Anna Matos O'Connor

Demetra. I am Demetra, the girl whose mother slept with every gamma, beta, and zeta…trying to climb her way up, only to crash-land at the very bottom and leave me here to clean up her mess in the Black Covenant Pack. As the lowest-ranking omega in the pack house, my glorious destiny is to personally serve one of three sons of Alpha Kael. Emris. Emris. Emris. Emris. My world is the four walls of his penthouse bedroom. I’m the ghost who takes his designer clothes to the laundry. I scrub his desk. I pick up the condoms after he’s done with whatever girl he drags home from the club. I’m the one who patches up the cuts and bruises from fights he doesn’t want his parents to know about, dabbing at his knuckles while he stares straight through me. I even cut his hair when it gets too long cause he hates when it brushes his shoulders. And when his famous temper explodes, shattering a lamp or hurling it against the wall, I’m the one on my knees, picking up the pieces. Always on my knees. Because Emris runs on a fuel of rage. However, the day I turned eighteen, a mate bond snapped between us during one of my cleaning routines. Me, a nobody, became mated to the first son of the Alpha. The one everyone whispers will inherit everything, because while all two of brothers are hybrids, Emris is the strongest…he is a Trybrid werewolf. Emris, who has never looked at me twice, suddenly couldn’t stand for me to be out of his sight. Yet, despite his new possessiveness. He warned me never to tell a soul that we were mates. Afterall, I’m an orphaned omega, a high-school dropout because the pack’s "charity" didn't cover an actual education. My father isn’t some politician or business mogul; he’s probably one of the countless faceless men my mother entertained. I am the pack’s pity project, the girl they “saved,” and my lifelong repayment has been to scrub their floors and make their beds. He was ashamed of me. The first time Emris ever truly looked at me was the day the mate bond snapped into place. I remember how his uncovered eye, stared down at me while the other was hidden under the usual black patch. The next time I saw him without that black patch, it revealed his serpent-lined colored eyes as he took my virginity in his bed. And I love him. Goddess, I love him with my entire soul, a stupid, desperate love that lives in the deepest, most secret part of my heart. I loved him when he made me his dirty secret. I loved him through his coldness and the countless ways he shattered my heart, only to gather the pieces and hand them back to him all over again. I am the one who watches him sleep. I am the one rocked him back to reality when he woke up from the nightmares of the two years he spent as a kid, locked in an enemy’s pack dungeon. He was broken, far from perfect, but he was everything to me. “Where you going?” His rough voice makes me stop buttoning my stupid house help uniform. I see my reflection in his floor-length mirror, my doll like white hair is all ruffled from where he fisted his hands in it, arching me against me just minutes ago. “It’s almost time for breakfast.” I look around his bedroom for my bra. “Shit.” Emris runs a hand down his face. I see the forgotten cup of water on his nightstand. The one I brought him last night before he pulled me into his bed and made me forget my own name. “This what you’re looking for?” I see my light blue bra dangling from his finger. I march over and reach for it, but he lifts his hand higher. “I’m already late. Give it.” I hold my palm out and try to sound firm. He pushes his dark hair back and sits up. The sheets pools around his naked waist. I can’t help the quick swallow in my throat as I take in the hard planes of his ab muscles or his calloused hands that held my waist so tightly I couldn’t escape a thrust. “Did I say you could leave yet?” Emris’ voice is deceptively soft. “Keep it, then.” I frown and walk out. I can’t do this with him today. I hear his low chuckle behind me. “I don’t like your saltiness. Or is it moodiness? I don’t like your jealousy, either. I have so much to do today, the last thing I want is that attitude from you.” I do my best not to turn around and look at him. He knows exactly why I’m upset. The whole pack knows. The Alpha of the Mud Claw Pack’s daughter, Elena. Emris’s ex-girlfriend has just moved into the pack house. Luna Derisha is already parading her around, calling her his future Luna. And I’m here. His actual, true mate. His dirty little secret. “Demetra?” His tone shifts. It’s becoming a warning. “Don’t let me have to call you a second time!” When I turn, he’s out of bed in a loose pair of pants, walking towards the balcony where I’m standing at. “You know why I’m upset.” Emris rips off his black eye patch and tosses it aside. He usually covers that eye because his wolf gets agitated, and when it does, he can’t control the change. His left eye burns with a ring of gold, the pupil a terrifying thin slit. It scares people. But