I clutched the stack of clean towels against my chest, hurrying down the hallway toward the training grounds. My hands were raw and red from hours of scrubbing, my knees ached from cleaning floors, and my back screamed in protest from hauling heavy laundry baskets.
One week. That's all it had taken for my life to fall apart completely.
One week since the Mate Hunt where Julian found his destined partner.
One week since Alpha Maxen—the man who'd raised me since I was twelve—discovered I wasn't his biological daughter and cast me out of his home.
One week of adjusting to life as an omega—the lowest rank in pack hierarchy.
I kept my eyes down as I passed a group of she-wolves in the corridor. They snickered, one of them deliberately bumping my shoulder hard enough to send me stumbling. The towels tumbled from my arms, landing in an untidy heap on the floor.
"Oops," one of them said with mock concern. "Did the little human fall down?"
I bit my tongue and bent to gather the towels, ignoring the burning in my eyes. Crying would only make it worse. I'd learned that lesson quickly.
"Need help, Hazel?" another voice called, sickeningly sweet.
My blood ran cold. I knew that voice.
Selena Vance. Julian's fated mate.
I straightened slowly, clutching the towels like a shield against my chest. There she stood in all her glory—tall, willowy, with flowing black hair and piercing blue eyes. Perfection in human form, though she was anything but human.
Three other girls flanked her, all from her father's pack. The alliance between their pack and Blue Mountain had been cemented through Selena and Julian's mating—a political victory as much as a romantic one.
"I'm fine," I managed, my voice barely above a whisper. "Just delivering these to the training grounds."
Selena's perfect lips curved into a smile that never reached her eyes. "We need to talk, Hazel." She glanced at the towels in my arms. "Put those down. They can wait."
It wasn't a request. In my new position, I had no right to refuse.
I placed the towels on a nearby bench, my stomach knotting with dread.
Selena stepped closer, her expensive perfume suffocating me. "You look awful," she observed, her eyes traveling over my worn sweatpants and faded t-shirt—hand-me-downs from the pack's charity bin. "Though I suppose that's fitting now."
Her friends tittered behind her.
"Did you need something?" I asked, fighting to keep my voice steady.
"So impatient," Selena chided, circling me slowly. "I just wanted to check on the pack's newest omega. How are you adjusting to your rightful place?"
Each word was a carefully placed barb, designed to wound.
"I'm managing," I replied, staring straight ahead.
"Are you?" Selena stopped in front of me, tilting her head. "Because from what I hear, you're still causing problems."
My brow furrowed. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't play dumb," she snapped, her facade cracking for a moment. "You were seen watching Julian during pack training yesterday. Staring at my mate like you still had some claim to him."
I hadn't been watching Julian—I'd been delivering water to the training grounds. But denial would only make things worse.
"It won't happen again," I said quietly.
"You're right about that." Selena's voice hardened. "Because I'm setting some rules, and you're going to follow them." She held up one perfectly manicured finger. "First, you will never look directly at Julian again. Your eyes stay on the ground when he's present."
I swallowed hard, nodding.
"Second," she continued, "you will not speak to him. Not a word. Not a greeting. Nothing."
Her friends moved to surround me, forming a tight circle that left me no escape.
"Third, if he addresses you—which he won't, because why would he?—you will respond only with 'Yes, Alpha' or 'No, Alpha' and then remove yourself from his presence immediately."
Each rule twisted the knife deeper. Julian and I had grown up together, shared secrets, dreams, first kisses. Now I wasn't allowed to look at him.
"Fourth," Selena's voice dropped lower, "you will stop telling everyone your sob story about how he supposedly loved you."
My head snapped up at that. "What?"
Selena's smile was venomous. "Oh, don't act surprised. Julian told me everything—how you clung to him, how you misinterpreted basic kindness as something more." She leaned closer. "He felt sorry for you, Hazel. The pathetic little human who lost her parents and needed someone to make her feel special."
The words hit like physical blows. "That's not true," I whispered, my voice cracking. "We were together for years. He loved me."
Selena laughed, the sound like breaking glass. "Is that what you told yourself? How sad." She reached out, twisting a strand of my hair around her finger. "Julian was very clear about what you were to him—a convenient distraction. A toy to pass the time until he found me."
I pulled away from her touch, trembling with anger and hurt. "You're lying."
"Am I?" Her blue eyes glittered with malice. "Then why did he cast you aside so easily? Why hasn't he spoken a word in your defense since you were demoted? Why does he smile every time I mention how happy we'll be once you're gone from this pack entirely?"
Each question was a blade between my ribs. Because she was right—Julian had abandoned me completely. Hadn't even looked my way since that night in the forest.
"You're nothing, Hazel," Selena continued, her voice softening with false sympathy. "A human among wolves. Alpha Maxen's fake daughter. Julian's charity project." She stepped back, brushing imaginary dust from her designer jeans. "And now, you're where you've always belonged—on your knees, serving your betters."
