Chapter One: The Omega’s Silence
The scent of pine and wet soil filled the air as Faith moved silently through the pack grounds, her bare feet barely making a sound over the forest floor. The Rainfall Pack was already stirring with the excitement of tonight’s Moon Ceremony, but she wasn’t a part of it. Omegas like her never were.
She kept her head down, her fingers clutched around the edge of her worn shawl. Her skin prickled under the early evening chill, but it wasn’t the cold that made her shiver. It was the summons. A sealed parchment had been slipped under her door that morning, bearing the Alpha’s mark. For the first time in her twenty years, she had been ordered to attend the ceremony.
She wasn’t mated.s. She wasn’t even claimed.Most days she was invisible.
So why now?
Faith tucked herself behind the low trees at the edge of the clearing, where the main ceremony platform was already glowing in silver moonlight. Wolves from all ranks gathered in elegant layers of traditional dress —whites, silks, furs. She wore none of those things. She wore what an omega was allowed: a simple black shift that hung loosely off her thin frame.
Then she felt it.
Heat crawled up her spine —hot, cold, wrong. Her breath caught. A strange energy rolled through the clearing like a wave and landed hard in her chest. Her heart thudded.
Someone had arrived.
She raised her eyes, just slightly, and that’s when she saw him.
David.
The Alpha of Rainfall Pack.
He wasn’t meant to be here tonight.
He wasn’t supposed to return until the mating season.
But there he stood —tall, broad, untouchable in his black suit, open at the throat. His hair, dark as night, looked tousled, wild. His eyes, golden and sharp, were already scanning the crowd like he was hunting something.
Faith dropped her gaze instantly, but it was too late.
He saw her.
Their eyes had met for barely a second. And yet something shifted in the air. Faith felt like she’d been stripped bare under that stare. Her skin tingled everywhere —breasts, neck, thighs. She swallowed and pulled back farther into the shadows, trembling.
David turned to the elders, saying nothing. His posture was calm. But his scent —powerful, raw, dangerous —it poured through the field like smoke.
The ceremony began, but Faith heard none of it. Her eyes stayed on the forest floor, but her body betrayed her. Her wolf stirred in her bones, restless. Faith hadn’t shifted yet. She was too weak, too untrained.
But now, her wolf wanted to rise.
She shouldn’t have come.
The Moon Ceremony was meant for fated mates to feel the bond. Omegas weren’t invited unless they were meant for someone.
A new fear bloomed in her chest.
She was here for someone.
“Faith.”
She froze.
The voice behind her was deep. Gruff. Unmistakable.
She turned slowly, her eyes rising up a wall of black-clad muscle. David stood less than a foot away, his golden eyes locked on her like a predator sizing up its prey.
“Alpha,” she whispered, her throat dry.
He stepped closer. Too close.
“You don’t belong here,” he said, but his tone was not accusing. It was possessive —too possessive.
“I was summoned,” she replied, clutching her shawl tighter.
“I didn’t summon you.” His eyes darkened. “But now that you’re here…”
He inhaled slowly, and her body tensed. His nostrils flared. Then came a low, almost inaudible growl in his throat.
“No,” he said, but it was to himself.
Faith’s heart thundered. Her wolf trembled. She couldn’t move.
David reached up. His fingers brushed her jaw, then tilted her chin. She flinched but didn’t run.
“You were never meant to be his,” he murmured. “You were meant to be mine.”
Before she could speak, he turned on his heel and disappeared into the trees, leaving the scent of fire and musk in his wake.
Faith stood alone, her pulse shaking through her.
She didn’t understand what had just happened.
But the Alpha had claimed her with his eyes.
And that silence inside her?
It was gone.
Something had awakened.