then, everything about Emris is designed to be scary. I’m just the idiot who’s in love with him, so I see past it. “You’re acting like I slept with Elena this morning!” “Wow.” I let out a scoff that’s designed to hide the hot press of tears in my throat. “So, you want to sleep with her? You can’t wait to have your ex-girlfriend back in your bed?” “Stop it. Her father is an Alpha. My mom is just securing my claim to the Alpha seat. It’s not personal—” “We are mates!” I yell and I’ve never yelled at him before. “You’re an omega.” Emris says it like it’s a disease. “That’s weak for a Trybrid like me. That’s a liability for the Alpha I’m becoming!” “You sleep with me! You claim me almost every night! But now, suddenly, I’m too weak for you because the Alpha seat is up for grabs?” In a second, he’s right in front of me. I watch the pupil in his left eye, “the serpent-like one” dilates. “Don’t you ever disrespect me. I paid for your high school. I offered to pay for college, but you were too proud to take it. I bought you a car you never drove! I give you a roof, my protection, and this is how you thank me?” Emris pulls me and I land against his bare chest, face inches from his. There, I force myself to go still so I won’t anger the beast further. I didn’t accept his gifts because I was sick of feeling like his charity case, a bill he had to pay for the mate he never wanted. “Once I'm Alpha, my pups will be in your belly. You'll... be under my protection for life." He roughs a brand across my waist before palming my back side. There comes the famous grab as he does a little tap-tap-tap taps with ownership. Usually, it would make me blush but this time, I just look at him with tears. However, Emris doesn’t see tears. He’s cold-blooded, and the worst part is, he’s proud of it. “As what?” I look up at him from what feels like a million miles below. The one thing I want is for him to claim me as his mate. To look at me and see his equal, his other half, not a constant reminder of how we’re opposites. Emris just stares back. Of course, he’s going to pretend he doesn’t understand what I’m asking. He’s an expert at that. “Change that jealous look on your face before I see you again.” I push his hand away from my waist and instantly feel cold. I walk out of his bedroom. The moment I step into the moving area of the pack house, I nearly collide with the head chef, whose face is twisted into a scowl that could curdle milk. “Where have you been?!” “I, uh… I woke up late.” I quickly answer. My job is only to maintain Emris’s private penthouse, so I have no idea why she’s so furious with me. “We’re short-staffed. Go help Miss Elena take her bags to her room.” Susan points and my stomach plummets. There she is. Elena Orient. Emris’ ex-girlfriend. 2 Demetra. Elena was a part-time cheerleading trainer at Magnus High for a year. It’s the high school I was able to attend because of Emris’s “charity.” She’s at least four years older than me, and she was that impossibly cool adult all the younger girls, including me, desperately wanted to be. The boys were all secretly in love with her. She had perfect, bouncy blonde waves. Back when I was a gawky, puberty-stricken freshman, I’d daydream about looking like her one day. So yeah, I’m jealous. Elena Orient comes from a rich family, a powerful pack, and everyone adores her. She’s everything I’m not. I remember the first time she saw Emris. It was Guardians’ Day. I didn't have anyone to come for me, but he showed up. He was there for his sister, Teddy but I’ll never forget the way everyone stared as he walked straight up to me in the crowded hallway. The next day, Elena actually sought me out to ask me who he was. It was the first time our cheer instructor had ever spoken directly to me. I gave her his name, never imagining that simple answer would lead to them dating. Back then, I didn't care. I wasn't eighteen; the mate bond was silent, and Emris's life was his own. Now, everything is different. "Morning.” I say. Elena finally looks up from her phone. Even at 7 a.m., her blonde hair is bouncy and shiny. Makeup. She’s dressed in designer clothes plus perfumes. She’s obviously hoping to run into Emris, but he’s probably in the middle of his brutal gym session, followed by a wild run through the woods. He won't be back for at least an hour. "OMG! Demetra, right?" "Yeah. I should take your bags up—" I reach for one of the bold pink suitcases, but when I try to lift it, it doesn't even budge. "Did Emris send you to help me?" What does she think I am, his personal messenger? "Does he know I'm here already?" "No, Miss Elena." I reposition myself to wrestle with the luggage again. "Where is he? Still sleeping? Is he awake?" I give the stubborn bag a hard yank. "Can you give me an answer!?" There comes her irritation. I’d almost forgotten that behind that smile, she wears a lot of masks and her true personality is just plain evil. "I'm not sure, Miss Elena—" "Then, what use are you?" I pull the