Eliana POV

The steam clung to my clothes, dampening the wood ash and lye soap on my neck. If the water washed away my disguise, the beast waiting in the other room would instantly recognize the scent he had tasted last night.

Heavy footsteps echoed on the wet tiles. Jaren loomed through the mist, his broad chest bare, his eyes glowing a dangerous, predatory gold. I hunched my shoulders, shrinking into the oversized laborer's tunic, making myself look as small and pathetic as possible. The harsh, acidic stench of lye soap billowed off me in the humid air.

Jaren’s nose crinkled. His Alpha aesthetics and volatile Inner Wolf recoiled in pure disgust at the sight and smell of me. He snatched the towel from my trembling hands, his lip curling into a sneer.

"Get this repulsive stench out of my sight," he snarled, his voice dripping with venom. "Leave."

I didn't need to be told twice. I practically fled into the corridor, pulling the heavy oak doors shut behind me. I leaned against the cool wall, gasping for air, my heart hammering against my ribs. I had survived.

"Look at you. Like a rat scurrying in the dark."

I looked up. Jessenia stood a few feet away, draped in a sheer silk nightgown that left nothing to the imagination. The suffocating cloud of her cheap floral perfume almost masked the nervous sweat underneath.

She stepped close, her fingers pinching my chin with cruel force. "Listen closely tonight, Wolfless," she whispered, her eyes alight with arrogant malice. "Listen to how a pureblood Alpha treats a real Omega. You'll always just be dirt beneath our feet."

She pushed past me, her hips swaying as she slipped into the hot spring. I rubbed my jaw, a cold sneer touching my lips. She had no idea what kind of monster she was walking into.

It didn't take long. Less than ten minutes later, a terrifying wave of Alpha Aura bled through the thick wood of the doors, so oppressive it drove me to my knees.

Inside, Jessenia shrieked. It wasn't a cry of pleasure, but of pure, soul-crushing terror. The scalding steam had washed away her cheap perfume, exposing her painfully ordinary Omega scent. Jaren’s beast had realized the deception.

He didn't kill her. Instead, for the rest of the night, I sat huddled on the floor in the corridor, listening to her agonizing, forced moans of fake pleasure as he used his crushing aura to break her wolf into submission. I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself. That was meant to be me.

By dawn, the moans had faded into hoarse, broken sobs. The doors opened, and a bruised, hollow-eyed Jessenia stumbled out, looking like a ghost before disappearing down the hall.

"You." Jaren's voice cracked like a whip from the bedroom. "Get in here."

I wiped my sweaty palms on my tunic and entered. The room was a wreck, reeking of dark rum, cedar, and pure Alpha rage. Jaren stood by the window, his chest heaving, a fresh black shirt draped over his shoulders.

"Button it," he commanded.

I stepped into his personal space, my hands shaking as I reached for the bottom button. The damp corridor air and my own sweat had eaten away at my disguise. As my fingers brushed his chest, he suddenly froze.

He inhaled sharply.

His eyes snapped down to me, flashing a brilliant, feral gold. A low growl vibrated in his chest—a possessive *Mine!* Before I could pull back, his massive hand clamped around my wrist, his grip so tight I thought my fragile bones would snap.

"Where were you last night?" he demanded, his voice a lethal, silken threat. His gaze sliced through my ugly disguise, searching for the truth.

"I... I was sick, My Lord," I stammered, the pain in my wrist bringing tears to my eyes. "In my room. Throwing up."

Jaren didn't let go. He leaned down, his nose brushing the exact spot on my collarbone where his teeth had pierced me twenty-four hours ago, inhaling the faint, lingering trace of white peach and jasmine hidden beneath the ash.

"Is that so?"

Eliana POV

I couldn't breathe. His golden eyes pinned me, his Alpha aura crushing my lungs. Desperation gave me a sudden, reckless burst of strength. I yanked my wrist from his loosened grip, bowing so low my forehead nearly brushed his boots.

