"Scrub it harder, trash."

A wet rag hit my cheek. I gripped the rough stone of the pack house wall, soapy water stinging my cracked knuckles.

Mara Laurent crossed her arms. The silver crest on her jacket caught the afternoon sun. "Did you hear me, Lila? There's still mud on the stone."

"I heard you, Mara," I said.

"That's *Omega Mara* to you," a Beta girl named Tamsin snapped, kicking my bucket. The soapy water spilled over my worn sneakers.

"Just Mara is fine," I replied, keeping my voice even.

Mara stepped closer, grabbing a fistful of my hair. "You think you're clever. You think because he talked to you once when we were pups, you matter."

I met her glare. "I never said that."

"You don't have to say it. I see how you look at Alpha Kael." She shoved my head back. "He is pureblood. You don't even know who your father is."

I forced a smile.

It threw her off. Her grip loosened for a second.

"Are you smiling at me?" she asked, her voice pitching up.

"Just thinking about a joke," I said.

"You're disgusting," Mara spat. "Look at your clothes. Look at your hands. You belong in the dirt."

"Then let me get back to the dirt," I said. "Unless you want to help me scrub?"

*Smack.*

Tamsin slapped my shoulder. "Show some respect."

"Leave her," Mara sneered. "She’s pathetic. Let her wash the walls. It’s all she’ll ever be good for."

"Make sure she does the entire east wing," Mara added over her shoulder as she turned away. "If I see a single speck of grime, she goes without rations tonight."

They walked away. I picked up the rag.

My fingers brushed against the hard lump in my pocket. A small wooden wolf.

"They took my boots," I cried, shivering by the eastern border gate ten years ago.

"Take mine," Kael said. He was only twelve, but already taller, broader than the other boys.

"You'll get in trouble with the Alpha."

"I don't care," he said, pressing the wooden carving into my palm. "Keep this. It's a promise, Lila. One day, I'll lead this pack. And you won't ever have to hide by the walls again."

"They say Omegas like me are cursed."

"They're wrong. You're mine to protect."

"Forever?" I asked.

"Forever," he swore.

I squeezed the wooden wolf now. He promised. Kael Thorne never broke a promise.

"Still playing in the dirt, Lila?"

I turned. Kael stood at the edge of the courtyard. He wore the dark velvet jacket of the Alpha heir. His eyes, sharp and gray, locked onto mine.

"Just finishing my chores, Alpha Kael," I said.

He closed the distance between us. No one else was around. The shadows from the watchtower stretched over us, chilling the air.

"You let them push you around," he said. His tone was harsh, clipped.

"I survive," I corrected him.

"You bleed." He pointed at my scraped knuckles.

"It washes off."

He stepped into my space. "I told you to keep your head down."

"My head was down. Mara found me anyway."

"Mara is a noble. You shouldn't provoke her."

I stared up at him. "Provoke her? I was scrubbing algae off the stones."

"Don't talk back to me." His jaw tightened.

"I'm talking to my friend," I whispered.

"Your friend is an Alpha," he muttered, glancing over his shoulder. "And you are an unranked Omega."

"Does that matter?"

"It matters to the council. It matters to my father."

I dropped the rag into the empty bucket. "So what do you want me to do, Kael?"

"Stay out of the main courtyard. Take the servant paths."

I let out a harsh laugh. "Hide. You want me to hide."

"I want you safe."

"You want me out of sight so you don't have to feel guilty."

He grabbed my wrist. His grip was firm, burning hot against my cold skin. "I'm doing everything I can to secure my position. Once I have the title, things will change."

"When?"

"Soon."

"Mara says the mating ceremony is next month."

Kael froze. His thumb stopped rubbing the back of my hand. "Mara talks too much."

"Is it true?"

"My father is pushing for an alliance with the Laurent family."

"And you're going to agree?"

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't say no."

He dropped my hand. "You don't understand pack politics, Lila."

"I understand that you promised me." I tapped my pocket. "Ten years ago."

