Content Warning: This chapter contains references to attempted sexual assault and situations of abuse. Reader, be careful.
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The full moon bathed the Nightshade Pack in a cruel, silvery light.
Olivia Bennett was sixteen when she discovered that beauty could be a curse.
She was in the private quarters of Marcus Thorn—the Alpha of Nightshade—not by choice, but because he had arranged for her to be brought there. And in the Nightshade Pack, orphaned omegas didn't have the luxury of refusal orders.
"Finally," Marcus said, his voice hoarse with alcohol and something darker. He sat in a leather armchair, his large, muscular body relaxed in a feigned casualness. But his eyes—ice blue and devoid of any humanity—were fixed on Olivia with an intensity that made her skin crawl. "Little Olivia Bennett. You've grown up well, haven't you?"
Olivia kept her eyes downcast, her trembling hands clasped in front of her. She wore a simple dress—the only one she owned that hadn't been completely destroyed from working in the kitchens. Her dark brown hair, which she usually kept tied up, fell in waves to her waist because Marcus had ordered her to let it down.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you."
Slowly, forcing herself, Olivia opened her eyes.
Marcus skillfully—a smile that was anything but warm. "Better. Do you know why I called you here?"
"No, Alpha Thorn."
"Liar." He declared, his full height of six feet three inches becoming apparent. "You know exactly why. You turned sixteen three months ago. You're the perfect age."
Olivia felt bile rise in her throat. She knew. All the orphaned omegas in the pack house knew what happened when they caught her attention.
"Perfect for what, Alpha?" She forced the words, even her voice trembling.
"For the purpose that all omegas serve in Nightshade." Marcus circled her like a predator stalking prey. "You will join the others. In the cells below. Where you will serve me and my most loyal warriors. Where you will father children—nameless bastards who will be trained as soldiers. And where you will finally understand your true worth."
"No." The word came out before Olivia could stop it. "Please, Alpha Thorn, I—"
"You have no choice." His voice cut like a whip. He grabbed her chin with brutal force, forcing her to look at him. "You are an orphan. Unprotected. Worthless beyond your body. And your body," his eyes scanned her in a way that made Olivia want to vomit, "is exceptional."
Tears burned in Olivia's eyes. "Please. I beg you. Don't do this to me."
"Begging only makes it sweeter." Marcus pushed her, and Olivia stumbled backward, falling onto the bed behind her. He shifted, beginning to unbutton her shirt. "Don't worry. The first time it's hard, but you get used to it. They all get used to it."
Pure terror flooded Olivia. She tried to crawl away, but Marcus grabbed her ankle, pulling her back with a force that made her bones ache.
"Stop fighting. It only makes things worse."
His hands went to the zipper of her dress, and Olivia slapped—a sharp, desperate sound that tore at her throat.
"SHUT UP!" Marcus slapped her—a brutal force that made her head spin, blood filling her mouth.
And then the door exploded.
"ALPHA! ALERT AT THE SOUTHERN BORDER!"
Marcus froze, his hand still on Olivia's dress. "WHAT?"
A warrior stood in the doorway, panting. "Unknown wolves have crossed into our territory! At least twenty! The Beta is requesting your immediate presence!"
Marcus growled—an animalistic and furious sound. He looked at Olivia, then at the warrior. "This isn't over," he told Olivia, his words a grim promise. "When I return, you'll be waiting. Understand?"
Olivia couldn't speak. She just nodded, trembling.
Marcus left the room, slamming the door behind him, and Olivia caught the sound of a lock being placed on the outside.
She was trapped.
For a long moment, she just lay there, trembling, touching her swollen face where he had slapped her. Blood stained her fingers. Tears streamed silently down her cheeks.
This is. It ends. When he returns...
A soft knock on the door made her jump.
"Olivia? It's Emma. Are you alright?"
Emma. One of the omegas in the common room. Nineteen years old, blonde hair, gentle eyes that had seen much suffering.
"Emma?" Olivia whispered, stumbling to the door. "How did you—"
"There's no time." Emma's voice was urgent. "I heard everything. I was clearing the hallway. Olivia, you need to run. Now. Tonight. Before he comes back."
"The door is locked—"
"I stole the spare key from Marcus's office while everyone was running for the border." A scraping metal sound, and then the lock clicked. A door The door opened, revealing Emma in simple cleaning clothes, holding a key tremulously. "Come. Quick."
"Emma, if they find out you helped me—"
"I know." Emma grabbed Olivia's arm, pulling her out of the room. "I know what they'll do to me. But I can't... I can't watch another girl join us in the cells. You still have a chance, Olivia. You're young, strong. Run."
"Come with me!" Olivia pleaded.
"I can't." Tears streamed down Emma's face. "I already have a son down there. A two-year-old boy. Marcus will kill him if I run away. But you have nothing holding you here. So GO."
