Chapter 1 The Invisible Omega

• ​The cold water bit into Anna’s chapped hands as she scrubbed the marble floors of the Silver Moon pack house. Every muscle in her back screamed in protest, but she didn’t dare stop. In this house, silence was her only shield.
• ​"Faster, you useless mutt! The Alpha’s guests will be here in an hour!"
• ​A heavy designer heel slammed down onto Anna’s fingers. She gasped, the sharp pain shooting up her arm as she pulled her hand back just in time to avoid her bones snapping against the stone.
• ​Anna looked up to find her half-sister, Elena, looming over her. Elena was everything Anna was not: beautiful, powerful, and the "legitimate" daughter of the Silver Moon Alpha. She wore a dress that cost more than Anna’s life was worth in the eyes of this pack.
• ​"I’m trying, Elena," Anna whispered, her voice raspy. She hadn't been given water since yesterday's shift in the laundry room.
• ​"You’re an eyesore, Anna," Elena sneered, kicking over the bucket of dirty suds. The gray water splashed across Anna’s threadbare shirt and soaked into the expensive rug she had just finished cleaning.
• ​"Look at you. An Omega. A mistake. My father only keeps you around because he’s too 'kind' to throw an illegitimate stain like you to the rogues."
• ​Anna stared at the mess, her eyes burning with unshed tears. She was eighteen today. In any other pack, this was a day of celebration—the day a wolf found their fated mate and claimed their destiny.
• ​But for Anna, it felt like a funeral.
• ​"Don't worry," Elena laughed, the sound as sharp as glass. "After the Mating Ceremony tonight, Caine will finally announce our engagement. Once I’m Luna, I’ll make sure you’re finally out of my sight. Maybe I'll have you moved to the slave quarters in the northern mines."
• ​Anna’s heart stuttered at the mention of Caine.
• ​Alpha Caine. The man who ruled the Silver Moon Pack with an iron fist and a reputation for ruthlessness.
• ​He was cold, devastatingly handsome, and powerful enough to make other Alphas tremble with a single growl. He was also the only person Anna had ever secretly loved, a hopeless crush born of the few times he had looked at her without the usual disdain—or so she had imagined.
• ​"Caine wouldn't want a mate like you anyway," Elena continued, leaning down to whisper in Anna’s ear. "He wants a Queen. A woman with a wolf. Not a stray who can't even shift."
• ​It was the truth that cut deepest. Anna was wolfless. A freak of nature in a world of predators.
• ​Anna scrambled to her feet, keeping her head low as she retreated toward the kitchen. She needed to hide before the high-ranking members arrived. If she was caught in the main hall during the arrival of the Lycan delegates, the punishment would be severe.
• ​In the kitchen, the chaos was absolute. The scent of roasted venison and expensive wine hung heavy in the air, making Anna’s stomach cramp with hunger.
• ​"There you are, girl! Get this tray to the Alpha’s study. Now!" Greta, the pack’s head cook, shoved a heavy silver platter into Anna’s aching arms.
• ​"But Greta, Elena said—"
• ​"I don't care what that spoiled brat said! The Alpha wants his tea, and he wants it now!" Greta barked, turning back to a simmering pot.
• ​Anna gripped the edges of the tray, her fingers still throbbing from Elena’s heel. She navigated the back corridors, her heart hammering. The Alpha’s study was off-limits to Omegas, especially on a night as important as the Blood Moon Ceremony.
• ​As she approached the heavy oak doors, the air grew thick with a scent that made her knees weak.
• ​Cedarwood. Rain. And a primal, musky undertone that made her wolf-less soul shiver.
• ​She knocked, her hand trembling.
• ​"Enter," a voice rumbled. It was deep, velvety, and carried an authority that demanded absolute submission.
• ​Anna stepped inside, her eyes fixed on her worn-out boots. The study was dim, lit only by the glowing embers in the fireplace and the dying light of the sun hitting the mahogany bookshelves.
• ​Caine was standing by the window. His suit jacket was off, his white dress shirt straining against the massive breadth of his shoulders. He didn't turn around immediately, but Anna felt his gaze like a physical weight.
• ​"Leave it on the table," he commanded.
• ​As Anna moved to set the tray down, the scent hit her again, stronger this time. It wasn't just a smell; it was a pull. A magnetic force tugging at her very core, begging her to move closer, to touch the skin of the man standing just a few feet away.
• ​It was impossible. She was an Omega. Wolfless. A "mistake" of the Goddess. She wasn't supposed to feel the Mate Bond.
• ​"Is there something else?" Caine asked, turning slightly.
• ​His piercing blue eyes locked onto hers. For a split second, the world stopped. Anna saw a flash of something in his expression—confusion? Recognition? His pupils dilated until his eyes were almost entirely black, the sign of a wolf fighting for control.
• ​Anna’s breath hitched. Mate, her soul whispered, a word she had no right to say.
• ​Then, the door swung open.
• ​"Caine, darling! You haven't even finished dressing!" Elena swept in, her perfume clashing violently with the natural scent of the room. She glided past Anna as if she were a piece of furniture and draped herself over Caine’s arm.
• ​Caine’s expression shifted instantly. The warmth Anna thought she saw vanished, replaced by an icy mask of indifference. He looked at Anna’s red, chapped hands and her stained shirt, and his lip curled in a sneer.
• ​"Why is this thing still in here, Elena?" Caine’s voice was cold enough to freeze the blood in Anna’s veins. "She smells of common suds and failure. It’s offensive to have her in my presence today."
• ​Elena giggled, pressing closer to him. "I'm sorry, Alpha. She’s just a slow-witted girl. Anna, get out before I have the guards throw you in the silver cells for your insolence!"
• ​Anna bowed her head, her face burning. She didn't wait for a second command. She turned and ran, the sound of their soft conversation and Elena’s triumphant laughter echoing in her ears.
• ​Anna locked the door to the small, damp pantry under the stairs. It was her only sanctuary, filled with the scent of dust and old potatoes. She collapsed onto her thin cot, clutching her stomach as the first waves of the Blood Moon began to pull at her.
• ​Outside, the ceremonial drums began to beat—a rhythmic, haunting thud that signaled the gathering of the pack.
• ​Tonight, the moon would reach its zenith.
• ​Tonight, Caine would stand before the pack and the Goddess to claim his Luna.
• ​And tonight, Anna would have to watch the man who made her soul sing reject her existence entirely.
• ​"Please, Moon Goddess," she whispered into the dark, her voice breaking. "If I have no mate, if I have no wolf... then why did you give me a heart that can still break?"
• ​She didn't know that miles away, deep in the Forbidden Woods, a powerful presence was stirring. A presence older than the packs, driven by a bond that no Alpha’s rejection could ever break.
• ​The drums grew louder. The nightmare was about to begin.