Chapter 1

Myla

“Get it out there while it’s hot, girl. Don’t want the boys to start fussin’,” Addy, the pack cook, said, raising a withered brow.

“Can’t have that now, can we?” I muttered to myself.

Kitchen duty wasn’t the worst job in the Blood Moon pack, but it was close. The only thing saving me from washing dishes was being an Omega. While all females were at the bottom of the totem pole, the truly heinous work went to the Beta females. Their nature made them mouthy, and if there was one thing the males didn’t like, it was a female who stood up for herself.

I grabbed two steaming trays of food and pushed through the kitchen doors into the dining hall. Utensils scraped against plates, and boisterous laughter echoed around me. I stuck to the edge of the room, avoiding eye contact while praying to the Goddess that no one would spot me. I placed the food next to the other trays when I reached the buffet-style serving tables. Maria, another of the pack’s low-ranking females, set two more trays beside mine.

“Don’t look now, but the Alpha females are glaring at us,” Maria whispered, keeping her head down and her hand moving across the table.

Idle hands meant swift punishment.

Maria was one of the first friends I had made in Blood Moon. Being the same age and of similar rank allowed us to bond despite living under Alpha Kane’s thumb.

I rolled my eyes. “When aren’t they?”

Bedwarmers.

The Alpha females of the pack earned their status by occupying a male’s bed at night. The higher the male’s ranking—and the longer they kept his interest—the better the lodgings, food, and supplies the females received.

Omegas were a threat to their livelihood. Once we went into heat, one of them would get booted from their version of a charmed life. As such, I had become enemy number one—along with the only other Omega in the pack.

I didn’t judge them for it. They were doing what they could to survive. Unsanctioned packs didn’t answer to the Council. We were at the mercy of the Alpha and the ranked males. Strength and protection were everything out here, and as a female, there were only so many ways to earn one’s keep.

“This is different. Be careful. Try not to get cornered.”

“Different, how?” I whispered.

Maria headed toward the kitchen, and I followed.

“They overheard the Alpha telling Haley to prepare a room for you.”

My stomach felt like it would fall out of my ass.

My mind spun as we methodically moved tray after tray to the dining hall. Once the last of the food was doled out, we took our places by the back wall.

The shifters filled their plates by rank. The Alphas and Betas took their portions first, then Gammas, Enforcers, males with Goddess-blessed gifts, and average males. Females linked to high-ranking males would eat with their bedmates while the unclaimed were left to scavenge the leftovers. That was if there was anything left.

As the males and their bedmates filled their plates, some sneered and hissed insults while others ignored our presence entirely. It was the latter I preferred.

My wolf’s hackles rose as the males’ gazes slithered over my skin.

“You shouldn’t be out here,” the pack’s Beta, Sam, said from behind me.

I hadn’t heard him approach and fought the urge to recoil. Maria stood beside me, keeping her eyes forward.

“I wasn’t given the order to stay away, sir,” I replied.

He leaned in, invading my personal space, and inhaled. “Hmm, just what I thought. Pretty soon, you’ll finally start being of use to us.” I froze at the implication. “Take my advice and stay away from the dining hall, or the males will find something more interesting to dine on.”

Before I could respond, another Omega, Alex, cut in. “Myla, you’re needed in the kitchens.”

Sam held my stare a moment longer before giving me a short tip of his chin, dismissing me.

I scuttled after Alex.

“Thanks,” I whispered.

Alex had only been with Blood Moon for three months but was already accustomed to how things were done. Unlike me, she’d been found in our territory after fleeing one of the Omega boarding homes. The Council had set up the boarding houses to contain the Omegas until they were of breeding age, and the horror stories I’d heard over the years made me shudder. At only fifteen, Alex was still a few years from approaching her heat cycle, so she stayed out of sight in the kitchen.

“Don’t thank me yet,” she replied.

She guided me to the back of the kitchen, where a massive pile of dirty dishes filled two industrial-sized sinks.

I sighed, getting the message.

Well, it’s better to deal with a pile of dishes than a pile of assholes.

Pushing up my sleeves, I grabbed a sponge and got to work.

As I scrubbed, my abdomen clenched. The pain was unlike anything I’d ever felt before. It sliced at my insides, digging into my middle and leaving me hollow. My body hummed and tightened, and an innate part of me knew only one thing would ease the ache.

The onset of my heat was approaching.

The dishes crashed around me, and the woman to my left cursed. A hand smacked my forehead with shocking gentleness.

Wide, frightened eyes met mine. “You don’t have much time,” Ida, the kitchen manager, said.

She was the closest thing to a mother I had.

The Blood Moon pack had taken my real mother from me when I was six. I couldn’t remember what she looked like anymore. My only memories—the sweet lilt of her voice and the comfort I felt in her arms—were faint.

“What?” I asked, even though I knew.

“Your scent will change soon.” Her strong hands, hardened from years of serving the Blood Moon pack, dragged me through the kitchen and into the storage rooms. “The Alpha will know. He’ll keep you locked up in that room until . . .” Her words trailed off, and a look I had never seen entered her eyes.

We all knew what would happen the moment I became ready to breed. Alpha Kane had threatened it enough to make my fate clear.

They were going to put me through a rut—an archaic shifter practice in which the most virile males bred a female until she was confirmed to be pregnant.

Cold terror sunk its claws into me.

She quickly dug a backpack out of an old potato sack.

Maria walked in, holding a trash bag. She shut the door behind her and pulled out clothes and outerwear. “Put these on.”

“What are you doing?”

“Quicky, we don’t have much time,” Ida urged, even as she took control and hauled the sweater over my head.

Heat skittered up my spine as their hands worked, moving and bending me like a toddler until I was wrapped in layers of clothing.

“It’s time for you to go, Myla,” Maria said, eyes rimmed with tears.