bag with all my might, and this time, it sends me backward. I lose my balance and crash to the floor just as Luna Derisha walks in with another guest. Oh no. “Elena, why are your luggage not taken yet!?” Luna Derisha’s asks. I get up quickly. “This weak omega—” Luna Derisha’s eyes narrow on me but she forces a smile for the guest. Elena’s mother, who’s watching the entire scene. “I’m sorry, Luna.” I step back. I know better than to be within arm’s reach when she’s like this; her slaps are swift. “Wow, her hair is so beautiful. She is such a beautiful young woman.” I see the muscle in Luna Derisha’s jaw twitch as the woman complements me. She hates any reminder of my mother, and my looks are the biggest reminder of all. Thankfully, Luna Derisha’s drivers come in and effortlessly haul the luggage away. “Luna, the tables are ready.” the head housekeeper announces. The moment they’re out of earshot, Luna Derisha turns on me. “I don’t even know your use in this house. All you do is fatten yourself on our food, yet your strength stays the same.” I stare at the ground. It’s better not to look at her. “Because of us, the sickly thing your mother gave birth to is growing. Your cream-white hair is getting longer. Your uniform is getting tighter on your body. Your hips are fattening like a whore’s, your…” She shakes her head in disgust. “It’s those same things your mother used to attract the lowest of the lows. Tell me, are you heading down the same path?” “No, Luna.” I answer quickly. “Get out of my sight! And did I not ask you to dye that hair black?” Someone calls Luna Derisha so her attention finally goes away from me. The moment she looks away. I feel a violent surge in my throat and I throw my hand against it. I don’t know if it’s the humiliation, the stress of the morning, or something else entirely, but I don’t wait to find out. I turn and run across the marble floors until I burst into the empty staff bathroom. I barely make it to the stall before my insides seem to rupture. I vomit and vomit and vomit until my stomach is empty. Tears are streaming down my face as I stare at myself in the mirror. Why am I vomiting? Is it the oats I ate last night? And then my brain decides to gives me an answer. Hey, remember that little monthly thing that ghosted you last month? Oh no. Oh, Moon Goddess… am I pregnant? Pregnant with Emris’ child? ___________ I change out of my uniform, into a pair of jeans and a top. I need a pregnancy test. Now. I've been sitting in front of the desk for the past three hours, trying to count days on a calendar, but it's useless. The problem is Emris. Our schedule last month was basically, all sex. In his room, in mine, sometimes in a skyscraper hotel suite when his late-night meetings with the jet company ran long. Today is the 20th. No sign of my period. That can only mean one thing. We used protection… sometimes. When he remembered. Emris gets so lost in the claiming in a way that makes it impossible for either of us to think straight. I go out through the back kitchen, hoping to go unnoticed. "Where are you going?" Summer, my best friend blocks my path and shoves her hands into her flour-dusted apron, looking less like my ride-or-die and more like a very suspicious, pastry-based bouncer. "Luna Derisha is on a warpath today. So lucky you only answer to Emris. What's going on with you?" "Uh, I just have to run an errand—" "Ugh, don't even get me started. That Elena is such a snob. She brought thirty boxes of Louboutin, Chanel and had the nerve to ask if we'd ever touched anything like that. Please tell me a bitch like that isn't going to be our next Luna." "Summer, if anyone hears you, you're going to lose your job." Paxton warns, he’s the assistant chef. "She's not wrong. Riley is arranging Elena’s closet right now. There are, like, a hundred pairs." Someone else says. "Guys, I really have to go." I try to sidestep them. But Paxton places a hand around my stomach region to stop me. He's always been overly concerned about me. "Are you okay? You look a bit…pale." Before I can answer, my eyes do a casual sweep past his shoulder to the kitchen's large glass windows. And I freeze. Emris is there, a million-foot tall on the gravel, making a phone call in his stuntman stature. He’s staring straight at us. Specifically, at Paxton’s hand, which is currently resting on the exact location of his potential future heir. For his own safety, and to prevent a murder in the parking lot, I crank up a smile. "I'm fine, Pax! Really. Just a quick trip into town. I’ll be back soon.” I hurry out to the gardens but a text lights up my phone from Emris. Just one word: Garage. I knew he wouldn’t let what he saw slide. His private garage is dim and it’s the first time we'd met here. The car Emris is in is a black Bentley that cost more than my life. With blue interior lights that make him a villain of a sci-fi movie. Emris unfolds himself from the seat. “You’re gonna use that nobody to make me jealous!” He has the most