The Blood Eclipse Pack Gala glittered with wealth and power. Crystal chandeliers cast prismatic light across the grand ballroom, illuminating the faces of elite werewolves from neighboring territories. I stood near the sweeping staircase, smoothing down the simple navy gown I'd spent weeks altering to perfection. My heart hammered against my ribs as I watched pack members and visiting dignitaries mingle below.

Tonight was supposed to be everything I'd sacrificed for.

"Miss Perkins," a server whispered, offering champagne. "You look lovely tonight."

I accepted the glass with a polite smile. "Thank you."

The server's eyes darted around before leaning closer. "Is it true? Will Alpha Maximilian announce you as his Luna tonight?"

Heat rushed to my cheeks. After years of living in that tiny cabin on the outskirts of pack territory, after defying my father and funding Maximilian's survival when he was wolfless and despised... surely tonight would be our moment.

"I believe so," I replied softly, unable to suppress my hopeful smile.

The orchestra began a new melody, and conversation quieted as everyone turned toward the grand staircase. My breath caught in my throat. This was it.

Maximilian appeared at the top of the stairs, his broad shoulders draped in a tailored black suit that emphasized his powerful frame. Silver threading caught the light as he moved, matching the silver tips of his wolf's fur. His eyes—those same eyes that once looked at me with desperate gratitude—now surveyed the crowd with cold authority.

The room fell silent under his oppressive Alpha aura. I forced myself to stand taller, though my knees trembled.

"My fellow pack members and honored guests," Maximilian's voice resonated through the ballroom. "Tonight we celebrate not only our pack's prosperity but a new beginning."

He descended the stairs with predatory grace. I took a step forward, anticipating his call.

Instead, he turned to the side and extended his hand. "Kehlani."

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd as a stunning she-wolf with copper skin and flowing dark hair stepped forward. Her scent—artificially sweet, like overripe fruit—wafted through the room.

"What is he doing?" I whispered to myself.

Kehlani's lips curved into a triumphant smile as she took Maximilian's arm. Her eyes found mine across the room, glittering with malice.

"I present to you," Maximilian announced, his voice hardening with each word, "my chosen mate and Luna of the Blood Eclipse Pack."

The room spun around me. Chosen mate? But we were fated mates. The Moon Goddess herself had bound us together.

"Max," I called out before I could stop myself.

His head snapped toward me, eyes flashing silver with rage. The temperature in the room seemed to drop as his Alpha aura focused entirely on me.

"Emily Perkins," he growled, using his Alpha tone. The force of it drove me to my knees despite my resistance. "You dare interrupt me?"

Pain shot through my body as I fought against his command. "You can't do this. We're fated mates."

Laughter—cold and cruel—echoed from his direction. "Fated? Is that what you thought? That I would be grateful for your... charity?"

He strode toward me, each step deliberate. Kehlani followed, her smile widening.

"You think I don't remember?" Maximilian crouched down, forcing me to look into his eyes. "How your father threw money at me like I was nothing? How you all looked down on me when I had no wolf?"

"That's not true," I whispered, tears blurring my vision. "I loved you."

"And now I love her," he snarled, gesturing to Kehlani. "And I reject you, Emily Perkins, as my mate."

The formal words sliced through me like silver blades. Physical pain exploded in my chest as our bond began to tear.

Kehlani stepped forward, her hand extended. In her palm gleamed a black credit card with no limit—the Luna's traditional symbol of status.

"Thank you, my Alpha," she purred, kissing his cheek.

Maximilian's eyes never left mine as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a single dollar bill. He crumpled it in his fist before tossing it at my feet.

"For your travel expenses to the human town," he said loudly enough for everyone to hear. "You're no longer welcome here. From this moment forward, you are nothing but an Omega in this pack."

The crowd gasped again, this time at the severity of his punishment.

I stared at the crumpled bill, my father's face flashing before my eyes—how he had once thrown money at Maximilian just like this. How history had come full circle.

"Max, please," I begged, thinking of my father's mounting medical bills. "My father needs—"

"Your father will get nothing from me," Maximilian cut me off. "Neither will you."

As he turned away with Kehlani clinging to his arm, I remained on my knees, the weight of my new reality crushing down upon me. Omega. The lowest rank. No protection. No resources.

And my father dying in a hospital bed, waiting for surgery I could no longer afford.

