My mind was too hazy and I could feel my bones tightening against my skin. Just how did I end up here? Who brought me here? Ajax―why in the world would he...?

To my surprise, Ajax, with his magnetic and low voice, asked, "Where do you think you're going?"

I almost jumped out of shock. "Y-You're awake?"

"The entire time," he said. His tone was serious and held no humor in it. Slowly, he got up, revealing his naked chest and six pack abs.

I hesitantly looked away, covering my own self with some apprehension. With my chest pounding a little louder than before, I asked, "Why... am I here?" What did the Alpha Prince want me, a mere omega, here for?

I did not want to see his expression so I remained looking far and away from him. I could feel he was already standing and in the middle of getting changed. His movements didn't comfort me nor made me think I was safe.

In a while, I heard him finally respond.

With an icy tone, Ajax said, "From now on, you're going to live here."

Thousands of images flashed back to my mind. If this was the me from a year ago, I would've already jumped from joy upon hearing such things. He was, after all, the person I've been loving from afar. But now that things have changed and I knew how Ajax saw me as...

I gripped hard at the white sheet covering my body. Bravely, I responded, "Would I be living as your personal servant?"

From what I knew, it was rare for servants―omegas―to serve the masters in bed. This was a rare occurrence since Alphas rarely wanted to mate with low races like omegas, but it was still a plausible reason in my current situation as such, there were only few female omegas in our pack and only there was only me who was around Ajax's age. I just didn't fully understand why Ajax would do this all of a sudden and out of so many people.

"That's right. You're a servant," Ajax said, his tone devoid of any warmth, the complete opposite of what I've loved and dreamt of before. "You're here to be my servant and nothing more."

I bit my lower lip while listening to his words. Again, I was treated like this. A servant, someone who couldn't even do what she wanted, someone who couldn't even say NO no matter how she desired...

Before anything else happened, I heard Ajax's footsteps and soon, he was already leaving the room. He paused, seemed to be glancing over me, before he finally exited and closed the door behind him.

I breathed out a sigh. Just what went wrong to this simple life of mine?

I remembered being content to some degree and living a life where much complications did not exist. Even if I was only an omega and was treated badly by those people at the academy, I decided to endure. This much, I could do and always thought I would willingly do.

I thought to myself, that time particularly, that I could and would not ask for more. Because I was part of the unpriviledged. Because I was an omega.

*"You're here to be my servant and nothing more."*

Recalling Ajax's sentence pricked my heart, slowly stabbing it repeatedly until it began to bleed. Did I ever ask to be treated this way? Did I ever wish to be brought along to this house and what, serve him in bed?

Suddenly, I remembered Selene Alcarez, the beautiful member of the pack living near our pack's territory. The she-wolf everyone expected to be Ajax's future Luna.

She and Ajax... They had mated.

I couldn't be wrong. I saw the fresh mark on her neck that time. They really had done it for real. They were now mates.

Then why was I even here? Why did Ajax bring me to this place? If he had a mate, shouldn't he bring her here instead? Didn't they say, once mated, a wolf could only live and engage sexual activity with him or her?

This wasn't right. I should tell Ajax this wasn't right at all.

Springing from the bed, I grabbed the only set of clothes placed on the table that I saw and quickly wore them. In a speeding movement, I half-walked half-ran to the door and opened it.

*Where is Ajax?* I needed to tell him he was wrong and he shouldn't be touching me anymore, else, he would suffer from the consequences from the moon goddess!

Sprinting down in hopes to look for Ajax, I looked around and ran through the hallways, the huge white t-shirt I wore almost falling from my slender body but I couldn't care. I needed to see Ajax and tell him, perhaps he had forgotten about it, so I should remind him...

"Ow," due to the thoughts continue swirling in my head, I didn't notice another person when I made a turn to the left, bumping my head against him.

A tall, handsome man looked down at me, his eyes a deep hazel brown, almost similar to mine. I realized it was his chest that I bumped into and immediately apologized, "I'm sorry!"

The man, who looked like nothing far from my and Ajax's age, said in a magnetic, low voice, "It's fine. Watch where you're going next time."

I bowed still, wary of my status once again, and apologized. A little while later, I heard the man began to walk away, only to stop midway. He turned to look at me and I saw him flash a gentle smile―something I haven't seen in a while.

"Are you Ajax's mate?" He asked me with a gentle tone. "My name is Elias Thornwheel. I came to talk to Ajax about his and my territory."

His territory...? So he was―he was an Alpha?

Elias seemed to have noticed what I was thinking and stared deeply in my eyes. "Yes, I'm an alpha, but I'm about to be the king yet. My father sent me to have a talk with the North pack's leader, Ajax Larwoods."

"But Ajax isn't the leader..." I murmured to myself. There was still his father, Thomas Larwoods.

