Octavia had always known she was special.
She was the second child of her family, but the first daughter; the daughter who had survived when their beloved son, a future Beta, had died early. Her younger sister, Lyra, was pretty and charming, but it was Octavia her parents had always looked to. Because Octavia had been born beneath the light of the full moon.
In their world, omegas were rarely respected. They were seen as ornaments, playthings, or bargaining tokens to appease alphas. That was exactly what Lyra was.
But wolves born under the full moon were different. They were whispered about in every pack, believed to carry power in their blood. And though her parents never said it aloud, Octavia had grown up with the weight of their hopes on her shoulders.
They adored her. They praised her. They reminded her every day that she was destined for more.
"Your brother would have been strong, yes," her father told her once, "but you, Octavia… you will be greater."
Her mother's hands, ever gentle as she tucked back Octavia's hair, had always said the same thing. "The moon marked you for a reason."
So when Octavia walked through the Moon Dance festival that night, their pride in her lingered in the back of her mind. She was not just another omega girl lingering at the edges of a crowd. She was their daughter, their promise.
While walking she suddenly smelled him—her mate.
The scent struck her like lightning. That smell was of cedar and storm, it was both sharp and intoxicating. Her wolf, Willow, reared inside her chest, howling a single word that set her body trembling. "Mate!"
Her eyes searched the crowd until she saw a man in a mask.
He stood apart from the dancers, half his face hidden by the black mask. Even so, the intensity of his gaze stole the air from her lungs. She stepped toward him before she realized her feet were moving.
He moved too, closing the distance between them. His wolf must have rattled "Mate!" at that moment too.
His voice was soft when he spoke, gentler than anything she had ever known.
"You're shaking," he murmured. "Don't be afraid."
Afraid? No, she was not. For the first time in her life, Octavia felt alive.
He led her into the dance. His hands were steady, his movements were sure, and though he kept the mask on, his gentleness wrapped around her like a promise. For that one night, she believed destiny had given her a gift that wasn't bought by her parents.
That night, under the glowing lanterns, she believed the moon had not lied when it marked her.
When she told her parents afterward, their reaction had been cautious joy.
"You're certain?" her mother asked, her eyes hopeful. "A true mate?"
Her father's brows had furrowed. "Then he must be worthy of you. The Moon Dance does not lie, but some men do. We cannot risk your life on a shadow, Octavia."
They wanted to believe her, but they were practical. Their pack was a small one with no male, they needed strength. Their survival depended on alliances. And Alpha Beckham's family, leaders of the powerful MoonCedar Pack, had already extended their hand in marriage.
When Beckham himself agreed, Octavia did not hesitate. She recognized him immediately as the masked man from the Moon Dance when she first saw him without a mask. Her mate!
Her parents rejoiced. They thought fate had smiled on their daughter twice over: gifting her a mate, and securing their family's future. They sent her to Beckham's side with blessings whispered like prayers.
But when the mask came off, so did the gentleness.
Beckham was cold, his eyes unreadable and he never touched her. The warmth she had felt that night disappeared as though it had never existed.
But Octavia endured. She told herself it was duty, that an alpha carried burdens she couldn't understand. And when she carried his child, she hoped, no, prayed that their bond would deepen. Instead, her life unraveled.
Sickness struck her months into her marriage. Her body burned with fever that made her scream until her throat tore raw. Lyra, her sister, came and went as she pleased in Beckham's home and especially at that period. Before Octavia could realize it, Beckham was gone, absent when she needed him most.
And in the darkness of her suffering, something inside her broke: Her wolf.
Her wolf disappeared, leaving her hollow, fragile, and empty. She didn't know how. No ordinary sickness could take a wolf but when she woke the next morning, she knew it was gone.
Beckham knew too after she told him and bewilderingly, he didn't rage or ask any question. He simply looked at her with a blankness that screamed how much he didn't care about it.
From that day on, he treated her as though she were air.
The night of the attack weeks later was worse. Chaos descended on their pack when another outsider pack attacked them with fire and screams splitted the night. Beckham left her side, racing to protect Lyra and her parents, while Octavia staggered into the forest alone.
It was there, amidst the trees, that labor seized her.
She screamed into the night with her blood soaking the soil and no memory of how she made it through. She only remembered the tearing pain, the dizziness, the cold and the betrayal of Alpha Beckham.
When she awoke, she was clutching her son. He hadn't cried when he was born. He was small, fragile and silent but alive. She named him Julian, after the pale moonlight that had shone over them when no one else had.
Beckham returned days later. He showed no concern, no pride, not even curiosity for the child she had borne. He simply nodded, as though acknowledging an obligation, and turned away.
So Octavia endured again, sweeping away his former betrayal.
She raised Julian beneath the weight of Beckham's indifference, loving her son fiercely even as her husband treated them both like shadows in his home.
Until one night, she could bear the silence no longer.
The moonlight spilled across the room where Julian slept in his crib. Octavia sat across from Beckham, her hands trembling.
"I need to know," she whispered. "What is going on between you and Lyra?"
His eyes lifted to hers, those unreadable eyes.
"Lyra is my mate."
Octavia's breath caught. "That's not possible. I am your mate, you are my mate. I felt it, Beckham. I—"
"You were a burden forced upon my shoulders," he said coldly. "A contract Luna that should never have been if I had known my mate sooner. Lyra is my true mate."