Her friends laughed, the sound echoing in the empty corridor.
"Now, for my final rule," Selena's expression hardened. "Stay away from the pack house. Alpha Maxen may allow you to live in the omega quarters, but you are not to step foot in the main house unless specifically ordered to clean it. Understood?"
The pack house had been my home for six years. Now I was forbidden from even entering it.
"Understood," I whispered, defeat washing over me.
"Good girl," Selena patted my cheek condescendingly. "Oh, and if you break any of these rules..." Her smile turned cruel. "Well, let's just say that omegas who don't learn their place tend to have unfortunate accidents."
The threat hung in the air between us, clear and unmistakable.
"Do we understand each other?" she asked, her tone light but her eyes hard as stone.
I nodded, not trusting my voice.
"Say it," she insisted. "I want to hear you acknowledge your place."
Pride was a luxury I could no longer afford. "I understand," I forced out. "I'll follow your rules."
"Perfect." Selena's smile was triumphant. "Come along, girls. We have better things to do than waste time on humans."
She turned on her heel, her friends falling into step behind her. As they walked away, I heard one of them ask, "Was she really raised as Alpha's daughter? How embarrassing for him."
"A mistake he's corrected now," Selena replied, loud enough for me to hear. "Just like Julian corrected his mistake with her."
Their laughter faded as they turned the corner, leaving me alone in the corridor.
The silence that followed pressed against my ears like a physical weight. My legs trembled, no longer able to support me. I slid down the wall until I was sitting on the cold floor, my arms wrapped around my knees.
Was Selena telling the truth? Had Julian really seen me as nothing but a distraction? A charity case?
Memories flooded back—Julian's smile as he'd pulled me close. His whispered promises under starlight. The way he'd held me, like I was something precious.
Had it all been a lie?
The tears I'd been holding back finally spilled over, hot tracks on my cheeks. I'd lost everything in a single week—my home, my status, my family, and now even my memories were being poisoned.
"Stop crying," I whispered to myself, wiping furiously at my tears. "Stop being weak."
But the tears wouldn't stop. They came faster now, accompanied by shallow, gasping breaths. My chest felt tight, like a band was squeezing it.
The concrete floor was hard beneath me, but I couldn't find the strength to move. I sat there, forgotten laundry beside me, as sobs racked my body.
No one came to check on me. No one asked if I was okay.
Because I wasn't a person anymore. Not to the pack. I was an omega—less than furniture, barely more than a ghost.
And ghosts weren't allowed to have feelings.
I pressed my palms against my eyes, trying to stem the flow of tears. What was I going to do? I couldn't live like this—treated worse than an animal, threatened and degraded at every turn.
But where could I go? I had no money, no family outside the pack. The human world seemed as foreign to me now as this wolf one had when I'd first arrived.
I was trapped.
A door opened somewhere down the hall, the sound of voices drifting toward me. I scrambled to my feet, hastily wiping away my tears. Being caught crying would only invite more cruelty.
I gathered the fallen towels again, hugging them to my chest as I hurried away in the opposite direction. I needed to deliver these and then move on to my next task. Idleness was punished severely for omegas.
But Selena's words followed me, echoing in my mind with every step.
*You're nothing, Hazel.*
*A human among wolves.*
*Alpha Maxen's fake daughter.*
*Julian's charity project.*
Each one struck harder than the last, chipping away at what little remained of my self-worth.
By the time I reached the training grounds, my tears had dried, leaving my face stiff and my eyes burning. But inside, something was breaking—the last fragile threads of hope that had kept me going this past week.
I placed the towels in the designated area and turned to leave, keeping my eyes down as I'd been instructed.
A group of warriors entered the training area, Julian among them. My heart lurched painfully in my chest. Without thinking, I glanced up, catching his eye for a brief moment.
He looked away immediately, as if he couldn't bear the sight of me.
Selena's rules echoed in my head, along with her threats. I lowered my gaze quickly, but the damage was done. I'd looked at him, and now I'd face the consequences.
I slipped out of the training grounds, my feet moving faster with each step until I was nearly running. Fear propelled me forward—fear of Selena, of punishment, of what my life had become.
I didn't stop until I reached the omega quarters—a long, barracks-style building on the edge of pack territory. Inside, I found my bed—a thin mattress on a metal frame, tucked into a corner away from the others.
Even among omegas, I was an outsider. The human omega. The fallen princess.
I collapsed onto the mattress, curling into a tight ball as fresh tears threatened. I wouldn't cry again. I couldn't afford to show weakness.
But as I lay there, staring at the cracked ceiling, one thought crystallized in my mind with perfect clarity: I couldn't stay here. Somehow, some way, I had to escape this pack.
Before they broke more than just my heart.