Chapter 1
NOVA
"Get up, you lazy omega."
The knock on my door was more of a fist, three hard slams that rattled the frame and dragged me out of sleep. I didn't need to hear the voice to know who it was. Only one person in this entire pack knocked like she was trying to break something.
Leah.
The Alpha's daughter never missed a chance to make my life miserable.
I groaned into my pillow and rolled onto my back, staring at the ceiling with the exhaustion of someone who had been dreading this day for a week.
"I heard that!" Leah's voice screeched from the hallway, followed by another kick to the door. "Get downstairs. Now!"
I pushed myself upright and reached for my phone. The screen lit up, and I squinted at the time, my jaw tightening. She's already started with her craziness this morning. I can't wait for the day I get to put her in her place.
Training day. It hit me all at once.
The Alpha had made the announcement three days ago: everyone had to participate, no exceptions. He had delivered it with a finality that left no room for negotiation. No one will miss it. Not even the omegas.
Not even me. Ugh.
I scrambled across the cold floor and threw on black leggings and a faded sports shirt, barely taking a second to pull my hair back before rushing out the door and down the creaking staircase.
Halfway down, I nearly collided with Lucy. She stopped, her eyes scanning my face with concern.
"You alright?"
I shook my head quickly, a tight knot forming in my throat. "I'm fine. You?"
She gave me the look, the one that said she didn't believe me but wouldn't push yet. "You don't exactly look prepared for today, Nova. How are you going to hold up out there?"
"I'll try my best, Lucy. Stop fretting."
She let it go, but I caught the way her brow stayed furrowed. Lucy had been my closest friend in this pack for years, and she still didn't know. Nobody did.
Every morning before the pack stirred, before Leah's fists found my door and the day's humiliations began, I was already in the woods. I had been since I was fifteen, teaching myself everything they never bothered to teach an omega. I studied every fighting style I could get my hands on. I ran until my lungs burned, pushing through the dark, the cold, and the rain, because in exactly one month I would turn eighteen.
And when I turned eighteen, I was leaving. Whatever happened, I was walking out of this miserable pack.
The pack had an old, brutal law that nobody questioned because the Alpha liked it that way. If you wanted to leave with your mate, you had to fight for the right, to the death or close enough, until someone couldn't get back up. It wasn't a civilized exit. It wasn't meant to be.
I had been training for three years for that single fight.
But today wasn't that day. Today was only training.
Lucy bit her lip, twisting the hem of her shirt as we walked toward the back exit. "I'm nervous. You never know who you'll get paired with. I really hope it's not Leah." She shuddered, looking out toward the grounds. "Everyone knows she's one of the strongest girls in the pack. That Alpha blood is no joke."
I didn't answer. We stepped onto the open, grassy field, the crisp morning air hitting my face. The ground was already crowded with restless wolves.
Before I could take in the crowd, a foot hooked behind my ankle.
The ground rushed up to meet me. I hit the dirt hard, the impact knocking the wind from my lungs. Pain flared in my knees and palms as I pushed against the grass.
"Weak," a cruel, familiar voice sneered from above.
I looked up, my blood boiling.
Liam stood over me with his arms crossed, wearing the smile he'd worn since we were twelve, the one that never seemed to get old for him. He was broad now, taller than I remembered.
"Not even on the field yet and you're already on the ground." He tilted his head, something cruel flickering behind his eyes. "Can't wait to watch you get crushed today, omega."
I tried to lunge, ready to swing at his face, but Lucy stepped between us.
"Nova, no. Please."
