When my mother passed away, I was brought to the Alpha Queen's main residence.

The Alpha Queen wasn’t as cruel as the stories often portrayed stepmothers to be. She wasn’t unkind, just stern and rarely smiled.

When she saw me, she asked, “Which chosen mate’s child is this?”

“The one the Alpha brought back from the countryside,” Old Nanny said, casting a sympathetic glance at me. “The woman passed away recently, and this child is young and quiet. She won’t be any trouble.”

The Alpha Queen raised an eyebrow. “Is she mute?”

I trembled behind Old Nanny, my face streaked with dried tears, my whole body shaking.

The Alpha Queen sighed, shaking her head. “What a shame.”

“My Queen, she’s a well-behaved child, young and obedient. Her silence might make her a good companion for the Alpha’s daughter,” Old Nanny suggested.

The Alpha Queen looked tired but waved her hand after a moment of thought. “Fine, let her stay.”

Just then, a servant came to report, “The new chosen mate has requested the finest lavender oil. We’ve already sent her some from the storeroom, but she says it’s not enough. She wants to use it for her scent.”

“That lowborn woman really thinks she’s something, doesn’t she? Using lavender oil for her scent? Even our Queen doesn’t indulge in such luxury. Who does she think she is?” Old Nanny fumed.

The Alpha Queen rubbed her temples and glanced at me, still standing cluelessly to the side.

“Let her have her little schemes. The Alpha is infatuated with her right now. If we deny her over something so trivial, she’ll only cause more trouble. It’s better to keep things peaceful for now.”

“You’re right, my Queen,” Old Nanny said, lowering her voice as she massaged the Alpha Queen’s temples. “But the Alpha—he’s gone too far this time. At least before, he only brought in women from respectable families. Even the one from the countryside had a decent background. But now, he’s bringing in a woman from the rogues? Isn’t he worried about the pack’s reputation?”

The Alpha Queen’s lips curved into a cold smile, her expression unreadable.

“Men are always chasing after the new and shiny. He’s returned from his travels, thinking his position in the pack is unshakable, so he’s becoming more reckless. Deep down, men are all the same—selfish and fickle.”

“My Queen—” Old Nanny cut her off, glancing at me.

The Alpha Queen stopped herself and called for a maid to take me to my new quarters.

As I left, I heard Old Nanny whisper, “She’s just a passing fancy. The Alpha won’t stay interested for long. For now, let’s keep her content. She might prove useful later.”

The Alpha Queen responded with a cold laugh.

---

When I was cleaned up and brought before the Alpha’s daughter, Aviana, she was in the courtyard with her sisters, playing a game of fetch with a ball.

The ball flew high and struck one of the sisters, Aleena, square in the face.

She cried out in pain, clutching her face as she crouched down.

None of the other sisters dared to go to her aid.

Aviana laughed loudly and ran over to me, her eyes bright with mischief.

She looked me up and down, grinning.

“So, you’re the mute one? Perfect! Mute means you won’t go around gossiping or causing trouble. From now on, you’ll stay by my side. If you’re obedient, I’ll treat you well. If not, I’ll have you cast out.”

But I was a Foster, a member of the pack, even if I was just an Omega. I wasn’t a servant to be discarded at will.

I didn’t dare argue.

I just nodded in agreement.

Old Nanny had warned me before I came here. Aviana had had several companions before me. They’d all been either cast out or sent away.

She told me to stay quiet, to be the perfect little mute, if I wanted to survive.

Aviana seemed pleased with my obedience and pulled me into the game.

I saw Aleena, her nose swollen and bleeding, her face pale with pain.

Her maid frantically pressed a cloth to her face, careful not to make a sound.

Aleena herself, despite the pain, didn’t dare cry out.

Only when she left did I catch a flash of hatred in her eyes.

“Send some treats to Aleena’s room later. I don’t want the Alpha Queen scolding me again,” Aviana said carelessly before turning back to her game.

But later that evening, she was still reprimanded.

I silently took the two swats of the cane meant for her.

Aviana looked at the red marks on my thin palms and shoved a few pastries into my hands.

She patted my head and said, “You’re the best, Ainara!”