A look of surprise painted on Elias' face. He gave me a look that neither belittle nor mock me out of my ignorance. Instead, he patiently explained, "Mr. Larwoods, his father―he went missing few days ago. Haven't you heard about it?"

My eyes widened at what I had heard. Ajax's father... was missing? Our pack's leader was missing??

"Aren't you his mate? How come you didn't know? His pheromones are even all over you and that cloth... or was I mistaken?" Elias asked, more to himself.

In my desperate need to know more, I grabbed his arms and asked. "Where's Alpha Prince Ajax?"

Elias did not utter a word for a few seconds, his eyes only landing on the pair of hands that suddenly touched him. "How would I know? I'm also looking for him."

I need to see Ajax and ask him about our pack. What happened and why was I brought here. No, why did he keep me in the dark? Why did he not tell me about the Alpha King, Mr. Larwoods', disappearance?

Wait. His father disappeared, too. Just like my mother and brother did...

No, it couldn't be, right?

Slowly, the words of the woman which I assumed to be a witch or a mage, who visited in my dream as a wisp, came to my mind.

"A witch cursed your family race a long time ago. If one of you gets rejected by his or her fated mate, one or more of the other living family members and his or her's mate's family members will vanish. They or they may not continue to live in another world, lifetime, or timeline, as completely different people."

My mother and brother's disappearance, and Ajax's father's disappearance... It couldn't be... There was no way they had something to do with each other... Right?

In the South Eastern woods, near the river that connected the two biggest lakes in the world, lived the Thornwheel Clan―or in the wolf term, the Crescent River Pack.

Just like Larwoods family or the Crescent Glacier Pack, Ajax's clan in the North, Elias Thornwheel was a part of the Thornwheel Clan occupying the largest area in the South Eastern Woods they had claimed as their territory. Elias, similar to Ajax, was also someone next to the throne and was prophecied to become the next Alpha King. Both Elias and Ajax were responsible to rule, especially when the Alpha King suddenly went missing.

Just as what was currently happening.

I later found out that the Alpha King Thomas disappeared after battling a group of humans with lethal weapons while trying to scout the barriers of the place where everyone in the pack resided. According to Kid, the beta and right hand of our Alpha King Thomas Larwoods, the humans tried to use their bullets and some even made use of special crafts while trying to invade the territory that we all knew Mr. Larwoods had protected for hundreds of years.

I myself couldn't say much about humans since I rarely interacted with them. I was an omega who was raised to serve the greatest leaders of our group and no matter how I wished to know more about such a race, I could only ever do so through reading books.

Of course, such books were just lent from a beta friend who had the privilege to own them. This didn't hide the fact, however, that humans were creatures filled with so much greed and other evil intentions.

As it turned out, the humans that Alpha King Thomas battled with wanted to clear the entire forest, cutting down all the trees present and claiming them as their own. Enraged, Ajax's father did everything he could to protect the North. The battle went on for one entire night, right about when it was full moon. So every member of the pack present were in their strongest forms when they did face the trespassing humans.

"Are you really from the Crescent Glacier's pack? The Larwoods' territory?" a werewolf named Timothy, a beta standing beside Elias Thornwheel, asked as he looked at me in suspicion. Elias who stood tall and mighty was also staring at me.

I couldn't refute these reactions at all. I wanted to tell them I, too, was surprised to find out these things only today. But I kept these to myself since I knew nobody would dare listen to my story anyway. It was a long one and people mostly wanted to hear what they wanted to hear.

For an omega to share what's on her mind―this was a book that nobody would ever pick up and read in this world at all.

As someone who was barely noticed aside from casual mockery and belittling times, I told them simply, "There are some things not everyone is allowed to hear... Anyway, forget about me, let's find Alpha Prince Ajax."

I really thought these people held great importance to what was happening in our territory, most especially to the Alpha King. Perhaps, they were here to lend a hand, or discuss some more important things... No matter what it was, I believed only alphas like Ajax would purely understand.

Luckily, both Elias and Timothy agreed and we all began to head towards the garden. While trying to look for Ajax in each corner of this massive mansion, I've realized something that made me even curious than I already was.

There were no servants or other people to be found.

Why?

It was only when we had reached the exit to the eastern wing side of the gigantic, concrete house, that I noticed four familiar people from our pack. These people were betas and if I remember it correctly, two of them were the closest to Ajax. They were male werewolf twins named Zen and Ren. One had golden eyes while the other had greyish eyes.

"Where's Alpha Prince Ajax?" I tried to ask them, using the same voice and greetings I usually used when I talked to them during the days Ajax would order me around.

One of the beta twins, Ren, the one with golden eyes, gave me a glare as if I had done something bad, while Zen, the one with greyish eyes, gave me a somewhat pitiful stare.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Please tell me, where is Ajax?" I bravely asked once more.

