SEREN POV
I wake up in my bed with no memory of how I got here.
The last thing I remember is pain. Silver light. Five voices shouting my name. Then nothing.
I sit up slowly. My body feels... different. Stronger. Like something inside me clicked into place.
And there are marks on my skin.
Five of them. Glowing faintly silver in the dim light of my room.
One on my shoulder. One on my wrist. One on my neck. One on my ankle. One over my heart.
I touch the one on my shoulder and gasp. Heat rushes through me, and I FEEL something—no, someONE—on the other end of it.
Daxion.
I don't know how I know. I just do. This mark connects me to him somehow.
I touch the others and feel them too. Korrin. Thayer. Jove. Lysander.
"What did they DO to me?" I whisper.
My door opens. I grab my blanket and cover the marks.
But it's just Vesper. She looks worried and relieved at the same time.
"You're awake! Thank god!" She rushes over. "Seren, what happened? The school's going CRAZY. Elowen got expelled. Her family lost millions in business deals. And the Voss brothers—" She stops. "Are you okay? You look different."
"I'm fine," I lie. "What are you doing here?"
"Lysander called me. Said you had a medical emergency and asked me to sit with you." She sits on my bed. "He was really worried. They all were."
"They were?" My voice comes out small.
"Seren, what's going on? Yesterday they hated you. Today they're defending you like you're—" Her eyes go wide. "Oh my god. Did they claim you as their mate?"
"What? No! I don't even have a wolf, remember?"
Vesper grabs my hand. "Then what are THESE?"
I look down. The mark on my wrist is glowing brighter.
"I don't know," I admit. "I passed out and woke up with them."
"Those are mate marks, Seren." Vesper's voice is shaking. "Five of them. From five different Alphas." She meets my eyes. "You're bonded to all of them."
The room spins. "That's impossible."
"Is it? Because your skin is literally GLOWING right now."
I pull my hand away and cover the mark. "This can't be real. I'm nobody. I'm wolfless. I'm—"
A howl echoes in my mind. Deep and powerful and MINE.
NOT WOLFLESS, a voice says inside my head. NEVER WOLFLESS. JUST SLEEPING. BUT AWAKE NOW. FINALLY AWAKE.
I fall off the bed.
"Seren!" Vesper catches me. "What's wrong?"
"There's a voice," I gasp. "In my head. Talking to me."
Vesper's eyes light up. "That's your WOLF! Oh my god, Seren, your wolf is awake!"
But I don't have a wolf. I've never had a wolf. The doctors tested me. They said I was defective.
NOT DEFECTIVE, my wolf says. PROTECTED. SEALED. WAITING FOR MATES TO FREE US.
"Mates," I whisper. "The brothers. They did this."
Vesper hugs me. "This is amazing! Do you know what this means?"
"That my life just got a thousand times more complicated?"
She laughs. "Well, yes. But also that you're not alone anymore."
Not alone. The words should comfort me. Instead, they terrify me.
Because I've always been alone. I know how to survive alone. I don't know how to let people in.
Especially people who hated me yesterday.
"I need to think," I tell Vesper. "Can you... can you give me some space?"
She looks worried but nods. "Okay. But call me if you need anything. Promise?"
"Promise."
After she leaves, I sit on my bed and stare at the marks.
Mates. I have MATES. Five of them.
The same five who told me I wasn't family. Who made me feel like garbage. Who—
PROTECTED US TODAY, my wolf reminds me. DEFENDED US. CLAIMED US.
"Why?" I ask out loud. "Why now? What changed?"
My wolf doesn't answer. But I feel her certainty. Her absolute trust in the five Alphas connected to us.
I don't share that trust.
I hide in my room for the rest of the day. Skip all my classes. Ignore the texts from Vesper asking if I'm okay.
At dinner time, I hear voices downstairs. The brothers. Arguing.
I creep to my door and press my ear against it.
"Why did we do that?" It's Thayer's voice. "We marked her without explaining anything!"
"She was dying!" That's Jove. "The power surge would have killed her!"
"But now she's bonded to us," Lysander says quietly. "Whether she wants to be or not."
"She'll hate us," Korrin growls. "We forced this on her."
"We saved her LIFE," Daxion argues. "When she understands what she is—"
"IF she understands," Thayer interrupts. "Right now, she probably thinks we're psychos who marked her while she was unconscious."
Silence.