"We were children."

The words hit me like a physical strike. I stepped back.

"Children," I repeated.

"Lila, listen to me—"

"Alpha Kael!" a voice called out.

We both turned. Mara walked back into the courtyard, flanked by two guards. Her eyes darted from Kael to me, narrowing instantly.

"What are you doing over here?" Mara asked, her tone coated in fake sweetness as she approached him.

"Inspecting the perimeter," Kael replied smoothly. His posture shifted. He stood taller, colder. The Alpha mask slid perfectly into place.

"With her?" Mara gestured at me like I was a pile of garbage.

"She was just leaving," Kael said. He didn't look at me.

"Good. She smells like wet dog and cheap soap," Mara said, linking her arm through his. "Your father is looking for you in the war room. We have details to finalize."

"I'm coming," Kael said.

He walked away with her. He didn't look back. Not even a glance over his shoulder.

I stood there, the cold wind biting through my wet clothes.

*We were children.*

He had never said that before. Every time we met in secret, every time he sneaked me extra rations or bandaged my knees, he always renewed the promise. Today, he called us children.

"Hey, mutt," Tamsin said, lingering behind. She kicked my bucket again, sending it clattering across the stones. "Clean that up. Then go to the kitchens. Head Omega wants you."

I bent down and retrieved the bucket. "Fine."

"And Lila?"

I looked up.

Tamsin smirked. "Don't bother looking for a dress for the mating ceremony. Unranked Omegas aren't allowed in the grand hall."

She strutted off.

I walked to the kitchens. The heat from the massive ovens hit my face, a stark contrast to the freezing courtyard.

"You're late," Head Omega Elara barked, shoving a massive silver tray into my hands. "Take this to the council room. Now."

"Me?" I asked. "I'm not allowed in the council room."

"You are today. Half the staff is sick with the winter fever. Move!"

I balanced the heavy tray of roasted meats and wine. My arms ached from scrubbing the walls, but I didn't argue. I pushed through the heavy oak doors and navigated the long, dimly lit corridors of the pack house.

The council room doors stood slightly ajar.

I approached quietly, intending to knock.

Voices drifted through the gap.

"The Laurent alliance is non-negotiable, Kael," Alpha Thorne's booming voice echoed off the stone walls.

"I understand, Father," Kael replied.

I froze. My hands gripped the edges of the silver tray.

"Mara will make a fine Luna," Alpha Thorne continued. "She has the bloodline, the wealth, and the respect of the pack. You will announce the mating tomorrow night at the full moon feast."

Silence stretched. I waited for Kael to argue. I waited for him to mention the promise, to mention me, to say anything at all.

"And what of the lower ranks?" Kael asked.

"What about them?"

"The unranked Omegas. Will they receive better quarters once the alliance brings in the Laurent wealth?"

"We are not wasting resources on the weak," Alpha Thorne growled. "You care too much for the dirt beneath our boots. Focus on your future Luna. Do we have an agreement, Kael?"

My knuckles turned white.

*Say no, Kael. Please, say no.*

"Yes, Father," Kael said. "I will mate with Mara."

The tray slipped from my hands.

Silver crashed against the stone floor. Wine shattered, splashing dark red across the threshold like blood.

"Clean it up."

Kael’s voice vibrated through the stone floor, heavy and unfamiliar.

I knelt among the shattered silver and spilled wine. The air in the corridor suddenly felt thick, pressing down on my lungs. Kael stepped out of the council room, his frame rigid. The scent of pine and ozone rolled off him in suffocating waves. He had turned eighteen today. His Alpha power was fully awakened, and it demanded submission.

Elder Jorah followed him out, boots crunching on broken glass. "Your eighteenth birthday brings the full weight of your Alpha blood, Kael. Do not waste it on distractions."

"I know my duties, Elder," Kael said.

"A pureblood mate secures your inheritance," Jorah pressed, ignoring me completely. "Binding yourself to a low-ranking Omega will strip you of your title. The noble circle will not tolerate weak blood in the lineage."

