The service kitchen was tucked in the back corner of the Silvercrest pack house, down a narrow hallway most ranked wolves never bothered to find. I discovered it by accident my second week here, following the smell of fresh bread when I couldn't sleep.
Lena Park was working the early shift that morning. She was young—maybe nineteen—with her hair pulled back in a practical braid and the kind of quiet efficiency that came from years of being furniture. When I walked in, she'd startled so badly she nearly dropped the tray she was carrying.
"Sorry," I'd said quickly. "I didn't mean to scare you. I just—the bread smelled amazing."
She'd stared at me like I'd spoken a foreign language. Ranked wolves didn't apologize to Omegas. Ranked wolves didn't notice bread.
"Would you like some?" she'd asked carefully, her voice barely above a whisper.
"If it's not too much trouble."
She'd cut me a thick slice, still warm, and watched with wide eyes as I ate it standing at the counter rather than taking it back to my room. I'd asked her name. Thanked her. Told her it was the best bread I'd had in months.
The next morning, I came back.
By the end of the week, Lena and I had fallen into an easy routine. I'd arrive early, help her prep vegetables or fold linens, and we'd talk. Not about anything important at first—just small things. The weather. A book she was reading. Her younger brother back in her home pack.
She was the one who told me about the AV systems.
"I manage the tech for events," she'd said one morning, her hands busy chopping carrots. "Projectors, sound, camera feeds for security. It's boring work, but it keeps me useful."
I'd filed that away without comment. Just nodded and asked if she liked it.
"It's fine," she'd said. Then, quieter: "Thank you. For asking."
Over the next few weeks, I met the others. Marcus—not the Beta, but the older Omega who managed the housekeeping staff. Iris, who ran the laundry. Joel, who handled grounds maintenance and knew every corner of the estate better than the Spencers themselves.
I didn't ask them for anything. I just showed up. Helped when I could. Listened when they talked. Treated them like people instead of shadows.
They noticed.
And slowly, without me ever directly requesting it, they started offering things.
Marcus mentioned that the east wing had three guest suites that were never entered in the household register—"private spaces for family, you know, not for official guests." Iris casually noted that Victoria's scent lingered in one of those suites more often than seemed normal for someone who had her own pack house to return to. Joel told me which service corridors connected to which wings, sketching a rough map on a napkin when I asked about the building's layout "just out of curiosity."
I thanked them. Smiled. Never pressed.
But I remembered everything.
---
The Hamptons estate was obscene.
Glass and steel rising out of pristine dunes, floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Atlantic, sprawling decks where wolves in designer resort wear lounged with cocktails and territorial smirks. The Spencer elders had rented the entire compound for the pre-ceremony weekend, inviting every allied pack within five hundred miles.
It was supposed to be a celebration. A chance for the packs to mingle, for alliances to be reinforced, for everyone to witness the strength of the Silvercrest-Dusthaven union before the formal Mate Ceremony.
What it actually was, I realized within the first hour, was a stage.
Everyone was performing. The Alphas postured and negotiated in low voices over whiskey. The Betas circled each other with careful courtesy. The high-ranking she-wolves moved in packs, their laughter sharp and their eyes sharper.
I watched. I smiled when expected. I stood at Bradley's side during the formal welcome dinner and let his hand rest possessively at the small of my back while he made speeches about unity and tradition.
And I mapped the room.
I noticed which Alphas avoided eye contact with the Spencer elders. I noticed the Lycan delegation's stiff formality, the way Vincenzo's Beta kept his distance from Bradley's inner circle. I noticed the she-wolves who watched Victoria with something that wasn't quite admiration—more like the wary recognition of people who knew a secret and had decided keeping it was safer than speaking it.
By the second evening, I'd identified at least four wolves who seemed uncomfortable with the narrative they were being asked to support.
I filed their names away.
---
The incident with Evie happened just before sunset.
I'd stepped out onto one of the smaller decks for air, needing a break from the noise and the performance. The beach stretched out below, and I could hear laughter from the changing cabanas near the water.
Then I heard something else. A woman's voice, tight with humiliation. "Please. Just give it back."
I moved toward the sound without thinking.
Victoria's circle had Evie cornered near the cabanas—five she-wolves in expensive swimwear, holding what looked like Evie's dress just out of reach. One of them dangled it over the sand, laughing.
"Maybe you should shift and run home," the she-wolf said. "If you can't handle a little fun."
Evie's face was flushed, her arms wrapped around herself. A small crowd had gathered—not helping, just watching. Witnesses to her humiliation.
I didn't plan what happened next. I just moved.
I walked straight into the circle, pulled the shawl from my own shoulders, and wrapped it around Evie before anyone could react.
"That's enough," I said quietly.
The she-wolves turned to stare at me. One of them—a tall blonde whose name I didn't know—laughed. "Excuse me?"
"I said that's enough." I met her eyes and held them. My wolf was still, focused, utterly calm. "Give her the dress."
"Or what?" The blonde stepped closer. "You'll tell your Alpha? The charity Omega he picked out of pity?"
I didn't flinch. Didn't look away. Just stood there, my hand on Evie's shoulder, and waited.
The silence stretched. The blonde's smile faltered slightly. She glanced at her friends, looking for support, but something in the air had shifted.
Finally, she tossed the dress at Evie's feet. "Whatever. It's ugly anyway."
The circle broke. The she-wolves drifted back toward the main deck, their laughter forced now, performative.
I helped Evie pick up the dress. She was shaking.
"Thank you," she whispered. "You didn't have to—"
"Yes, I did."
We walked back toward the house together, my shawl still around her shoulders. Neither of us spoke. But when we reached the hallway leading to the guest rooms, Evie stopped and looked at me with something raw in her eyes.
"They chose you because they thought you'd be too grateful to fight back," she said quietly. "You know that, right?"
I looked at her. Saw the years of compromise written in the lines around her mouth, the careful way she held herself.
"I know," I said.
She nodded slowly. Then, almost too quiet to hear: "I hope you prove them wrong."
She disappeared into her room before I could respond.
I stood in the empty hallway, my shawl gone, my thumbnail pressed hard into my palm.
Across the compound, through the glass walls, I could see Victoria on a lounge chair. Wine glass in hand. Watching me with eyes that had just recalculated something.
I met her gaze. Didn't smile. Didn't look away.
Two more weeks.
I turned and walked back to my room, already planning my next move.
