Aria's POV

The only thought going  through my head at that time was that I didn't want to be where I was.  

It was night and it was obviously late but the men of Silverclaw Pack didn't give two shits about that.  They were throwing some sort of celebration.  For what? No idea.  Alpha Gregory, who was the pack's leader, was as drunk as the rest of the men.

And he had brought me out to serve as some source of entertainment for them.  I had never seen these type before.  They were different, and I had an inkling that they wouldn't go easy  on me.  

That thought brought a nauseating feeling to the back of my throat.

I was surprised that after serving Lana, I'd still have to serve these men. Orphans  really didn't have no place in the pack.  

"Wine!" someone shouted.

I moved my feet and got a tray  with a full jug.

"Hello, beautiful," the man drawled at me as I refilled his cup.  I didn't meet his eyes.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!"

I was forced to look at his very  unattractive face.  

"Whoosh," he said.  "Who's this,  Gregory? Gregory? Who is this?" 

Alpha Gregory caught up.  "Oh,  just  a little bit of entertainment." 

I didn't know why he used that word when referring to me.  Well,  maybe it was because  that was all I was to him.  Ever since I found myself in Silverclaw pack,  I had been made to understand loyalty.  I would serve these people for the rest of my life.  

Without a mate.

I sighed.  

Just as I turned to leave,  the man placed his hand on my ass and got to his feet.  His touch actually revolted me but I didn't dare shake his hand off.  I could even lose mine in the process.  

His breath  was bad  and he didn't care that he was so close to me.  

"Hey,  there's  a nice place behind the trees where we can be alone. How about that?"

I made no comment.  

His hand squeezed, and I could hear his breathing  become intense.  The man was putting himself in the mood.  

"Hey, take your filthy  hands off her, Gura," someone intervened.  I thought I had been rescued until he added,  "She is mine for the night."

"And what the hell would you know about sex? Just  keep your mouth shut and let the experienced ones have at it," Gura said.  

"Don't talk to me like that!"

Gura scoffed.  "Or else what?" 

I knew I should leave there.  But Gura's hand was still on my ass.  What would happen if I did? Definitely something not good.  

Soon,  some of the other men began to pick interest  in our altercation.  I watched their hungry eyes  roam over my body and I knew  the night would be a long  one for me.  

This was the sort of life I was used to in Silverclaw.  

Someone approached  from behind.  He stood  in front of me and raised the jug to refill his cup.  

"I should pour that for you,  sir," I offered.  

He looked at me.  "I can do that myself."

The moment our eyes met with each other,  something changed.  I had never felt it before  but I had been waiting for it all my life.  

Questions  had been asked about how I would know,  and I never did forget all I had been told.

Within,  my wolf whispered  the one word I had been waiting for, and that was for a long time.  "Mate."

**

I could tell that he felt it to.  Whoever, he was.  How surprising that I would meet my mate in such circumstances? 

"Are we...?" 

I asked, trailing the last word.  He dropped  the jug.  "I guess we are."

The men were still  arguing about who was going to have me for the night.  Gura became distracted and I used that opportunity to follow my mate.  His hair was the color of gold.  

"Then I think you should claim  me," I told him.  "Immediately."

He appeared  very cool with  the fact that he had just found out who his mate was.  Inside, I was jumping for joy.  

"Claim you?" he asked.  

"Yes.  That's the next thing.  Isn't  it? You claim  your mate once you've found her."

He looked me from head to toe.  "And why would I want to claim you? Or someone like you?" 

I noticed he had a cocky expression. Like he didn't really take things seriously.  

"Is that a joke?"

"Telling me to claim you as my mate  must be the joke.  What are you? Some scarlet woman?  A servant to Lana? Some piece of tool  these  men can use whenever they want?"

I felt the tears coming  but I held them back.  Not the time.  "I know.  But you can save me from all of that once you claim me."

"If," he said,  in manner of correction.  "If I claim  you.  Know something? I actually thought my mate would be Lana." He smiled.  "Because someone told me that my mate would be an heiress.  Are you one? I don't think so.  You have no worth."