devastatingly handsome face I’ve ever seen. Skin like rich gold, messy black hair that looks better the more he runs his hands through it. He’s taller and stronger than any man I’ve ever known. I’ve felt the raw power in his thighs when they move under me, I’ve listened to the steady beat of his heart against my chest. It’s the universe’s cruellest joke that a voice so rough and harsh comes attached to a mouth that gives the softest kisses. “That’s not what I was doing.” “What was he about to touch?” “Emris, Paxton is just my friend. I’ve told you this over and over… he’s just looking out for me.” He rises to his full, ridiculous height. A skyscraper of a jealous Alpha he will soon become. I am forced to step back until I bump into another of his cars. He’s jealous. And when he’s jealous, he’s less a man and more a walking, talking grenade with the pin already pulled. “Looking out for you?” He tilts his neck in that specific way he does, a gesture that shows the tattoos on his throat and across his collarbones. I know they travel all the way down to his waist. I’ve traced them with my fingers before. “Because I don’t do enough looking out for you already!?” “Someone could see us. I should go—” “Get in.” I just stare at him in surprise. Emris has never, ever let me in the same car as him before, especially not while we're on pack grounds. This is breaking like twelve of his own rules. “If someone sees—” He drags me to the passenger side and pushes me in. 3 Demetra. A moment later, he’s driving us smoothly away from the pack house, and I melt into the leather chair. “Where?” “Huh?” Emris hisses. “Where are you going? Don’t piss me off, Demetra.” “The, um… to the store.” “What could you possibly want from the store that you cannot get at the pack house!?” “Some hygiene products.” I squeakily lie. “And a new bra.” When we get to the shopping mall, his phone rings. Thank god, a distraction. He throws a black credit card at me without even looking, and I take it. I only accept because refusing would be a whole thing and I need him to be distracted. I go straight to the pharmacy section. My hands are literally shaking as I grab the test. I pay with my own cash and buy two, just to be sure. I also snag a random, overpriced bra I don’t need as my decoy. I lock myself in a bathroom stall and after ten minutes, my eyes instantly water when both tests show the result. Two pink lines. Two. I stare at myself in the mirror over the sink, looking again and again and again, as if my reflection will have a different answer. I’m pregnant. I’m pregnant with Emris’s child. I wipe the tears away, only for more to fall. It’s positive. Both tests are undeniably, life-falteringly positive. I stumble out of the stall and mumble an apology to the annoyed women waiting in line. I rush to the counter to pay for the bra, hastily wiping my cheeks and glancing out the mall to see if Emris is still in the car. My hands are shaking so badly I fumble the card, dropping it twice. As I turn from the counter, I bump hard into an older man and it sends my shopping bag and Emris's black credit card to the floor. "I'm so sorry!" I get to my knees to gather my things. The man bends down too and picks up the card. "Here you go—" "Thanks. I am so sorry, sir!" I repeat until he doesn't let go. I look up and see him staring at me with an expression of shock, so intense that the card in his hand actually trembles. "Sir…?" I try to pull it back. "What is your name?" he asks. "You look familiar. What pack are you from?" "Sir, please. I'm in a hurry." I finally manage to tug the card from his fingers but the encounter is far from over. "Alpha?" I look up to see a guy who must be a million inches tall, built like a valley, standing behind the older man. Did he just call him... Alpha? The older man ignores his guard or is it his Beta to continue staring at me. "You have white hair. You….you have white hair.” Why’s he looking at me like he's seen a ghost. Yes, I have white hair and so? My mind is reeling from the pregnancy tests, and now this? Will Emris accept the pregnancy? Will Emris be happy when I tell him? Will Luna Derisha kill me when she finds out I’ve been sleeping with her son? The future heir of the pack. The Beta speaks. "Alpha, you don't think she is—" “Please, have my business card.” The older man presses an embossed card into my hand but I don’t take it. “Sir, I don’t understand what you are saying or doing—” “I am searching for my daughter. She has white hair, just like…” “I am not your daughter!” A father is the last thing I have or need on this earth. “Dad?” Another young man, handsome and well-dressed, walks up, addressing the older man. The moment his eyes land on me, his jaw goes slack. While I’m distracted by the son’s stunned reaction, the older man quickly slips his business card into the palm of my hand and closes my fingers around it. And at that exact moment, Emris enters. One look at his eyes and I know I’m in deep, deep trouble. “You.” Emris