He really had gotten me a dress. I poke at the chiffon garment. It feels ten times more expensive than anything I’d ever had to wear before, the silver fabric silken to the touch. It’s simple but elegant, with a river of diamonds embedded among the lines where it’d fit my curves. I lift the necklace laid on top of the folded dress, sterling silver and studded with gold. This is too much. My eyes crinkle. And the last thing I really wanted to do was accept pretty things from the Alpha who’d ordered the destruction of my entire Pack. I wasn’t even going to dance with him, anyways. I was planning to find a nice, cozy spot and hide out until the entire event ended. Leaving the dress on top of the nightstand, I leave the Alpha’s chambers. It’s nearing noon now, and I shuffle down the corridors with my slippers, dodging any maids that are finishing up the final preparations before the official start of the Moon Festival tonight. I’m wondering if I should drop by the kitchen to s
BLAISE Twilight is descending over Shadow. I look outside the window, touching my gloved fingertips onto the frosted glass. The air is so cold that it bleeds through the walls and the floor. Tonight, the Blood Hour would take its place on the ice, when the Blood Moon rose to its fullest. But at least I’d be with my friend to get through it. “Blaise!” I turn. Noel pauses to a stop, his amber eyes wide as he looks at the dress that I’m wearing. “You look absolutely stunning, Blaise.” “Do I?” I say, my brows twisting a bit as I pull at the top part of the dress. It feels a little loose there, around my chest. It was the first time I’d ever revealed this much skin. I’d always just stuck to covering myself up as much as possible since I’d always been around young pups in Senna. Plus it kept me free from running up and down the mouths of male wolves, who shamelessly commented on my figure out of the blue. Multiple times, even when I was within hearing range. Did you see the Sing
“Hid in a good spot, hm?” My face is so hot that I almost can’t feel it. And I’m not dreaming up the gasps that echo all around me. The light of the lanterns flash before my eyes. “Almost missed you,” The Alpha whispers, the gold of his gaze bordering anger as he practically puppets me out to the center of the dance floor. The kohl staining the edges of his narrowed eyes make the shades even more vibrant. It twists and tears, underneath the unraveled locks of sable hair that come past his brow. “And you even made yourself look so damn gorgeous, Blaise.” The heat blazes hotter as he clasps a hand around my waist. I can hear the music playing in the background, but everything is more like a blur as the Alpha moves me. He leads through each step, both violent and tender. His lips are twisted up in that smile I’d seen him give at my Beta’s execution. “Good girl. Follow along.” Sweat beads on the side of my face. And I want to start complaining, about when this would come to an end
“Blaise?” I smile, putting a finger to my lips to hush him as he looks at me like I’m a dead person, coming back to life. In front of us, Omegas spill into the forests behind the Packhouse, desperate to find cover before the ten minutes of Preparation would tick out. It’s a flurry of paws and scattered snow. Noel recovers surprisingly quick. “Hurry,” He whispers, pulling at my wrist. “Transform to your wolf. We have to run.” “We don’t have a lot of time.” I nod. The bells continue to echo behind us as I shift midair, bare flesh changing to snow-white fur. Next to me, I see Noel shift into a wolf slightly larger than mine, the shade of warm chestnut. His amber eyes spark with intelligence. “Follow me.” I break into a run after him. The scarlet light of the Blood Moon above our heads is almost eerie, washing the snow crimson. And I’m so, so glad that I’m with him. I think anyone by themselves would be eaten by the terror first, even before the warrior wolves find them. We p
I scream. Noel is torn away from me within a second. Both of us are dragged out by the scruffs of our necks from the haven underground, where I’d thought we’d be so safe in. Now the cold is everywhere, and being unprepared, it hits even worse. The snow is still deeply blood-red. Two. They are both high-ranks, right underneath the status of Beta. “Blaise!” “Shut up,” A wolf growls, swatting a heavy paw. Noel’s jaw slams shut. And I feel my blood run cold as the silver wolf mercilessly sinks his fangs into his shoulders, dragging him away to the farther edge of the crimson clearing. Noel cries out. I see rivulets of scarlet between his chestnut fur. My eyes turn feral. I lunge, straight for the wolf at least thrice my size. Both my claws and fangs are bared. I want nothing more than to bury them into his throat and tear it out of his— “Where are you so set on going, girl?” A howl breaks from my jaw as something pulls me backward. My body is too weak to resist— metal wraps
I’m not gone for long. My eyes feel like they’ve been glued shut for a decade as I open them again, to the feeling of tender roughness against my fur. I’m still lying in the snow. My fur is wet with it, soaking with it. Above me, the Moon shines a bright silver. The Alpha is bent over me. His tongue runs over my wound. I hear him murmur. “You foolish Omega.” “Alpha,” I gasp out dizzily, wanting to ask him if Noel is okay. But my own tongue feels like ash in my mouth, and I hear him hush me. His body is a mass of warmth against the cold of the winter. “Sh. You’re in pain.” “No, no.” I murmur, scrabbling at him with the tips of my sopping paws. He slowly lifts his eyes, at my continued calls. His golden eyes finally settle on mine. And he must’ve read my mind, just from my panicked gaze. He sighs heavily. “The other Omega is safe. The Beta has him.” Beta…Ezra? But he’s safe. He’s okay. My head drops limply back onto the ground. And I see the Alpha through the slits
Hands around my neck. The fingertips squeeze, finding its way through to pressure the grooves of my throat. Whoever’s choking me is shrouded with shadow. The only thing that I see are two clouds of ash, streaked with dirt. Was that a smile, flickering in and out? I couldn’t tell. My own hands aren’t there when I call on them, to try and get this silhouette off of me. It’s like they are somewhere else, or not mine. Or simply glued to the ground, and I was nowhere near strong enough to move them a single inch. Then the fingertips suddenly turn to claws. The tips of them break flesh. Blood pours. My eyes fly open. Someone is holding my hands. And I’m on a bed, the back of my shirt firmly stuck to my skin with how much I’d sweat. My tongue sits like a ton of bricks in my mouth. It feels as if I haven’t spoken in the last decade. The Alpha holds me. His large hand is wrapped around both my wrists. His eyes are a steady stream of gold, brilliant yet haunting. He’s in bed r
IRA All the nails on my fingertips have been chewed up. That vixen piece of an Omega. I was now convinced that she’d known I was there. She’d intentionally worn those long dresses with loose, ugly sleeves, to play the good girl image to the Alpha. She’d intentionally spilled that fact about the new dress that he had given her, so I could be manipulated into helping her show off her assets. I scream into my pillow. Everyone. Everyone had been whispering about her today. The usual male wolves who always hung out around me, trying to get my attention and be the lucky one to take me to bed, hadn’t shown up at all. I’d even pulled the I-need-help trick with the heavy water bucket, and none of them had even bothered to come near. They’d just been talking among themselves, about that damned Omega. How she had one of the best figures that they had ever seen. How they would give anything to even talk to her once. “Goddammit!” Useless, woman-chasing dogs. Foolish idiots. I ha