**Aria**
The rest of the day flew by in a blur of preparation. The entire palace was decorated with silver and gold ribbons, fresh flowers from the royal gardens, and hundreds of candles that we'd have to light before sunset. My hands were raw from scrubbing the grand ballroom floor until it shone like a mirror.
Well, not literally like a mirror. Mirrors were banned in the Shadow Creek Pack, which was super weird if you asked me. Prince Zander's father, the old Alpha King, had outlawed them five years ago. Anyone caught with one faced serious punishment. Nobody knew why, but rumors said the King had seen something terrible in a mirror once—maybe his own future death or something equally creepy.
"Luna! Stop daydreaming and help me with these tablecloths!" Stella called from across the ballroom.
The white silk tablecloths were heavy and difficult to manage. We had to cover fifty tables, each one needing to be perfectly smooth without a single wrinkle. The Prince's personal standard—a black wolf howling at a crescent moon—had to be centered exactly on each table.
"My arms are going to fall off," I groaned after the twentieth table.
"At least you'll meet your mate with no arms," Stella joked. "Very unique. He'll never forget you!"
I laughed despite my exhaustion. "Oh yes, he'll say, 'You're the most beautiful armless girl I've ever seen. Marry me!'"
We were giggling so hard we didn't notice someone approaching until a shadow fell over us.
"Is something funny, servants?"
That cold voice made my blood freeze. I looked up to see Diana, Princess of the Storm Ridge Pack, staring down at us with disgust. She was everything I wasn't—tall, elegant, with perfect golden skin and hair so blonde it looked like sunlight. She'd been visiting for a week, supposedly to "strengthen pack alliances," but everyone knew she was here to try to seduce Prince Zander.
"No, Your Highness," Stella and I said in unison, immediately bowing our heads.
"Then why were you laughing?" She stepped closer, her expensive perfume making me want to sneeze. "Do you find your duties amusing? Should I report to the Alpha King that his servants think their work is a joke?"
"No!" I said quickly. "We were just—"
"I wasn't speaking to you, omega," she snapped, her blue eyes narrowing at me. "I can smell your weakness from here. It's disgusting. How the Shadow Creek Pack allows something like you to serve in the palace is beyond me."
My cheeks burned with shame and anger. Something like me? I was a person, not a thing! But I kept my mouth shut because making an enemy of a visiting princess was basically asking to be executed.
"I asked you a question, beta," Diana said to Stella, completely ignoring me now like I was invisible.
"We were just happy about tonight's ceremony, Your Highness," Stella said carefully. "Everyone's excited for the Prince's birthday celebration."
Diana's perfect lips curved into a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Ah yes, the ceremony. Where Prince Zander will likely find his mate." She examined her perfect nails. "Of course, when he discovers it's me, no one will be surprised. We're perfect for each other—both royal, both powerful, both beautiful."
I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing. Prince Zander's mate? I'd seen him look at Diana the same way he looked at everyone else—with complete boredom. But she was so convinced they were meant to be that she'd been following him around all week like a lovesick puppy.
"You," Diana suddenly pointed at me, making me jump. "You're eighteen today too, aren't you?"
How did she know that? I nodded slowly.
She laughed, but it sounded like breaking glass. "How pathetic. Sharing a birthday with Prince Zander, but while he's celebrating with hundreds of guests, you're scrubbing floors. The Moon Goddess certainly has a sense of humor, doesn't she?"
"Everyone has their place," I said quietly, though inside I was imagining dumping a bucket of dirty mop water on her perfect head.
"Exactly," Diana said with satisfaction. "And yours is at the bottom. Remember that tonight, little omega. When you're standing in the corner watching everyone else find their mates, remember that some wolves are meant for greatness, and others are meant to clean up after them."
She swept away, her expensive dress trailing behind her. I stared after her, my hands clenched into fists so tight my nails dug into my palms.
"What a witch," Stella muttered once Diana was gone. "I hope Prince Zander's mate is literally anyone but her."
"Maybe it'll be Mrs. Greta," I suggested, and we both burst out laughing at the image of the onion-smelling kitchen matron as the Prince's mate.
We finished setting up the ballroom just as the sun started to set. The other servants were getting ready for the ceremony, but there was a strict hierarchy even in that. The beta servants got to bathe first, using the good washrooms with clean water. By the time it was my turn, the water was cold and murky.
I tried to make myself look presentable, I really did. I scrubbed my skin until it was pink, tried to tame my mess of brown hair into something resembling a style, and put on my least patched dress—a gray thing that might have been pretty once upon a time.