voice makes everyone look in our direction. I rush to the side of the living temptress I call my mate, thinking he’s furious with me, but his eyes are on the group of men. “Emris, son of Alpha Kael.” the older man says. “I haven't seen you since your father’s death—” “Don’t start with me, old foolish man!” My mate hisses. The son of the older man comes close. “It’s me you hate, Emris. Leave my father out of it. After all, only one of us still has a father left.” The male insults the devastating storm that is my Alpha and walks out the door. The older man follows, and the hefty Beta is the last to exit. “Everyone. Leave.” Emris’s voice isn’t loud, but the store employees and customers run for the exits. Including the owner of the establishment. I don’t think there’s a soul in West Virginia who doesn’t know who Emris is, or the danger that radiates from him. As soon as everyone leaves, I start to explain. “I’m sorry I took so long. My… my stuff fell and—” “First, you throw that puppy, Paxton, in my face. And now I find you cozying up to that dying old man Ronin and his waste-of-space son, Slade. Are you seriously this desperate for attention, or just profoundly stupid?” My eyes widen in genuine shock. That was Slade? The rival Alpha Emris has hated since they were boys? The one from the Lion Pride pack? “I swear, Emris, I didn’t know—” I don’t get to finish when kicks a nearby display, sending a whole aisle of canned goods to the floor. “Why are you doing this!?” I clamp my hands over my ears. “Why am I doing this!?” He kicks another shelf which topples like dominoes, scattering products everywhere before he storms back to me. “I saw him slip you his card. What’s your price, Demetra? Huh? Was my bed not enough of a platform for you to audition for your next role? Are you planning to be Slade’s new step-mom or Slade’s little whore? After acting so damn pure with me, refusing the things I try to give you… you come here to meet with Slade? To become his whore, just like you are to me?” Emris’ words don’t just hurt. They dissolve me. The heat behind my eyes instantly melts into tears that stream down my face. “W-whore? You are the only person I have ever been with!” “Then what do you call a person who is available for me to use morning and night? A convenience. You clean up my messes and warm my bed. I didn't call you anything you haven't proven yourself to be. Now, take whatever pathetic offer that old man gave you and get the hell out of my life forever.” Emris turns to leave but I run after him, furious tears blinding me as I throw my arms around his back like an idiot. “How can you call me that!?” I weep on his shirt. Emris pries my hands off with cold strength. “I saw it with my own eyes. I saw the interaction—” “I tried so hard! I refused your gifts, your money… I did everything I could so you would never, ever look at me that way! But at the end of the day, this is what you think of me? You have no heart, Emris. You are dark. You are…” I gasp for air as the insult dies on my tongue. “I am Alpha! My father is dead and I will be Alpha soon. If you’re still in my territory when I formalize my title, I will personally escort you down the Walk of Judgment. I’ll make sure the entire pack knows exactly what you are.” The Walk of Judgment is a nightmare. A walk of shame where the pack forces you out while throwing filth at you, sometimes tearing the clothes from your back. It’s the ultimate disgrace before being cast out to become a rogue. And he just threatened me with it. I force Emris to face me again. “It’s me, Demetra! Why are you acting this way? It was a misunderstanding! I didn’t know that was Slade! I didn’t know who they were!” “And he gave you a card. You might be naive enough to believe that was a coincidence, but I’m not, Demetra. So much for loyalty. How long has this been going on? How long have you been spreading your legs for Slade? Or is the old man getting a turn, too?” Emris insults are too much so I slap him! His head snaps to the side. Once I do that, there is only the sound of his breathing. His chest begins to rise, and rise, and rise so I move away. “We’re done.” Emris storms out. I watch through the glassed door as he speaks to the mall owner before getting into his car and speeding away, leaving me in the wreckage. 