She shoved a small backpack into Olivia's hands. "There's some food, water, a knife. Go south, through the woods. There's a stream three kilometers away that marks neutral territory. Cross it and keep running."
"Where to?"
"Anywhere but here." Emma pushed her toward the back stairs. "And Olivia? When you're free—when you find a better life—remember us. The girls who couldn't escape."
"Emma—"
"GO!"
Olivia ran.
Through the dark hallway. Down the back stairs. Out of a side door Emma had left unlocked. Across the courtyard where wolves normally patrolled but were all distracted by the border alert.
And then toward the forest—the dark, terrifying forest that surrounded Nightshade, which all omegas were warned never, ever to enter alone.
Olivia ran anyway.
Because the forest, with all its dangers, was less terrifying than what awaited her if she stayed.
She ran for what seemed like hours but was probably only minutes.
Branches scratched her face, her arms. Roots tried to knock her down. Her lungs burned, her legs screamed in protest.
But she kept going.
Because behind her, she could hear.
Howls.
Marcus had discovered she was gone. And he was hunting.
"FIND THE OMEGA! ALIVE!" His voice echoed through the forest, amplified by fury and alpha power.
Pure terror flooded Olivia. She ran faster, more desperately.
And then she felt it.
Something inside her—something that had always been asleep, dormant, waiting—awakened.
Heat exploded through her body. Her bones began to break, reforming into impossible configurations. Pain—pain like nothing she had ever experienced—tore through her.
Olivia fell, screaming, but the scream came out as a howl.
Because she was no longer human.
Snow-white fur—not gray or brown like normal omegas, but pure white that gleamed in the moonlight—covered her body. Her hands became paws. Her face elongated into a snout.
In seconds, where Olivia Bennett had been, there was now a she-wolf.
And not just any she-wolf.
Her eyes—which had been dark brown—now shone with silvery light. Power emanated from her in waves that made the surrounding trees tremble. And on her forehead, visible only in the moonlight, was a mark—a perfectly silvery crescent moon.
The Blood Moon Mark.
Olivia didn't know what it meant. She didn't know that ancient legends spoke of an omega born once every thousand years, marked by the Moon Goddess herself, destined to bring both destruction and renewal.
All she knew was that she could suddenly run faster than she ever imagined possible.
So she ran.
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Marcus Thorn stopped abruptly when he saw it.
He had been chasing Olivia through the forest in his wolf form—a massive blond wolf with icy blue eyes—when he saw the flash of white fur ahead.
And then he saw the mark.
"No," he whispered, his voice hoarse even in wolf form. "No. NO."
The Blood Moon.
The legend his grandmother had told him when he was a pup. The prophecy that had haunted his family lineage for generations:
"An omega will be born, marked by the moon, with fur as white as snow and eyes of silver. She will bring about the downfall of the tyrant, the end of oppression, the destruction of everything built on blood and tears. Only her true mate can control her power. Without him, she is pure destruction."
Marcus always thought it was just a story. A silly legend to scare disobedient pups.
But there, running through his forest, was the proof.
Olivia Bennett was not just a beautiful omega.
She was the Blood Moon.
The prophesied destroyer of his lineage.
And he had her in his hands. In his bed. About to violate her, mark her as property, without knowing what she was.
If he had touched her—if he had marked her—her power would have awakened, destroying him in the process.
The legend was clear: "The tyrant who touches the Blood Moon will die in agony, his pack will burn to ashes."
"RETREAT!" Marcus growled to his warriors who followed him. "ALL! NOW!"
"But Alpha, the Omega—"
"I SAID RETREAT!" Absolute power charged the command, forcing all the wolves present to bow in involuntary submission.
Marcus watched the white she-wolf disappear into the darkness, crossing the stream into neutral territory.
He let her go.
Because killing her now would be impossible—she was too fast, too powerful.
And keeping her captive would be suicide.
But he knew where she would likely go.
Shadowpine.
Enemy territory. The most powerful rival pack.
Ruled by Declan Blackwood—the strongest Alpha in North America.
A slow, cruel smile curved Marcus's muzzle.
Perfect.
He would let Olivia run to Shadowpine. He would let Declan—unknowingly—harbor the Blood Moon.
And then, when the moment was right, when she had become comfortable, confident…
Marcus would make his move.
Because there was another part of the prophecy that few knew:
"The Blood Moon belongs to whoever claims it first. Their true mate will take precedence, but without their mark, it can be taken by any alpha strong enough to tame it."
Marcus couldn't touch it now—not without risking the curse.
But if he waited... if he planned carefully... if he found a way to separate it from any potential mate...
Then the Blood Moon—with all its legendary power—would be his.
And with it, he would not only rule Nightshade.
He would rule everything.
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Olivia didn't stop running until her paws could no longer carry her.
She collapsed near a stream, panting, exhausted, confused.
What happened to me?