The Omega quarters were located in the farthest corner of the pack house, a stark contrast to my previous life of privilege. I dragged my small suitcase across the threshold, the damp smell hitting me immediately. Mold clung to the walls, and the bare bulb overhead flickered weakly, casting shadows that seemed to mock my fall from grace.

"It's not much," said an older Omega woman who had been assigned to show me to my new quarters. "But it's yours."

The room was barely larger than a closet. A narrow bed with a thin mattress took up most of the space. A small dresser with a cracked mirror stood in the corner, and a single window let in a meager amount of light. The walls were bare except for a single hook for clothes.

"Thank you," I managed, my voice hollow.

The woman hesitated at the door. "I'm sorry, Miss Perkins. We all know what you did for him when he had nothing."

I swallowed hard. "It doesn't matter now."

After she left, I sank onto the bed, my body still aching from the rejection ceremony. The mate bond wasn't completely severed—Maximilian had only begun the rejection process, leaving me in a limbo of pain and confusion.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. Dr. Sophia's name flashed on the screen.

"Emily," her voice was tense when I answered. "I need to see you immediately."

"I can't leave the territory," I reminded her, my heart already racing. "Maximilian's orders."

"This is about your father," she said, her voice dropping. "His condition has deteriorated rapidly. The infection has spread to his heart."

I gripped the phone tighter. "What does that mean?"

"Without immediate intervention—a specialized Lycan surgery—he has less than a week." Dr. Sophia's words cut through me like claws. "Emily, he needs pack medical funds. The procedure isn't covered by standard insurance."

The room spun around me. "How much?"

"Seventy-five thousand," she said softly. "And we need it within forty-eight hours to schedule the surgery."

I ended the call and pressed my forehead against the cool wall. Seventy-five thousand dollars. As an Omega, I had no access to pack funds. No resources. No power.

I had to try.

---

The guards at Maximilian's office door sneered as I approached. One of them blocked my path.

"Omegas aren't allowed on this floor," he growled.

"Please," I whispered, hating the desperation in my voice. "It's an emergency."

"Like I care about your emergencies," he laughed, but his partner elbowed him.

"Let her try," he whispered. "Alpha will tear her apart anyway."

With a mocking gesture, they stepped aside.

I pushed open the heavy oak doors, my heart hammering against my ribs. Maximilian sat behind his massive desk, his eyes narrowing as I entered. Kehlani lounged on a leather sofa nearby, her perfectly manicured nails tapping against the armrest.

"What is this?" Maximilian's voice was dangerously soft. "An Omega in my office?"

I forced myself to stand tall despite the trembling in my legs. "I need to speak with you."

"About what?" His lip curled in disgust.

"My father—" I began, but before I could continue, his Alpha aura crashed down upon me.

"KNEEL!"

The command hit me like a physical blow. My knees buckled instantly, my body slamming against the hard marble floor. Pain shot through my bones as I fought against the overwhelming pressure of his Alpha tone.

"That's better," he said coldly. "Now, why are you wasting my time?"

I struggled to speak through the crushing weight of his command. "My father is dying. He needs surgery. Please, I'm begging you for pack medical funds."

Kehlani rose from the sofa with fluid grace, her artificial sweet scent wafting toward me as she approached Maximilian. She leaned down, her lips close to his ear.

"I saw her at the borders yesterday," she whispered, loud enough for me to hear. "With Alpha Emmett. They were... intimate."

Maximilian's eyes flashed silver with rage. He released his Alpha command just enough for me to gasp in a breath.

"Is that where you've been?" he snarled. "Selling yourself to Emmett for protection?"

"No!" I cried out. "That's a lie! I would never—"

"Enough!" Maximilian stood abruptly, his chair scraping against the floor. "You think I don't know what you're doing? What you've always done?"

He circled around the desk, looming over me where I knelt on the floor. "You're nothing but a whore, Emily. Just like your father said."

Tears blurred my vision as Kehlani's lips curved into a triumphant smile.

"Get out," Maximilian growled. "Your father gets nothing from me. Not now, not ever."

He turned his back on me, dismissing my existence entirely. Kehlani took his arm possessively as they walked toward the door.

"Come, my Alpha," she purred. "We have more important matters to attend to."

They left me there, sobbing on the cold marble floor, my father's life slipping away with every passing second.

The morning sun had barely risen when Kehlani appeared at my door, her copper skin gleaming under the harsh fluorescent lights of the Omega quarters.

