LIORA POV
His hand grabbed her arm before she even realized he was there.
Liora was carrying folded linens from the supply room when Kross stepped out from behind the corner. He was a Beta, which meant he was stronger than her. Faster than her. Above her in every way that mattered in the pack hierarchy.
He was also drunk.
She could smell the alcohol on his breath before she could even see his face clearly. His fingers dug into her wrist, pulling her backward into the shadows of the narrow hallway. The linens tumbled from her arms and scattered across the floor.
"Where are you going in such a hurry?" His voice was thick and slurred. His yellow eyes swept over her face, her hair, her body. "You know, a female like you shouldn't be walking around alone."
Liora's throat went dry. She knew what was coming. She had been through this before. Three times last month. Twice the month before. It was just part of being beautiful and Omega. Part of being prey in a pack full of predators.
She didn't scream. Screaming brought more pain.
She didn't fight. Fighting made them angrier.
She just went still, the way a rabbit goes still when a wolf is near. She made herself small inside her own body. She separated her mind from what was happening and floated somewhere above herself, somewhere safe where his rough hands couldn't reach her.
"A pretty thing like you should be grateful for attention," Kross was saying. His breath was hot against her neck. "Not all the males would bother with an Omega. You should thank me."
Liora closed her eyes. She could hear someone walking in the hallway ahead. Footsteps. A male voice humming a song. Someone was coming.
Maybe they would help.
The footsteps got closer.
Her heart jumped. Maybe this would end. Maybe someone would see what was happening and tell him to stop.
A tall warrior turned the corner. Liora recognized him. His name was Devon. He had always been kinder than the others. He had once handed her a water cup without making her bow for it.
Their eyes met for just a second.
He saw Kross with her pinned against the wall. He saw her fear. He saw exactly what was happening.
And he kept walking.
He didn't slow down. He didn't say anything. He just averted his gaze and continued down the hallway like he had seen nothing at all. Like she didn't exist.
That hurt more than Kross's hands.
The weight of his silence crushed her more than his body did. It was the official announcement that she was alone. That no one cared. That what happened to her didn't matter.
Liora stopped expecting help.
When Kross was finished, he pushed her away. She stumbled and caught herself against the wall. He was already leaving, already moving back to rejoin his friends, already forgetting about her.
This was how it always ended. Quick. Brutal. Unremarkable.
She gathered the scattered linens from the floor with shaking hands. One was torn. She would have to hide it or find a way to repair it before anyone noticed. Getting accused of damaging pack property would mean less food for a week.
The supply room was dark and cold. Liora sat on the stone floor in the corner where no one usually went. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around herself. Her wrist where Kross had grabbed her was already bruising. She could feel the marks forming. Four finger prints on one side. A thumb mark on the other.
She counted her bruises silently like she always did.
There was the one on her wrist from Kross today.
The one on her ribs from yesterday when a higher-ranking Omega had shoved her during meal time out of pure meanness.
The ones on her shoulders from the night before when another Beta had grabbed her in the shadows.
The old ones from a week ago that were fading to yellow and green.
The scars underneath from years and years of this same thing happening again and again.
She had stopped counting after she hit eighteen total a few days ago. What was the point? There was always another one coming.
This was the price of being beautiful. This was the cost of being an Omega. This was her life.
No one protected things like her. No one saved Omegas who got hurt. The pack had decided long ago that she was valuable only for her body and useless for her dignity. So they took the first and ignored the second.
Liora didn't cry. She had learned years ago that tears were a luxury she couldn't afford. Crying showed weakness. Weakness made the predators bolder. So she sat in the darkness and held her own arms and felt nothing.
That was safer.
By the time the sun was setting, she had fixed her appearance. Her hair was rebraided. Her dress was straightened. The bruises on her wrist were hidden under her sleeves. She looked like she always looked. Like nothing had happened.
Like she was still invisible.
The servants were being called to gather. It was time to head to the ritual chamber. Marta was organizing everyone, assigning supplies and making sure the younger ones knew what they were supposed to do.
Liora picked up her assigned bundle. A case of ceremonial candles. Heavy and awkward to carry up the mountain path.
"You're with the back group," Marta told her, barely glancing at her face. "Follow along and don't wander."
Just like always. Invisible and forgettable.
But as Liora stepped out into the evening air, that strange feeling was back. That ancient pull from deep in the earth. It was stronger now. It was getting closer. It was almost like the world itself was waking up.
The mountain path was steep and narrow. The other servants moved ahead of her, chatting nervously about the ritual. About the Alphas who would be there. About the sacred stone.
Liora walked alone at the back of the group, as always.
The moon was rising. It was enormous and bright, filling the sky with silver light. It seemed to be calling to something inside her. Something that had been sleeping her entire life. Something that didn't belong to the broken, beaten-down girl who got cornered in hallways.
Something else entirely.
As they climbed higher into the mountains, the feeling grew stronger. It wasn't a feeling anymore. It was almost like a voice. A very old voice. A very powerful voice.
It was coming from the ritual chamber ahead.
It was coming from the sacred stone.
And somehow, impossibly, Liora felt like it was calling specifically for her.
The chamber entrance appeared through the trees. Torches lined the path. Inside, she could see the glow of the stone. Brighter than any light she had ever seen. Brighter than seemed possible for a rock.
Liora's hands were shaking.
She didn't understand what was happening. She didn't understand why the stone was calling her. She didn't understand anything except that something inside her was responding to that call with a hunger she had never felt before.
A hunger to be something other than invisible.
A hunger to be something other than prey.
A hunger to be powerful.
The other servants were filing into the chamber. Alpha warriors in ceremonial robes stood in protective circles. Pack leaders were gathering. The ritual was about to begin.
Liora stepped across the threshold and entered the chamber.
The stone was waiting.
The stone had been waiting her entire life.
And when her feet touched the stone floor of that ancient chamber, something inside her shifted. Something deep and old and impossible shifted.
The stone began to glow brighter.
Much brighter.