Ren frowned deeply as he took a step forward, almost wanting to attack me with his eyes. "It was all your fault, you damn omega..."

"Ren!" Zen called, stopping Ren from even moving towards me. "Stop it, Ren. Claire doesn't know anything."

Ren removed the arm grabbing him and began to look at me with some more disgust. "Ha, she doesn't know? Stop protecting disgusting things. If not for this crazy omega wanting our leader's son-"

"I said quit it!" Zen warned.

"Why should I? Zen, this bitch is the main cause of our pack's doom! It's all her fault!" Ren roared, eyes full of fury.

"Why...?" I asked softly and suddenly, making everyone stopped and looked at me. I could feel all their eyes―Zen, Ren, the other two betas, and even Elias and Timothy―on me.

"Why?" I began to mutter once again. With head hanging low and eyes staring at the ground, I began to feel the formation of something hot at the back of my eyes as I clenched my trembling fists.

Slowly, I turned my head up to face them, uncontrollable hot tears strolled down my cheeks as I desperately begged for an answer to my forever question.

"I'm just an omega trying to live... Why am I being blamed?"

Then came out a soft, almost breaking into a whisper voice that I could barely recognize as my own.

"What did I do to be hated this much?"

Must all hate fall into us just because we were considered the 'lowest' kind? Why must we all face such discrimination and loathing?

What did I―we―ever do to be hated this much?

Being an omega and trying to live in peace―was it a sin after all?

"What's going on here?"

In that confusing moment where I could no longer feel my own self, I heard a familiar voice. A voice which paused all things at once as if he was made to make everyone turn to him and give full respects to. A voice which I know, whether my eyes were open or not, would never fail to bring me back to the present.

"Alpha Prince...!" I heard both Ren and Zen call out.

I saw Ajax standing there, with two more betas in each of his side and one old man who I presumed to be one of the elders in our pack.

"Claire, come here," I heard Ajax order.

The surroundings became hazy and my mind paused from thinking countless things, including my current position.

I couldn't see the expression on Ajax's face but I could feel his anger as in a swift movement, he appeared to my side and grabbed my arm. He probably was furious for seeing such a scene caused by an omega... Especially with the fact that there were two visitors, too...

Unexpectedly, I didn't hear any word from Ajax after that as he only seemed to have stared at me and my body, as if checking something from head to toe which I couldn't comprehend, before releasing me from his hold. Immediately, I was escorted by two omegas, who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, back to the room I woke up in earlier.

While on our way, I heard the omegas whispering behind my back.

"Is she really the one...?" One of them asked.

"Sshh, we're not allowed to talk about her. You already know that," another said.

Two were female omegas I haven't seen before. There were few female omegas in our pack, the Crescent Glacier Pack. So these two new omegas... Who were they and why did Ajax order them to accompany me? Did he perhaps... wanted to end me?

"P-Please don't look at us with those eyes," one of them suddenly said, looking at me with nervous looks. "W-We're not bad omegas."

I realized I may have been looking at them with a face full of suspicions. Gulping down my own share of anxieties, I asked them, hopeful, "You... From what pack are you and why are you here?"

The two female omegas looked at each other, as if contemplating whether speaking was allowed for them.

"It's okay, I won't tell the Alpha Prince," I told them, thinking back on how Ajax hated omegas and it must be that these omegas had personally witnessed this fact as well.

To my surprise, one of them took a step near me.

"We're from the East's Crescent Lake. I am called Ether and this is Shila, my sister. Sorry for the late introduction, Luna..." she explained.

My eyes widened at how she addressed me. "What- What did you call me?"

"Aren't you the Alpha Prince's mate?" Ether asked, dubious of what she was even saying for a second. "You're Claire Hanzel, right? You are the next Luna. Our Luna."

More than being surprised for having called as a Luna, my body trembled as I heard those words ― Alpha Prince's mate.

I remembered Elias Thornwheel also labeling me as such earlier. It was probably due to my scent. Ajax... Just why did he even spread his scent all over me? Why were we on the same bed? For how long did we...

My chest paused from beating at the thought.

Did we really do it? But how could this happen? Ajax hated me. He hated omegas as much as he hated humans!

But why... Why would he sleep with me if he hated me this much?

"You're wrong..." I muttered under my breath, barely holding my emotions.

It was as if thousands of images began flashing through my brain once more, similar to that time when I was looking for my mother and brother desperately. That time, voices kept urging me to do something just like in my dream.

Ajax, he was a scum alpha. He was the cause of my demise. He was the cause of my only family members' disappearance...

Was he really my mate then? That curse―was it really fulfilled after Ajax rejected me? But how? Did he really know I was his mate, so he rejected me as soon as he discovered it...?

Alix... Call me, Claire... My name is Alix... I will tell you everything you want to know... Call me...

