“The Watchfire’s burning again,” Mira whispered, nudging me with her elbow as we scrubbed blood from the stone floor. “Ceremony tonight.”
“Smells like bullshit to me,” I muttered, not looking up from the stain that had been mocking me for three days straight. “Always does.”
“Lucy—”
“Don’t.” I dunked my rag back in the vinegar water. “Just don’t.”
The thing about being demoted from Beta to cleaning duty? Everyone suddenly had opinions about your life choices. Mira meant well, but I wasn’t in the mood for pep talks about keeping my head down and playing nice.
Boots echoed down the corridor. Sharp, confident, too fucking familiar.
“Shit,” Mira breathed, scrambling to her feet. “I’m gonna—”
“Stay.” But she was already gone, like smoke in wind.
“Still on your knees, Ashwood?” Alpha Valen’s voice dripped satisfaction. “Getting comfortable down there?”
I kept scrubbing. Maybe if I ignored him hard enough, he’d spontaneously combust. “Busy.”
“I can see that.” He crouched beside me, and I could smell his cologne—expensive, aggressive, everything I hated about pack hierarchy wrapped in a bottle. “You know what I think?”
“That you peaked in school?”
His laugh was sharp as broken glass. “I think you like it down there. Pretending you’re too good for the rest of us, but really?” His fingers caught my chin, forcing me to look at him. “You know you’re mine. Even if you keep playing hard to get.”
I slapped his hand away so fast the sound echoed. “I’m not playing anything, Valen. I’m just not interested.”
The shift in his expression was subtle—a slight tightening around his eyes, a smile that went cold at the edges. “We’ll see.”
He stood and walked away, each step deliberate. I should have felt relieved. Instead, dread settled in my stomach like a stone.
***
That night, the howl cut through everything—dinner conversations, arguments, sleep. Pack assembly. The kind that meant business.
“What do you think this is about?” Mira asked as we filed into the courtyard.
“Nothing good.” The Watchfire blazed in the center, casting shadows that danced like demons. “When has pack assembly ever been good news for people like us?”
The crowd gathered in the traditional circle—warriors in their dark furs looking like they stepped out of a fantasy novel, elders in ceremonial robes that probably cost more than my entire wardrobe. Even the pups were there, wide-eyed and clinging to their mothers.
Valen stood at the center, perfectly posed like he was auditioning for Alpha Monthly.
“Lucy Ashwood,” his voice carried across the courtyard, smooth as poisoned honey. “Has rejected the claim of her Alpha.”
The words hit like a physical blow. Around me, gasps rippled through the crowd.
“That’s not—” I started forward.
“Oh, this is bad,” Mira whispered beside me.
“She has dishonored her bloodline,” Valen continued, his voice gaining strength. “Disobeyed her place in the pack order.”
“This is such bullshit!” I called out, my voice cracking with fury. “I never—”
“Enough.” Elder Rowan’s voice cut through everything. No emotion, no warmth, just cold authority. “From this day forward, she is no longer of Beta rank. She is Omega. Stripped of all privileges. Unmarked. Unprotected.”
The world tilted sideways. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
But the circle was already parting around me, pack members stepping back like I’d suddenly sprouted plague sores. I looked for familiar faces—training partners, bunkmates, anyone who might speak up.
“Say something,” I whispered to Mira, but she was already backing away.
“I can’t,” she mouthed, eyes wide with fear. “I’m sorry.”
One by one, they all looked away. Even the ones I thought might have my back turned their faces to the ground.
Valen walked toward me, each step echoing. The crowd watched in silence, waiting for the show to really begin.
He stopped in front of me, close enough that I could see the satisfaction in his eyes.
“You’ll kneel, Lucy,” he said softly, voice curling like smoke. “Or I’ll make you.”
“Go to hell.” But my legs were shaking, and we both knew it.
“I’m already there.” His smile was all teeth. “And now, so are you.”
I tried to hold my ground. I really did. But when faced with the entire pack watching, waiting for me to break, my knees gave out. The stone bit into my skin as I fell.
The silence was deafening.
Valen leaned down, his words meant only for me. “You’ll crawl to me eventually, Lucy. They always do.”
The shame burned hotter than the Watchfire behind me, but I kept my head up. If I was going down, I was going down swinging.
“Fuck you,” I whispered back.
His smile widened. “That’s the spirit.”
