“Your existence is an embarrassment to this family. Why exactly are you still alive?” Aurora’s foster mother spat, with enough venom to kill. Blood ran from Aurora’s broken lip, tainting the white tile beneath her bare feet. Before she could recover, another slap landed on her cheek. The pain that tore through her face felt like acid. It burned so much she wished she could pass out. This time she let out a cry, so hollow and shaky. You’d think that so many of this morning routine and her bones would get used to the beatings. Because if it wasn’t mother’s fist, it was her whips. Her lip was swollen and numb, and her knees on the ground wouldn’t stop trembling. Yet, this wasn’t the worst she’d been through. She was smart enough to know that it could always get worse. Still, she was drained. When would it end? She was tired of being abused and tormented just because she was born. She wasn’t the only omega or the only salve. But they all hated her. The whole pack treated h

As soon as Aurora was taken away, the party was over. There was no reason to celebrate anymore. Whispers of the moon goddess' forbidden choice rumbled through the pack. Never has a fated mating felt like a curse rather than a gift. Alpha Damon, on the other hand, thought nothing of it. While his rejected mate was dragged off in the dirt, he turned his back on her and strolled into the empty hall. And immediately, he dismissed her existence from his mind. He’d rather lose a limb than think of an omega as a problem. She was not worth his thoughts. He had a war to win. It didn’t matter that she was supposed to play a vast role in the way this war would go for him. He wasn’t going into battle with a slave by his side. She was no one. A few hours ago when she ran into him in the maze, he never sensed what she was. Rather, his wolf was distracted and had never been pacified by the acknowledgment of anyone’s existence as he was at that moment. He remembered her scent too. Belo