In the South Eastern woods, near the river that connected the two biggest lakes in the world, lived the Thornwheel Clan―or in the wolf term, the Crescent River Pack.

Just like Larwoods family or the Crescent Glacier Pack, Ajax's clan in the North, Elias Thornwheel was a part of the Thornwheel Clan occupying the largest area in the South Eastern Woods they had claimed as their territory. Elias, similar to Ajax, was also someone next to the throne and was prophecied to become the next Alpha King. Both Elias and Ajax were responsible to rule, especially when the Alpha King suddenly went missing.

Just as what was currently happening.

I later found out that the Alpha King Thomas disappeared after battling a group of humans with lethal weapons while trying to scout the barriers of the place where everyone in the pack resided. According to Kid, the beta and right hand of our Alpha King Thomas Larwoods, the humans tried to use their bullets and some even made use of special crafts while trying to invade the territory that we all knew Mr. Larwoods had protected for hundreds of years.

I myself couldn't say much about humans since I rarely interacted with them. I was an omega who was raised to serve the greatest leaders of our group and no matter how I wished to know more about such a race, I could only ever do so through reading books.

Of course, such books were just lent from a beta friend who had the privilege to own them. This didn't hide the fact, however, that humans were creatures filled with so much greed and other evil intentions.

As it turned out, the humans that Alpha King Thomas battled with wanted to clear the entire forest, cutting down all the trees present and claiming them as their own. Enraged, Ajax's father did everything he could to protect the North. The battle went on for one entire night, right about when it was full moon. So every member of the pack present were in their strongest forms when they did face the trespassing humans.

"Are you really from the Crescent Glacier's pack? The Larwoods' territory?" a werewolf named Timothy, a beta standing beside Elias Thornwheel, asked as he looked at me in suspicion. Elias who stood tall and mighty was also staring at me.

I couldn't refute these reactions at all. I wanted to tell them I, too, was surprised to find out these things only today. But I kept these to myself since I knew nobody would dare listen to my story anyway. It was a long one and people mostly wanted to hear what they wanted to hear.

For an omega to share what's on her mind―this was a book that nobody would ever pick up and read in this world at all.

As someone who was barely noticed aside from casual mockery and belittling times, I told them simply, "There are some things not everyone is allowed to hear... Anyway, forget about me, let's find Alpha Prince Ajax."

I really thought these people held great importance to what was happening in our territory, most especially to the Alpha King. Perhaps, they were here to lend a hand, or discuss some more important things... No matter what it was, I believed only alphas like Ajax would purely understand.

Luckily, both Elias and Timothy agreed and we all began to head towards the garden. While trying to look for Ajax in each corner of this massive mansion, I've realized something that made me even curious than I already was.

There were no servants or other people to be found.

Why?

It was only when we had reached the exit to the eastern wing side of the gigantic, concrete house, that I noticed four familiar people from our pack. These people were betas and if I remember it correctly, two of them were the closest to Ajax. They were male werewolf twins named Zen and Ren. One had golden eyes while the other had greyish eyes.

"Where's Alpha Prince Ajax?" I tried to ask them, using the same voice and greetings I usually used when I talked to them during the days Ajax would order me around.

One of the beta twins, Ren, the one with golden eyes, gave me a glare as if I had done something bad, while Zen, the one with greyish eyes, gave me a somewhat pitiful stare.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Please tell me, where is Ajax?" I bravely asked once more.

Ren frowned deeply as he took a step forward, almost wanting to attack me with his eyes. "It was all your fault, you damn omega..."

"Ren!" Zen called, stopping Ren from even moving towards me. "Stop it, Ren. Claire doesn't know anything."

Ren removed the arm grabbing him and began to look at me with some more disgust. "Ha, she doesn't know? Stop protecting disgusting things. If not for this crazy omega wanting our leader's son-"

"I said quit it!" Zen warned.

"Why should I? Zen, this bitch is the main cause of our pack's doom! It's all her fault!" Ren roared, eyes full of fury.

"Why...?" I asked softly and suddenly, making everyone stopped and looked at me. I could feel all their eyes―Zen, Ren, the other two betas, and even Elias and Timothy―on me.

"Why?" I began to mutter once again. With head hanging low and eyes staring at the ground, I began to feel the formation of something hot at the back of my eyes as I clenched my trembling fists.

Slowly, I turned my head up to face them, uncontrollable hot tears strolled down my cheeks as I desperately begged for an answer to my forever question.

"I'm just an omega trying to live... Why am I being blamed?"

Then came out a soft, almost breaking into a whisper voice that I could barely recognize as my own.

"What did I do to be hated this much?"

Must all hate fall into us just because we were considered the 'lowest' kind? Why must we all face such discrimination and loathing?

