Maya's POV
I threw myself into cleaning every surface in the healing center, scrubbing so hard my fingers bled. Anything to stop thinking about Derek's words echoing in my head: I think you might be my mate.
The door crashed open behind me. I spun around, heart pounding, expecting to see Sarah back for round two.
Instead, Derek stood there, his hair messy and his eyes wild. "Pack that up. We're going."
"What?" I dropped my cleaning rag. "Leaving where?"
"Away from here. Before someone else chooses to interrupt us." His voice was rough, urgent. "Maya, I need to talk to you. Really talk to you."
"Derek, you can't be here. After what Sarah said—"
"I don't care what Sarah said." He stepped closer, and I could see scratches on his neck. Fresh ones. "She doesn't own me yet."
Yet. The word hit like a slap. "What happened? You're bleeding."
"Emergency pack meeting. Sarah's father wasn't happy about our little scene. Things got... heated."
My stomach dropped. "Oh no. I'm so sorry. I never meant—"
"Stop." Derek reached for my hands, then seemed to think better of it. "This isn't your fault. None of this is your fault."
"But I caused problems for your alliance—"
"The partnership can wait. Right now, I need to understand what's happening between us." His eyes searched mine. "Please, Maya. Walk with me. Give me an hour."
I should have said no. Any smart omega would have said no. Derek was promised to another woman, and I was nobody special. Getting engaged would only lead to heartbreak.
But the frantic hope in his voice broke down all my walls.
"One hour," I whispered.
Relief filled his face. "Thank you."
We slipped out the back door of the recovery center. Derek led me away from the main pack buildings, toward the forest tracks I'd walked alone so many times. But having him beside me changed everything. The familiar trees felt magical in the moonlight.
"Tell me about yourself," Derek said as we walked. "I want to know everything."
"There's nothing to know. I'm just an omega healer."
"No." His voice was strong. "You saved Marcus's life today with skills I've never seen before. You're not 'just' anything."
My face warmed at the praise. "My grandma taught me. She was the pack healer before me."
"Was?"
"She died when I was fifteen. Silver poisoning from treating too many warriors without safety." The old pain squeezed my chest. "She never thought about herself. Only about helping others."
Derek stopped walking. "Like you do."
"I'm nothing like her. She was brave. She stood up to anyone if it meant helping someone who was hurt."
"And you don't?"
I thought about earlier, when I'd told Sarah that Derek wasn't a possession. "I... sometimes I say things I shouldn't."
Derek smiled, and it changed his whole face. "Good. I like that."
We reached a small area with a stream running through it. Derek sat on a fallen log and patted the space beside him. I hesitated, then joined him, careful to keep space between us.
"Your grandmother sounds amazing," Derek said. "Why don't you work with our head healer instead of alone in that tiny center?"
The question I'd been dreading. "Because I'm an omega. We don't work with betas and alphas. We have our place."
"Says who?"
"Everyone. It's always been that way."
Derek was quiet for a long moment. "What if it didn't have to be?"
"What do you mean?"
"I've been thinking about pack organization lately. About whether the old ways still make sense." He turned to face me. "You have more healing skill than our head doctor. You should be running the medical center, not hiding in a back room."
My heart started racing. "Derek, you can't change centuries of tradition for one omega."
"Why not? I'm the Alpha."
"But your pack would never accept—"
"My pack follows my lead. If I say you belong in a place of honor, then you do."
The offer was everything I'd ever dreamed of. Recognition, respect, a real place in the pack order. But the cost...
"You're talking about this because of what you think is between us," I said quietly. "When you marry Sarah, you'll forget all about changing traditions for the invisible omega."
Derek's jaw tightened. "I won't marry Sarah."
"You have to. The alliance—"
"I'll find another way to secure peace between the packs."
"What if you can't?"
"Then I'll face the consequences."
I stared at him in shock. "You'd risk your pack's safety for me?"
"I'd risk anything for you."
