Chapter 3

Three

When I wake, the sun is high in the sky and shining through long floor-to-ceiling curtains. I sit up quickly, looking around the strange room. I shift in the comfortable, huge bed, wondering where I am. The door clicks open, and I yank the blanket up to my neck, realizing that I am completely naked.

“Good morning, Luna. My name is Jessie, and I wanted to bring you some clothes and draw you a bath,” a middle-aged woman explains, bustling into the room.

“You know who I am?” I ask breathlessly, watching her set clothes at the edge of the bed and then move toward double doors that she pushes open to reveal a bathroom beyond.

She laughs. “Of course, Luna.”

Fear fills me. Last night had been epic and perfect in every way. What would the Alphas think when they figured out that I'm not just a little wolf soon to be Omega, but in fact a Valentina wolf? Luna Valentina, named as such because my mother wished for one of us to finally have the title she craved.

“Maybe they won't care,” the voice in my brain startles me. It's Friday, I realize, about midday. Tomorrow I would be 20, and tomorrow I would be an Omega. The thought didn't send fear into me as it had in years past. My body was sore, but sex had been amazing. My sisters must have never experienced anything like what I had. It was literally mind-shattering.

“Your bath is ready, Luna.”

I jump slightly, then smile at the woman. “Thank you so much.”

“Just leave your towel in the laundry bin, and I'll take care of it for you. Please mind-link me if you need anything, miss,” Jessie offers with a neat curtsy before leaving.

I look around the room nervously, then slide from the sheets and walk silently on bare feet to the bathroom. Once within, I close the huge doors, taking in the bathtub that looks more like a small swimming pool and a shower that spans a whole wall. Clothes that are not mine sit on the counter. My orb-like eyes meet my reflection, and I step back, noticing deep bruises on my shoulders and the right side of my neck glaring back at me. I reach up and gently touch the tender skin, pausing when the feeling of skin changes. I turn my head and look down at the scab on my shoulder—another, and another as I look. I frown, then look at my other shoulder, finding the scabs there too. My attention snaps to the mirror, finding my neck, and I let out a trembling sigh. They looked like the markings you see on women when I used to go to town. None of the women in my family have them, so I am unsure what they mean. Have I been made part of a pack? I don't hear anything in my head besides my wolf now and then.

My thoughts follow me into the steaming tub, where I wash away the scents of the three alphas, causing me to feel lonely. My body is sore beyond my bruised, bite-looking marks.

When I am thoroughly clean, and smelling of cedar from one of the bottles of shampoo in the bathroom, I get out, towel off, and pull on the clothes. They are warm and soft; the leggings hug me perfectly, and the blouse with a built-in bra flatters my figure. My stomach growls, and I make my way back into the room with the massive bed, looking around the room curiously now before moving for the door that Jessie had left.

A sudden fear fills me; the idea of being locked in here momentarily freezes my actions. But I turn the handle easily and walk out into a long hallway. The left looks like a dead end, so I turn right, walking slowly. Pictures of men line the walls, broken by periodic pictures of them with women and pups.

“Hello, Luna, can I help you find something?” a man asks, making me hesitate, but he smiles politely.

I want to ask for the Alphas; my body craves them. But my stomach growls again, and the man chuckles.

“Let me show you to the kitchens,” he offers with a sweeping gesture for me to go down the stairs to his left. “We are going all the way to the bottom.”

At his words, I realize just how massive this place is. We descend three full flights before reaching the bottom, wolves in human form watch us as we move, a few greeting us, “Good afternoon, Luna.”

“How does everyone already know who I am?” I ask, following the man as he turns left at the bottom of the stairs.

“I promise you that the Alphas made sure everyone knew you were here.”

“Why?” I ask, the sound of a slamming door causing me to scurry out of the way as a very large and angry man storms past us. His scent radiates anger and power.

“Who is he?” I whisper as the man bares his neck.

“Alpha Magnus.”

“There are four Alphas?” I ask, craning my neck to see where he is off to.

“No, Luna, he is the father of our three Alphas.”

“What the fuck do you mean, an OMEGA?!” A roar rattles the house, making everyone else flinch.

“We should go to get lunch, Luna.”

“Who is he yelling at?” I ask, stepping toward the arguing, feeling as if I know the very loud shouts in response.

“The Alphas. Really, Luna, we should go.”

“How dare you weaken our pack by bringing in a Luna like her, an Omega? What were you all thinking?”

Horror fills me. Had I gotten them in trouble? Suddenly, anger pushes through—how dare he yell at them like that. I look at the man who had been helping me find my way, and he desperately waves for me to follow him. The door to the far right swings open, and three beautiful women walk in, leaving the front door wide open. I move out of the way as they storm forward, ignoring my presence completely. The women walk through the door I had been listening at without knocking.