The tears finally fell. "You.. you.. don't even know.. me yet."

He finished  the drink in his cup. "Good,  and I plan on keeping  it that way.  Hey! Lady here says she's ready  for copulation!" 

"Please, don't..." I begged.  

"It was nice knowing you.  Name's Jace, anyway.  And I reject  you... mate."

With that he walked off.  

I had just found my mate,  which meant I had some worth.  Yet,  because of my circumstances, he rejected me, and called the men to  use me as they liked.  

Around me,  a fight ensued.  Men going all out on each  other, just to have a piece  of me.  When the victor finally had me,  I wondered what violence he'd do to me.  

So I moved.  

"Stay the hell where you are!" someone shouted.  

"I'm coming for you!" another yelled.  

But they were just going  for themselves.  

I turned to run, but it was too late. Something or someone crashed into me,  my head exploded with  pain, and I lost it.  

The moment  I hit the ground, it was with  a relaxing thought.  

I hoped I actually died.

Aria's POV 

Something had happened.  

I didn't die.  I woke up and saw myself in a room that clearly looked  like a ward.  My head was in a plaster, and the room hummed with machines.  I wasn't hooked to any  of them anyway.  

Why hadn't I died? 

I could hear footsteps and voices out in the corridor.  Someone was crying, another was yelling  for her baby.  

I tried to get up, and did.  The problem wasn't with getting  up.  The problem was my head.  It hurt.  I went to the window  and looked out.  I was very  high up.  What the hell was I doing this high up? These sort  of wards were only meant for private individuals, those who had money to pay for their privacy.  

The door opened behind me and a tall doctor in white lab coat walked in.  He was holding a metal chart.  

"Glad you're awake.  My name is Doctor Tait. And you are Aria, right?"

I nodded.  "How did I get here?" 

"Someone brought you."

I was surprised.  "Who?"

"Didn't say his name.  Told us you needed urgent  care."

"Did he have gold hair?"

Tait raised his brows.  "No.  He definitely did not have gold hair."

So if it wasn't Jace,  then who the hell would be so concerned about someone like me?

"I should be dead,  shouldn't I? If no one had brought me here."

"That might have been the case,  Aria.  But I'm guessing you would be glad to know you're still alive and kicking."

I sat on the bed and folded my hands.  "Why the hell would I be? My life has been one of misery."

"Well,  there are bigger things you have to concern  yourself about, Aria.  And I kid you not,  they will blow your mind."

"What are you talking about?" 

Tait looked at his metal chart. "The man who brought you in here told us to conduct  a DNA test for you."

"A DNA test?" 

"I'll explain.. "

I cut him off. "I know what a DNA test is, doctor.  The question  is why?" 

"He gave no reasons.  But when the results  came out,  I realized why. You go by the name Aria Moonclaw, right?"

"Yeah."

"The DNA test results show that Moonclaw isn't your real last name.  Your real  last name is Black."

"Black?"

"Yeah.  You're not from Silverclaw Pack,  Aria.  Your  real last name originates from Bloodmoon Pack.  And that family... well,  they are very influential."

What the hell was he talking about? 

"Are you telling me right  now that I've lived twenty-two years of my life in a place I don't belong?" I asked.  

"Yes."

"And that my real family is in Bloodmoon Pack?"

"They are."

"And that they  are influential?"

"Embarrassingly influential, so I heard."

"So I'm not an orphan?"

Tait saw where that was leading and didn't reply.  I always believed  I was an orphan.  No mother,  no father,  no siblings.

"Are there any members  of the Black family still  alive?"

He looked at his watch, and smiled.  "Yes.  And they are on their way here."

**

I looked at myself immediately.  What I had been wearing -  always been -  was a filthy long sleeved dress  that had seen better days.  But the doctor had seemed it wise to replace my clothes with  an hospital gown.

"Where is my dress?"

"Oh, a nurse removed that.  It's in laundry now. One more thing, though." Doctor Tait  looked at his metal chart again.  "How come you don't heal that fast? I mean you're an omega, right?" 