4 Demetra. Slowly, I sink to my knees and weep from my lungs so deep it feels like it will break me. I am inconsolable, lost in a storm of tears when a timid voice speaks. “Miss? The… the man said you are the one to clean up the mess he made.” I look up at the mall owner and I frown into tears. How can we be over when I carry a new life, a part of him, inside my belly? ******** I get back to the pack house a little past midnight. My body aches everywhere…. like even my bones are tired. I don’t bother turning on the light; I just crawl into bed and start crying all over again. The kind of crying that makes your throat hurt. Slade. Of all people, it had to be him. Emris hates Slade more than he hates any other enemy. He’s the son of Alpha Ronni from the Lion Pride Pack. The Lion Pride Pack and the Black Covenant share a territory….joined by waters, separated by Alphas. They’re rich, powerful but Emris would rather die than be in the same room as them. I didn’t even recognize them! The older man just… he thought I was someone else. My phone glows in the dark: 2:17 AM. A part of me still wants to go to him, to tell him again that this is a mistake. Maybe if he just listens one more time, he’ll see it. Why does loving him make me feel like such an idiot? I know deep down he doesn’t deserve it. He doesn’t deserve me. And yet… I still do. When I finally wake up, it’s because someone’s tapping my arm. “Demetra!” It’s the head chef’s voice. “Goodness, child, I thought you were dead for a second. Do you realize you’ve slept two hours past your shift? Emris’ suite—” Once I see it’s morning, I leap out of bed and dash into the bathroom. I’m so dead. I’m supposed to clean Emris’s room before he gets back from the gym. If even one of his stupid, expensive things is out of place, he throws a fit. Then he’s late for breakfast, and the whole pack knows it’s my fault. I shower and throw on my uniform then take the elevator straight up to the penthouse level. I start planning my apology in my head as I move into Emris’ floor. Suddenly, I stop because standing right in the middle of the living room are Elena and Luna Derisha. And Luna Derisha is holding something lacy and blue between her fingers. My bra. It’s the one Emris took yesterday. The one I told him, over and over, to give back. I forget how to breathe but I have to say something. “Lu… Luna.” Luna Derisha’s violet eyes look almost black. “Who owns this?” I rub my hands on my apron like that’ll make me look less guilty. “Um… I don’t know.” I lie. The door behind me swings open and Radu fills the threshold like a dark mountain. He is the Luna’s gamma, the wolf everyone hushes for in the halls. He’s the one who rescued Emris after he was kidnapped and caged for two years as a kid. Radu doesn’t waste words, he only growls and moves when the Luna says so. Seeing him here means this isn’t just a scolding; it’s an execution. “You fucking slut! You’re trying to seduce my son. You put your bra in my son’s closet.” Elena shakes her head. “How old are you to be acting so shameless? You’re at least seven years younger than Emris!?” “Luna, it’s not… it’s not mine.” “It smells like you. Filthy. My son, who is going to be Alpha, is the person you’re trying to seduce? You’re just like that maggot of a mother who gave birth to you! That bitch spread her legs for every man in the pack just to climb the ladder, and you ended up following the worst of her traits—” Her hot hand snatches my hair! Then, Luna Derisha uses it to bring to my knees. It’s so painful, so utterly painful and shocking that I taste metal and then white light. I see a bunch of my hair in her hands and then I feel blood coming from my scalp. I look up in tears. “It’s not yours. Fine. We’ll test it, then. Bring her downstairs where all the pack employees look. I will use this bitch as a lesson.” “Luna, please! Luna, please!” My screams are short as Radu’s massive hand closes around my ankle. He doesn’t even lift me; he just uses my own body to drag me across the floor. My uniform rides as I twist and kick, but it doesn’t matter. By the time we reach the hall downstairs, every pack employee is there. Cooks, cleaners, security, everyone is looking at me at the centre. I’m trembling on my knees. I’ve always feared Luna Derisha, but never like this. Never when Emris isn’t here to stop her. “I hope you’re all watching…” Elena says loudly. “This is what happens to anyone who thinks they can seduce the future Alpha. Your little colleague here hid her bra in his closet, and now she’s pretending it isn’t hers.” Luna Derisha tosses the fabric at my face. “If you say it’s not yours, prove it.” I am not able to stop shaking. “But Luna….” the head chef speaks up for me. “In front of everyone?” “Are you questioning me?” “Apologies, Luna! Apologies!” I crawl forward on my hands and knees in tears. I grab the hem of Luna Derisha’s designer dress. “Please. Forgive me. I’ll never do anything like this again. Please.” “Luna, I’m begging you. Pleaseee-“ “You should have thought of that before you tried to disgrace my family.” Luna Derisha looks at Radu and I hear his boots coming forward. I feel Radu’s hands on the back of my uniform and the fabric rips straight down my back. I scream, trying to cover myself. “Rip the bra, too so she can try this one.” Radu obeys. The straps of my own bra snap, and I sob, using my long white hair as a pathetic curtain to hide my body. Through the veil of my hair, I see some of the male employees turn their backs so they don’t watch. The girls just stare in horror. I am naked, on my knees, utterly broken. Through, my sobs, I hear the one sound that could make this worse. The