighters didn't last. Their numbers rose and fell, and we could never hold a steady line.We needed the young warriors to stay. To make their lives here, to have pups. If I was going to be Luna, this had to be my job.That evening I came back to the side wing and found Kane there, reading through the notes I'd written. He traced the words w

Chapter 5

I had barely set foot in the Royal City when Evelyn's little circle of girls spotted me."Oh look, the cheap gift has come back."I smiled. "Are you saying Lysander's engagement was cheap?"Her face went flat."Shameless. Exiled to the border and still trying to name-drop the Heir.""Real pair of shameless scoundrels."I smiled colder. "When Lysander gave the order, he called it a good arrangement for both families. Calling us shameless — is that your way of saying the Heir lied?"They had nothing to answer with. Eventually they just drifted off.I didn't stay in the Royal City long. Kane's figure at the border kept coming back to me.I had afternoon tea with my parents. The sky started to dim. Before I could stop myself, the words came out. "I should go home."My mother paused. Then she smiled."Sounds like things are going well."Thinking back on my days with Kane, I realized something between us had shifted. I didn't know when.I later heard Lysander had thrown a fit when he was tol

Chapter 6

The second our eyes met, something in Lysander's face faltered."You..."Then he dropped his voice."Who are you, to bully my Luna?"I lowered my head. "I'm Kane's Luna. I'm here to get justice for my brother Lucian."His hand slackened on my wrist.Beyond the shock in his eyes there was also disappointment."You're... Sabrina?"Evelyn caught the change in him. She bit her lip. Then she dropped to her knees in front of me, grabbed my hands, and looked up at me, eyes red."I'm sorry. I'm just a lowborn Omega. I don't know the ways of the Northern Realm. I only thought, since I took your place, I should at least help your brother. Please forgive me."Lysander's face shifted. He finally looked away from me and gently pulled her to her feet."I'm the future Alpha King. Only you deserve to be Luna Queen. She's just the Luna of some border pack. How can you kneel to her?"Then he turned back to me, displeased. "Sabrina. Remember your place. It's just one Trial. He can try again next year. As

Chapter 7

I brought Lucian back to the Outer Reach's main keep and sat with him for three nights.Every time a feral convulsion took him, I held his hand and hummed the old lullabies my mother used to sing when we were little, until he calmed.Our family's standing in the Northern Realm had been slipping for years. That was why Lucian had thrown everything into the Trial. He wanted to prove himself. He wanted to protect me. I had given him a wolfbone charm for luck. It hadn't been enough.I barely slept for three days. On the fourth, the pack's healer finally said, "He's going to live."Outside, the snow had stopped."Thank you." I stood up, exhausted, and turned to Kane.Even if he had only done it to protect the Outer Reach's reputation, he had saved my brother. He had stayed with me through all of it.Kane nodded. "Come with me. There are things you need to know."He brought me into his study — a room he never let anyone else enter. He pulled out a roll of parchment from a drawer. "You need t

Chapter 8

If Evelyn was walking contraband into the Trial grounds, someone was helping her.Sure enough, it was her brother — Rowan Ashmore. Under Lysander's name, he had been running the Trial grounds like his own market. Selling slots. Swapping rations. Pocketing offerings.People saved fur pelts for three years to afford a Trial slot, only to be dismissed on the grounds of "impure blood." Warriors from small Outer Reach packs passed the Trial and were then posted to the farthest outposts, never to see the main pack again.Their slots were sold to noble sons for a set price, and the gold and gems flowed straight into Rowan's private vaults."What's your plan?" Kane asked. "File a formal charge?""Lysander will protect him.""I know." I put the evidence away. "I'm not going through the main pack."On the day of the Moon Market, wolves from every corner poured in, dragging a year's worth of goods with them.I disguised myself as a plain trader and waited. Rowan's people arrived with a cart, all

Chapter 9

The day Rowan Ashmore was brought in for questioning, Evelyn didn't even stop to put her shoes on. She ran straight for the council chamber."Rowan is innocent!" Evelyn burst in and dropped to her knees at Lysander's feet, sobbing. "The men under him sold the goods behind his back. He's being framed —"This time, Lysander didn't help her up.Those eyes that had always softened for her — for the first time, they were weighing her."Evelyn." His voice was flat. "Get up."She looked up at him. "After everything Rowan has done for you over the years? Without your approval, he wouldn't have dared touch any of those goods. Now that things have gone wrong, you can't —""Evelyn!" Lysander cut her off.The chamber went dead silent.The Elders' faces shifted. Some frowned. Others were looking at Lysander now in a very particular way.Evelyn realized what she had just said. She covered her mouth. Panic flickered across her face.Lysander rose slowly. He walked to her, bent down, and pulled her to

Chapter 10

After the Moon Market, the main pack tried to keep the other wolf clans in line by announcing an Ancestral Moon Hunt. It was one of the most important ceremonies in the Northern Realm. Every clan leader gathered at the main pack, offered their best kill, and prayed for a year of harvest and peace.I stood at Kane's side in a flowing moon-white gown. Every pair of eyes in the hall turned to me.Because Kane was the only one who had brought his mate.The whispers started."That's His Highness's former fiancée? She's stunning. Even more than —""Enough!"At a ceremony like this, only the Luna Queen is usually allowed in the same space as the Alphas. No other Omega. But before we left, Kane had held my hand and told me, "You're my Luna. You stand beside me."So there I was, at his side, as close to the altar as anyone got.Evelyn's eyes hadn't left me since I'd walked in. Fixed on me like a snake's tongue. When the priest began the rites, she stood up."Sabrina. Who would have thought? The

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