"Time to work, little Omega," she singsonged, her artificial sweet scent making my stomach turn. "Your father's medicine won't pay for itself."

I'd been awake for hours already, having scrubbed the kitchen floors until three in the morning. My hands were raw, but I knew better than to complain.

"What task today, Luna?" I asked, the title bitter on my tongue.

Kehlani's lips curled into a cruel smile. "The main hall floors need scrubbing. Every inch."

The main hall was massive—marble floors that stretched the length of three basketball courts. It would take days to clean properly.

"Now," she added, her eyes glittering with malice.

I followed her through the packhouse, feeling the stares of pack members who once bowed to me as Alpha Perkins' daughter. Now they looked away or whispered behind their hands.

"Look who's cleaning our floors now," someone muttered.

"The Alpha's rejected mate," another replied with a snicker.

Kehlani handed me a bucket of water so cold it made my fingers ache, and a brush with bristles that bit into my skin.

"On your knees, Omega," she commanded.

I sank to the floor, the marble cold against my skin. The water stung my already raw hands as I dipped the brush.

"Faster," Kehlani snapped, circling me like a predator. "Your father's medicine depends on your performance."

Hours passed. My knees bled, leaving faint stains on the white marble. My fingers split open, water mixing with blood.

"Good enough?" I asked, my voice hoarse.

Kehlani crouched beside me, her perfectly manicured nails tracing the edge of my bucket. "Not quite."

She knocked it over, water spilling across the section I'd just cleaned. "Start again."

By evening, I'd earned exactly seventeen dollars and change. Enough for a single dose of my father's antibiotics.

---

"Is she still crying?" Maximilian's voice drifted through the door of Kehlani's private quarters.

"She's pathetic," Kehlani replied, her voice dripping with disdain. "But I worry, Max."

"What is it?"

I pressed myself against the wall outside, straining to hear.

"What if you still want her?" Kehlani asked. "Despite everything?"

Silence followed—heavy, charged silence.

"She's nothing now," Maximilian finally growled. "Just an Omega."

"But she's still your fated mate," Kehlani insisted. "I can smell it on her sometimes. That bond..."

"What are you suggesting?"

"Alpha Perkins owes our pack debts," Kehlani said carefully. "Debts that need to be paid."

I heard Maximilian move closer to her. "What did you have in mind?"

"Send her away," Kehlani whispered. "Where she can never remind you of what she was."

A long pause followed. Then, "Do what you think is best."

---

I was awakened in the middle of the night by rough hands dragging me from my bed. Beta Marcus and two guards I didn't recognize yanked me to my feet.

"Time to pay your father's debts," Marcus growled, his eyes avoiding mine.

"Where are you taking me?" I demanded, struggling against their grip.

"The underground auction," one guard replied with a cruel smile. "Your Alpha bloodline should fetch a good price."

They forced me into a transport van, windows blacked out, interior stripped bare. Silver chains bit into my wrists and ankles—not enough to break skin but enough to burn.

"Maximilian approved this?" I asked Marcus, who stood awkwardly by the van door.

His silence was answer enough.

---

The auction house was unlike anything I'd imagined. Beneath an abandoned warehouse, a lavish underground venue had been created. Crystal chandeliers hung from vaulted ceilings, illuminating rows of plush seats filled with the wealthiest rogues and corrupt Alphas from territories I'd never heard of.

They'd dressed me in rags that barely covered my body, the silver chains now wound tightly around my torso, highlighting my vulnerability.

"Lot number seventeen," the auctioneer announced, his voice echoing through the chamber. "A fallen Alpha's daughter. Fated mate of Alpha Maximilian of the Blood Eclipse Pack."

Gasps rippled through the crowd. My eyes darted frantically around the room, searching for any friendly face.

"Rare bloodline," the auctioneer continued, circling me as I stood trembling on the raised platform. "Imagine owning the daughter of the once-mighty Alpha Perkins. Imagine what Alpha Maximilian would pay to get her back."

The crowd's interest grew as he detailed my lineage, my former status, my current fall from grace.

"Starting bid at fifty thousand dollars," he announced.

Hands shot up immediately. A fat rogue king in the front row. An elderly Alpha with a scar across his face. A businessman whose eyes held nothing but cruelty.

"One hundred thousand," someone called from the back.

"Two hundred," countered another.

As the bids climbed higher, I closed my eyes, praying for death rather than whatever fate awaited me in the hands of these monsters.