ZARA'S POV
Zara walked through the packhouse at midnight expecting death.
The ruins were dark and quiet. Most of the wolves were sleeping in the cleared areas or in tents outside. She moved through the shadows like she had done it a thousand times, barefoot and silent, waiting for someone to grab her. Waiting for claws or teeth or the familiar pain of a fist.
Nothing happened.
She reached the kitchen. Stood there in the darkness. Took bread and dried meat from the supplies Knox had organized. Waited for someone to catch her. For Ash to appear and punish her for stealing.
The food stayed in her hands. No punishment came.
She ate it in the corner of the packhouse and waited for poison to kill her.
It never did.
The next morning, Zara was still convinced this was a trap. Kindness was a weapon Alphas used to make you lower your guard. She had seen it before. Kade would be gentle for one day just to make his cruelty the next day hurt worse. This Alpha was doing the same thing. Building false security before tearing her apart.
So she tested him.
During breakfast, a Beta named Garrett made a comment about Omegas getting above themselves. About how real Alphas kept them in line with fear. Zara could have ignored it. Should have. But something in her was tired of being silent.
She looked at him and said quietly, Fear makes wolves stupid. Maybe that is why you cannot think.
The packhouse went silent.
Garrett's face turned red. He stood up and raised his hand to hit her and Zara braced for impact. This was it. This was where the kindness ended and the real Alpha emerged.
Ash moved faster than she could track.
One moment he was across the room. The next he was between Zara and Garrett, his presence so violent and so solid that the Beta actually stumbled backward. Ash did not say anything. Just looked at Garrett with eyes that had turned completely gold.
Garrett ran.
Not attacked. Not challenged. Just ran out of the packhouse like something was hunting him. Ash stood there for a moment, his entire body radiating rage, then he turned and walked away without acknowledging Zara at all.
But she had seen his eyes. Had watched him choose her over pack hierarchy without hesitation.
That terrified her more than violence would have.
Knox appeared next to her table a few hours later with extra meat and vegetables on a tray. He smiled warmly and asked if she needed more food. Like it was normal. Like Omegas regularly asked for things and were regularly given them.
Zara did not know how to respond so she just shook her head.
Knox nodded and walked away. Leaving her alone with the realization that maybe Ash had meant what he said. Maybe he actually was different.
Maybe she was in more danger than she had ever been.
That night at dinner, Sera sat down next to her.
Zara's entire body went rigid. Sera had been kind once, years ago, before Kade decided to make Omegas compete for his favor. Before he turned them into hunters of their own kind. Sera had helped torture Zara more than once. Had held her down while Kade's Betas hurt her. Had laughed while doing it.
Now Sera looked uncertain. Frightened even.
She did not speak. Just sat there quietly and ate her food with shaking hands. Her red hair was matted and her green eyes looked exhausted. She kept glancing at Zara like she wanted to say something but could not figure out the words.
Zara did not look at her. Did not speak. Just kept eating and feeling Ash's eyes on her from across the room. His gaze was constant. Always tracking her. Always watching like he was making sure she stayed safe or stayed close or both.
When Sera finally left, she touched Zara's hand briefly.
Zara flinched away but not before she saw the tears in Sera's eyes.
She did not understand what any of this meant. If this was real. If Ash really meant to protect Omegas or if this was an elaborate game designed to break them more thoroughly. If Sera's touch was genuine apology or another trap.
Everything she had known about pack law and hierarchy and how survival worked was being shattered piece by piece.
That night, Zara lay on the sleeping mat in the corner of the packhouse and felt something shifting inside her body.
Heat.
Her suppressant herbs were supposed to last another week. She had rationed them carefully, made them stretch as far as she could. But five years of drinking them had burned through her supply faster than she planned. She reached under her mat for the small pouch where she kept them.
Empty.
Not a single herb left.
Zara's heart started racing. Without suppressants, her heat would come. And when it did, every unmated male in the packhouse would smell it. Would want her. Would see her as available. She had avoided this for five years by keeping her wolf chemical suppressed. Had made herself unappealing to Alphas by poisoning her own scent.
But Ash was different.
Ash was her mate.
And if her heat started while he was in this packhouse, while the bond between them was already pulling so hard she could barely breathe, he would not be able to resist. Mate bonds and heat cycles created a compulsion that overrode everything else. He would claim her whether she wanted it or not. And she would be powerless to stop it because her wolf would want it too.
Zara pulled her knees to her chest and tried not to panic.
She had maybe until tomorrow night before the heat started. Maybe less. Her body had been burning wrong all day. Her skin felt too sensitive. Her scent was already starting to shift from the suppressants wearing off.
She could lock herself in a room. Could try to weather the heat alone. But Omegas in heat called to their pack. Drove unmated wolves crazy. Ash would not stop at a locked door.
Or she could run.
Tonight. Right now. Before the heat made her weak. Before it stripped away every defense she had and left her vulnerable to being claimed.
Zara looked toward Ash's room where the Alpha was sleeping. She could feel the bond pulling her toward him. Could feel her wolf crying out for him even as her human mind screamed that this was not safe.
She stood up slowly.
Every muscle in her body ached with the beginnings of heat. The fever was already starting. Soon it would be unbearable. Soon she would not be able to think straight. Soon she would be nothing but desperate need and feral want.
She had until dawn.
Then everything was going to burn.