The sound of rustling leaves was the only thing Calla had learned to trust.
She walked carefully along the narrow forest path, her boots soft against the dirt, every step a habit of silence. The trees here were tall and close together, their branches hanging like curtains over the morning light. This part of the forest—deep, quiet, and slightly colder—always felt like a hidden place, like it belonged more to her than the village ever did.
She was a part of the Rowan Pack, though most of the pack barely noticed her.
Calla was an omega.
The lowest rank in the pack. The quiet ones. The ones who bowed their heads and stayed behind.
She had grown up in the same village as everyone else in the pack, but still felt like she was always a step away—watching from the edge, never quite belonging. The Rowan Pack was led by a powerful Alpha, Darien Kaelstrom. He lived at the center of the village in a large mansion-like house surrounded by stone walls and guarded by high-ranked wolves. His home sat at the heart of the territory, towering over the other smaller homes of his pack members.
Calla had only ever seen the Alpha from a distance. He was tall, strong, with short dark hair and sharp eyes. People said he could sense lies, smell fear, and silence a room with just a glance. He was respected and feared. And he didn't know her name.
But that didn't matter. She preferred to be invisible.
Calla kept walking through the trees, brushing her fingers against the rough bark of an old oak. The silver ring on her finger—plain, smooth, and cool—caught a glint of sunlight.
It had always been with her. No one knew where it came from, not even her. She had woken with it one day as a child, after a fever that nearly killed her. Her adoptive mother, a kind omega healer named Maera, had told her the ring must be a gift from the Moon Goddess.
"Or a sign," Maera had whispered once, when Calla was too young to understand.
Now, Calla wondered if maybe the ring was a secret she wasn't ready to uncover.
---
Back in the village, the morning had begun to wake the rest of the pack. Smoke curled from chimneys, the scent of bread and firewood mixing in the air. Children laughed somewhere nearby, and warriors sharpened their blades in the training yard.
Calla stayed in the woods, away from it all.
Her wolf—quiet and observant—sat in her mind, listening. It was not like other wolves. It didn't growl or demand control. It simply waited.
Something is missing, it said softly sometimes.
Calla would ignore it. What was there to be missing? She had a home. She had Mika—her only friend. She had her chores, her books, her peace.
But sometimes, when the wind blew from the Alpha's mansion, she felt something strange. A heat in her chest, a pressure behind her eyes. A flicker of something she couldn't name. It was never strong enough to understand. Just a whisper.
---
Later that day, she returned to the village and met Mika near the old well.
Mika was a fellow omega, sharp-tongued and warm-hearted, with a round face and hair always tied in a messy braid.
"You disappeared again," Mika said, handing her a piece of bread.
Calla smiled faintly. "I needed air."
"You always need air," Mika teased, though her tone dropped slightly. "You've been distant lately. More than usual."
Calla lowered her gaze. "Just... tired."
Mika watched her for a long moment. "Calla, do you ever feel like something's waiting for you? Like... something inside?"
Calla froze.
The ring on her finger felt warm for a second. Then cold.
She forced a smile. "No. Just dreams."
Mika didn't look convinced, but didn't press.
---
That night, as Calla lay on her small bed under a thin blanket, she stared at the wooden beams above her.
She thought of her wolf.
She thought of the Alpha.
She thought of the ring that hummed faintly on her finger.
And somewhere in the dark, far from the village, a pair of sharp eyes opened under the cover of trees—watching, sensing, waiting.
Darien's wolf growled softly, pacing in his mind.
Something is shifting.
Darien frowned in his sleep, unaware that the omega he hadn't yet noticed... would soon become the center of his world.
But not yet.
Not until the power inside her woke up.
Not until the bond could finally be heard.