Chapter 3

• Dominic's POV
• As consciousness returned, the first thing I noticed was a scent.
• The fragrance of rain-soaked earth, mixed with crushed gardenias, and beneath it, something that was mine, the pine forest after rain.
• It came from the body under me.
• I opened my eyes.
• Faint dawn light slipped through the curtains, outlining a slender figure curled beneath me.
• Her lashes were still wet with tears, and red marks burned across the pale skin of her neck, marks I had left.
• Somehow, I had fallen asleep on top of an Omega. Worse, I was still inside her.
• "Hah, you're finally awake."
• Cassius, my wolf spirit, spoke with his usual mocking tone in my mind.
• "How does it feel? Marking your destined mate, a fragile Omega."
• I ignored him and looked down at the woman beneath me.
• Alina.
• Of course, I knew her.
• The most powerful healer in the South, praised by countless werewolves as a goddess, that untouchable, holy Omega.
• But she no longer remembered me.
• “Don’t tell me you’ve grown feelings for her, Dominic,” Cassius pressed. “She’s Killian’s fiancée, the Southern Wolf King’s chosen. Her being here isn’t a coincidence.”
• “I know,” I muttered. “This damn mate bond wants me to submit, to chain me to her and tie me to the South, our greatest enemy. The Moon Goddess doesn’t make mistakes like this. This isn’t a gift. It’s a trap. And she’s the bait.”
• Looking at her face pulled me back to the most humiliating moment of my life.
• The night before my eighteenth awakening, my stepmother, Vivian, sent assassins after me.
• I was covered in wounds, poisoned by her slow-acting wolf toxin, and barely alive when I stumbled into the forest of Westwood on the border between North and South.
• I was close to death.
• And it was Alina who found me.
• Back then, she had seemed like a messenger from the Moon Goddess, dressed in white, eyes calm, unafraid, filled with pity instead of scorn.
• She saved me.
• When I went through my first painful transformation, tortured by the wolf toxin until I nearly lost my mind, it was her.
• She used her damn, intoxicating scent to calm my raging pheromones, keeping me from becoming a mindless beast.
• With her gentle hands, she smoothed out my twisted limbs, distorted by intense pain.
• She saved my life, helped me endure the awakening, and gave me my wolf spirit, Cassius.
• But when I opened my eyes, she had already gone, leaving only herbs behind, asking for nothing.
• As if saving me had been nothing to her.
• I couldn’t believe such kindness existed in this world.
• Everyone is dirty and willing to do anything for what they want, for their own benefit.
• She saved me; there must be a reason behind it.
• Did she already know who I was? Did she want something from me?
• Later, I investigated everything about her.
• Alina, the "Goddess" of the South. Werewolves said she was the Moon Goddess’s favorite, selfless, kind, never asking for anything in return.
• "An Omega with such a high reputation must have a complicated background," Cassius sneered. "Kind? Selfless? Just weapons used for disguise. She saved you; maybe it's part of the Killian plan."
• Later, I saw her once from a distance, when I was hiding in the Southern Territory to escape the hunters.
• At the annual celebration in the Southern Territory, she was surrounded by countless werewolves, with a compassionate smile on her face.
• In that moment, I had only one thought.
• I wanted to drag her down from that high altar.
• She had seen me at my lowest, and the pity in her eyes was like a thorn that could never be removed, always reminding me of my weakness and disgrace.
• I wanted to rip apart her holy robes, let my breath, my desire, completely stain her.
• I wanted to see her fear, her begging, until those eyes no longer held that cursed pity, only fear, only despair of me.
• I wanted to know, when such a beloved “goddess” was abandoned by all, broken under me, the “patricide” tyrant, would she still be kind?
• Would she still give without asking anything in return?
• That thought, along with the memories of last night, made the blood in my veins burn again.
• I looked down at her body, trembling from my touch.
• I felt myself awaken in her body again, as hard as iron.
• "Yes, that's it," Cassius's voice was filled with cruel pleasure. "Let her know who her master is. She is just our spoils of war, a tool for release."
• I grabbed her slender waist, flipped her over, and faced her towards me.
• She gasped at the sudden movement.
• Her beautiful eyes widened in shock, but as soon as they met mine, they filled with fear and humiliation.
• The pain in her body, mixed with the forced waves of pleasure, flushed her face bright red, and tears fell uncontrollably.
• "No..."
• Her lips moved, broken pleas spilling out.
• I leaned down, silencing every protest.
• With a deeper, harsher thrust, a new day began.