Alpha Thorne appeared in the doorway, his massive arms crossed. "Mara Laurent is the choice. It is settled."

"It is," Kael agreed.

My hands shook. A shard of silver sliced my palm, but I didn't flinch.

Kael’s boots shifted on the stone, stepping around the puddle of dark wine. He didn't offer me a hand. He didn't even look down.

"Get this mess out of the hall, Omega," Kael ordered.

He walked away. Elder Jorah and Alpha Thorne followed, leaving me alone in the shadows.

The next morning, the courtyard buzzed with cruel whispers.

"Look at her," Mara’s voice rang out, loud enough for the gathering crowd to hear.

I kept my head down, scrubbing mud off the training mats.

"I heard she threw herself at Alpha Kael in the council corridor," a male wolf sneered from the weapon racks.

"She dropped a tray just to make him look at her," Mara laughed. She marched over and kicked a pile of dirty training towels onto my wet stones. "Wash these. Twice."

"I have other chores, Mara," I said.

"You do what I say!" Mara shouted. She grabbed my collar, hauling me to my feet. "You think you can seduce him? He is a fully awakened Alpha. You are a dirty, unranked mistake."

"Let me go," I said, shoving her arm away.

Mara backhanded me. The crack echoed across the yard. Pain flared across my cheek, hot and sharp.

"Listen to me, mutt," Mara hissed, leaning in close. "Kael belongs to me. If you even look at him during the full moon feast tonight, I will have the guards throw you in the boundary cells."

Elder Jorah watched from the balcony above. He didn't intervene. He gave Mara a curt nod of approval.

A sudden wave of heat rolled through my stomach. I swayed, my knees trembling.

"Aww, is the little Omega feeling faint?" Tamsin mocked, stepping up beside Mara.

"She's sick. Keep her away from the food," another girl yelled.

I stumbled back, pressing a hand to my flushed neck. It wasn't a fever. The sweet, heavy scent of vanilla began to push through my pores. My heat was starting.

"I'll wash the towels," I muttered, grabbing the pile and hurrying away before they could catch my scent.

I locked the thin wooden door of my room in the servant quarters. My skin burned. I pulled the wooden wolf from my pocket and pressed it against my forehead.

*He promised. He wouldn't agree to the mating. He's just playing their game.*

A knock rattled the door hinges.

"Lila. Open up."

Kael.

I unlocked the latch. He slipped inside, closing the door fast. The small room instantly felt smaller. His Alpha aura was overwhelming, thick and dominant, making my wolf want to bare her neck.

"You smell different," he said instantly. His gray eyes darkened, tracking the flush on my neck.

"My heat is coming," I whispered. "Early."

He swore under his breath, pacing the narrow space. "You need to stay in here. Do not come to the feast tonight."

"Are you going to announce it?" I asked.

He stopped pacing. "The elders are threatening to strip my inheritance, Lila. They want me to challenge my father for the Alpha command, but I need the noble families' backing."

"So you're choosing the title over me."

"I am choosing survival!" he snapped. "If I lose my rank, I am nothing. I can't protect you if I'm exiled."

"You aren't protecting me now!" I yelled, pointing to the red mark on my cheek. "Mara hit me in front of the whole pack. She tells everyone I'm a whore trying to steal you."

Kael’s jaw clenched. He reached out, his fingers hovering over my bruised skin. "I will handle Mara."

"How? By making her your Luna tonight?"

"I need time," he pleaded, his voice dropping. "Just stay hidden. When your heat hits, I will sneak away. I'll come to you."

My heart hammered against my ribs. "You'll come to me?"

"I'll claim you in secret," he promised, his eyes locking onto mine. "Once we are bound, the council can't undo it. But I have to play my part at the feast first."

"They will kill me if they find out we mated," I said.

"They won't find out. Not until I have the Alpha command." He grabbed my shoulders, pulling me flush against his chest. "Do you trust me, Lila?"