Looking at my reflection in the water basin (since mirrors were forbidden), I barely recognized myself. Not because I looked good, but because I looked... different. Maybe it was just the excitement of finally turning eighteen, but my eyes seemed brighter somehow. Less muddy gray and more... silver? That couldn't be right.
"Luna! Hurry up!" Stella called. "The ceremony's starting!"
I ran to our room where Stella was waiting, wearing a simple blue dress that brought out her green eyes. She looked pretty. Beta servants were allowed to attend the ceremony as guests if they'd finished their duties. Omegas like me had to serve drinks and food during the celebration.
"You look nice," I told her, meaning it.
She smiled sadly. "I wish you could be a guest too. It's your birthday."
"It's fine," I lied. "I'll still be there. I'll still find my mate."
If he wanted me after seeing me in my servant's uniform, carrying trays of drinks for prettier girls.
We walked to the ballroom together, but had to separate at the entrance. Stella went through the main doors with the other guests while I had to use the servant's entrance. The ballroom looked magical with all the candles lit, casting dancing shadows on the walls. The packed room smelled of roses and expensive perfumes, making my nose itch.
Prince Zander stood at the front of the room on a raised platform, looking annoyingly perfect in his formal black suit. His dark hair was slicked back, showing off his sharp jawline and those famous green eyes. Diana stood as close to him as possible without actually touching him, wearing a dress that probably cost more than I'd see in ten lifetimes.
"Welcome!" Alpha King Marcus boomed, his voice filling the room. Prince Zander's father was an older version of his son—handsome but with gray streaking through his hair and lines around his eyes. "Tonight we celebrate my son's eighteenth birthday and the Mate Ceremony!"
Everyone cheered. I picked up a tray of drinks and started weaving through the crowd, trying to be invisible. Other servants moved around me like ghosts, all of us trained to serve without being seen.
The Alpha King continued his speech about the importance of mate bonds, how the Moon Goddess blessed each wolf with their perfect other half, blah blah blah. I'd heard it all before at other ceremonies. What I hadn't experienced before was the strange tingling in my skin as midnight approached.
My wolf—who I'd never been able to fully sense before—suddenly stirred inside me. It felt like something was waking up, stretching after a very long sleep. Which was weird because omegas usually had the weakest wolves, barely more than human.
*Soon,* a voice whispered in my head, making me nearly drop my tray. Was that... my wolf talking to me? That never happened!
"Watch it, mudpuppy!" Garrett hissed as I bumped into him. "Don't ruin the Prince's ceremony with your clumsiness."
I apologized and kept moving, but the tingling was getting stronger. My skin felt too tight, like something inside wanted to burst free. The drinks on my tray started rattling because my hands were shaking.
"Ten minutes to midnight!" someone announced, and the excitement in the room doubled.
I set down my tray and pressed myself against the wall, trying to breathe through whatever was happening to me. My vision kept shifting, going from normal to super sharp and back again. I could suddenly smell everything—every person's individual scent, their emotions, their—
*Pack. Danger. Hidden. Protected. Soon.*
The voice in my head was getting louder, more insistent. What was happening to me?
"Five minutes!"
The room started arranging itself. Unmated wolves stood in a large circle while those already mated or too young stepped back to watch. I stayed against my wall, technically part of the circle but clearly separated from the actual guests. A few other omega servants stood near me, all of us hoping against hope that maybe tonight would be our night.
Prince Zander stepped into the center of the circle, Diana somehow managing to position herself directly across from him. She kept making eye contact with him and smiling. He looked bored.
"One minute!"
My heart was pounding so hard I was sure everyone could hear it. The tingling had become burning, but not painful—more like the feeling when your foot falls asleep and starts waking up. Except it was my entire body.
*Almost time, little moon. The spell weakens. Be ready.*
Spell? What spell? What was my wolf talking about?
"Ten! Nine! Eight!"
Everyone started counting down. I pressed my back against the wall, trying to stay upright as waves of something powerful washed over me.
"Seven! Six! Five!"
The moonlight streaming through the windows seemed to get brighter, or maybe my eyes were just getting more sensitive.
"Four! Three!"
I could smell him. Somewhere in this room was my mate. The scent of pine forests and thunderstorms filled my nose.
"Two!"
My eyes locked onto Prince Zander across the room. No. No way. That couldn't be right.
"One!"
His green eyes met mine.
"MIDNIGHT!"
The world exploded…
—