Chapter 1 1

Lorien POV

The curse of being born on the same day as the Alpha’s son was that no one ever remembered it was my birthday too. Or maybe they remembered they just didn’t care.

This day was supposed to be magical. I had turned twenty, old enough to find my mate. And he was here somewhere among the crowd.

For years, I had imagined this night: both of us dressed up, eyes meeting for the first time beneath the pack’s glittering lights. My heart hammered so hard it hurt, and my stomach fluttered with restless wings. His scent brushed faintly against my senses, carried on the breeze but blurred by hundreds of other wolves. Still, I could feel him. His wolf called out to mine, a pull I couldn’t resist. I needed to find him.

But instead of walking through those grand doors into the celebration, I stood outside the packhouse being turned away like a beggar.

“Omegas enter through the back,” one of the guards barked, stepping in front of me to block the doorway.

I knew the rule. Everyone did. It was idiotic but I also knew I wouldn’t be let in through the servant’s entrance either, not tonight.

Keeping my eyes down, I nodded, swallowing my pride. I didn’t dare meet his gaze; a warrior like him could crush me without consequence. I was the lowest-ranked Omega in the pack barely tolerated, often bullied, always disposable.

“But I’m not working tonight,” I pleaded softly. “My mate is inside. Please just five minutes to find him.”

The words came out desperate, almost broken. I knew my boss would fire me if I even tried sneaking in. I was only allowed to serve at private events, never ones involving other packs.

Tonight’s celebration was for Rhael the Alpha’s son and three neighboring packs had come to join ours. It was supposed to be perfect, the night the future Alpha found his Luna. And perfection, in their eyes, didn’t include worthless Omegas like me.

Yet my mate was close. So close I could taste him in the air. My wolf clawed at the edges of my control, demanding to take over, desperate to run to him. I’d waited for this night all my life. I wasn’t going to let it slip away.

But the guard before me looked murderous for even being approached, and I knew no amount of begging would change his mind.

Maybe it was the hair. My bright red hair a curse in this pack of dark-haired wolves. Everyone had always whispered that I couldn’t possibly be my parents’ child. And when they died in that terrible accident, their doubts turned into certainty.

The pack stopped pretending. They didn’t want me. Except when they needed something scrubbed, cleaned, or carried.

“I don’t give a damn,” the guard growled, his voice a low rumble of disdain. “You’re not one of us, and you’re not getting inside.”

I flinched, tugging at the hem of my dress, wishing I could disappear.

“Get lost, runt.”

Tears stung my eyes before I could stop them. I’d waited for this night for so long. My mate my one chance at being chosen, seen, loved and it was slipping through my fingers.

He’d never find me out here. Not when my scent was buried under a hundred others.

I’d saved for months to buy this dress skipping meals, patching seams, doing extra shifts. Even second-hand, it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever owned. The small tear near my hip still rubbed against my skin where I’d mended it, but I didn’t care. Tonight was supposed to be my new beginning.

“Please,” I whispered again, daring to look up. The guard’s eyes darkened at my defiance.

“He told you to get lost, freak!”

The shrill voice sliced through the night like a knife. Maeryn, the Beta’s daughter, stood behind me, shimmering in a silver-sequined dress that probably cost more than my entire year’s pay. Her heels made her tower even taller, all sharp edges and venomous beauty.

“Ugh,” she sneered. “That dress is tragic. I can’t believe you had the nerve to show up looking like that. You look like a whore.”

“My dress covers more than yours,” I muttered before I could stop myself, glancing at the thin strip of fabric clinging to her body.

Her smirk turned cruel. “Poor little Omega, begging for attention. You’ll never belong here.”

She shoved her shoulder into mine as she swept past toward the door. “Get out of my way, loser.”

I stumbled back, hands flailing for balance straight into the guard’s chest.

He snarled in disgust and shoved me hard.

The world tilted. I tumbled down the steps, pain jolting through my body as I hit the cobblestones. My knee and hip screamed in protest, and when I tried to move, I felt fabric tear.

Heat pooled behind my eyes. I wanted to scream, to vanish, to die. How could my mate see me like this?

Maeryn’s laughter rang out, cold and cruel. “Maybe next time you’ll listen when you’re told. You’re trash, Lorien. Always have been, always will be.”

I stayed there for a moment, staring up at the night sky.

Since my parents’ deaths when I was fourteen, my life had been nothing but orders and survival. Maeryn’s father had taken my father’s place as Beta, and she made sure I never forgot my fall from grace.

The packhouse job barely paid enough to cover the rent on my broken-down shack at the edge of town. I’d spent months saving for tonight for this dress, these shoes, this one chance to be seen by my mate.

Now everything was ruined.

Hell. That’s what living here was. A constant, lonely hell. But I had clung to hope that it would end once I turned twenty once I found him.

“When Rhael claims me as his Luna,” Maeryn called out, voice dripping with smug satisfaction, “the first thing I’ll do is get rid of that thing.”

She didn’t need to say my name. I already knew who she meant.

Choking back a sob, I pushed myself to my feet. I had to get away before they saw me cry.

If I hurried home, I could wash up, fix my dress, and come back before the party ended. Even if they wouldn’t let me in, I could wait outside until my mate came out. He’d find me. He’d see me. And we’d leave this place together.

I wanted to look beautiful for him or at least not broken. I didn’t want him to feel the same shame everyone else did when they looked at me.

The sound of boots pounding down the stairs made my blood run cold.

I looked up just in time to see the guard charging toward me, claws and fangs bared.

“I said get lost!” he roared.

He wasn’t trying to scare me anymore. He was going to hurt me because in his eyes, I had already committed the greatest sin an Omega could.

I had dared to exist.