A smell hit me like a truck going full speed. Pine trees and winter storms. Leather and something wild and scary and completely overwhelming. It made my wolf go totally crazy inside my head, scratching and clawing to get out. My knees went weak. The cleaning materials fell from my hands, clattering to the floor like my world was falling apart.

"Do you smell that?" a deep voice asked. The voice sent shivers down my spine.

"Honey and wildflowers," another voice answered, rougher than the first. "Like summer and sunshine. Where is it coming from?"

A third voice, softer but just as strong, said, "It's the most beautiful thing I've ever smelled."

But that was impossible. I was just an omega. Just unseen Aisla who cleaned floors and stayed out of sight and never caused trouble for anyone important.

The footsteps got closer. I could hear them breathe now.

My wolf was going crazy inside me. She wanted out. She wanted to run toward that smell, not away from it. She wanted something I didn't understand.

"There," the third voice said, softer than the others but somehow more dangerous. "In the kitchen. She's in there."

The footsteps stopped right outside the door. I could feel them there, waiting.

Deep down, I knew my life was about to change forever.

I could swear I heard three wolves roaring inside my head.

The kitchen door handle turned slowly.

I was about to meet my fate.

Or my doom.


~

I had spent my entire life in the shadows. As a lowly omega, I was used to being overlooked, ignored, and unseen. 

But everything changed on my 18th birthday.

That was the day the Moon Goddess gave me a cruel kind of blessing. 

I had a mate. 

Not just one. 

Not two. 

But all three of the Alpha’s sons, the legendary triplets were bound to me.

The thing about power is this, you can't ever let them see you bleed.


That is a lesson I have kept close to my heart since the night I tore my first challenger apart with my bare teeth while my ribs were broken. I never winced. Never flinched despite the pain I felt. 


Because people spot weakness faster than strength, and they will eat you alive once they smell it.


So I never let them smell it. Not my enemies or my pack. Not even my sons.


But when she screamed tonight and the air split open, I almost let it show.


Everything was happening exactly as it should. She was supposed to cry and break. 


She was supposed to prove in front of witnesses that she was weak and unfit, a curse draped in a mere girl's skin.


One moment she was crumpling under his claw. 


Chapter 37 - The Edge of the Knife