Then she pouted and muttered, “Why can’t Aleena be a mute too?”

The nanny beside her quickly hushed her, whispering, “Don’t say such things, young mistress. The Alpha Queen will punish you again.”

But Aviana just laughed it off.

I understood. Whenever the Alpha Queen punished her, it was always a light reprimand, just for show.

And even when she was truly punished, it was always me who bore the pain.

I couldn’t complain, couldn’t cry out. In Aviana’s eyes, her mute little shadow was the perfect companion.

When Aviana was happy, she treated me even better.

In just a short time, aside from taking her punishments, I lived quite comfortably. I even gained a little weight.

The other Omega sisters, led by Aleena and another sister, looked at me with envy and disdain.

They called me “the silent lapdog,” destined to follow Aviana around for the rest of my life.

But I thought they were the ones to be pitied.

A month later, a distant branch of the Fosters came and took Aleena away.

They said their pack had no heirs and wanted to raise Aleena as their own.

Aleena’s chosen mate wept and pleaded, fainting several times before the Alpha and the Alpha Queen, but it was no use.

Aleena had a younger brother, also an Omega, who had been raised by the Alpha Queen.

The Alpha Queen decided to return him to his chosen mate.

It was said Aleena’s chosen mate was overjoyed and didn’t even see her off when she left.

After that, I never heard of Aleena again.

And my life by Aviana’s side only grew easier.

By the end of the year, the Alpha Queen, Mabel Munoz, was diagnosed with a pregnancy.

Gael Foster, the Alpha, who had been absent from the packhouse for over a month, finally returned.

When he stepped into the main hall with a cheerful expression, Aviana and I were being quizzed by the Alpha Queen on our pack training skills. Aviana’s movements were clumsy, and she was leaning against Mabel, playfully whining.

As soon as Gael entered, she straightened up and coolly greeted him, "Father."

The Alpha Queen’s indulgent expression faded, and she greeted him with a distant tone, "Alpha, you’re back."

The atmosphere instantly turned icy.

But Gael, oblivious to the tension, walked over and ruffled Aviana’s hair with a chuckle. "Aviana, you’re thirteen already and still clinging to your mother like a pup. Tell me what’s bothering you, and I’ll take care of it for her, hmm?"

"Father, I’m only twelve," Aviana replied, clearly annoyed.

I could see the moment his hand touched her head—she hated it. But she held back.

Gael’s smile faltered, a flicker of awkwardness crossing his face. The Alpha Queen’s expression grew colder.

"Aviana, you and Ainara may leave now," Mabel said.

"Yes, Mother," Aviana replied, and I followed her lead, bowing slightly.

Just as we turned to leave, Gael called out to me.

A heavy coat was thrown over my head, nearly knocking me off balance. Aviana grabbed my arm to steady me.

"Go fetch me a basin of hot water to wash my feet," Gael said casually.

I froze, clutching his coat.

"Alpha," Mabel’s voice cut in, calm but firm. "Ainara is not a servant. She’s your daughter, the ninth child of this pack."

Gael blinked, squinting at me as if seeing me for the first time. His eyes, clouded by years of indulgence, showed no recognition.

"Ah… is that so? She’s grown so much," he muttered, clearly embarrassed. "I’ll visit her and her mother tomorrow…"

"Alpha," Mabel interrupted, her tone flat. "Her mother passed away some time ago."

There was a long, uncomfortable silence.

I dragged Gael’s coat out of the room, struggling under its weight. I didn’t need to look back to imagine the expression on his face—surprise, awkwardness, but not a trace of grief or remorse.

Kaeli Payne, my mother, had been fourteen when Gael took her in, during his time as the Alpha of a smaller pack. She was barely sixteen when she became pregnant with me. I was born during a pack run, when Gael was transferring to a new territory. My mother labored for an entire day and night, attended only by a healer Gael had hired along the way.

When I was born, Gael came to see me once, annoyed that my birth had delayed his journey. My mother later told me that my swaddling clothes were made from old garments she’d hastily repurposed.

Yet, despite the ordeal, she was happy. She believed that by bearing Gael’s child, she had secured her place in his life.

