Nyx's POV
I woke up screaming.
My body jerked upright, and immediately pain exploded everywhere—ribs, legs, arms, head. It felt like I'd been hit by a truck. No, worse. Like I'd been thrown off a cliff and—
The cliff.
The memory slammed into me. Kade's cold voice. The rejection. Falling. Water filling my lungs. Dying.
I should be dead.
"Easy." A hand pressed gently against my shoulder, guiding me back down. "You're safe now. Just breathe."
I blinked hard, trying to focus. White ceiling. White walls. Machines beeping softly beside a bed. A medical room, but not like any hospital I'd seen before. Everything looked expensive, high-tech, underground.
Where the hell was I?
The man standing beside my bed was maybe fifty, with silver-streaked hair and eyes that reminded me of storm clouds. He wore dark clothes and moved with the careful grace of a predator. An alpha—I could feel it—but different from the ones at the academy. Older. Dangerous in a quieter way.
"Who are you?" My voice came out like sandpaper. "Where am I?"
"My name is Cain Valdis. You're in a secure facility run by the Shadow Council." He sat in a chair beside the bed, studying me like I was a puzzle he was trying to solve. "You've been unconscious for three weeks."
Three weeks? I'd been out for three weeks?
"The cliff," I whispered. "I fell. I should be dead."
"You did fall. A hundred feet onto rocks and into freezing water." Cain leaned forward. "Tell me, Nyx—do you know why you're not dead?"
I shook my head. My whole body felt wrong, like it didn't quite belong to me anymore. Stronger somehow. More solid. My senses were sharper too—I could hear footsteps in distant hallways, smell antiseptic mixed with something else. Power. Raw, crackling power that seemed to hum in the air around me.
"What happened to me?"
"Something extraordinary." Cain's expression was intense. "Nyx, what do you know about Primordial Omegas?"
"Nothing. I've never heard of them."
"That's because they've been extinct for over three hundred years. Or so everyone believed." He pulled out a tablet and showed me an old drawing—a massive white wolf with strange silver markings and glowing violet eyes. "Primordial Omegas were the first of our kind. The most powerful. They could bond with multiple alphas simultaneously, creating packs that were unstoppable. They could amplify their mates' strengths tenfold."
I stared at the drawing. "That's just a legend."
"Is it?" Cain's eyes locked onto mine. "Tell me what you remember about hitting the water."
I closed my eyes, forcing myself back to that horrible moment. "I couldn't breathe. Everything hurt. I was sinking and I couldn't fight it. I was dying."
"And then?"
"Then..." I frowned, trying to grasp the memory. "Something inside me got angry. Really, really angry. Like something had been sleeping and suddenly woke up furious." I opened my eyes. "I remember violet light. And then... nothing."
"Your wolf saved you," Cain said simply. "Your real wolf. The one that had been hidden your entire life."
"That's impossible. My wolf is weak. She barely exists."
"Because someone made sure of that." He swiped to another image—a complex symbol drawn in blood. "This is a suppression curse. Very old magic, very illegal. Someone paid a witch to put this on you when you were a baby. It locked away your true nature, made you appear weak, helpless. A regular omega."
Ice flooded my veins. "Who? Who would do that?"
"We're still investigating. But here's what we know—your bloodline is Primordial. Your great-great-grandmother was one of the last before the bloodline disappeared. The trait skipped generations until you." Cain's voice softened slightly. "Your father knew what you were, Nyx. That's why he gambled you away to the Four Families. He was trying to get rid of you before anyone discovered the truth."
The betrayal hit me like a physical blow. My own father. He hadn't lost me in a card game—he'd sold me. Deliberately. To get rid of me.
"Why?" My voice cracked. "Why would he do that?"
"Fear. Power. Money. Take your pick." Cain stood and walked to the window. "The Four Families run the werewolf world. They don't like threats to their control. If they'd discovered a Primordial Omega existed, they would've either tried to use you... or kill you."
"Kade's father," I breathed. "Alpha Aldric. Did he know?"
