Chapter 1 The Last Day
The plate crashed to the floor, breaking into a million pieces just like my heart was about to.
"Look what you did now, clumsy girl!" Cook Martha yelled, her face red with anger. "That's the third plate this week! Alpha Damon will have your head if he finds out!"
My hands shook as I bent down to pick up the sharp pieces. Blood dripped from my finger where the broken plate had cut me, but I didn't care about the pain. Tomorrow was my eighteenth birthday, and I was scared out of my mind.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, not looking up. "I'll pay for it."
"With what money?" Martha laughed meanly. "You're just a kitchen omega with no family and no future. The only reason you're still here is because Elder Marcus feels sorry for you."
I bit my lip to stop from crying. Martha was right about everything except one thing - I did have a future. Tomorrow, when I turned eighteen, my wolf would finally wake up inside me. I would be able to smell my true mate, and maybe, just maybe, my life would finally get better.
"Clean this mess up and finish the dinner dishes," Martha ordered. "And try not to break anything else!"
As I cleaned up the broken pieces, I could hear the dinner crowd in the main hall laughing and talking. The sound made my chest ache with loneliness. I'd lived in the Sterling Pack house for three years, ever since my parents died in a car crash, but I still felt like a stranger.
Through the kitchen doorway, I could see into the dining hall where all the important pack members ate their fancy meals. Beta James was telling jokes that made everyone laugh. Luna Victoria was showing off her new diamond chain. And at the head table, sitting like a king on his chair, was Alpha Damon Sterling.
Even from far away, Alpha Damon made my stomach flip with butterflies. He was the strongest, most powerful Alpha in five regions. He was also the most beautiful man I'd ever seen, with silver eyes that could freeze you in place and dark hair that always looked perfect. But the most amazing thing about Alpha Damon was that he never, ever kept the same woman for more than one night.
"He's too good for commitment," the older omega women would whisper while we did laundry. "An Alpha like that will never settle down with just one woman."
"Good thing too," Martha always added. "Can you imagine having to compete with every pretty girl who catches his eye?"
But I did imagine it. Late at night, when I was washing dishes or folding clothes, I would think about Alpha Damon noticing me. Not in a creepy way, but in a fairy tale way. I would imagine him looking across the room and realizing that quiet little Luna was actually special. I would picture him asking me to dance at the monthly pack parties, or bringing me flowers, or telling me I was beautiful.
Stupid dreams, I knew. Alpha Damon had dated models and doctors and other Alphas' daughters. He would never look twice at a nobody like me.
I finished cleaning the kitchen and was about to go to my tiny room when I heard voices coming from Alpha Damon's private office. The door was cracked open just enough for me to hear Elder Marcus talking.
"You need to find your mate soon, Damon," Elder Marcus was saying. "The pack is getting restless. They want to know their Alpha has a future, has security."
"I don't need a mate," Alpha Damon replied, his words cold as ice. "Mates make you weak. Love makes you stupid. I've seen what happens to Alphas who care too much about one person - they stop thinking about their pack."
"Your father found his mate and was still a great Alpha," Elder Marcus contended.
"My father died protecting my mother," Damon snapped. "If he hadn't cared so much about her, he might have made better choices in that fight."
My heart sank as I listened. Alpha Damon didn't just avoid attachment - he hated the whole idea of having a mate. Even if I was his intended partner, he would probably reject me.
"Besides," Damon added, "I haven't met anyone who interests me for more than a few hours. Maybe I'm just not meant to have a mate."
I backed away from the door, my cheeks burning with shame for listening to private talk. As I turned to leave, my arm knocked into a small table, sending a vase wobbling.
I lunged forward to catch it, but my foot slipped on the newly mopped floor. I went down hard, and the vase flew through the air, crashing loudly against the wall right outside Alpha Damon's office.
The talking inside stopped instantly.
"What was that?" Elder Marcus asked.
Heavy footsteps moved toward the door, and I scrambled to get up, but my ankle turned wrong and pain shot through my leg. I was still on the floor, surrounded by broken vase bits, when the office door swung open.
Alpha Damon stepped out, and his silver eyes found me instantly. For a second, we just stared at each other - me on the floor like an idiot, him looking down at me with surprise.