What did I―we―ever do to be hated this much?

Being an omega and trying to live in peace―was it a sin after all?

"What's going on here?"

In that confusing moment where I could no longer feel my own self, I heard a familiar voice. A voice which paused all things at once as if he was made to make everyone turn to him and give full respects to. A voice which I know, whether my eyes were open or not, would never fail to bring me back to the present.

"Alpha Prince...!" I heard both Ren and Zen call out.

I saw Ajax standing there, with two more betas in each of his side and one old man who I presumed to be one of the elders in our pack.

"Claire, come here," I heard Ajax order.

The surroundings became hazy and my mind paused from thinking countless things, including my current position.

I couldn't see the expression on Ajax's face but I could feel his anger as in a swift movement, he appeared to my side and grabbed my arm. He probably was furious for seeing such a scene caused by an omega... Especially with the fact that there were two visitors, too...

Unexpectedly, I didn't hear any word from Ajax after that as he only seemed to have stared at me and my body, as if checking something from head to toe which I couldn't comprehend, before releasing me from his hold. Immediately, I was escorted by two omegas, who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, back to the room I woke up in earlier.

While on our way, I heard the omegas whispering behind my back.

"Is she really the one...?" One of them asked.

"Sshh, we're not allowed to talk about her. You already know that," another said.

Two were female omegas I haven't seen before. There were few female omegas in our pack, the Crescent Glacier Pack. So these two new omegas... Who were they and why did Ajax order them to accompany me? Did he perhaps... wanted to end me?

"P-Please don't look at us with those eyes," one of them suddenly said, looking at me with nervous looks. "W-We're not bad omegas."

I realized I may have been looking at them with a face full of suspicions. Gulping down my own share of anxieties, I asked them, hopeful, "You... From what pack are you and why are you here?"

The two female omegas looked at each other, as if contemplating whether speaking was allowed for them.

"It's okay, I won't tell the Alpha Prince," I told them, thinking back on how Ajax hated omegas and it must be that these omegas had personally witnessed this fact as well.

To my surprise, one of them took a step near me.

"We're from the East's Crescent Lake. I am called Ether and this is Shila, my sister. Sorry for the late introduction, Luna..." she explained.

My eyes widened at how she addressed me. "What- What did you call me?"

"Aren't you the Alpha Prince's mate?" Ether asked, dubious of what she was even saying for a second. "You're Claire Hanzel, right? You are the next Luna. Our Luna."

More than being surprised for having called as a Luna, my body trembled as I heard those words ― Alpha Prince's mate.

I remembered Elias Thornwheel also labeling me as such earlier. It was probably due to my scent. Ajax... Just why did he even spread his scent all over me? Why were we on the same bed? For how long did we...

My chest paused from beating at the thought.

Did we really do it? But how could this happen? Ajax hated me. He hated omegas as much as he hated humans!

But why... Why would he sleep with me if he hated me this much?

"You're wrong..." I muttered under my breath, barely holding my emotions.

It was as if thousands of images began flashing through my brain once more, similar to that time when I was looking for my mother and brother desperately. That time, voices kept urging me to do something just like in my dream.

Ajax, he was a scum alpha. He was the cause of my demise. He was the cause of my only family members' disappearance...

Was he really my mate then? That curse―was it really fulfilled after Ajax rejected me? But how? Did he really know I was his mate, so he rejected me as soon as he discovered it...?

Alix... Call me, Claire... My name is Alix... I will tell you everything you want to know... Call me...

Alix. If I would call out to this person, would she really tell me everything? I wanted to know why and how did it come to this. How I was in this situation, and how I suddenly became Ajax's mate.

The moment the two female omegas left, I immediately went to check the room and looked for a candle. I didn't know why I suddenly had the idea of searching for one, but when I remember that small wisp of light like a candle light in the middle of a dark room, my heart and mind urged me to look for it.

It was as though I had long known how to speak to these people, or whatever they were called, and only by lighting one candle and calling out one of them, was the only way to know the truth, aside from talking through dreams.

Opening the wooden drawers and cabinets that were obviously barely touched but still well-maintained and cleaned, I searched through every level, wanting to find a candle. While searching for one and opened the lowest drawer near the bed, I found a worn-looking object which seemed to be a box. It was the only thing in the drawer.

Suddenly curious, my hand speculated the box, my fingers hovering over the intricate designs around it. The more I touched the box, the louder my heartbeat pounded. Just what was in this box and why was it hidden here, with nothing else next to or surrounded it?

Frowning a bit, I was about to open the box when I heard the door opening.

With my heart almost dropping down the floor, I quickly placed the box back inside the drawer and closed it. Then I immediately got up from my crouching position and faced the newly arrived person―the person that filled my heart and mind, the person who turned out to be my mate but rejected me.