"Right," I told him,  not too exhilarated to divulge.  

"Surprised your body heals at the rate of a human.  It's like someone injected you with silver, in your case, or the same way someone would inject you with  heparin if you were human.  Any explanation to that?"

Shit.  What if he found out that I couldn't wolf out? That part of me had been having problems ever since I could remember.  I shrugged.  "You're the doctor."

"Sure," he said.  A couple of uncomfortable seconds of silence passed.  "Well,  Aria,  I should assure you that you are in good hands.  Right now, rest until your family comes." With  that, he left.  

A lot went through my head.  I never even suspected it.  I had welcomed my situation with  open arms.  Never questioning it.  Always believing that I was an only child with dead parents.  

Now,  that had become a lie.  Full blown. 

I touched my head and didn't wince so much.  Tait was right.  I should have healed up already.  I laid on the bed and stared at the ceiling for a long time, until I shut my eyes to sleep.  

By the time I opened then again,  four men were sitting in the room.  I shot on my ass.  

"Who the hell are you!" I demanded.  

"Careful now," the one in suit and icy blue eyes said.  "You don't want to ruin your dressing." 

The fact that four men had been in the room while I slept was very uncomfortable.  

"She looks  more like Damien," said the one with tattoos on his face. 

"Who the hell is Damien?"

The one with slick hair raised a hand.  "I'm Damien.  And you must  be the sister we've been looking for.  Aria."

Oh, so these were my family?

I watched them.  The last one who hadn't spoken yet   was actually smiling at me.  

"The doctor did a DNA test on me.  Said I wasn't  an orphan.  That I had a family coming  over."

"And here we are in the flesh.  I'm Kael, this is Elias, Damien, and Rafe.  Where have you been,  Aria?"

"Silverclaw."

"Doing what?"

"Serving."

"Serving who?"

"Like a... servant."

"We'll kill them all," Damien said.  

"Of course  we will," Rafe agreed. 

"I don't think we should kill anyone.  They didn't know me.  They thought I was an orphan." Even as I said this,  I wasn't sure if I was ready to turn the other cheek.  

"We know how orphans are treated, Aria,"  Kael said.  "And that is no way to treat our sister." He got to his feet.  "From now on, you will come with us to Bloodmoon.  That's where you belong. There's something waiting for you, and it's time."  

Time for what? I wondered.  

Outside, I realized my brothers had arrived in a convoy of six cars.  We got into the limousine and headed straight for Bloodmoon Pack.  

We arrived at a luxurious palace I had never seen before.  "Why are we here?" I asked.  

"Home sweet home," Damien said.  

"You live here?"

"Kael is Alpha King," Rafe revealed.  "So,  yes,  we do."

It wasn't the only surprise that night.  Because just as the doors opened, Lana was waiting.  And her welcoming smile disappeared the moment she saw me.

Aria's POV 

What replaced it was  shock.  But she quickly recovered. 

"What the hell do we have here?" she blurted out.  "You brought me my servant." 

"What did you just say?" Kael asked,  as he closed the distance.  

"This filthy thing  here used to serve me when I paid visits to Silverclaw.  As well as the other men,  for entertainment.  She's handy.  What a coincidence."

"Wait,  she served you?" Damien asked.  

"Of course,  she did.  Haven't you been listening to all I've been saying?"

The hand  that met  her actually pinned her to the wall.  It was so fast that I had problem actually seeing their bodies move.  Kael planted her firmly against  the wall, and a couple of the helps around gasped in fear.

"I will take it that you had no idea whom you were letting  serve you.  But from now on,  you will not refer to Aria in that manner.  Do you understand?"

Lana was trying so hard to get his hand off her shoulder but it was like moving  the ground beneath her.  "You're hurting  me."

"Don't say that, Lana," Rafe advised,  rubbing at a tattoo  on his face.  "He'll only hurt you more.  Just say you understand."

"Fine,"  she struggled.  "I understand. Now let me go."

"I'm not done yet," Kael said,  not moving.  "You shall not address her as servant anymore.  And you wouldn't dare look down on her henceforth."

