The great hall assignment came at four in the morning.
Iris shook my shoulder in the dark. I was already awake—I'd been awake since two, lying on the cot with my grandmother's journals pressed against my ribs, listening to the other Omegas breathe.
"Luna wants the hall done before dawn," Iris whispered. "Warrior inspection at six."
I sat up. "That's two hours."
"I know." She wouldn't meet my eyes. "She said you'd manage."
I pulled on my work clothes in the dark and walked to the great hall with a bucket and rags. The space was massive—forty feet of stone floor, the long tables pushed against the walls, the ceremonial platform at the far end where Ethan had spoken the rejection vow six days ago. The air still smelled faintly of the incense they'd burned.
I started at the entrance and worked my way in.
The stone was cold under my knees. I scrubbed in steady lines, the way my grandmother had taught me—overlapping strokes, no gaps. My hands went numb after the first thirty minutes. I kept going.
At five-thirty, I heard footsteps in the corridor. Multiple sets. I didn't look up.
The training equipment rack stood near the west wall—a temporary setup for the warrior drills scheduled later that week. I'd noticed it when I came in: iron weights stacked unevenly, the base slightly off-center. Unstable.
I'd planned to report it after I finished the floor.
The rack collapsed at 5:47.
The sound was enormous—metal crashing on stone, weights scattering, the wooden frame splintering. I jerked back, my rag still in my hand, as iron plates rolled across the section of floor I'd just cleaned.
For three seconds, the hall was silent.
Then Natasha's voice came from the doorway, warm and concerned. "Oh no."
I turned.
She stood in the entrance with Ethan beside her, flanked by two warriors. Her expression was perfect—shock, disappointment, a trace of sympathy. She'd practiced this.
"What happened?" Ethan's voice was flat.
Natasha stepped forward, careful to avoid the scattered weights. "I assigned the Omega to clean before the inspection. The rack must have been bumped."
I opened my mouth.
"It wasn't—" I started.
Natasha's gaze flicked to me, just for a second. Her eyes were cold.
"It's so difficult," she continued, her voice carrying to the warriors in the corridor now gathering to watch, "maintaining standards with untrained Omegas. I know she's doing her best. But this is a significant lapse."
Ethan walked past me to examine the rack. He crouched, ran his hand over the splintered base. I saw the exact moment he decided not to look closer—the tiny shift in his shoulders, the way his jaw set.
He stood. Turned to me.
"Doubled work schedule," he said. "Next week. Report to the Luna for additional assignments."
My wolf surged. Silent. Furious.
I locked my knees and said nothing.
Natasha touched Ethan's arm, a small gesture of support. "I'll supervise more closely," she said softly. "We'll get her trained properly."
They left together. The warriors followed.
I stood in the wreckage of the equipment rack and the ruined floor and breathed.
Then I picked up my rag and started over.
—
That afternoon, I went to the care wing.
My mother's room was at the end of the corridor, a small space with a single window overlooking the pack gardens. She was sitting up when I arrived, her hands folded in her lap, her gaze somewhere distant.
"Mom." I closed the door behind me.
She blinked. Focused. "Sophia."
Her voice was softer than it used to be. Fogged.
I crossed to her bedside and set down the cleaning supply bottle I'd smuggled in—green glass, unlabeled, the antidote inside measured to the exact dose. I'd been brewing it in secret for three months, hiding the compounds in the servants' wing, administering it whenever I could slip away unnoticed.
"Time for your medicine," I said quietly.
She took the bottle without questioning. She'd stopped questioning two weeks ago, when the fog had gotten thick enough that she couldn't track what was real and what wasn't.
I watched her drink. The dose was small, bitter. She grimaced.
"There's a formula," she said suddenly. Her gaze sharpened, just a fraction. "I keep trying to remember. The ratio. It's wrong somewhere."
My chest tightened.
"What ratio?" I kept my voice level.
"Yarrow to cedarwood." Her brow furrowed. "Your grandmother's formula. The one for... for..."
She trailed off. Lost the thread.
I took her hand. Her fingers were cold.
"I know," I said quietly. "I know what it is. Stay quiet about it until I tell you it's safe."
She looked at me. For a moment, the fog cleared completely, and I saw the healer she used to be—sharp, precise, the woman who'd taught me to identify wolfsbane by scent alone.
"She's using them," my mother whispered. "Isn't she."
It wasn't a question.
I squeezed her hand once. "Yes."
"And the food."
"Yes."
My mother closed her eyes. When she opened them again, the fog was back, but something underneath it had shifted. Resolve.
"How long until the blood moon?" she asked.
I calculated. "Five weeks."
She nodded slowly. "I can last five weeks."
I stayed with her until the light through the window turned gold. Then I tucked the empty bottle back in my pocket and left.
—
The pack assembly was mandatory.
They called it at sundown—every wolf in Shadowvale, gathered on the training grounds for a territorial address. I stood at the back with the other Omegas, my arms crossed, my gaze on the platform where Ethan stood with Natasha at his side.
The ceremonial totem was on display near the platform's edge—a carved bone relic from Shadowvale's founding bloodline, intricate and ancient, mounted on a waist-high pedestal. It had been there for decades. Untouched. Sacred.
Natasha walked past it as Ethan began speaking.
I saw her shoulder shift. Deliberate. Precise.
The totem rocked on its pedestal, tipped, and fell.
The crack of bone on stone was sharp and final.
The crowd went silent.
Natasha turned, her hand flying to her mouth. "Oh my goddess."
Every head turned toward the shattered relic. Then toward me.
Natasha's voice carried across the grounds, clear and distressed. "I saw the Omega servant—she was standing right there—she must have bumped it when she passed."
I hadn't moved. I was fifteen feet away.
Ethan's gaze locked on me. Cold. Absolute.
"Come here," he said.
I walked forward. The crowd parted. Two hundred wolves watching.
I stopped at the base of the platform.
Ethan stepped down. Stood in front of me.
"Did you touch the totem?" His voice was level.
"No." I kept my gaze on his.
"Luna Natasha says you did."
"She's lying."
The words came out flat. True.
Ethan's jaw tightened.
Then he used his Alpha tone.
The command hit like a physical force—supernatural pressure compressing my chest, driving down on my shoulders, my knees. My body responded against my will. My legs buckled. I went down hard, my knees slamming into the stone, my muscles locking.
I couldn't move. Couldn't speak. My jaw clenched so tight I tasted blood.
"Three days," Ethan said. His voice was cold and final. "No meals. Omega quarters. Dismissed."
The pressure released.
I stayed on my knees for three seconds, breathing.
Then I stood.
My wolf didn't submit. She erupted.
Not outward—I had no shift, no voice, no access—but inward, a silent volcanic fury that vibrated through my ribs like a second heartbeat. My vision sharpened. My hands steadied.
I looked at Ethan.
He looked away first.
I turned and walked off the training grounds. The crowd parted again.
As I passed Beta Marcus, I saw him shift his weight. Uncomfortable.
I filed it.
Three days without food.
Five weeks until the blood moon.
I could last.