"Alpha Prince," I called out.

Ajax stared at me with a pair of eyes that held no intention of letting me ask questions. I knew others would surely tell me to ask him, to ask the very person who seemed to be the one who knew everything, but when I looked at his eyes and he stared right back at mine, I could feel the dread of doing such a thing.

Because those eyes only meant one thing: I, an omega, did not have the right to ask questions and get answers from an alpha.

"Why were you with Elias?"

"Huh?" I blinked, looking at him. I was almost dumbfounded at what he asked all of a sudden.

To my surprise even more, Ajax began taking steps to me which caused my heart to start pounding loudly. I started to take steps back as a reflex, eyes looking at him directly as I watched him move. Ajax stepped closer and closer until he reached me, his towering figure looming over my smaller stature.

"I asked a question," Ajax said again, his tone clearly disapproving rooms for humor, patience, and deception.

The alpha pheromones he was releasing made me feel weak in the knees, almost wanting to fall down and embrace myself in protection. Why was he asking me such an odd question? I only bumped into Elias Thornwheel and nothing more. More than that, Ren and Zen, his betas, they kept on telling me everything was my fault. Could he at least tell me the reason why they said those words?

Ajax―our Alpha Prince―can he at least tell me, if he truly was my mate?

"Claire―"

"Is it true?" I asked, finding the courage as I lifted my head up and looked at his face.

As expected, Ajax still wore those eyes that told anyone he was superior, he was in a different world, he was unreachable. His eyes were unreadable this time though as they bore into mine, his lips parting, "What do you mean?"

I swallowed down my fears more as I looked at him with clenched fists, "I... I am your mate. And you, you rejected me. Is it true?"

I could hear my own heart beating louder and louder it almost felt like leaping right out of my chest. Every second seemed to be a thousand year as Ajax only looked at me and I looked at him.

His clear, cerulean blue eyes that reminded me of those good, summer days, seemed to have turned to a dark, stormy night as he answered me, finally.

"It is."

Air seemed to have escaped my lungs and my whole body began to turn cold. So it was true... Ajax... The person whom I had been liking far afar ever since I was young, was my mate. But just as predicted, for being an omega, for being in such a low status, I was rejected.

Before hot tears could even flow down my cheeks, I suddenly heard him spoke once more.

"It doesn't change anything though," Ajax said, hands moving up to touch my face.

My eyes widened at his action. Looking up, I looked at his face and almost felt my chest breaking even more.

With an almost crazed expression paired with a low, dominating voice, Ajax caressed my cheeks, his alpha pheromones increasing in every second, filling every breath I took, owning all of my senses. "Whether you're accepted or rejected by me, the fact that you belong to me will never change."

He was a great alpha and I was a mere omega. He was the man I had love for a long time and vowed to stay with in the future until the day I die. Being his servant was something I was tasked to, whether I liked it or not. But because my heart couldn't stop loving him, I took the task naturally and willingly.

But because of fate, these things could no longer be the same. Whether it was yesterday's smiles or tomorrow's hopeful beams―everything shattered because of fate.

Clear, blue eyes lit and reflected my messed up face as a low, magnetic voice penetrated my ears. "Do you understand now, Claire? Even if you object, even if you want to leave, I will never let you go."

With that, Ajax drew me closer, hand cupping my cheek. "You're mine, Claire. Fate says so and neither one of us can change it."

If I look up now and make a howling sound, a sound that held my numerous questions, of alphas and omegas and fates and rejections―would it reach the Moon Goddess, answer my prayers, and wipe away my tears?

I met Ajax when I was six years old. He was seven that time but among all the other alphas born, he was the smallest and weakest in looks. Naturally, even betas began to question whether he was a real alpha or not.

During those times, I still didn't know the line between alphas and omegas. All I knew was I was a kid and he was a kid. And no kids deserved to be treated harshly, whether by actions or words.

When the kids went away and all that was left was Ajax, I hid myself from one of the trees, peeking and waiting for him to get mad or cry after being bullied. I waited and waited, but the birds flew and the clouds changed their colors, yet Ajax remained silent.

I realized he wasn't the type to cry nor get mad easily.

Even when people began questioning his abilities when he turned sixteen and transformed, Ajax only silently listened to them. On the day of the annual battle training, he defeated the same people who had doubted his skills as an alpha. Not even once did he give his time to lecture them face-front nor did he explain himself.

From then on, I had assumed Ajax to be a person who chose forgiveness over grudge, sympathy over ridicule, peace over war. In my eyes, Ajax was the exact description of a "Prince", similar to those princes in the tales I have been hearing and reading secretly. A prince ready to understand his people, a prince willing to listen and protect his members, a prince with a kind heart and good temperament.

But I was wrong.

