KORRIN POV
My wolf won't shut up.
MATE. MATE. FIND MATE.
I slam my fist into my bedroom wall for the third time tonight, leaving another dent in the expensive plaster. "She's NOT our mate," I growl out loud. "She's wolfless. Defective. WEAK."
MATE, my wolf insists. OURS. PROTECT.
I haven't slept in six hours. Not since I walked into her room and smelled that scent—moonlight and winter flowers and something wild I can't name. My wolf went insane. Still is insane.
But she doesn't have a wolf. I checked her records myself. Wolfless since birth. That means she CAN'T be my mate. The mate bond requires two wolves recognizing each other.
So why is mine losing his mind?
I give up on sleep and head downstairs at five in the morning. The house is dark and quiet. Good. I need to hit the gym, work off this rage before I do something stupid.
But when I pass the kitchen, I smell her again.
That scent is stronger here. Fresh. She's nearby.
My feet move before I can stop them, and suddenly I'm standing in the kitchen doorway.
And there she is.
Seren. The gold-digger's daughter. The wolfless intruder.
She's at the stove, cooking something. Her silver-white hair is messy, pulled back in a ponytail. She's wearing old pajamas that are too big for her, and she's so focused on whatever she's making that she doesn't hear me.
She's also covered in bruises.
I can see them now in the bright kitchen light. A purple mark on her cheek. Fingerprints on her arm. The way she moves carefully, like her ribs hurt.
My wolf snarls. WHO HURT MATE? KILL THEM.
She's not our mate, I tell him firmly. But my hands are clenching into fists anyway.
She turns and sees me. Gasps. Drops the spatula.
"I'm sorry!" she says immediately, like she's done something wrong. "I didn't mean to wake anyone. I just... I couldn't sleep, and I thought I'd make breakfast, and—"
"We have staff for that," I say coldly.
She flinches. "I know. I'm sorry. I'll clean up and—"
"Why are you really here?" The question comes out harsher than I meant. "Your mother sees dollar signs. What do YOU want?"
Her amber eyes go wide. "I don't want anything. I didn't even know Mom was getting married until yesterday. I just..." She looks down. "I'm just trying not to make trouble."
Liar. Everyone wants something.
But my wolf is whispering: SAD. MATE IS SAD. COMFORT HER.
I shake my head, trying to clear it. This is insane. She's making my wolf act crazy, and I need it to stop.
She picks up the spatula and goes back to cooking. "I made coffee," she says quietly. "If you want some."
I should leave. Walk away. Ignore her like Daxion said.
Instead, I watch her pour coffee into a mug with shaking hands. She walks toward me, holding it out like an offering.
"Here," she whispers. "I... I'm sorry for existing. I know you don't want me here."
Something about those words—sorry for existing—makes my chest hurt.
My wolf is going crazy now. TAKE THE COFFEE. TALK TO HER. PROTECT HER.
No. I need to stick to the plan. Freeze her out. Make her leave.
So when she hands me the mug, I knock it out of her hand.
It shatters on the floor. Coffee goes everywhere. She jumps back with a small cry.
"Don't pretend to be domestic," I snarl. "We have staff. You're just the gold-digger's baggage. You don't belong here, and you never will."
She stares at the broken mug. Then, without a word, she drops to her knees and starts picking up the pieces.
Her hands are shaking so badly she cuts herself on the sharp edge. Blood wells up on her palm.
The smell of her blood hits me like a truck.
My wolf ROARS. MATE HURT. MATE BLEEDING. PROTECT. HEAL. NOW.
I take a step toward her without meaning to.
She looks up at me, tears streaming down her face, and whispers, "I'm sorry."
She's apologizing. For bleeding. For existing.
And I'm the one who hurt her.
Guilt crashes through me like a wave. This isn't right. She didn't do anything wrong. She's just a scared girl who got dragged into this mess.
But I can't show weakness. Can't show that I care.
So I turn and walk away, leaving her there on the floor with blood dripping from her hand.
I make it to the gym before I lose control.
My fist slams into the concrete wall. Once. Twice. Three times. Skin splits. Knuckles crack. Blood splatters.
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?" I roar at the empty room.
My wolf is howling inside my chest. Clawing. Desperate to go back to her.
MATE. OUR MATE. WE HURT HER. FIX IT. GO BACK.
"She's NOT our mate!" I punch the wall again. "She doesn't have a wolf! It's IMPOSSIBLE!"
But even as I say it, I know something's wrong. My wolf has never acted like this. Never been this certain about anything.
What if he's right?
What if she IS my mate, and something's blocking it? Hiding it?
I pull out my phone and text Jove: "Need you to dig deeper on the girl. Something's not right."
His response comes immediately: "Already on it. Found something weird. Meet me in my office. Now."
I run through the mansion, my bloody knuckles leaving marks on the walls.
Jove is at his computer when I burst in. His face is pale.
"What did you find?" I demand.
He turns the screen toward me. "Her medical records. Look at this blood test from when she was born."
I scan the document. Most of it is normal. But at the bottom, there's a note in red:
GENETIC ANOMALY DETECTED. RECOMMENDATION: FURTHER TESTING REQUIRED. STATUS: INCOMPLETE.
"What does that mean?" I ask.
Jove looks at me with serious eyes. "It means they never finished testing her. They classified her as wolfless and stopped looking." He pulls up another screen. "But I ran her DNA through the ancient bloodline database. The one with all the old legends."
"And?"
"She's a match." His voice is shaking. "Ninety-eight percent match to the Lunar Omega bloodline."
The room spins.
"That's impossible," I whisper. "Lunar Omegas are myths."
"Are they?" Jove asks. "Because her DNA says otherwise. She's not wolfless, Korrin. Her wolf is SEALED. Hidden by ancient magic to protect her until—"
"Until what?"
He looks at me. Really looks at me.
"Until her true mates find her."
My wolf howls in triumph.
TOLD YOU. MATE. OURS. ALWAYS OURS.
I stumble backward. "Does Daxion know?"
"Not yet. I just found out. But Korrin..." Jove stands up. "If she's really a Lunar Omega, and her wolf wakes up..."
"What?"
"She'll be the most powerful wolf in the country. Maybe the world." He pulls up an old drawing—a massive silver wolf surrounded by five smaller wolves. "And according to legend, Lunar Omegas always bond with multiple Alphas. Usually five."
Five.
Like the five Voss brothers.
I grab Jove's shirt. "We told her she wasn't family. We made her feel like NOTHING."
"I know."
"We hurt her."
"I know."
"And if her wolf wakes up and remembers—"
A scream echoes through the mansion.
A girl's scream.
Seren's scream.
We run.