"We believe so. We think he arranged the whole thing—the gambling debt, the torture at the academy, the rejection. He was trying to break you before your power could emerge." Cain turned back to me. "But when you fell, when you nearly died, the curse shattered. Your body had to heal itself or you'd die. And when your Primordial nature woke up..." He smiled slightly. "Let's just say you made quite an impression on the local wildlife. We found you in the forest surrounded by wolves from three different packs, all of them bowing in submission."
I looked down at my hands. They looked the same, but I could feel energy thrumming under my skin. Waiting. "The Four. Do they know I survived?"
"They searched for you that night. Found your tracks. They know something survived that fall, but they don't know what. Right now, they think you're dead." Cain's eyes glinted. "And we'd like to keep it that way."
"Why? Why help me?"
"Because the Shadow Council has been waiting for someone like you for a very long time. The pack system is corrupt, Nyx. The strong abuse the weak. Omegas are treated like property. Someone needs to change things." He crossed his arms. "We want to train you. Make you into a weapon. And when you're ready, you can take down the Four Families from the inside."
Revenge. He was offering me revenge.
Every part of me that was still broken, still hurting, still that terrified girl on the cliff screamed yes.
"What do I have to do?"
Cain's smile widened. "Train. For five years, you'll become the deadliest operative we have. You'll learn to fight, to use your abilities, to move through their world undetected. And when the time comes, you'll infiltrate the Alpha Summit where the Four will be."
"And then?"
"Then you destroy them. Everything they built, everything they love, everything they are." He extended his hand. "We'll give you a new name, a new identity, a new life. Nyx Ashford stays dead. But what you become..." His eyes gleamed. "That's up to you."
I looked at his offered hand. Five years of training. Five years to become strong enough that the Four could never hurt me again. Strong enough to make them pay.
But something nagged at me. "Why do you really want this? The Shadow Council—what do you get out of my revenge?"
Cain's smile didn't waver, but something flickered in his eyes. "Smart question. The truth? We need a Primordial Omega we can control. One loyal to us, not to the Four Families. With you, we can shift the entire power structure."
At least he was honest about using me.
"When do I start training?"
"Right now." Cain pulled back his hand and gestured to the door. "But first, there's something you need to see. Proof that everything I've told you is true."
He led me down a long hallway. My legs felt weak, but I forced myself to walk. We stopped in front of a mirror—full length, perfectly polished.
"Look," Cain said.
I looked.
And gasped.
The girl in the mirror wasn't me. Couldn't be me. She had my face, but everything else was different. Her blonde hair had turned silver-white, like moonlight given physical form. Her skinny frame had filled out with lean muscle. Her posture was straight, proud, predatory.
But it was her eyes that made me stumble back.
They weren't brown anymore.
They were violet. Glowing, electric violet that seemed to pulse with power.
"What am I?" I whispered.
"You're what the Four should've been worshipping instead of destroying." Cain's voice was soft. "You're a Primordial Omega. The most powerful wolf our generation will ever see." He paused. "And Nyx? Those four alphas who rejected you? Their wolves should've recognized what you were. Should've been drawn to you like moths to flame."
I stared at my reflection, at this stranger wearing my face.
"The mate bond," I said slowly. "When an alpha meets their true mate..."
"Exactly." Cain's smile was sharp. "The Four rejected the most powerful wolf in generations. Rejected their destined mate. When they see you again—when they realize what they threw away—it's going to tear them apart."
"Good," I said, and my voice didn't sound like mine anymore. It sounded harder. Colder. "Let them suffer."
Cain nodded approvingly. "Come. Training starts now. But Nyx?" He caught my arm as I moved toward the door. "There's one more thing you should know about Primordial Omegas."
"What?"
"The mate bond doesn't die just because they rejected you. It's damaged, yes. Broken. But it still exists, buried deep." His eyes bored into mine. "When you see them again, your wolf is going to scream for them. It's going to hurt worse than anything they ever did to you. Are you strong enough to fight that?"
I thought about three years of torture. About falling off a cliff. About my own father selling me like livestock.
"Watch me."