Because the "Prince" I had dreamt and assumed to be the best person in the world... turned out to be the worst being I had ever come across with.

"I asked you a question, Claire. Answer it," Ajax ordered in a low, ragged breath, his skin close to mine as we connected.

I could feel his member going in and out of my lower region, my mind mushy and about to turn to a big lump of bread from the sensation. It had been half an hour since we began yet it seemed as though Ajax wasn't near satisfied with both my answer and the times we had done it.

"I said I, I bumped into him," I answered, my face red as I tried to bite my lip but failed as Ajax suddenly grabbed my head, turning me to face him.

There was a deep frown on his face as he glared down at me, "You know I hate liars, Claire."

I wanted to tell him I wasn't lying at all but he didn't give me the chance as he bit my lip once more. Ajax kissed me as if he was punishing me―deep, suffocating, and full of anger.

When and why did I ever think he was the most gentle and kindest "prince" that needed protection and adoration?

Everything was a lie.

The entire room was filled with the smell of our sexual intercourse, dominated by Ajax's alpha pheromones that continued to attack my entire being.

His thrusts became much hurried as we both moaned and fell into a deep craze filled with lust, whether it was because of "fate" or whatever it was, I couldn't decipher anymore.

Moaning in pleasure, my hands were about to hang onto his shoulders when Ajax gave me another glare, stopping my movements. There was no time to feel my heart break as he suddenly plunged in too deep, hitting the softest spots deep inside me. I could almost feel like a softening potato, my insides melting slowly.

Not knowing where to put my hands on, I tried to grab the sheets underneath me when Ajax's hands grabbed mine, his thrusts even going rougher in every move while staring down at me and holding me in place.

As he did this, I couldn't help but feel my broken heart pounded, a lingering hope wanting to appear in a desperate plea.

"Ahh!" I almost screamed as he brutally attacked the deepest spots inside me.

Ajax grunted with low facets of movements, moans escaping his lips as he pulled me up.

I felt my entire self melting, my heart softening, as Ajax embraced me close, his arms circling me possessively. With a final, deep thrust and a guttural sound of release, Ajax met his climax, filling me up to the brim.

With our bodies connected and with lust and passion leaking out of our systems―whether due to fate or something else―Ajax stared right through my eyes, the deep hatred I was looking for missing.

It was gone as fast as it came though and with my body soft and swollen all over as I lay down the bed naked, I felt Ajax's figure moved from the sheets. My half-lidded eyes caught sight of him dressing up, then immediately, almost as if he was eager to go, Ajax opened the door and left the room.

My heart was probably too dumb and numb, for hating him didn't arrive. At that moment, no matter how I wanted to scream at him for doing things as he pleased, my body softened and I couldn't help but pull him closer as he held me closer.

It was too far from making love but the idea that we connected and Ajax looked at me with that pair of―almost loving―eyes... froze whatever loathing I was keeping inside.

I was dumb. I knew I was. There was no way Ajax would love me. But for just this once, just this once, let me taste what affection meant...

Hugging myself in a fetus position as I lay down with my naked body, I silently, slowly, let myself fall asleep.

"Are you really going to let this pass? Claire, your family needs you. The omegas are suffering. All of them are being treated miserably... Wake up, Claire! Do you really want to see how your race meet its end?"

A voice of a woman woke me up and when I opened my eyes, I found myself in a dark room once more. There was a wisp of light at the center but this time, the color and temperature were different.

It seemed as though she could read my mind as she spoke. "I'm Ursula." I noticed it was a different voice from last time.

The woman who called me last time was called "Alix" if I could remember it right. This one was Ursula... Just what were they?

"I'm a witch," Ursula explained. "I've been dead for ages. You may not believe it but I've been watching you ever since you were a kid. I know things about you other people do not know that well. Your dislikes, your personal desires, your beloved... but these aren't important. Claire, I know you treasure your race and treat them as your own family. Right now, they are suffering under the hands of other races. You yourself experienced it. I'm here to tell you that you are the only one who can save them. I'm asking you, in the name of the Jaderoot Order, to save your race."

I almost wanted to shout, but my response came a lot calmer as I expected. "What do you mean?"

Why did I have to do with these things? First, I was blamed for our "pack's doom", now I was the only one who can save my omega race? Who would believe such things? And what did she mean by Jaderoot Order? What was that?

The light dimmed a little, flickering against the dark. "You may be confused right now, but you shall not fear, Claire. You will be safe as long as you listen to me. I can help you accomplish everything. I will guide you in every step."

Then with a lighter tone, the wisp began to integrate with the dark. "First, you need to stop harboring good feelings for your mate."

Stop harboring feelings for my mate... I needed to stop loving him.

Stop loving Ajax... Can I really do it?