Chapter 1 Mate

/Edlyn/

I was halfway through ironing the clothes I’d just packed into the laundry room when I heard a commotion outside women shouting, maybe even screaming, high-pitched voices, laughter, the kind that only came when gossip had gone too far.

“Did you see his face?” June, the beta’s daughter, gasped.

“Oh my god, I could cum just by staring at him,” the alpha’s only daughter blurted.

I froze mid-press, rolling my eyes. Seriously? Cum just by looking at him? They had to be exaggerating.

Their giggles echoed down the hallway until Lisa added, “I bet he’ll be my mate tomorrow when I come of age.”

I scoffed softly and went back to ironing. They were too obsessed with sex, mates, and all that nonsense.

“You do know that’s what makes them werewolves, right?” my wolf, Moon, murmured in the back of my mind. “It’s part of our nature to be obsessed with these kinds of things.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to be like them,” I muttered.

“We’re going to meet our mate soon,” she said. Her tone was light, but I could feel the certainty behind her words. Moon could sense things before they happened. She was never completely honest about the details, especially when it came to our mate but she always knew more than she let on.

“I still don’t understand why we need a mate to get what’s already ours,” I said.

“We need him… and his pack,” she replied simply.

“You make it sound like he’s some kind of superhero,” Vamp said dryly. She had been quiet until now.

“Exactly,” I agreed. “We don’t need a mate.”

“Yes, we do,” Vamp argued softly, “but you don’t need a werewolf. You need someone stronger. A vampire. Someone like us.”

“Will you stop it already?” Moon snapped. “I see a wolf in her future, not a vampire. Quit putting wrong ideas in her head.”

Vamp went silent after that, which didn’t surprise me. She always did when the topic got too close to the truth. Vamp was my vampire side, she very weak and fading ever since I stopped drinking blood after my parents were murdered. She barely existed now, a whisper within me, while Moon, my wolf side, had only grown stronger… strong enough to glimpse pieces of the future.

Still, the room felt colder when Vamp went quiet. Like part of me had gone still, waiting for what, I didn’t know.

“Oh, Edie,” sang a female voice from behind me, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I turned and found myself staring at Luna Tina beautiful, graceful, the kind of woman everyone admired without even trying. I quickly bowed my head in respect. Moon whimpered inside me, hating every second of my submission.

“Once you’re done ironing,” Luna Tina said, her tone gentle but firm, “I need you to join the other omegas in the kitchen. We’re expecting an important guest for dinner tonight, and you’ll be helping with the refreshments. Freshen up before you serve us, and please make sure everything is perfect.”

“Yes, Luna,” I replied, slipping into my meek omega voice automatically.

Luna Tina wasn’t a bad person. She was actually one of the kindest people I knew graceful, soft-spoken, beautiful in a way that made everyone else seem ordinary. After my mother, she was probably the closest thing I had to a role model.

But the way she raised her only daughter… that was another story. Let’s just say the entire pack had learned to endure her little princess attitude

I quickly ironed the last piece and folded it neatly before heading down to the basement where the omega quarters were. My small room was cold and plain, but it was mine or at least, the only space in this whole packhouse where I could breathe without being ordered around.

I freshened up quickly, changing into a clean uniform and tying my hair back before heading to the kitchen. The place was already alive with movement clinking plates, rushing footsteps, and the faint smell of roasted meat.

“Edie, come take the champagne to the guests,” Lily said as soon as she saw me. “The starters will be served right after that.”

I nodded, taking the tray carefully, balancing the tall glasses as I made my way to the living room. The second I stepped inside, Moon started acting strange restless, pacing, her tail wagging wildly inside my head.

Calm down, I warned her silently.

But she wouldn’t listen. Her energy spiked so hard that my eyes stung, a faint shimmer threatening to break through. Vamp groaned inside me, irritated.

“She’s going to blow our cover,” Vamp muttered. “Tell her to shut it before someone notices.”

I clenched my jaw, forcing Moon to quiet down. The last thing I needed was to collapse or glow like some unstable freak in the middle of the Alpha’s living room.

Moon had been hiding herself for twelve years. Ever since that night. Everyone in the pack assumed I was wolf less weak, unworthy, just another omega who’d never shift.

And honestly, I preferred it that way.

“Moon, what is going on? Can you stop it already?” I hissed under my breath, keeping my head low so no one noticed my lips moving.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice trembling. And that was it. No explanation. Classic Moon always knowing something and never saying enough.

As soon as I entered the room, I steadied the tray and forced a polite smile, moving from one guest to the next, offering champagne with the grace expected of an omega. I made sure my smile didn’t fade once not even when my heart started hammering against my ribs for no clear reason.

But the closer I got to Alpha James, the worse Moon became. She was pacing inside my head now, tail flicking wildly, her energy spilling over like she couldn’t contain it anymore.

Get it together, I snapped at her silently. Twelve years of hiding, and you’re about to ruin it over a damn dinner party?

When I handed Alpha James his glass, my hands were already trembling. Then I turned to the man sitting on his right and my entire world went still.

He looked up at me, and I swear I forgot how to breathe.

His eyes ocean-blue, deep enough to drown in, sharp enough to cut through the air between us. His skin was smooth, sun-kissed, and his jaw… gods, that jaw could have been carved from stone. Dark hair framed his face, falling just enough to give him a dangerous kind of beauty, like he belonged to both shadow and light.

Everything about him screamed power quiet, controlled, the kind that didn’t need to be announced.

My breath hitched. I didn’t even realize I’d been staring until someone cleared their throat beside us, snapping the moment in half.

“Sir, here’s your drink,” I said quickly, setting the glass in front of him and looking away before my knees gave out.

I finished the rest of the serving in a hurry, forcing my hands to stay steady while my insides trembled. The second I was done, I slipped back into the kitchen, barely breathing, my heart still pounding like I’d just run miles.

“What the hell was that…” I whispered to myself.

I was still catching my breath when Moon’s voice slipped through my mind again, soft but smug.

“So… what do you think of our mate?”

I froze, my hands gripping the counter so tight my knuckles went white.

“Our what?” I hissed under my breath, glancing around to make sure no one was close enough to hear me talking to myself.

“You heard me, she said, her tone full of quiet excitement. Our mate. The one with the ocean eyes.”

Before I could even process that, Vamp snapped awake, her voice slicing through my thoughts like a blade.

“Mate?” she spat, her tone dripping with disgust. “You mean that overgrown wolf sitting next to the Alpha? Don’t make me laugh, Moon.”

“Watch your mouth,” Moon growled. “You wouldn’t understand what fate feels like.”

“Oh, please,” Vamp shot back. “Fate is a leash. And I refuse to let her wear one.”

“Both of you, shut up,” I whispered harshly, pressing my palm to my forehead. My head throbbed with their voices two halves of me pulling in opposite directions.