My vision blurred as Ida strapped the backpack onto me. “It’s not much, but we took everything we could.”

“But where will I go? I’ve never been beyond Blood Moon territory before.”

“East,” Ida instructed. “Keep going east until you hit sanctioned pack territory. Even if they follow you, they won’t make the mistake of entering pack land.”

I wasn’t so sure, but I knew the sanctioned packs were my only hope of escape.

Maria squeezed me close before holding me at arm’s length. The kitchen door creaked behind us, and a biting wind blew through my hair.

With a firm nod and a look that conveyed more than words ever could, Maria said, “Run. Don’t turn back, no matter what you hear.”

“But—”

“Run!”

She slammed the thick wooden door, and a male on the other side demanded something, but the deep rumble of the voice was too muffled to hear his words clearly.

Blood raged in my temples, and my legs trembled as I desperately sprinted toward the trees ahead. I curled my fists around the small backpack of supplies the females had scraped together for me and moved faster, using all my energy to put distance between me and the Blood Moon pack. I didn’t have much time. The nightly rounds would start soon, and once my Alpha found out I was missing, trackers would be on my tail.

They’d do anything—short of killing me—to drag me back to Blood Moon’s borders.

Terror nipped at my heels.

This was my chance—my only chance.

Lights shone behind me, and shouts echoed through the air. The stark divide between the illuminated ground and the shadows of the wilderness felt like miles, though it was only a few feet at best.

A loud bang rang through the clearing, jolting me as angry voices and sobs met my ears.

I slowed my steps as I slipped into the forest, not wanting to tip off the males by crunching through the snow.

I fought the urge to look back. I needed to remain hidden.

“Where is she?” The Alpha’s dark voice choked the air from my lungs, and I froze.

“I—I don’t kn—”

The words cut off with a gasp. My wolf snapped at me, angered by the empathy that rooted me in place.

Maria. He has Maria.

My heart threatened to break. Maria, Ida, the other females—they would suffer, and it was my fault.

“I’ll ask you one more time,” the Alpha shouted. “Where is she? Where is my Omega?”

“I swear I don’t know. I haven’t seen—”

Slap.

“Lie to me again, and you won’t make it to morning,” he threatened.

Tears stung my eyes. My wolf growled, pushing me into the woods and urging my feet forward.

My skin tingled as I passed the dulled magical barrier, and I realized how long the women had spent planning my getaway. The barrier would be reinforced tomorrow. For the moment, it was little more than a skin irritant. It was another reason escape was usually almost impossible. When the barrier was at full power, it alerted the Alpha when an Omega crossed it.

My boots sank into the thickening blanket of snow as fat snowflakes clung to my face, stinging my cheeks and nose.

Their voices faded, but the memory of Maria’s trembling words and her sharp inhale of pain remained. Darkness fell, and my wolf gave me her strength, comforting me and allowing me to rely on her superior senses as we braved our new path.

Howls broke through the silence, interrupting my spiraling thoughts. The snowfall made it impossible to tell how far away they were. Sweat broke out on my brow as I clambered over the icy earth. The trees here were spaced further apart, and soon, I would lose my cover.

Shift , my wolf ordered, battling for control.

I squeezed the straps of my backpack. The temperature was dropping, and the snow was almost knee-deep. Snarls sounded behind me, coming from all directions. A tracking band.

I would lose all my provisions if I shifted.

But if I didn’t, I’d lose my chance at escape.

Gritting my teeth, I tossed the pack aside and stripped off my clothes, baring my body to the brutal elements. My wolf lunged forward, and the familiar pain of the shift took over.

My wolf’s paws silently hit the snow, and she immediately sprinted, determined to put distance between us and our pursuers. With her heightened hearing, she could identify six separate trackers.

Shit.

My heart raced, and panic propelled us forward. My wolf whined through the next spike of heat, but she pushed on, aware of what would happen to us if caught. Instinct would demand we submit to our primal need and sate our hunger. I would lose myself.

I was hot—burning from the inside out—and so Goddess-damned horny. My body was tender, and moving was a slow, perilous process. My wolf’s tongue lolled as she panted, trying to cool the inferno within us.

She knew we couldn’t stop.

So she leaned into the pain and kept running.

Two days passed in a blur of heat-induced pain. On the first morning, my wolf managed to catch a rabbit braving the cold in search of its dinner. We rested in hollowed-out trees or between boulders—anything that afforded us a break from the wind and snow. But the weather worsened overnight, and by the second day, there was no game. We pushed on.

East. East. East.

I repeated the words like a mantra. I couldn’t give up—not when we’d made it this far. The howls of the Blood Moon scouts had ago long faded away, and my wolf was sure we had evaded them. Our survival now depended on making it to sanctioned territory and finding someone who would listen to us.

It was a struggle to wake up on the fourth day. Walking felt impossible, and my wolf was running on adrenaline and determination alone. The tree cover had thinned, and there would be no shelter, food, or respite until we made it to the other side of the frozen valley.

Our fur was frozen, and the cold burn of the climate stung our skin as we made our way through the powdery wasteland, weary limbs trembling. The ache in our legs went from a pulsing throb to a persistent hum, and my wolf knew it wouldn’t be long before numbness settled in. Soon, our mind would no longer be able to control the movement of our body.

The trees were just beyond reach.

East.

We were desperate and worried, wondering if we would make it to the tree line, but we couldn’t go any further.

We couldn’t.

Our body finally gave out, and we stumbled to the base of the nearest tree. The cold rushed in, freezing the blood in our veins. The winter chill cradled us and told us to sleep. Our eyes fluttered, unable to resist the urge.

My wolf let out a soft whimper.

You didn’t fail me , I soothed her. Maybe we were never meant for more than this.

We closed our eyes.