I looked up at the boy who gave me his boots ten years ago. The boy who was now a fully awakened Alpha, terrifying and powerful.

"Yes," I whispered.

"Stay in this room," he ordered. He kissed my forehead, turned, and left.

Hours passed. The sun set. The drums for the full moon feast began to beat in the distance.

My temperature spiked. Fire licked through my veins. The vanilla scent grew thick, suffocating the tiny room. I curled on my thin mattress, gripping the sheets.

Then, the pack link flared to life in my mind. A public broadcast from Alpha Thorne.

*“Wolves of the Blood Moon Pack. Tonight, we celebrate the awakening of my son, Kael. And we celebrate his chosen mate.”*

I squeezed the wooden wolf, shutting my eyes tightly. *Hurry, Kael. Come to me.*

*“Step forward, Mara Laurent,”* Kael’s voice echoed through the link. It sounded cold. Resolute. *“Accept my mark.”*

My eyes snapped open.

He wasn't coming. He was marking her in front of everyone.

Before I could process the betrayal, heavy footsteps echoed in the corridor outside my room.

The lock on my door shattered. Wood splintered inward.

Three of Mara’s personal guards shoved into my room, their yellow eyes fixed on my sweating, heat-drenched body.

"Well, well," the largest guard growled, pulling a pair of iron shackles from his belt. "The future Luna said you needed an escort to the boundary cells."

The guards did not take me to the boundary cells. Not immediately.

"Move your feet, trash," the scarred guard snapped, yanking the iron chain attached to my cuffs.

"My room," I gasped, the fever of my heat burning my throat. "Alpha Kael said to stay in my room."

"Alpha Kael isn't giving the orders tonight," the second guard laughed, shoving me forward.

My knees hit the frozen dirt. The vanilla scent of my heat clouded my vision, but the freezing wind ripped through my thin clothes, shocking me awake.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked, struggling to stand.

"To the festival," the scarred guard replied. "Lady Mara requested your presence."

"I am unranked. I am not allowed in the square."

"You will be wherever the future Luna tells you to be."

They hauled me up by my arms and dragged me into the glaring light of the central courtyard. The Full Moon Mating Festival raged around us. Drums pounded in a relentless rhythm. Massive bonfires roared, sending sparks into the black sky.

They threw me into the back of the dense crowd.

"Keep her right here," the scarred guard said, his hand resting on his silver blade. "If she steps out of line, break her legs."

"Understood," the other guard grunted.

I leaned against a cold stone pillar to keep from collapsing. My skin burned. I stared at the grand dais at the far end of the square.

*Please, Kael. Tell me the broadcast was a lie. Tell me you are playing them.*

Elder Jorah raised his wooden staff, striking the stone floor. "Silence!"

The cheers died down. The drums stopped.

"Tonight, the Blood Moon Pack secures its future," Jorah announced, his voice carrying easily over the quieted crowd. "Alpha Kael, step forward."

Kael walked to the edge of the dais. He wore the ceremonial black tunic of an Alpha heir. His posture was perfectly rigid.

"Have you made your choice?" Jorah asked him.

"I have," Kael replied.

Alpha Thorne stepped up beside the elder. "Does she possess the noble blood required to lead our forces?"

"She does," Kael answered, staring straight ahead.

Nobles in velvet cloaks murmured in the front rows.

"It has to be Mara," a high-ranking Beta whispered to the woman beside him. "The Laurent wealth is the only thing keeping our borders funded."

"If he picks a low-ranking bitch, the council will strip his Alpha command tomorrow," the woman whispered back.

I swayed, biting the inside of my cheek hard enough to taste copper. The pain kept me grounded.

"Then descend," Alpha Thorne commanded. "Claim your Luna."

Kael stepped down the stone stairs. The crowd parted immediately, creating a wide, clear path through the center of the square.

Mara stood at the end of the aisle. She wore a crimson dress that dragged across the dirt. Her chin tilted up in absolute triumph.

