Chapter 1
Aria's POV
"You want to be my mate so badly? Then let's get it over with."
I turned just in time to see him walk toward me and I panicked.
"Alpha. I.. I was just here to clean. I..."
"Shut up!"
His hand gripped my wrist pulling me towards him.
My heart pounded in my chest so violently.
"Isn't this what you want?" He murmured roughly as he violently pushed me to the bed and climbed on top of me.. tearing away the last bit of dignity I had left.
And when it was over and he was done with me, he stood up and adjusted his clothes as if nothing had happened.
"Get out of my room, you filth." He spat.
How did I end up this way?
---
For as long as I could remember, I knew exactly where I belonged in the shadowfang pack.
I was nothing more than an orphaned Omega, the lowest rank among the other wolves. I was a servant girl who worked day and night scrubbing floors of the Alpha's Mansion, washing clothes and taking orders from those who would never see me as anything important.
But today... today was supposed to be different. Today I will be clocking 18 and for the first time in my life the moon goddess was going to give me something of my own.. someone of my own.
She was going to give me my mate.
As I walked through the hallway of the Alpha's mansion carrying a heavy tray that was stacked with fresh white linens, I felt something within me something strange something beautiful.
My wolf who had always been silent and weak inside of me suddenly woke up as if she had been waiting for this moment all along. My heart pounded in my chest so hard that I thought it would break out of my chest.
My breath caught in my throat and my feet almost stopped moving.
And then I saw him.
Alpha Damian Thorn.
He was walking straight towards me and every steps that I took towards me was filled with authority confidence and the kind of strength that made people bow without question.
He was everything an Alpha should be.. strong; untouchable; and completely out of reach for someone like me.
And then it happened.
"Mate."
I heard my wolf loud and clear.
Mate.
My breath hitched. My fingers trembled and my grip tightened around the tray to keep it from falling.
My mate is Alpha Damian Thorn?
Holy Goddess!
I was shocked and filled with disbelief which was making it hard to breathe. My wolf howled quite desperate to run to him to claim him, to be sure that this was not all a joke.
Alpha Damian? My mate?
Unbelievable.
For eighteen long painful years I had been invisible. I had been ignored; tossed aside and treated as if I did not matter.
But this? Was this really fate?
Was this the Moon Goddess's way of telling me that I was not nothing and that I had a place in this world.. a purpose?
I opened to mouth to say say something, anything.
But then I saw it.
The way Alpha Damian's face twisted into something fury... disgust.
His eyes were filled with something dangerous his jaw clenched and his fingers curled into a fist as his stared at me
"You? My mate?"
The way he said those words with so much hate made my stomach twist painfully.
And then he did something that shattered me completely.
He laughed.
It was not a soft chuckle nor a surprise or nervous laugh.
It was a laugh filled with mockery.
"What a joke."
The moment those words left his lips.. my whole world shattered.
And then.. I heard the sound of laughter not just his but someone else's.
I turned to see Sandra, the beautiful Beta's daughter. She was dressed in a deep sapphire-blue gown that seemed to hug her curves perfectly. Her hair was extremely long and beautiful.
With a sly satisfied smirk on her face; she placed a soft hand on Damian's arm, her nails pressing into his skin possessively as if she was marking what was hers.
"An Omega..?" she scoffed and then laughed again. "Damian baby... the Moon Goddess must have made a mistake or maybe she was just drunk when she decided to pair you with this filthy servant."
I wanted to speak; to say something.. anything but I could not move.. could not breathe.. could not stop the pain that was filling my chest like poison.
Then Damian took another step forward.
"You actually think you can be my Luna?" He said coldly, "You think someone like you.. a worthless Omega; a servant could ever stand beside me?"
I quickly shook my head, afraid of what he might do to me for being his mate. His eyes were filled with fury and his jaw was clenched and most importantly, I was scared.
I tried to open my mouth to say something, anything but he did not let me.
His grabbed my chin harshly, pushing my face up so that I had no choice but to look at him.
"You. Are. Nothing." He said coldly.
Again.. Sandra laughed so loudly quite enjoying my humiliation.
Then.. Damian let go of my chin making me stumble backward. The tray in my hands slipped from my fingers and fell to the floor with a loud bang.
My heart.. it shattered into pieces right there in that hallway.
But I did not cry. I refused to cry.
I forced myself to move.. to bend down and pick up the fallen linens.. my hands shaking as I gathered them.
I told myself it was over.
But I didn't know this was just the beginning.
---
That night I had spent hours curled up in my tiny servant's quarters lost in my thoughts to eat or sleep. I could not understand why the Moon Goddess would do this to me.
But then a knock came at my door.
I stood up and opened it. It was a messenger.
"Aria. The Alpha has requested you clean his chambers."
My stomach twisted violently.
I had not been assigned to Alpha Damian's private quarters in weeks, heck months. Usually it was only the senior Omegas that were given that task.
So why now?
Though a warning bell rang in my mind, but I had no choice. No Omega could refuse an Alpha's command.
So I went.
When I stepped into Alpha Damian's chambers.. I instantly knew something was wrong.
He was sitting on his bed, his eyes locked on me like I was a predator and he was the prey.
The door closed and my body shivered in fear.
I swallowed hard and tried to start cleaning his chambers, telling myself to finish quickly so I could leave before anything happened.
But then he spoke.
"You want to be my mate so badly?"
I froze.
His tone was cold, filled with hatred.
"Then let's get it over with."
I turned just in time to see him walk toward me and I panicked.
"Alpha. I.. I was just here to clean. I.."
"Shut up!"
His hand gripped my wrist pulling me towards him.
My heart pounded in my chest so violently.
"Isn't this what you want?" He murmured roughly as he violently pushed me to the bed and climbed on top of me.. tearing away the last bit of dignity I had left.
And when it was over and done with me, he stood up and adjusted his clothes as if nothing had happened.
His eyes held no remorse. No guilt.
"Get out of my room, you filth." He spat.
And when I tried to pick up my clothes to cover my naked body, he impatiently pushed me out of his room... Naked.