She knew werewolves could transform—she had seen others in Nightshade do it. But omegas weren't supposed to be able to transform until they were eighteen, when they presented themselves. And no she-wolf had white fur.
And none had this… this feeling of power coursing through her like electricity.
Olivia looked at her reflection in the stream and gasped.
The she-wolf staring back at her was beautiful—strangely beautiful, with fur that shimmered in the moonlight like fresh snow. But it was the eyes that frightened her.
Not her dark brown eyes.
They were silver. Bright. Inhuman.
And on her forehead…
Olivia touched the mark with a paw, feeling power pulse beneath it.
What am I?
She had no answers.
Then, slowly, painfully, she forced herself back into human form.
The transformation back was as painful as the first, bones breaking and reforming, fur receding into bare skin.
When it was over, Olivia lay naked and trembling on the bank of the stream, every muscle in agony.
She crawled to where she had dropped the backpack Emma had given her. Inside was an extra set of clothes—simple, but adequate. She dressed with trembling fingers.
And then she looked up at the sky.
The full moon shone above her, indifferent to her suffering.
Where to now?
Emma had said to go south. But south where? She was in neutral territory, but she couldn't stay here. Marcus would eventually send wolves after her.
Olivia forced her legs to move, following the stream downstream.
She walked for hours, half conscious, half operating on pure survival instinct.
And then she felt it.
Power.
Not like hers—which was wild, uncontrolled, new.
This was… ancient. Controlled. Absolute.
As if the entire forest around her bowed in recognition of this power.
Olivia stopped, her heart racing.
And then he emerged from the shadows.
A man—no, a wolf in human form.
Tall. Easily six feet three inches. Broad shoulders encased in a black leather coat. Hair as black as night falling over eyes that gleamed silver-gray even in the darkness.
He was utterly intimidating. Utterly beautiful. Utterly terrifying.
And when his eyes met hers, Olivia felt something shatter in the universe around them.
As if the world had stopped spinning just to acknowledge this moment.
Companions.
The word echoed through her soul with absolute certainty.
But Olivia didn't know what that meant. She only knew that the man staring at her with those impossible eyes made her heart beat faster for reasons that had nothing to do with fear.
"Who are you?" Her voice came out hoarse with exhaustion.
The man studied her for a long moment, his eyes scanning every inch of her—noticing the torn dress, the bruised face, the dried blood on her cheek, the exhaustion in her eyes.
And something dangerous gleamed in his expression.
"Declan Blackwood," he finally said, his voice deep and cold as winter ice. "Alpha of Shadowpine."
Olivia's heart sank.
Another Alpha.
Another powerful man who could do to her what Marcus had tried.
She took an involuntary step back.
"Don't run," Declan said, his voice laden with authority that made Olivia freeze in place. "You're in my territory. Tell me your name and where you're from."
"O-Olivia," she stammered. "Olivia Bennett. From... from Nightshade."
Something passed judging by his face. "Nightshade. Is Marcus Thorn your Alpha?"
"He was. I ran away."
"Why?"
Olivia didn't answer. She couldn't. The words were stuck in her throat.
Declan took a step forward, and Olivia felt his power wash over her like a wave. But strangely, it didn't seem threatening. It seemed... protective?
"Someone hurt you," he said, looking at her bruised face. It wasn't a question.
Olivia just nodded, tears burning in her eyes.
"Marcus?"
Another nod.
Declan was silent for a very long moment. Then: "Can you walk?"
"I... think so."
"Then come. Shadowpine isn't far." He turned, clearly expecting her to follow him.
Olivia hesitated. "Are you going to... are you going to help me?"
Declan looked over his shoulder, and for the first time, something beyond cold indifference passed through his eyes. Something that could be fury on her behalf. "Marcus Thorn is my enemy. Anyone fleeing from him finds shelter in my territory. Now come before I change my mind."
It wasn't a warm invitation. His voice was still icy, his expression still impenetrable.
But it was help.
And Olivia had no choice but to accept it.
So she followed the strange and terrifying Alpha through the forest, not knowing that she had just met her destined mate.
Not knowing that Declan Blackwood had felt the bond the moment their eyes met.
Not knowing that the man walking ahead of her—keeping a respectful distance, moving slowly so as not to frighten her, keeping all his fierce protective instincts under control—was already prepared to burn the entire world to keep her safe.
Even if it meant never touching her.
Even if it meant protecting her from afar.
Even if it meant watching her live her life without ever knowing what she was to him.
Because Olivia Bennett was sixteen years old.
And Declan Blackwood—no matter how much his wolf growled, demanded, begged—was not Marcus Thorn.
He would wait.
No matter how long it took.
No matter how much it cost.
She was worth the wait.
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END OF CHAPTER 01
In the next chapter: Olivia arrives in Shadowpine and meets the only wolf who knows her secret—James Carter, the Beta who guards the Alpha'