“There you are, little mouse.”

The first time Hale Calloway calls me little mouse, he has no idea how right he is. I spend my life in the shadows, hiding who I truly am, skittering away to avoid attention.

From the outside no one would suspect Haven Bell, only daughter of Senator Frederick Bell, is nothing more than a puppet. I’m poised and polite, smile at the right times and only speak when spoken to. But most importantly, I don’t act like the omega I am. Not by choice.

My father’s political aspirations have pigeonholed him as an extremist. An alpha who wants to abolish the designations and have everyone live like betas: No dominance instincts. No heats. No mating bonds or packs.

He holds me up as the ideal, an omega who has suppressed every instinct. Which I suppose I am, but only because he’s buried me under so many alpha commands I’ll never dig my way out.

When the Calloway pack approaches, intending to court me, I see a way out for the first time since I presented as an omega. If I can join a pack, my father will have no say over anything I do. I’ll be free.

As I spend time with the Calloway pack, I experience a life like I’ve never known before. I want them more than I’ve ever wanted anything. Still, I can’t help but feel that this bit of happiness will slip through my fingers along with everything else good in my life.

Hale, Creed, Atticus and Jude seem too good to be true. And if I’ve learned anything in this life, it’s if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

After all, not all that glitters is gold.