"P-please excuse me, My Lord, the nausea—" I choked out, spinning on my heel and fleeing the Alpha Suite before his beast could fully process the faint scent.

I didn't stop running until I reached the damp, suffocating safety of the servant quarters. I slammed the flimsy wooden door shut, sliding down it until I hit the cold stone floor. My lungs burned, and my hands were shaking violently.

"El? You look like a ghost," Ivonne said, dropping a pile of folded rough linens on her cot.

Before I could answer, the door was violently kicked open, slamming into my shoulder. I cried out, scrambling back.

Jessenia stood in the doorway, flanked by her new shadow, Evie. Jessenia wore a sheer silk dress, deliberately pulled off one shoulder to display the dark, ugly bruises mottling her skin. They weren't the passionate marks of a mating; they were the violent aftermath of an Alpha's wrath. But to the untrained eye, she was parading her new status as a Breeder.

"Look at the little rat, cowering where she belongs," Jessenia sneered, stepping into the cramped room. The cloying stench of her cheap floral perfume filled the air, failing to mask the sour scent of her own fear.

Ivonne stepped in front of me, her Omega wolf bristling. "Leave her alone, Jessenia."

Evie lunged forward, her hand cracking across Ivonne’s cheek with a sickening smack. Ivonne stumbled back, gasping. Before I could even process the movement, Evie grabbed my hair and delivered a stinging slap to my own face. The metallic taste of blood flooded my mouth.

"Hold her," Jessenia commanded.

Evie pinned my arms against the damp stone wall. I struggled, but as a Wolfless, I had no strength to fight off an Omega.

Jessenia stepped closer, her eyes wide and manic. From the folds of her silk dress, she pulled out a pair of heavy, iron tailor's shears. The rusted metal glinted in the dim light.

"You always thought you were better than us, Eliana," Jessenia whispered, tracing the cold tip of the shears down my cheek. "With your perfect little face and your stubborn pride. Let's see if any Alpha wants to look at you after I carve it up."

Panic clawed at my throat, but the memory of last night's terror sharpened my mind into a lethal blade. I didn't struggle. Instead, I leaned into the cold iron, locking my eyes onto hers.

"I know," I whispered, my voice barely audible over the pounding of my heart.

Jessenia frowned, pressing the tip harder. "Know what, Wolfless?"

I leaned closer, bringing my lips inches from her ear. "I know what you went through last night," I breathed. "And I know you aren't the woman with the white peach and jasmine scent who triggered his Heat."

Jessenia froze. The color drained from her face so fast she looked like a corpse. Her Omega wolf whimpered, instantly recognizing the fatal danger of her secret. If Jaren found out she was actively hiding the truth while parading as his Breeder, he wouldn't just break her—he would tear her apart.

The shears trembled violently in her hand.

"Get out," Jessenia snapped, her voice cracking.

Evie blinked, confused. "But, Jessenia, we were going to—"

"I said get out!" she shrieked, shoving Evie toward the door. "Both of you, out!"

Evie and Ivonne scrambled into the hallway. The moment the door clicked shut, Jessenia dropped the shears. They clattered loudly against the stone floor.

"If you touch me again," I said, my voice cold and steady despite the throbbing in my cheek, "I will march straight to the Alpha Suite and tell Lord Jaren exactly how you deceived his Inner Wolf."

Jessenia backed away, her chest heaving with terror, before turning and fleeing the room.

I stood alone in the silence, my knees finally giving out. I had won the battle, but the war was already lost. Jaren had smelled me this morning. It was only a matter of time before his beast put the pieces together. I needed to find a sanctuary immediately, a place where even a feral Alpha wouldn't dare to unleash his wrath.

Eliana POV

The heavy iron shears lay on the damp stone floor, a cold reminder of how close I had just come to losing my face.

Ivonne was trembling on her cot, her breath coming in ragged gasps. "El... she's going to kill us. Jessenia is going to tell Lord Jaren—"

"She won't say a word," I interrupted, my voice eerily calm despite the ice freezing my veins. Jessenia was a coward, terrified of the Alpha's wrath. But my victory was hollow. Jessenia wasn't my real problem. Jaren was.

