Clara POV

Days turned into weeks. On the ninth of March, the entire manor smelled of roasted meats, sweet wine, and expensive perfumes. It was the coming-of-age ball for Elara, the eldest daughter of the Alpha and Luna. Carriages from neighboring packs rolled up the gravel driveway all day. Annie came to my room, holding a tray of leftover bread.

"Are you not going to sneak a peek at the ballroom?" Annie asked, her eyes wide with curiosity.

"I am sick today," I lied smoothly, handing her a small fabric pouch. "Please give this to the head maid. It is a warding herb sachet for Lady Elara, to keep evil spirits away." A small gesture, but I needed the head maid to see me as useful rather than merely tolerated. Servants who were useful survived.

Annie took it and left. I knew the head maid would be pleased by my obedience and my refusal to show my face among the nobles. Later that night, the music from the grand hall drifted up to the roof. I slipped out of my attic window and climbed onto the sloping slate roof, making my way to the Gothic clock tower. The cold night air cleared my lungs. I closed my eyes, listening to the wind rustling through the dark forest beyond the manor walls.

Suddenly, something light hit my shoulder. I opened my eyes and saw a dead, withered black rose resting on my lap. I looked up. Crouched on the stone gargoyle above me was a young man. He wore a crisp black tailcoat, his dark hair messy from the wind, and in the gloom, his eyes held a fixed, predatory gleam, like coins of old gold lit from within. He leaped from the stone beast, landing silently on the roof tiles right in front of me.

The young man stood up slowly, and the air around him instantly grew heavy. It was the raw, suffocating pressure of a powerful Alpha. A primal, deep-seated impulse urged me to drop my head, to bare the soft flesh of my throat in a gesture of absolute surrender. I dug my fingernails into my palms, forcing myself to stay seated and keep my chin level.

"An Omega rat hiding on the roof," he mocked, his voice a deep rumble that vibrated through the slate tiles. "Fitting."

His scent hit me like a sudden thunderstorm. It smelled of sharp pine needles and cold iron. "Who are you to trespass on the inner roofs of Blackwood Manor?" I asked, keeping my voice steady.

He let out a low, dark laugh. "You have some nerve for a bastard," he said, taking a step closer. He released a fraction of his Alpha's Command. The sheer force of his aura pushed down on my shoulders like a physical weight, making my knees tremble even while sitting. Alpha's Command was the absolute authority. Lower wolves physically could not disobey it without suffering immense pain.

"I am Kaelen," he said, his golden eyes narrowing. "Future Alpha of the Ironclaw Pack, and Elara's cousin."

I held my breath, realizing how dangerous he was. The Ironclaw Pack was the strongest military force in the region. "I see," I managed to say, fighting the urge to gasp for air.

"Listen to me carefully, little Rogue blood," Kaelen growled, leaning down so his face was inches from mine. "If I hear that you are causing trouble in this pack, or making Elara sad, I will drag you into the forest and banish you as a Rogue myself." Rogues were wolves without a pack. Without the bond of a Luna and an Alpha, they eventually lost their minds, turning into feral beasts.

"I have no interest in causing trouble," I replied coldly. "Your cousin's happiness is none of my concern—but neither is her misery. I keep to the shadows, my lord. Perhaps you should look elsewhere for threats to your family."

Kaelen stared at me for a long second, seeming surprised that I could even speak under his pressure. Something shifted in his expression—not respect, but a flicker of curiosity, quickly smothered. He scoffed, turning away. In a blur of unnatural speed, he leaped across the roof and disappeared into the shadows.

I let out a shaky breath, rubbing my arms to ward off the cold. The unprovoked malice from high-ranking wolves always left a bitter taste in my mouth, but this encounter was different. He had looked at me not just with disdain, but with a strange intensity that made my skin prickle. I pushed the feeling down. I had no room in my life for the attention of powerful Alphas.

I needed to clear my head. I climbed down from the roof and slipped past the garden guards. I walked toward the edge of the Black Forest, where the ancient ruins of a moon gate stood hidden in the thick fog. The damp earth softened my footsteps. As I neared the crumbling stone archway, my ears picked up the sound of hushed voices. Werewolf hearing was far sharper than any human's. I pressed my back against the rough bark of a massive oak tree and held my breath.

"Oh, Julian," a female voice giggled. "You are too bold." It was Elara.

"I only speak the truth, my beautiful mate," a smooth, charming male voice replied. That was Julian, a noble Warrior from a neighboring pack and Elara's betrothed.

I peeked around the tree trunk. Julian was holding Elara's hands, pressing kisses to her knuckles under the dim moonlight. He looked like the perfect gentleman in his tailored suit. But as the wind shifted, it carried his scent directly to my nose. Werewolves relied on scent more than sight. Beneath Julian's expensive cologne, there was something else. A heavy, sickeningly sweet odor. The unmistakable musk of a female wolf's heat—the pheromone that drove male wolves to the brink of madness with the need to mate.

But the heat scent on Julian did not belong to Elara. It was sour, lacking the fresh, earthy undertone of a pack wolf. It smelled like rotting leaves. The scent of a wolf with no pack, rank with the desperation of the unbonded and the faint decay of the streets. I wrinkled my nose, a knot of cold revulsion tightening in my gut.