The words hung in the air between us like a dangerous promise. My heart wanted to believe him, but my mind knew better.
"You don't even know me," I whispered.
"Then tell me. Help me know you."
So I did. Somehow, sitting by that stream with Derek listening like every word mattered, I found myself sharing things I'd never told anyone. How lonely it was being the only young omega in the pack. How I sometimes dreamed of traveling to other regions but knew I'd never be allowed to leave. How I talked to the moon on nights when the quiet got too heavy.
Derek shared too. How the pressure of being Alpha sometimes crushed him. How he'd never felt truly connected to anyone before. How his wolf had been restless for months, looking for something he couldn't name.
"Until today," he said softly. "When I saw you treating Marcus, my wolf went completely still. Like he'd found what he was looking for."
"Derek..."
"I know it's crazy. I know it's impossible. But Maya, I think the moon paired us as mates and we just never met until now."
Before I could reply, a howl echoed through the forest. Then another. And another. The sound was urgent, calling all pack members home quickly.
Derek shot to his feet. "Emergency scream. Something's wrong."
We ran back toward the pack buildings, but as we got closer, I could smell smoke. Real smoke, not from cooking fires.
"The healing center," I gasped.
We burst into the clearing to find my little building engulfed in fire. Pack members made bucket lines, trying to save it, but it was too late. Everything I'd worked for, all my grandmother's supplies and lessons, burning to ash.
"Maya!" Elder Rosa rushed over, her face streaked with soot. "Thank the moon you're safe. We thought you might be inside."
"What happened?" Derek demanded.
"We're not sure, Alpha. The fire started about twenty minutes ago. It spread so fast..."
Derek's eyes narrowed. "Too fast for a normal fire."
"You think someone set it on purpose?" I whispered.
Before anyone could answer, Sarah appeared through the smoke, her face a mask of false worry.
"Oh Maya, how terrible," she said, not sounding terrible at all. "All your work, gone. But don't worry—I'm sure we can find you a nice job in the kitchens or laundry. Somewhere more... fitting for an omega."
The threat was clear. Cross me, and this is what happens.
Derek stepped forward, anger radiating from every line of his body. "Sarah—"
"Now, darling," Sarah's voice turned honey-sweet, "we shouldn't keep our fathers waiting. They're very eager to finish our wedding details after today's... complications."
My blood turned to ice. While Derek and I were sharing our hearts by the stream, Sarah had been planning her next move. And now she had both our families pressing for a quick wedding.
Derek looked torn between staying with me and doing his Alpha tasks. "Maya—"
"Go," I said, though it felt like eating glass. "Your pack needs you."
He paused, then leaned close and whispered, "This isn't over. I promise you, this isn't over."
As Derek walked away with Sarah, her arm possessively through his, Elder Rosa grabbed my shoulder.
"Child, we need to talk. Right now." Her voice was eager, scared.
"About what?"
"About why your building was the only one that burned. About why Sarah was seen near here right before the fire started." Rosa's grip tightened. "And about what I sensed when I touched your wrist earlier."
"What did you sense?"
Rosa glanced around, making sure no one could hear us. When she spoke, her voice was barely a whisper.
"The mate bond, child. You and Derek are true mates. But there's something else, something I've never felt before." Her eyes went wide with fear. "Maya, you're not just any omega. The magic around you... it's old. Powerful. And if I'm right about what you are, then Sarah won't just try to drive you away."
"What do you mean?"
"She'll try to kill you. Because what you are risks everything she's built her life around."
My legs nearly gave out. "What am I?"
Rosa looked around again, then pulled me deeper into the darkness.
"I think you're a Moon Blessed omega, child. The first one born in over three hundred years. And if that's true, then no alliance marriage, no contract, no amount of politics can keep Derek from you."
"Why not?"
"Because Moon Blessed omegas don't just have mates, Maya. They have destined mates picked by the moon goddess herself. And when a Moon Blessed omega finds her mate..."
"What?"
"The bond is so strong it can kill them both if they're kept apart."