"Luna?" he said, and something weird happened. His voice got softer when he said my name, like he was tasting it. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine," I said quickly, trying to stand up. But my ankle wouldn't hold my weight, and I stumbled again.
Before I could fall, Alpha Damon moved faster than anyone should be able to move. His strong arms caught me, pulling me against his chest. And that's when it happened.
His smell hit me like a truck.
Pine trees and winter rain and something wild that made my inside burn with want. But it was more than just smell - it was like every cell in my body suddenly woke up and started screaming "YES!" at the same time.
Alpha Damon went completely still. His arms tightened around me, and I heard him take a deep breath near my neck.
"Impossible," he whispered, but his voice sounded choked.
Elder Marcus emerged in the doorway behind us. When he saw Alpha Damon holding me, his old face went white as paper.
"Damon," Elder Marcus said slowly, "put the girl down. Now."
But Alpha Damon didn't let go. His silver eyes stared into mine like he was seeing me for the first time. Like he was seeing something that scared him.
"Your scent," he said quietly, just for me to hear. "It's different. How is it different?"
My heart pounded so hard I thought it might burst. The mate bond. It had to be the mate link. Alpha Damon was my intended partner, and tomorrow when I turned eighteen, he would know for sure.
"Damon!" Elder Marcus said more sharply. "Release her immediately!"
Alpha Damon blinked, and his face went back to being cold and detached. He set me down carefully, but his hands stayed on my arms for just a second longer than necessary.
"Clean up this mess," he ordered, but his voice was weird, like he was pushing himself to sound mean.
"Yes, Alpha," I whispered.
As I bent down to pick up the broken vase parts, I could feel him watching me. When I looked up, he was still staring, and the expression on his face made my stomach flip in a totally different way.
He looked hungry. And scared. And angry all at once.
Elder Marcus grabbed Alpha Damon's arm and pulled him back into the office, locking the door firmly behind them. But even through the thick wood, I could hear their voices getting louder.
"That girl is trouble," Elder Marcus was saying.
"She's nobody," Alpha Damon answered, but he didn't sound sure.
"She's turning eighteen tomorrow," Elder Marcus said quietly. "And if what I think is happening is really happening..."
"Nothing is happening," Alpha Damon cut him off. "Nothing can happen."
I pressed my ear closer to the door, my heart racing. What did Elder Marcus think was happening? Why did Alpha Damon sound so upset? "The prophecy, Damon," Elder Marcus whispered. "The Oracle's words about the girl who would change everything. What if it's her?"
"There is no prophecy!" Alpha Damon roared. "And even if there was, I won't let some teenage omega destroy everything I've built!"
Footsteps moved toward the door, and I jumped back, pretending to clean up vase parts. But my hands were shaking so bad I could barely hold the broken glass.
A prophecy? About me? That was crazy. I was nobody special. I was just Luna, the orphan girl who worked in the kitchen and tried to stay unnoticed.
But as I walked back to my tiny room, I couldn't stop thinking about the way Alpha Damon had looked at me. Like I was precious and frightening at the same time.
I lay in my narrow bed, looking at the ceiling and counting down the hours until midnight. In less than six hours, I would finally be an adult werewolf. My wolf would wake up, my senses would get better, and I would be able to smell my true mate.
What if Elder Marcus was right? What if the forecast was real? What if Alpha Damon Sterling, the man who never stayed with anyone twice, was actually my chosen partner?
The thought made me excited and scared in equal amounts. If Damon was my mate, would he want me? Or would he reject me like he'd rejected every other woman who'd ever tried to get close to him?
I rolled over and tried to sleep, but my mind kept running. Outside my window, I could hear footsteps walking back and forth in the courtyard. Heavy, restless footsteps that sounded like someone who couldn't sleep either.
Just before I finally drifted off, I heard something that made my blood run cold.
A long, lonely howl rang through the night. It was full of pain and want and uncertainty. And even though I'd never heard Alpha Damon's wolf voice before, somehow I knew that sad sound was coming from him.
The clock on my nightstand clicked over to midnight.
My eighteenth birthday had officially started.
And somewhere in the darkness, I heard footsteps moving toward my house.