But Gael already had a mate and several chosen mates in the main pack. My mother, a naive girl from a neighboring pack, was nothing more than a temporary distraction during his travels.

The women who served him in his pack were all his in some way. That he didn’t abandon us was perhaps only out of some faint nostalgia for the years my mother had spent by his side.

We followed him back to the main packhouse, where my mother marveled at the grandeur of the place. She thought she’d hit the jackpot by being with such a powerful Alpha.

But she didn’t know that from the moment we stepped into the packhouse, Gael never visited her again. To the pack members, she was just "that girl from the neighboring pack Gael brought back."

In the three years we lived there, Gael had completely forgotten about us. He forgot about the girl who had traveled with him, cared for him, and stayed loyal through it all.

He forgot about the miscarriages that had left her frail and ill, and how she had spent her final years in loneliness.

If she had lived longer, would she have seen Gael for who he truly was?

The pack members told me that Gael spent half the night in Mabel’s room before leaving the packhouse again, this time taking Regina Stephens, one of his chosen mates, with him. She was a woman he’d brought into the pack with a hefty sum, known for her charm and beauty.

When Aviana heard the news, her recent gloom lifted, and she suddenly seemed cheerful again. She turned to me, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

"Father’s going to be promoted again," she said, then gave me a long, appraising look.

She smiled sweetly. "It’s a good thing your mother died early—"

How was that a good thing? I didn’t understand.

But the other siblings did. I saw them smirking behind their hands, their eyes alight with a kind of dark, secret joy.

The entire packhouse was filled with a strange, subdued sense of celebration.

Late that night, I sneaked into Regina’s room, the same room my mother and I had once shared.

In less than a day, it had been emptied.

The only thing left was the faint scent in the air, similar to the one on Gael’s coat from the night before.

It was overpowering, almost suffocating.

But as I stood there, breathing it in, I suddenly found it repulsive.

It stank.

The Alpha Queen, heavy with her pregnancy, found the noise of pups in the courtyard too much to bear. She decided to assign us motherless Omegas to various mistresses to be looked after. I was placed under Kaeli Payne’s care.

Kaeli didn’t take to me at first. She had no pups of her own and wasn’t fond of tending to others’ children. But as time passed, she softened toward me, perhaps because I was quiet and never caused trouble. She often embroidered, and I would sit silently beside her, watching her work. I think she grew used to having a mute pup nearby, someone who wouldn’t disrupt her solitude. Eventually, she began to talk to me.

She told me she had no family name. In her pack, only the high-ranking wolves—alphas, betas, and gammas—had surnames. She was just a common Omega, born to a farmer’s family. Her parents had called her “Eldest Girl.” It wasn’t until Gael Foster, the Alpha, noticed her that she was given a name. He said she resembled a famous beauty and called her Kaeli, after a legendary figure. From then on, she was known as Kaeli Payne.

Her words made me think of my own mother. I never knew her name either. Outside the pack, I called her “Mother,” but within the walls of the packhouse, they made me call her “Little Mother.” Yet, since I became mute, I never spoke that title aloud. Gael Foster—would he even remember her face now, let alone her name?

Kaeli told me that Gael had spent a small fortune to bring her into the pack, just as he had for Regina Stephens, another Omega. But when Kaeli entered the pack, her family had only asked for a single cow in exchange. A cart had carried her away, and she thought her life would change. Gael had called her beautiful, but his interest faded after a couple of years. Now, he barely remembered her.

She laughed bitterly. “What does it matter if a woman is valued highly?” she said. “Regina was worth more, wasn’t she? A prized Omega, young and beautiful. Yet, in the end, she was just a bargaining chip, traded away to strengthen Gael’s alliances. She was nothing but a pawn.”

Kaeli continued, her voice edged with bitterness. “And me? I was only worth a cow, but at least I wasn’t treated like a commodity. I wasn’t bought and sold like an object.”

I listened quietly, my thoughts swirling. No matter the price, whether a fortune or a cow, we were all just pawns in the Alpha’s game. In the end, every Omega was a victim of the pack’s rigid hierarchy.