Julian was sneaking away to bed a Rogue from the slums while whispering sweet promises to the Alpha's daughter. And Elara, the sweet, sheltered heir of Winterfang, had no idea she was being played for a fool.

I slipped away into the fog, my mind racing. This was dangerous knowledge. If I revealed it carelessly, I would be blamed—the bastard Omega spreading poison about a noble Warrior. But if I held my tongue and Elara's life was ruined, the guilt would eat me alive.

There had to be a way to use this information without destroying myself in the process. But before I could act, I needed proof. And I needed an ally who could not afford to dismiss me.

Clara POV

The next morning, I walked down to the kitchen and found the head maid. "Ma'am," I said politely, keeping my eyes on the wooden floor. "I wish to request a carriage to visit the Moon Goddess Cemetery. I want to pay respects to my mother."

The head maid stopped wiping the counter and eyed me suspiciously. She sniffed the air, checking my scent for any lies or anxiety. I kept my breathing perfectly even, thinking of the icy stillness I had cultivated since the day my mother died. It was not deception, exactly—I did truly wish to visit her grave. I simply had an additional purpose.

"Fine," the head maid grunted. "You have been quiet enough. Take the small black carriage from the side gate. Annie goes with you."

"Thank you," I said softly.

An hour later, Annie and I were sitting inside a cramped, unadorned carriage. The wheels bumped roughly over the cobblestones as we left the manor grounds. The Moon Goddess Cemetery was located on a bleak, windswept hill. Seraphina had been kind enough to bury my mother in a proper grave at the back of the hill. I stood before the simple stone marker, the cold wind whipping my hair across my face. I placed a small bundle of dried winter herbs on the dirt.

"I am surviving, Mother," I whispered into the wind. "Just as I promised. And I am learning. The locket you gave me—I have been studying it every night. I do not yet understand everything, but I will. "

After a few minutes, I turned back to Annie. "It is freezing," I said, handing her three silver coins. "When we get back to the city, give these to the driver. Tell him to get a hot drink at the tavern. We will wait in the carriage." Annie's eyes lit up at the sight of the silver coins—more than she earned in a week.

"Yes, miss!" she agreed eagerly.

When the carriage stopped near the bustling noble district, the driver happily took the coins and jogged into a noisy tavern. "Come with me," I told Annie, opening the carriage door.

"Where are we going?" she asked, looking panicked.

"Just a short walk," I said, pulling my hood up. "I need to verify something. And I need a witness." I led her swiftly through the foggy streets until we reached a row of grand townhouses. I stopped in the shadows of an alleyway, my eyes fixed on the house with a brass wolf-head knocker. It was Julian's residence.

"Miss Clara, we shouldn't be here," Annie whispered, trembling.

"Quiet," I murmured. "I have reason to believe Lord Julian is not what he appears. Before I bring anything to the Luna, I need to see for myself." It was a calculated risk. Annie was timid, but she was also loyal to anyone who treated her kindly. She would keep my secret—or at least, she would be too frightened to reveal it.

Before I could explain further, a massive hand clamped down on my shoulder. Fingers like iron dug into my coat, and I was violently spun around. A sharp pain shot up my arm as the attacker twisted it behind my back.

"Spying on the noble district, Omega?" Kaelen's dark voice hissed in my ear. He pushed me against the cold brick wall of the alley. Annie squeaked in terror and pressed her hands over her mouth.

"Let me go," I gritted out, struggling against his grip. But the physical difference between an unshifted Alpha and an Omega was like a mountain against a pebble. He didn't even flinch.

"I saw you sneaking around," Kaelen snarled, his golden eyes burning with anger. "Are you jealous of Elara? Do you think you can use your cheap Omega tricks to seduce Julian and ruin her marriage?"

The sheer, unthinking arrogance of his accusation sent a hot, metallic spike of fury through my veins. He was so blinded by his contempt for my rank that he could not see what was right in front of him. "You are a fool," I spat, turning my head to glare at him. "A fool who charges in with accusations while the real snake coils around your cousin's throat."

Kaelen's jaw clenched. He grabbed my other arm, pinning both my wrists against the brick wall above my head. His chest pressed against mine, trapping me completely. The scent of pine and iron was suffocating. "Watch your mouth, bastard," he warned, his voice dropping to a deadly whisper.

"Or what?" I challenged, my chest heaving as I struggled for breath. "You will punish me for trying to stop your cousin from marrying a filthy cheater? Julian reeks of another woman's heat—a Rogue's heat. It is all over him, so thick it makes me sick. If you stopped letting your Alpha pride do your thinking, you might have noticed it yourself. "

Kaelen froze, his eyes widening slightly. "Explain yourself," he demanded, but his voice had lost some of its iron certainty.

Before I could answer, a sleek horse trotted into the alley behind us. I watched Kaelen's nostrils flare as the wind shifted, and I saw the moment the scent hit him—the sour, rotting-leaf odor of the Rogue's heat, still clinging to the man dismounting just down the street.

Julian had arrived.

Kaelen's grip loosened. He stared at Julian, who was checking over his shoulder before slipping through a side door of the townhouse, clearly trying to avoid being seen. I watched the understanding dawn on Kaelen's face—the way his jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed, the predator in him recognizing that a threat had indeed been circling his family. Just not the one he had assumed.

I used his moment of distraction. I crushed the leftover bundle of dried winter herbs in my pocket and threw the pungent dust directly into his face.