CHAPTER 1
THEY DRAGGED THE LOWEST OMEGA ONTO THE STAGE TO HUMILIATE HER — BUT WHEN SHE OPENED HER MOUTH, THE ENTIRE ALPHA COURT WENT SILENT
The laughter started before Lyra Vale even reached the stage.
It rolled through the Great Hall like thunder.
Hundreds of wolves had gathered beneath enormous crystal chandeliers for the annual Moon Feast of Silverpine Pack. Golden banners hung from the walls. Musicians played beside the enormous fireplace. Tables overflowed with roasted meat, wine, berries, and pastries.
And in the middle of it all stood Lyra.
The weakest Omega in the pack.
The girl nobody wanted.
Her plain gray dress was torn at the sleeve. Her dark hair had come loose from its braid. A red mark burned across her wrist where one of the guards had grabbed her.
She kept her eyes lowered.
Not because she was ashamed.
Because she had learned that looking at powerful people made them think she was challenging them.
“Get her onto the stage!”
Someone shouted it.
More laughter followed.
Lyra’s heart hammered.
“No,” she whispered.
The guard behind her shoved her forward.
“Move.”
“I haven’t done anything.”
“That is exactly why this will be entertaining.”
The crowd roared.
At the center table sat Alpha Kael Arden, ruler of Silverpine.
He was everything Lyra wasn’t.
Tall.
Powerful.
Respected.
His black hair fell over his forehead, and his golden eyes remained cold as he watched the humiliation unfold.
Beside him sat his chosen mate, Selene.
Beautiful.
Elegant.
Cruel.
Selene leaned toward Kael and whispered something.
He smiled.
That smile hurt Lyra more than the guard’s grip.
Because three years earlier, Kael had been the boy she secretly loved.
Three years earlier, she had believed the Moon Goddess had chosen him for her.
Then, during the Mating Ceremony, Kael had looked directly into her frightened eyes and said:
“I reject you.”
Two words.
They had destroyed everything.
He had rejected her publicly because she was an Omega with no influential family, no strength, and no visible wolf power.
Since then, Lyra had become the servant everyone ordered around.
She cleaned the kitchens.
Carried firewood.
Washed clothes.
Slept in a tiny room beneath the eastern stairs.
And every day, she told herself she didn’t care.
Tonight proved she still did.
The guard pushed her onto the stage.
She stumbled.
The musicians stopped.
Silence fell.
Kael leaned back in his chair.
“Why is she here?”
Selene smiled.
“Because I thought the feast needed entertainment.”
Laughter erupted again.
Lyra swallowed.
“You wanted me to sing?”
Selene nodded.
“Yes.”
“I don’t know any songs.”
“Oh, please.”
Selene stood.
“Everyone knows you sing when you’re alone in the kitchens.”
Lyra froze.
Someone had heard her.
For years, she had secretly sung while working.
She sang because it was the only thing that made the loneliness disappear.
She sang for herself.
Never for an audience.
Selene pointed toward the musicians.
“Sing.”
Lyra looked at Kael.
He didn’t stop them.
“Please,” she whispered.
Selene laughed.
“What was that?”
“I don’t want to.”
A glass shattered.
Selene’s smile vanished.
“You’re an Omega.”
Her voice became icy.
“When an Alpha gives you an order, you obey.”
The hall went quiet.
Lyra’s hands trembled.
She stepped toward the microphone.
Then the lights dimmed.
A single silver beam fell across her.
For one terrible moment, Lyra thought about running.
Then she remembered her mother’s last words.
Never let them convince you that your voice doesn’t matter.
Her mother had disappeared when Lyra was seven.
Everyone said she had abandoned her.
But Lyra had never believed it.
She took one breath.
And sang.
The first note was barely above a whisper.
But it wasn’t weak.
It was haunting.
Beautiful.
The kind of sound that seemed to come from somewhere older than the castle itself.
The hall went silent.
Lyra continued.
Her voice grew warmer.
Stronger.
The melody was unlike anything the musicians knew.
People stopped eating.
Stopped talking.
Stopped laughing.
Even Selene’s smile disappeared.
Kael slowly stood.
His golden eyes widened.
Because he recognized the melody.
His grandmother had once sung it to him when he was a child.
A forbidden Moon Song.
A song no living Omega should have known.
Lyra reached the final verse.
The silver chandeliers began to tremble.
A strange wind moved through the hall.
And then something impossible happened.
The wolves started reacting.
One by one, Alphas rose from their chairs.
Their eyes changed.
Their wolves were awakening.
Kael grabbed the edge of the table.
“What is happening?”
The oldest wolf in the hall began to howl.
Then another.
Then another.
Within seconds, hundreds of wolves were howling in response to Lyra’s voice.
She stopped singing.
Silence.
Then the Great Hall doors exploded inward.
An ancient wolf entered.
White as winter.
Its eyes silver.
Every Alpha in the room immediately dropped to one knee.
Lyra stared at the creature.
She knew that wolf.
She had seen him once before.
In her dreams.
The ancient wolf slowly walked toward her.
Kael stepped forward.
“Lyra, don’t move.”
But the wolf ignored him.
It stopped before her.
Then lowered its enormous head.
And bowed.
The hall erupted into whispers.
“The First Wolf…”
“No…”
“That’s impossible.”
Lyra’s heart pounded.
The ancient creature lifted its head.
And when it spoke, its voice sounded like thunder beneath the earth.
“The last Moon Singer has returned.”
Lyra’s face went white.
Kael turned toward her.
“What did you just say?”
The wolf looked directly at him.
Then back at Lyra.
“She is not an Omega.”
The ancient wolf’s silver eyes burned.
“She is the daughter of the Moon Queen.”
And then every candle in the Great Hall went out.
The girl they had dragged onto the stage to laugh at had just been revealed as the heir to the bloodline every Alpha had been taught to fear.
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