Then Daxion: "We'll explain everything tomorrow. For now, let her rest."
Footsteps. They're leaving.
I slide down the door and sit on the floor.
They're right. I do think they're psychos. How could I not?
My stomach growls. I haven't eaten since breakfast. But there's no way I'm going downstairs.
Hours pass. I do homework, trying to distract myself. It doesn't work. The marks on my skin keep glowing, pulsing like a heartbeat.
Around midnight, I hear something outside my door.
I freeze. Listen.
Footsteps. Someone's out there.
Then silence.
I wait five minutes before opening the door.
There's a plate on the floor. Covered with a cloth napkin.
I pick it up. Under the napkin is my favorite meal—grilled chicken, rice, vegetables. Still warm. And a note written in neat handwriting:
"You need to eat. Please take care of yourself. - L"
Lysander.
I stare at the note until my vision blurs.
It's such a small thing. Just food. Just a few words.
But it breaks something inside me.
Because cruelty I can handle. I've survived nineteen years of it. I know how to build walls against hate.
But kindness? Kindness destroys me.
I sit on the floor in the hallway with the plate in my lap and cry.
I cry for the girl who never had anyone care if she ate. For the girl who learned to expect pain instead of comfort. For the girl who doesn't know how to accept love because she's never had it.
The food tastes like salt from my tears, but I eat every bite.
Because someone cared enough to bring it to me. And that means something.
Even if I don't understand what.
I'm putting the empty plate outside my door when I feel it.
A pull. Through the mark on my heart.
Someone's coming.
I turn just as my door opens from the inside—wait, I didn't lock it?
Daxion stands in my doorway. His silver eyes are glowing in the darkness.
"We need to talk," he says.
"How did you get in my room?" I demand.
"The marks," he says simply. "They connect us. I can feel when you're upset. When you're hungry. When you're crying." His eyes soften. "I felt all of it tonight."
My face burns. "That's... that's a violation of privacy!"
"I know. And I'm sorry." He steps into my room. "But you need to understand what's happening to you. What you ARE."
"I'm nobody," I whisper. "Just a wolfless girl who—"
"You're a Lunar Omega." His voice is firm. "The rarest, most powerful wolf in existence. Your wolf was sealed at birth to protect you until you found your mates." He gestures to the marks on my skin. "Us. We're your mates, Seren. All five of us."
I shake my head. "This is insane."
"I know it sounds insane. But it's true." He pulls out his phone and shows me documents—DNA tests, ancient texts, bloodline records. "You're descended from the most powerful Omega bloodline in history. And now your wolf is awake."
I stare at the evidence. It's all there. Proof that I'm not defective. That I'm... special.
"Why didn't anyone tell me?" My voice cracks. "Why did they let me believe I was broken?"
"Because someone HID it," Daxion says, his voice hard. "Someone sealed your wolf and buried the records. We don't know who or why yet. But we're going to find out."
My legs give out. I sit on my bed, overwhelmed.
"This is too much," I whisper. "I can't—"
"You don't have to do this alone," Daxion says gently. He kneels in front of me. "We're your mates. That means we protect you, support you, fight for you. Always."
"But you HATED me," I say. "Two days ago, you told me I wasn't family."
Pain flashes across his face. "I know. And I will regret those words for the rest of my life." He takes my hand carefully. "But I didn't know then what I know now. That you're the most important person in our world. That losing you would destroy us."
I want to believe him. I want to trust this.
But I've been hurt too many times.
I pull my hand away. "I need time. To think. To process all of this."
He nods slowly. "Take all the time you need. But Seren?" He stands. "We're not going anywhere. You're stuck with us now."
He leaves, closing the door softly behind him.
I sit in the darkness, touching the marks on my skin.
A Lunar Omega. Mates. A wolf that's finally awake.
Everything I thought I knew about myself is a lie.
And the five brothers who hated me are now claiming they'll protect me forever.
My wolf purrs contentedly. SAFE NOW. HAVE MATES. HAVE PACK. HAVE HOME.
But I don't feel safe.
I feel terrified.
Because the last time I let myself hope...
I ended up broken.
My phone buzzes. Text from unknown number:
"Congratulations on your awakening, little Omega. But don't celebrate yet. There's a reason your wolf was sealed. And when the truth comes out... your precious mates won't want you anymore. See you soon. - A Friend"
The phone slips from my shaking hands.
Someone knows. Someone's been watching.
And they're coming for me.