Helanie:

"When are you going to accept me?" I asked him as he shrugged into his black jacket, adjusting it comfortably while sitting beside me on the bench. The alpha before me looked excited for the night. He was the only son of Alpha Diaz of The Vicious Bane Pack. He was supposed to have his official crowning when he turned 23 but that would be another three years.

"It'll take time. Why do you always bring it up when I am in a good mood?" His irritation was evident. But I needed to know if I was holding onto false hope or if this was leading somewhere.

In the hustle and bustle of my house, everyone had forgotten that I finally turned eighteen. I had waited for this day for what felt like forever.

Probably since I was six.

That's when everything changed, and I was no longer Daddy's princess or Mommy's little queen. But that's when I found a friend in Altan. Despite him being an alpha's son, he connected well with me. However, he always insisted we keep our friendship a secret. I wondered if it was because he was ashamed of me having no wolf. But like any other werewolf, I carried a certain aura and also the ability to find a mate, if only I had one. Apart from that, I didn't have any other abilities that a fully transitioned werewolf has even when they are in their human form.

"I turned eighteen tonight, Altan. I'll be expected to find a mate soon. I don't want my father to push me into a match with someone of his choosing," I managed to say, even as his hands roamed over my thighs, lifting my knee-length dress toward places that made me uncomfortable.

It felt wrong being touched like that in public. Especially in the abandoned underground station.

The pack that once thrived here had long been destroyed by dark forces. Now, it was just barren land between active territories, with a rarely-used train station stop.

That's why Altan had brought me here. Nobody could see us here.

"Mmm. We'll figure something out later. But for now—" He nuzzled his face into my neck, his fingers toying with my pendant. Every time someone got too close to it, fear gripped me.

This pendant was my lifeline. A shield, protecting me from harm.

"Altan, I don't think we should be doing this here," I murmured, growing increasingly uneasy with his advances. But he insisted on meeting in secluded places, where no one could spot us together. It hadn't always been like this. It wasn't so sexual before. But now that I was eighteen, he was acting differently—more possessive, more physical.

When he had asked me to lie to my family and sneak out, pretending I was going to study at a friend's house, he had promised to celebrate my birthday with a cake.

That was a lie. There was no cake.

Just his lust-filled gaze.

"No one comes here, Helanie!" he grumbled, lifting his head from my neck and cupping my face in his hands. "I want all of you tonight. I need to see how far you're willing to go—to prove to me that you're ready to be my mate, to be the Luna of the pack." His words felt heavy, suffocating.

I had wanted his acceptance for so long. And despite not being able to find a fated mate, I wasn't entirely upset that Altan had promised to make me his chosen mate.

"I am—" I began to respond, but before I could explain how uncomfortable I felt about giving myself to him before any real commitment, he grabbed my pendant.

It was like he had snatched my heart from my chest.

"Take this off," he whispered close to my ear, making me shudder. I quickly shook my head.

"Altan, I'm not supposed to," I pleaded, but he shook his head in return. Then, in one swift motion, he yanked the pendant from my neck.

Seeing the pendant in his hand felt like staring at my own vulnerability reflected in a mirror.

Swallowing hard, I whispered, "I should put it back on."

But it was too late. My body had already started releasing pheromones almost instantly.

He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, his body visibly trembling.

"They called it a curse, but I call it a blessing," Altan murmured before pressing his lips against mine with a passion that made me shudder. His words echoed in my mind as I remembered how others had described me.

Growing up, I was kept sheltered for this exact reason, until an old neighbor gave me the pendant to help control my condition.

Being born into an Omega family, I was supposed to be like them—ordinary. But when I turned twelve and couldn't transition, I discovered that my body produced potent pheromones, attracting those around me uncontrollably. But they weren't that bad until I began to grow. It only happened to one in a million years to a cursed she-wolf and sadly, I was deemed one now.

My body could go into heat quickly, and it was dangerous. The pendant had suppressed my pheromones.

Now, without the pendant, I was left vulnerable, and in public no less.

"Relax, Helanie. No one's going to pick up on your pheromones here," Altan reassured me as he pulled away, his eyes gleaming with desire.

He quickly discarded his jacket, ready to fulfill what he had always wanted. He had often expressed his desire to take my virginity when my body was in heat, the pheromones making him insatiable.

No!

I didn't see it as a blessing. It was most definitely a curse.

