Sage's POV
I wake up screaming.
My hands fly to my throat, expecting claws and blood and death. But there's nothing. No monsters. No red eyes. Just silence and the smell of pine.
Where am I?
The bed beneath me is massive bigger than my entire apartment. Stone walls rise around me, lit by a crackling fireplace. Through tall windows, I see mountains and forests stretching forever under a gray sky.
This isn't Seattle.
Panic claws at my chest. I throw off the covers and freeze.
I'm wearing clothes that aren't mine. Soft pants and a oversized shirt that smells like winter and something wild. My skin is unmarked no bruises, no cuts, nothing from last night's attack.
Last night. The diner. The monsters. The three men who turned into wolves.
The shift.
My hands shake as I stare at them. These hands became paws. I became something impossible.
It was real, I whisper. My voice sounds different. Stronger. It was all real.
The door opens without warning.
All three men walk in like they own the place. In daylight, they're even more terrifying too beautiful, too powerful, too everything. The ice eyed one Kael, I think moves like a predator. The dark one Damon watches me like I'm prey. The golden eyed one Ryder vibrates with barely controlled energy.
I scramble backward on the bed. Stay away from me!
Relax, Kael says, but his voice is anything but relaxing. It's cold and commanding. You're safe here.
Safe? I laugh, and it sounds unhinged. You kidnapped me! Where's Maya? What did you do to those monsters? Where am I?
One question at a time, Damon says, settling into a chair across from my bed like we're having tea. His casual attitude makes my blood boil.
Maya is fine, Ryder adds quickly, staying by the window. We sent her home with memories of a gas leak at the diner. She thinks you're visiting family.
You messed with her mind? Fury replaces fear. You had no right
We had every right, Kael interrupts. Humans can't know about our world. It's our first law.
Your world? I slide off the bed, putting distance between us. I don't know what kind of crazy cult you're running, but I'm leaving. Now.
I make it two steps before my legs give out.
Ryder catches me before I hit the floor. His hands are gentle but firm, and the moment he touches me, I feel it again that pull. Like invisible hooks in my chest, yanking me toward him.
Let go! I shove at him, but my arms are weak.
You've been unconscious for eighteen hours, Ryder says softly, setting me back on the bed. Your body needs time to recover from your first shift. You can't walk yet.
Eighteen hours. I've been here almost a full day.
My apartment. My job. I have a life
You had a life, Damon corrects. That life ended the moment you turned twenty-five. Everything changes now, little Omega.
Stop calling me that! I snap. My name is Sage. And I'm human.
No, Kael says flatly. You're not.
He moves faster than I can track, suddenly kneeling in front of me. His ice blue eyes bore into mine, and I can't look away.
Listen to your senses, Sage. Really listen.
I want to argue, but my body betrays me.
I can hear his heart beat steady and strong. Can hear Damon's breathing across the room. Can hear Ryder shifting his weight by the window. Sounds I should never be able to hear.
I can smell everything. Pine from outside. Smoke from the fireplace. Something sharp and clean from Kael. Something dark and spicy from Damon. Something warm and wild from Ryder.
And beneath it all, I smell myself different than before. Stronger.
What did you do to me? I whisper.
We didn't do anything, Kael says, his voice gentler now. You did this yourself. Your twenty-fifth birthday triggered your awakening. The wolf that was always inside you finally broke free.
That's impossible.
Is it? Damon leans forward. You shifted last night, Sage. Became a wolf in front of three witnesses. Fought off attackers with strength you never had before. How do you explain that?
I can't. But I also can't accept what they're saying.
People don't just turn into wolves, I argue weakly.
Most people don't, Ryder agrees. But you're not most people. You're special, Sage. You're an Omega the rarest kind of shifter. There hasn't been one born in over twenty years.
Why? The word slips out before I can stop it.
The three men exchange dark looks.
Because Omegas were hunted to extinction, Kael says bluntly. Powerful people feared what you could do, so they killed every Omega they could find. Your mother was the last Omega queen. She died protecting you when you were seven years old.
My mother.
Fragments flash through my mind a woman's face, singing in a language I don't understand. Blood on white snow. Screaming.
I don't remember my mother, I whisper. I don't remember anything before foster care.
Because a witch hid you, Damon explains. Bound your wolf. Locked your memories. Made you invisible to anyone searching for Omegas. The spell was supposed to last forever, but magic doesn't account for biology. When you turned twenty-five, your wolf was strong enough to break free.
My head spins. This is too much. Too fast.
Even if this is true, I say slowly, what do you want from me?
Kael stands, and I have to crane my neck to look at him. We need to explain something else. Something more important.
He steps closer, and that pull intensifies. My chest aches with it. My body leans toward him without permission.
What is that? I gasp. Why do I feel
The mate bond, Kael says quietly. It's what happens when an Alpha meets their destined mate. An unbreakable connection that links our souls.
All three of you? I look between them wildly. You all feel this?
Yes, Ryder says from the window. And it's never happened before. Not in all of recorded history. One Omega, three Alphas.
We're your fated mates, Sage, Damon adds. All of us. And you're ours.
The room tilts. I grip the bed to stay upright.
That's insane.
It's the truth, Kael says. His ice blue eyes soften just slightly. I'm Kael Frost, Alpha of the Northern Frost Peaks pack. Damon Shadow is Alpha of the Eastern Shadowlands. Ryder Blaze is Alpha of the Western Wildfire Ridge. We're the three most powerful packs in the Shadow Territories, and we've been enemies for centuries.
Until now, Damon adds. Because the ancient prophecy says an Omega will appear when our world faces destruction. She'll bond with an Alpha and unite the territories, preventing a war that will kill millions.
And you think I'm this Omega? I laugh bitterly. I'm nobody. I work at a diner. I can barely pay rent. I'm not some magical savior.
You are, Ryder says firmly. Whether you believe it or not.
I don't. I stand on shaking legs. I don't believe any of this. Wolves and mates and prophecies it's fairy tale nonsense.
Then explain this, Kael says.
He holds out his hand.
I shouldn't take it. Shouldn't touch him. But that pull is unbearable, and before I know it, my hand is in his.
Fire explodes through me.
Not painful perfect. Like every nerve in my body just woke up for the first time. I gasp as warmth floods from our joined hands up my arm, spreading through my chest, settling somewhere deep and primal.
Kael inhales sharply. His pupils dilate, and for a second, his ice blue eyes flash gold.
That's the bond, he says roughly. And it will only get stronger the more time we spend together.
I yank my hand away, but the warmth remains.
You have thirty days, Damon says. Thirty days until the lunar eclipse. The prophecy says you must bond with one Alpha before then. If you don't, the three territories go to war, and millions die.
Why one? I demand. If I'm supposedly mated to all three
Because bonding with three Alphas has never been done, Ryder interrupts. It's too dangerous. Most Omegas who tried died in the ritual.
So you want me to choose? Horror fills me. Choose which one of you gets me like I'm some prize?
We want you to save our world, Kael says bluntly. However that looks.
Before I can respond, a howl splits the air.
All three men tense, their bodies shifting subtly shoulders broadening, eyes flashing gold.
Another howl answers. Then another. A dozen voices rising in a hunting cry.
They found us, Damon says grimly.
Impossible, Kael snaps. This location is warded. Protected. No one should be able to track
Glass explodes inward.
A massive wolf crashes through the window, landing in the center of the room. It's bigger than the ones from last night, with silver fur and eyes that glow like molten gold.
But what makes my blood freeze is the voice that comes from its mouth human words from a wolf's throat.
Hello, little Omega, it purrs. Your father has been looking for you for a very, very long time.
My father?
I don't have a father.
Do I?