I watched all these happen before my eyes and I couldn't even move.  Frozen to the spot.  Never before,  had I seen someone, or some people stand up for me. To defend  my worth.  

All of a sudden, I had become very  important.  I felt it was a dream and pinched myself a couple of times before I would begin to enjoy it.  

"Yes, yes, yes, Kael.  I hear you.  Please..."

He finally let her go and Lana looked  at me with curiosity.  Why the hell was she looking at me like that? 

"If she's not here to serve then why is she here?" Lana asked.  

"She's here because she's our sister."

"What?" Lana asked,  obviously shocked. I could recall a couple of demeaning things she had said to me in the past.  She really didn't see things turning out this way for me.  "That's impossible.  I'm the only daughter our father ever  had."

"Well, our DNA matches with hers," Damien explained. "You should be happy that you now have a sister.  Forget about the past."

"Take Aria to her chambers, Rafe," Kael said.  

"Of course," Rafe said,  offered me his elbow,  and took me up the stairs. The servants bowed  as we passed. "Are you shaken? Sorry about Kael.  Being a leader makes him jumpy at times."

"I don't know anything  about that."

"Actually, he doesn't  like her."

"Who?" 

Rafe smirked at me.  "Like you don't know. Lana,  he doesn't  like her.  Said she's different.  And that he's never really connected with  her."

"Is that true for the rest of you?" I asked. 

"We tag along.  Come to think of it,  she's more comfortable paying visits  to Silverclaw than she is staying here.  Why?"

I knew why.  "Alpha Gregory is a friend."

We entered  the lobby and the expensive decor took my breath away.

"Friend  or lover?" Rafe asked suspiciously.  

"I.. I... can't say for sure."

Rafe frowned.  "Then that's bad news." 

My chambers was on the other side of the palace.  It was huge.  And I couldn't believe I had the whole place to myself.  

I settled in just fine with  the help of some maids.  They provided  whatever I wanted.  And since  I wasn't so bossy  with them,  we related just fine.  

Lana stayed out of my way.  She refused to come to dinners, even when she was called.  I guessed I understood. Someone unsympathetic like her  would find it hard to come to terms  with the fact that she'd have to eat at the same table with  someone who'd been her servant.

One hell of a kick to the stomach.  

But it was nothing compared to the attention I was getting from my brothers.  I learnt that Kael was Alpha leader, Elias was a doctor and Tait was a friend.  Damien was a lawyer, while Rafe was a mafia lord.  He took me to one of his meetings with the families and announced me as his sister, also demanded that I should be respected.  

I was lucky none  of the men there  had been any of my clients.  How would that have made me feel otherwise? 

I was given  a convoy of my own.  The palace ground were filled with cars, that I had no idea who owned which.  

The most interesting part was that I made a friend.  Her name was . She had freckles on her face and curly red hair.  Met her at an event I attended and she was a great artist.  

Lana stayed out of my way as much as she could until I decided to get in her face.  Told of my maids to keep an eye on her, and when Lana was alone, I went to her.  

The fountain was at the back of the house.  Lana was in a red dress and her waist-length was tied  with a band.  She had her back to me and was watching the flow of the water. 

"This your favorite place in the palace?" I asked,  making her jump.  I smiled.  

She turned, an arrogant look on her face.  "What are you doing here?" 

"Took a walk.  Ended up here.  Saw you and thought I might say something."

"We have nothing to talk about."

"I doubt  that.  Ignoring  me only proves it otherwise."

She scoffed. Closed the distance between us.  "I am not your equal.  Never will be.  We might share the same blood,  but that doesn't change the fact that.." 

Damien interrupted us.  "Sisters.  Kael has called a meeting.  Lana,  if you don't attend, you might be pinned to the wall again."

Everyone was there when  we arrived. Took our seats and waited for Kael to speak.  

"How's it going, Lana?" he asked.  

Lana forced a smile.  "Fine."

"Good. I'll go straight to the point. I am relinquishing my position  as Alpha leader and announcing Aria to take my place."