“Ah, ladies, welcome. Boys, let me introduce you to your brides. Three fine she-wolves who will not only bear you pups but also bring power to our pack,” Magnus announces from the room in a commanding voice that makes me shiver before I shake it off. With a glance back, I see the downcast eyes of the man who did not seem so eager to get me away anymore.

But what hurts the most is that no other voice argues from the room—the yelling and fighting of Chase, Max, and Garret are silent.

“I guess I'll just see myself out,” I say awkwardly to the man now unwilling to make eye contact with me.

“Your things are in the wash, Lun… Miss.”

He wouldn't even say my name as he dismissed me. “My bag?” I ask, fighting the tears burning my eyes. The pain within me was like nothing I've ever experienced.

“I am not sure, miss.”

“Luna,” Chase’s voice says, but even though my whole soul and wolf crave to go to him, I force myself to the open front door. The closer to the door, the more the pain within me tries to drive me back. Doors slam open behind me, and I spin, hoping to see them in the light of day just once. But the three women exit the room. A snarl leaves my mouth that shocks me and draws their attention.

I turn, marching out the front door. “Who are you?” one of them demands, easily catching up to me and spinning me around.

“Luna,” I respond, watching as her beautiful face darkens and her hand clutches my elbow, her claws digging in. I shove her away, blood dripping from my elbow as her claws drag ragged marks as she stumbles.

“Kill them,” my wolf demands as they all snarl, and the one who I had shoved starts to turn. I back away, spotting a glimpse of Chase before the other two girls push the doors closed.

“I am no threat to you.”

“You're the Omega whore? You don't smell like an omega,” one of them says acidly.

“She doesn't smell like much more than cedar,” the other says, glaring at me.

I turn to walk away; I don’t play with bullies, and the Alphas are not mine.

“You're wrong!” my wolf snarls in my mind.

Suddenly, I am pitched forward on my face, the weight of a wolf on my back as I gasp for air.

“You're just their whore, omega scum. They are ours now.” With these words, stilettos enter my view, and claws pierce my back.

A scream of agony tears from my mouth before my face is smashed into the dirt.

“What the hell is going on?!” Magnus roars, exiting the pack house.

“Dealing with the trash, Alpha. Sorry to interrupt your meeting with our soon-to-be husbands.”

At that last word, something in my head snaps. The wolf who moments ago had been crushing me howls with pain as she's flung away. The colors of the world overwhelm me as I take a back seat, my shoulders heaving and fury towering over the woman who dared call my Alphas their husbands.

Lunging forward, my massive jaw opens wide, sharp, deadly teeth snapping the woman in half, and with a mighty shake, her bottom half frisbees at Magnus’s feet.

Chase, Max, and Garret freeze behind their father, staring up at me in shock.

“Mates!” my wolf tells me, letting out a howl before the much smaller chestnut wolf plows into us My paw bats her away, sending her soaring as I turn to the newly transformed woman, her fur white as snow, bigger than her friend but still dwarfed by our size.

"Stop breathing!" my wolf demands, and the snow-white wolf stumbles, crashing to the ground.

Voices fill my mind, and I turn toward the windows of the pack house. "Go, Luna!" "She's so powerful!" "Did you see her take out the blonde?" "Little wolf."

This last voice was Chase's, and my attention moves to where he kneels on the steps of the pack house. "That's it, little wolf," he praises, side by side with Max and Garrett.

"Kill her!" Magnus demands, his voice doing that weird warbling thing.

"No!" Garrett screams, his face contorting in pain. His body starts to crack as he is forced into a shift.

"Never!" Max screams, holding his wolf back but clutching his chest.

"She is ours!" Chase argues, his nostrils flaring.

The pack house windows rattle as wolves with less restraint transform within and race to join us outside.

"Run!" Chase demands, but I brace myself, a growl threatening Magnus. "Little wolf, please!" he screams, looking at Garrett's huge wolf form.

"Damn, now that's a wolf," my wolf pants at me, almost distracting me from the very real threat emerging from the pack house.

Chase moves suddenly as I prepare to fight. He turns, striking out at his father, whose attention had been solely on me. Wolves freeze, then fall into a kneel of submission.

Chase turns, his hand covered in blood, the heart of his father clutched between his sticky fingers. Garrett breaks rank, and we step back. He flies past us, crushing the chestnut wolf to the ground. When he moves back to me, the wolf is unmoving on the ground.

"Magnus is dead. If any of you make a move against Luna, the same will happen to you!" Chase threatens, looking around the crowd. Garrett rubs his wolf mass against mine, making my wolf swoon.

My attention is on Max. Moving forward, we lower our giant head and sniff him. My whine draws Chase over, who kneels down by his side.

"What's wrong?" Chase asks, looking down at Max with concern.

"I don't know. It's like I'm stuck mid-shift," Max gasps, his teeth clenching in pain.

"Doc!" Chase yells, standing up and looking into the crowd.