Alix. If I would call out to this person, would she really tell me everything? I wanted to know why and how did it come to this. How I was in this situation, and how I suddenly became Ajax's mate.

The moment the two female omegas left, I immediately went to check the room and looked for a candle. I didn't know why I suddenly had the idea of searching for one, but when I remember that small wisp of light like a candle light in the middle of a dark room, my heart and mind urged me to look for it.

It was as though I had long known how to speak to these people, or whatever they were called, and only by lighting one candle and calling out one of them, was the only way to know the truth, aside from talking through dreams.

Opening the wooden drawers and cabinets that were obviously barely touched but still well-maintained and cleaned, I searched through every level, wanting to find a candle. While searching for one and opened the lowest drawer near the bed, I found a worn-looking object which seemed to be a box. It was the only thing in the drawer.

Suddenly curious, my hand speculated the box, my fingers hovering over the intricate designs around it. The more I touched the box, the louder my heartbeat pounded. Just what was in this box and why was it hidden here, with nothing else next to or surrounded it?

Frowning a bit, I was about to open the box when I heard the door opening.

With my heart almost dropping down the floor, I quickly placed the box back inside the drawer and closed it. Then I immediately got up from my crouching position and faced the newly arrived person―the person that filled my heart and mind, the person who turned out to be my mate but rejected me.

"Alpha Prince," I called out.

Ajax stared at me with a pair of eyes that held no intention of letting me ask questions. I knew others would surely tell me to ask him, to ask the very person who seemed to be the one who knew everything, but when I looked at his eyes and he stared right back at mine, I could feel the dread of doing such a thing.

Because those eyes only meant one thing: I, an omega, did not have the right to ask questions and get answers from an alpha.

"Why were you with Elias?"

"Huh?" I blinked, looking at him. I was almost dumbfounded at what he asked all of a sudden.

To my surprise even more, Ajax began taking steps to me which caused my heart to start pounding loudly. I started to take steps back as a reflex, eyes looking at him directly as I watched him move. Ajax stepped closer and closer until he reached me, his towering figure looming over my smaller stature.

"I asked a question," Ajax said again, his tone clearly disapproving rooms for humor, patience, and deception.

The alpha pheromones he was releasing made me feel weak in the knees, almost wanting to fall down and embrace myself in protection. Why was he asking me such an odd question? I only bumped into Elias Thornwheel and nothing more. More than that, Ren and Zen, his betas, they kept on telling me everything was my fault. Could he at least tell me the reason why they said those words?

Ajax―our Alpha Prince―can he at least tell me, if he truly was my mate?

"Claire―"

"Is it true?" I asked, finding the courage as I lifted my head up and looked at his face.

As expected, Ajax still wore those eyes that told anyone he was superior, he was in a different world, he was unreachable. His eyes were unreadable this time though as they bore into mine, his lips parting, "What do you mean?"

I swallowed down my fears more as I looked at him with clenched fists, "I... I am your mate. And you, you rejected me. Is it true?"

I could hear my own heart beating louder and louder it almost felt like leaping right out of my chest. Every second seemed to be a thousand year as Ajax only looked at me and I looked at him.

His clear, cerulean blue eyes that reminded me of those good, summer days, seemed to have turned to a dark, stormy night as he answered me, finally.

"It is."

Air seemed to have escaped my lungs and my whole body began to turn cold. So it was true... Ajax... The person whom I had been liking far afar ever since I was young, was my mate. But just as predicted, for being an omega, for being in such a low status, I was rejected.

Before hot tears could even flow down my cheeks, I suddenly heard him spoke once more.

"It doesn't change anything though," Ajax said, hands moving up to touch my face.

My eyes widened at his action. Looking up, I looked at his face and almost felt my chest breaking even more.

With an almost crazed expression paired with a low, dominating voice, Ajax caressed my cheeks, his alpha pheromones increasing in every second, filling every breath I took, owning all of my senses. "Whether you're accepted or rejected by me, the fact that you belong to me will never change."

He was a great alpha and I was a mere omega. He was the man I had love for a long time and vowed to stay with in the future until the day I die. Being his servant was something I was tasked to, whether I liked it or not. But because my heart couldn't stop loving him, I took the task naturally and willingly.

But because of fate, these things could no longer be the same. Whether it was yesterday's smiles or tomorrow's hopeful beams―everything shattered because of fate.

Clear, blue eyes lit and reflected my messed up face as a low, magnetic voice penetrated my ears. "Do you understand now, Claire? Even if you object, even if you want to leave, I will never let you go."

With that, Ajax drew me closer, hand cupping my cheek. "You're mine, Claire. Fate says so and neither one of us can change it."

If I look up now and make a howling sound, a sound that held my numerous questions, of alphas and omegas and fates and rejections―would it reach the Moon Goddess, answer my prayers, and wipe away my tears?