sound of the Luna’s sons. Emris. Silver and Regan. I’m shivering, naked and exposed on my knees, when I look up and see them standing there. “What the hell is going on here!?” Emris yells, looking at me. Elena and Luna Derisha spin around. They hadn’t seen him come in. “Mom, what the hell.” Silver says. Regan, the other brother, just chuckles. “Isn’t she Emris’s pretty little housekeeper?” “No, she is her mother’s daughter!” Luna Derisha shrieks. “And I don’t care what you say today, I will punish her mercilessly! Put on the bra, now!” I squeeze my eyes shut. I will rather die right here than be humiliated any further. “Demetra!” I hear Paxton’s voice, and he’s already at my side. Before I can say anything, he uses his own chef’s coat as a wrap around my shoulders. “Paxton.” I shake my head. “She needs more cover!” He yells to anyone who’ll listen and for a second, I think he might fight them all. “Paxton!?” Susan, the head chef calls out to warn him but he doesn’t answer. Then I hear a rumbling growl from Radu. My eyes dart up just in time to see the massive Gamma take a step forward to make an example of Radu but Emris moves faster. He doesn’t go for Radu. He goes straight for Paxton, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and yanking him away from me. “The Luna gives an order and you bring yourself into the middle of it!” I can see it in Emris eyes. This isn’t just about the Luna’s command. This is all the jealousy he’s been holding for Paxton, finally finding a public excuse to explode. “Demetra would never try to seduce you! There has to be some mistake!” Paxton chokes in Emris’s grip. “We all know Demetra! She’s kind, she’s content, and she’s worked her entire life for this pack!” Emris’s eyes flash with a dark, wicked fire. “What are you… her little lover?” I watch, horrified, as his hand tightens around Paxton’s throat. Paxton’s face begins to turn a terrifying shade of purple. “Stop!” I yell. “If I were her lover, so what?” Paxton gasps. “Are we so little to you that we are not worth your love, too? If I were, what does it even matter to—” Emris hurls Paxton across the room into the bar cellar in an explosion of shattering glass and wood. The crowd screams, some scatter in fear, others rush to help him. I get up to see if he’s okay. But Emris has something to say to me. “Get out of my pack now!” The shout makes my whole wolf skitter and break in half. 5 Demetra. “But you know I have only you.” I whisper. I need him to remember. I need him to remember that in this entire, cruel world, he’s the only one I have. “What the hell do you mean by that!?” Elena inserts herself. Emris eyes are empty. “You have ten minutes to leave the pack house. If she doesn’t, Radu makes sure she leaves with a claw mark as a souvenir.” Then he walks away. Susan is the first to reach me. “Come on, sweetheart, quickly!” When we reach my room, she lets go so I can pack. I pull on a shirt with trembling hands. My fingers fumble with the zipper of an old bag I drag out from the closet. My chest hurts; my throat burns. I’m shaking so badly it’s hard to fold anything right. I keep thinking: I’m pregnant. I’m pregnant, and I have nowhere to go. No one to call family. My mate, the only person I ever thought I had just destroyed me. With five minutes left before Radu comes, I can’t breathe. That’s when I see the business card Alpha Ronni gave me, lying at the corner of my mirror table. His name, his number. I grab it. When I step out, Summer, Susan, and the others are waiting in the hallway. One by one, they hug me quickly, whispering goodbyes. I don’t trust myself to speak so I just keep moving before I fall apart. Downstairs, Luna Derisha is waiting. Silver and Regan step aside to let me through. “Elena?” Luna says lightly, “just promise me that right after you and Emris are married, you’ll give me a grandchild.” Elena smiles. “Of course, Mother-in-law.” I press a trembling hand to my stomach and swallow the scream sitting in my throat. Emris, I swear you’ll never know that I left with a part of you. I leave the Black Covenant Pack house and I don’t look back. Outside the gate, I just carry my light bag and think. Do I call? Do I not? Alpha Ronni barely knows me. No one outside this territory even knows me. I check my wallet and there’s a few bucks at most. Luna Derisha always said food and a bed were my payment so I can’t even afford a motel. I need help. I take out my phone, type in the number on the card, and call. “Hello?” I try not to cry. “Yes… um, I’m Demetra.” I stammer into the phone. “We met — at the store. I was with Emris that day. You are Alpha Ronni—” There’s a pause, then a deep, surprised voice. “Yes, you. I can’t believe you’re calling. Are you all right?” “I…I’m sorry to bother you, Alpha. I just… I have nowhere else to go. That’s why I called.” Silence. I hear my own heartbeat. My mind starts racing and I think what am I doing? He’s an Alpha. I shouldn’t even be calling him. “Never mind. I shouldn’t be