But Kael did not walk straight to her. He veered left.

My heart slammed against my ribs. He was heading toward the outer edge. Toward the shadows. Toward me.

"He is going the wrong way," the Beta woman muttered.

Kael’s gray eyes scanned the faces in the dark and finally locked onto mine.

*You promised,* I mouthed. My throat felt too dry to speak the words aloud.

He stopped three feet away from me. The vanilla scent of my heat flared, reaching him. His nostrils flared. His fists clenched tight at his sides.

"You shouldn't be here," Kael said, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper only I could hear.

"They dragged me out," I replied, my voice shaking. "You broadcasted her name."

"I had to."

"You promised you would come to my room."

"The elders forced my hand, Lila. Jorah threatened to exile me tonight if I refused the match."

"Then let them exile you!" I pleaded. "Leave with me."

"I will not survive as a rogue. Neither will you."

"We could try."

"No."

Mara pushed through the crowd, her heavy dress sweeping the ground. "What is this?"

"Nothing," Kael said, taking a quick step back from me.

"It does not look like nothing," Mara sneered, coming to a halt beside him. "It looks like you are talking to a prisoner."

"She is just a servant," Kael said evenly.

"Then why are you looking at her like that?" Mara demanded.

"Like what?"

"Like you pity her." Mara turned her sharp glare to the guards holding my chains. "Get this filth out of my sight. Take her to the boundary cells immediately."

"Wait," Kael said.

Mara whipped around. "Wait? For what? Are you challenging my order, Kael?"

"She hasn't committed a crime."

"Her existence is an insult to me," Mara snapped. "If you want my family's backing, she rots in the cells. Choose right now. The mutt, or your crown."

Silence blanketed the courtyard. Every eye watched the Alpha heir.

Alpha Thorne shouted from the dais. "Kael! End this spectacle!"

Kael looked at me. His jaw locked so hard a muscle twitched in his cheek. The twelve-year-old boy who gave me his boots was gone. Only a terrified, ambitious Alpha remained.

"I am sorry," he whispered.

He turned away.

"Kael!" I screamed.

He did not stop. He walked straight to the center of the square.

"Smart boy," Mara said, following him into the firelight. Her voice rang with satisfaction.

"Let us finish this," Kael muttered, refusing to look back at the shadows.

"Ask me properly," she demanded.

Kael faced the crowd. "Mara Laurent, will you accept my mark?"

"Yes," Mara answered loudly.

She tilted her head to the side, exposing the pale skin of her neck.

Kael leaned down. His fangs extended. He sank his teeth into her mating gland.

The crowd erupted into deafening cheers. The drums started pounding again, louder than before.

I stood completely still. The heat burning in my veins turned to solid ice.

The wooden wolf in my pocket felt like a heavy stone.

*Forever.*

He lied.

"Show is over, mutt," the scarred guard sneered, grabbing the back of my shirt. "Time for the cells."

I did not fight him. I let him drag me backward, away from the light, away from the roaring bonfires.

My eyes stayed fixed on Kael. He pulled back from Mara's neck, wiping a single drop of blood from his chin. He finally looked up, watching the guards haul me into the darkness.

He did nothing to stop them.

"Throw her in the pit," the second guard laughed as we reached the heavy iron gates of the boundary cells.

They shoved me hard. I tumbled down the damp stone steps, scraping my knees before hitting the cold floor of the underground cell.

The heavy iron door slammed shut. The lock engaged with a loud, final clang.

I lay in the dark, my body shivering violently as the heat fever spiked again, unsuppressed by the freezing air.

Then, a low growl rumbled from the corner of the pitch-black room.

"You smell like vanilla," a deep, raspy voice murmured. "And betrayal."

I scrambled backward until my spine hit the iron door.

"Who is there?" I asked.

Two glowing golden eyes opened in the shadows.

"Someone who hates the Thorne family as much as you do," the voice replied.