The Beginning of Everything
*****
I never imagined that finding my mate would feel like the end of my freedom.
It happened on a quiet morning. The halls of the Blackwood Packhouse were buzzing with routine—warriors training, omegas cleaning, and pack elders bickering about territory lines. I wasn't supposed to be anywhere near the servant quarters. But I'd taken a wrong turn, or maybe my wolf had guided me there.
That's when I saw her.
She wasn't doing anything special. Just walking down the hall with a basket in her arms, her head low, trying not to be noticed.
But I noticed.
Her scent hit me first—soft, clean, like wildflowers after a heavy rain. It wrapped around me before I even realized what was happening. My wolf stirred. Then roared.
Mine.
I stopped walking. My whole world shifted. Like everything tilted sideways. My heart slammed in my chest as if trying to leap out and chase after her. I didn't even know her name, but I felt like I'd known her forever.
She paused too, like she felt it. Then her eyes lifted slowly.
Violet.
Bright, strange, and beautiful. Her eyes widened when they met mine, and I felt something snap into place.
The bond.
She was young, maybe my age or a little younger. Small, slim, with skin pale as moonlight. Her long silver-blonde hair tumbled messily down her back, some of it falling across her face. Her uniform marked her clearly as one of the omegas, a housemaid.
An omega.
No. It couldn't be.
But it was.
I couldn't speak. Couldn't move.
She blinked like she wasn't sure what she was seeing, then lowered her head and disappeared through a side door.
Still, I stood there.
My mate.
An omega.
And that was how it all began.
---
That night, I found her again.
I hadn't been looking. Not really. But something kept pulling me—my wolf, the bond, or maybe just the need to see her one more time.
She was sitting outside on a wooden bench near the training field, knees drawn to her chest, eyes lifted to the stars.
I stopped a few feet away. "Couldn't sleep either?"
She jumped a little and turned. Then she smiled softly. "It's quiet out here."
I walked closer. "Mind if I sit?"
She shook her head.
We sat in silence for a while, letting the night air settle around us.
"I didn't catch your name earlier," I said.
"Aria," she replied.
I nodded. "I'm Kieran."
"I know who you are," she said with a small laugh. "Everyone knows the Alpha's son."
"Well," I said, "now I know you too."
She looked down, like she didn't know how to respond.
"I didn't mean to scare you earlier," I said. "You just… caught me off guard."
"You caught me off guard too."
A small breeze passed between us. We looked at each other and then away.
"I've never talked to someone like you," she said quietly.
"Like me?"
"An Alpha. You all walk like you're untouchable."
I smiled. "That's what we're trained to do."
"But you don't feel like that."
I looked at her. "No?"
She shook her head. "You feel… different."
I didn't know what to say. I felt different too. Being near her made me forget everything else. The rules. The expectations. Even my father.
She looked up at me. "Is it real?"
"What?"
"The bond."
I nodded. "Yeah. It is."
We sat there for a while, just talking. About little things. Her favorite time of day. My childhood in the training grounds. We laughed at a few silly memories.
It felt normal. Real.
Then the air changed.
A heavy presence filled the space behind us. I turned quickly.
My father.
He stood in the shadows, arms crossed, face dark.
"Kieran," he said, his voice low and dangerous.
I stood immediately. "Father—"
"Inside. Now."
"She didn't do anything," I tried to explain.
"I said now!" he barked.
His eyes flashed—the golden glow of a furious Alpha.
Aria jumped up, startled.
The power in his voice sent a wave of pressure through the clearing. My wolf flinched. So did hers.
I grabbed her hand and we ran—her back to the servants' wing, me toward the main house.
I barely made it to my room before his footsteps echoed behind me.
The door flew open.
"You disobeyed me," he said.
"I only spoke to her."
"You embarrassed yourself," he snapped. "With a servant! A nobody! Is this the future you want?"
"She's my mate."
"She's beneath you."
He stepped closer, eyes blazing. "I gave you one rule—stay away from her. Now listen to me, boy. If you don't end this, I will. Do you understand?"
I stared at him, my jaw tight.
"I said, do you understand?"
"Yes, Father."
He turned and slammed the door behind him.
I sat on the edge of my bed, heart pounding, hands shaking.
The bond between me and Aria
had only just begun. And already, it was tearing my world apart.
Will I stay away like he said… or follow my heart, no matter the cost?