His Inner Wolf had caught the faint trace of white peach and jasmine beneath my disguise this morning. It was only a matter of time before his predatory instincts pieced the puzzle together. I couldn't stay in the servant quarters, and I certainly couldn't stay in the East Wing. I needed a fortress. A place where even a feral, arrogant Alpha wouldn't dare unleash his Command.

There was only one place in the entire Griffin Pack that fit the description.

I grabbed my harsh lye soap and a handful of wet ash, scrubbing my neck until the skin was raw and burning. I had to bury the scent of my White Wolf bloodline completely.

Minutes later, I hurried into the bustling Pack House Courtyard. My timing was desperate, but perfect. Eileen, the Dowager Luna's Head of Staff, was standing near the fountain. The faint, steady scent of chamomile drifted from her, a stark contrast to the aggressive auras of the Warriors. She was looking for a temporary maid.

I didn't hide in the back like I usually did. I stepped forward, keeping my eyes glued to the cobblestones. I slumped my shoulders, projecting the absolute, non-threatening submission of a Wolfless.

"Excuse me, ma'am," I murmured, my voice soft and deferential. "I am a fast worker, and I know how to keep my head down and my mouth shut."

Eileen paused. I could feel her Beta senses sweeping over me. She inhaled, searching for any deceitful Omega or Alpha traits. All she found was the pungent, eye-watering stench of cheap lye soap and the pathetic aura of a Wolfless girl.

"You'll do," Eileen said briskly, her tone practical. "Three days trial in the Dowager's parlor. Do not speak unless spoken to."

Relief washed over me, so intense my knees nearly buckled. I had made it into the eye of the storm.

By mid-afternoon, I was dressed in a crisp, clean uniform, carrying a silver tray of tea into the Dowager's Parlor. The room was suffocatingly grand. The air was thick with the scent of aged agarwood—Josephine Griffin's signature aura. Even sitting quietly in her armchair, the Dowager Luna radiated an ancient, crushing authority.

I had just set the teacups down when the heavy mahogany doors slammed open.

The intoxicating, violent scent of dark rum and cedar instantly devoured the agarwood. My heart stopped. Jaren strode into the room, his jaw clenched, his golden eyes flashing with a rebellious fire.

Panic seized my throat. I immediately shrank back, pressing myself into the darkest corner of the parlor, praying the shadows and my lye soap would hide me.

"You summoned me, Grandmother," Jaren said, his voice a low, disrespectful drawl as he threw himself onto a velvet sofa.

Josephine’s eyes narrowed, her Inner Wolf bristling at his insolence. "I hear you have elevated a filthy, low-born Omega to your bed. A Breeder named Jessenia."

I held my breath, pressing my spine against the cold wall.

Jaren scoffed, a cruel, dismissive sound that sent a shiver down my spine. "She's a plaything, Grandmother. A warm body to take the edge off the Heat. Nothing more."

The absolute callousness in his voice made my blood run cold. Jessenia thought she had won a prize, but to him, she was less than dirt.

"The Griffin bloodline is not something to be toyed with," Josephine snapped, her Luna aura flaring. "It is time you took a proper Fated Mate, or at least a high-ranking Luna. Princess Esmeralda Wheeler of the Northern Tundra Pack is visiting. You will meet her tonight."

A guttural growl vibrated in Jaren’s chest. His Alpha beast violently rejected the command. "I don't care about your Pack politics, and I certainly don't care about some boring, spoiled pureblood Princess."

He stood up abruptly, his massive frame towering in the room. "I will take whoever I want, whenever I want. And no one—not even you—will dictate my choices."

Without waiting for a dismissal, Jaren turned and stormed out of the parlor, the doors shuddering on their hinges.

I remained frozen in the corner, my hands trembling uncontrollably. Jaren had just defied the highest authority in the Pack without a second thought. He was a monster entirely unbound by rules. If he ever discovered I was the woman he was truly hunting, there would be nowhere left in this world to hide.