Chapter 4
673words
As Karen's chief lieutenant and a battle-hardened Beta, her status towered above any Omega in the fortress.
She whirled toward Karen, her eyes wide with betrayal. She'd expected him to laugh at this Omega's absurd presumption.
But Karen Wolcoff merely fixed her with an icy stare.
He didn't repeat himself. He didn't need to. His Alpha pressure crashed down like a mountain on Seraphina's shoulders.
"I… I…" Seraphina's teeth clicked together audibly.
"Kneel," Ella repeated, her voice still trembling but backed by that strange inner power that refused to yield.
Caught between the Alpha's glacial stare and the Omega's unyielding command, Seraphina felt ice spreading through her veins. Her clenched fists slowly uncurled.
THUD
With a dull, heavy sound, Seraphina's proud knees hit the stone floor, her armored kneepads cracking against granite.
She knelt before Ella—the Omega she'd dismissed as worthless dirt.
The hall remained frozen in stunned silence.
Ella had won. Yet she felt no triumph—only the hollow exhaustion of surviving a disaster.
Karen rose to his feet, his towering frame eclipsing the firelight.
"The banquet is over," he announced flatly. He strode toward Ella, his golden eyes swirling with currents she couldn't decipher.
He studied her like a predator assessing unexpected prey.
"Take her away," he ordered the guards. "Have her cleaned up. Since she's so eager to claim the Luna title, she shouldn't look like a slave."
They escorted Ella from the hall.
After that night, subtle shifts transformed Ella's existence.
Instead of returning to the West Tower, she was installed in a suite in the main keep—directly beneath Karen's chambers.
Her confinement eased. Servants' attitudes shifted from open contempt to fearful deference.
They avoided her eyes, but Ella caught their whispers—about the Omega witch who had "ensorcelled" their Alpha.
And Karen? He seemed to ignore her completely.
Yet he was everywhere.
Ella hesitated to leave her room, constantly sensing his presence lurking nearby.
From her window, she watched him in the training yard, bare-chested and punishing himself with brutal exercises. In the dining hall, she felt his scorching gaze from shadowed corners.
He was stalking her.
This silent surveillance suffocated her more than any public humiliation.
She was a rabbit in a wolf's den—not yet devoured, merely batted about by curious paws while the predator wondered what other surprises she might offer.
To escape this maddening scrutiny, Ella sought refuge within the fortress's labyrinthine depths.
She discovered the ancient library.
Dust blanketed every surface—clearly the warriors of Shadow Fortress prized muscle over mind.
This forgotten sanctuary became her haven. She devoured ancient texts hungrily, searching the yellowed parchments for any explanation of her fate.
A week later, in the library's deepest recess, she discovered a hidden compartment containing a coverless journal inscribed in ancient wolf-tongue.
Its contents froze her blood.
The journal described a forgotten bloodline—the "Primal Omegas."
"…The Moon Goddess forged three pillars," the page read. "Alpha as Power, Beta as Shield, Omega as Balance. The Primal Omegas were never meant to serve, but to be the heart of the pack. Their goddess-given power could calm the Alpha's rage and heal all wounds inflicted by Silver Venom…"
Ella's heart hammered against her ribs.
"…Yet the Alphas' possessiveness made them fear this balance. They began treating Omegas as property rather than equals. They systematically culled those with Primal blood, breeding only the most submissive lines. Within centuries, the true power of Omegas was forgotten—Balancers became servants, Healers became slaves…"
At the page's bottom, written in what appeared to be blood:
"When the wolf loses his heart, madness shall consume him."
Ella's hands trembled as she closed the journal.
She'd always believed herself weak and worthless. But that night, when she'd commanded Seraphina to kneel, that cold, undeniable power…
Doubt crept into her mind.
Had the Red Moon Pack truly been targeted for weakness? Or had Karen's father known they harbored something more valuable?
And the Blood Covenant—was it truly about appeasing a curse? Or had it always been about capturing her bloodline?