The realization hit me hard as he grabbed my wrists, pinning me against the wall. He wasn't going to stop tonight.

"You're mine now," he whispered in my ear, his hand slipping under my dress, lifting it higher with each movement.

"And ours too!" A sudden voice startled us both, forcing Altan to stop.

We turned to see a group of Alphas standing before us, wearing blue training jackets and holding bottles of alcohol.

"Excuse us!" Altan tried to pull me past them, gripping my hand tightly, but the tallest of the Alphas blocked his path, his massive frame towering over us.

"You can go," the man growled in a low, menacing voice, "but leave her with us."

Fear gripped me as I squeezed Altan's hand, my heart pounding in my chest. There were six of them.

They must have been returning from Alpha training and celebrating when they caught a whiff of my pheromones.

That was the only explanation for why they came at us so aggressively. Their eyes, hungry and predatory, raked over my body from behind Altan.

He had recognized me by my scent—the cursed one. And I had identified them as alphas from their training jackets.

"I don't want any trouble. I'll take her home. You guys enjoy your drinks," Altan said, nodding at their bottles, though it was clear they wanted something more than alcohol.

"Come on now, I can sense your aura—you're an Alpha too," the tallest alpha hissed, stepping closer to Altan's face. He was so tall and broad that it looked like he could crush Altan with ease. "What are you doing with someone who doesn't even have a wolf?" He sneered, having picked up on my human scent.

"Altan!" I whimpered, stepping behind him and clutching his shirt, trembling with fear.

The young Alphas were intimidating—huge, imposing, and clearly not in control.

"Step away. That's an Alpha's order," Altan snarled, but one of them broke into laughter.

At that moment, I realized coming here had been a mistake.

They already knew my body was in heat, and now they were, too, driven by my pheromones. But I held out hope. Altan was an Alpha, and surely his command would be respected.

"Are you sure you want to be known as the Alpha mated to a wolf-less creature who gives off such a filthy scent that she drives men wild around her?" the tallest Alpha taunted, placing a hand on Altan's shoulder, his voice loud enough for me to hear. He seemed to be the one leading.

"Altan, let's go!" I begged, tugging on his shirt, but he shook his head, conflicted.

The Alphas were stepping closer now, too close. Desperate, I snatched the pendant from Altan's hand and quickly fastened it around my neck, praying it would stop them.

"Too late," one of the Alphas sneered, laughing cruelly. "With or without your scent, we want you tonight." The leader's eyes remained locked on Altan's, daring him to act.

"Altan!" I shook him again, trying to hold his hand, but this time, his fists were clenched tightly, making it impossible for me to intertwine our fingers.

"Look at her! She's a cursed and shameless woman, flaunting herself in public, ready to release her pheromones. Would you ever want to make a woman like her your Luna?" The Alpha taunted, and that's when I noticed Altan turn slightly towards me.

Our eyes met, and for the first time, I sensed the depth of the trouble we were in.

"What are you thinking? Please, let's go home," I mouthed silently, hoping he would snap out of his silence. But he remained frozen, unmoving.

I was beginning to fear Altan, too.

The Moon Goddess seemed to give us one last chance when a train arrived and stopped briefly at the station. All Altan needed to do was stand up for me and walk with me onto that train. Once we were back in our pack, I promised myself I'd never come to places like this again.

But my hope for surviving the night shattered when Altan did something I never expected.

The Alphas watched him closely as he slowly hunched over, picked up his jacket, dusted it off, and began walking away—without me.

In that moment, my world crumbled.

My body froze in shock before I scrambled to my feet, only to have my arms seized by two of the Alphas.

"Let me go!" I screamed, "Altan!"

He stepped into the train, and the glass doors began to close.

"What are you doing? Why are you leaving me with them?" I cried out, watching him through the glass as tears welled up in my eyes. He stood there, watching as the doors shut in his face. We could still see each other—he could still see me.

"You're ours tonight," the Alpha's voice slithered into my ear.

They pushed me roughly against the wall, and I realized, with dread, that my boyfriend had left me to the mercy of these Alphas.

As they surrounded me, the one with gray streaks in his hair pulled out a camera and pointed it toward me.

"Let's have some fun, shall we?" he said with a sick grin, while the big guy signaled his friends to grab me. They pinned me against the wall as one of them began filming.

It was going to be a long night. A night that would change everything for me.