calling you. You’re—” “Where are you right now?” “I’m just outside the Black Covenant gates.” I look around me. “I’ll send an escort. A convoy of cars. You’ll be brought to safety at once. Don’t move. Do you understand me?” “Yes…yes Alpha.” The line goes dead, and I clutch the phone to my chest. I look down at my belly and make a promise that Emris will never get to know of my child. He will search for me but he will never find. This heart will never forgive him. This heart will never forgive everyone in the Black covenant pack. ********** Five years later. West Virginia Airport. “Tired?” My dad, Alpha Ronin, wraps his hand around mine in the first-class seat. It’s warm. Six hours from Manila and my butt is sore. “I’m beyond tired.” I mumble through a yawn and glance sideways. “She’s still asleep?” Amira, my daughter is hugging Grandpa’s arms with her mouth slightly open after being a menace the entire flight. The air hostess approaches, politely informing us that the path is clear for us to leave the plane. I start gathering my laptop, my sketchbook, pens— “Mr. Pride, Miss. Pride, this way.” We don’t lift a finger. Not for the bags, not for anything. The moment our feet touch the ground, a black car is already waiting to take us straight from the plane One of the many, many perks of being the daughter of the Alpha of the Lion pack. It still feels a little like playing dress-up, like any minute someone’s going to tap me on the shoulder and say, “Okay, fun’s over. Back to being the Black covenant’s charity case.” Five years ago, I called the number on that business card, not knowing I was dialing my own future. Back then in that store, Alpha Ronin recognized me not because he knew me…but because he knew my mother. A one-night stand. A mistake. Or maybe fate being cruelly efficient. White hair is pretty rare for wolves. Most people bleach or dye it, trying to look cool or intimidating. So it’s hard to spot a true one in the wild. But Alpha Ronin said he saw her in my face and the shape of my eyes. He had to be sure if I was his. When I called him, a fleet of cars arrived like and I was taken to the Lion Pack estate. They didn’t treat me like a stray. They treated me like a person. Like family, even before we knew for sure. That was when I met Slade. My half-brother. Then Alpha Ronin said my mother’s name and suddenly, everything clicked. The Black Covenant Pack had told me the history of my mother and since Alpha Ronin claimed he had a one-night stand with her, I agreed for a DNA test. It proved that Alpha Ronin was my father. All that time, I’d been an Alpha’s daughter, living on my knees. All those years I spent surviving as a charity case, I was the daughter of an Alpha. I nursed my broken heart for a year straight. Some days it nearly kills me but I survived because I wasn’t not alone. Then I give birth to Amira. And somehow, I break all over again. She has Emris’ hair. His eyebrows. His face hiding in hers so clearly it hurts to look at her for too long. Every time I hold her, the truth settles deeper into my bones that she is going to grow up without knowing her father. He doesn’t know she exists. And even if he did… I’m not sure he would care. That thought almost destroyed me. But Amira also saves me. I find strength in her tiny hands, in the way she curls against my chest like I’m her entire world. My dad notices the way I’m fading so he makes the decision for me when I’m too weak to make it myself. I need to leave the country so I choose Paris without really thinking. It sounds far away enough. I don’t realize what it will become until I’m standing inside the most beautiful house I’ve ever seen…flowers everywhere, gardens and that’s where I begin to paint. I paint my pain. I paint my past. I paint my heartbreak. I put every ounce of "him" and every ounce of onto those canvases. I shut out the entire world, focused only on my little girl and the colors on my palette. I started going to art school, not to find myself, but to prove I could. And then I sold my first piece. The first bidder wanted it for hundreds of millions. Just like that, I wasn't just Demetra. I was Demetra Pride, the millionaire artist who came out of nowhere. That sale did something more than fill my bank account. It gave me a new bone structure, one made of confidence. I believed I could do anything. In Paris, dad retires from leading the pack just to be with me and his granddaughter. For a while, it’s just us but now… after five years, we are back. We’ve returned to support Slade as he fully takes the reins of the pack. And Dad… he says it’s my duty, too. To help run it alongside my brother. He doesn’t want Amira growing up away from her entire family, from her legacy. I’m ready. I no longer nurse a broken heart. I have nothing to run from anymore. When we arrive at the pack house, everyone is already waiting. Dad squeezes my hand as we walk toward the entrance. "Ready, cub?" That’s his nickname for me. I squeeze back. "Born ready."