The Awakening Under The Moon
1080 Words
The ballroom felt like a gilded cage, the air thick from pheromones of the Elite heirs standing beside me. They were the stars of tonight, their eyes sharp with the need to prove themselves.
“Look at her,” one girl sneered, her scent heavy with jasmine and nerves. “The Commander’s daughter shows up in silk while we’re all in reinforced leathers. Does she think this is a tea party?”
“Arrogance,” a boy muttered, jaw tight. “She thinks her bloodline guarantees a Golden Alpha shift. The moon doesn’t care about her father’s medals.”
I ignored them, my eyes fixed on the Great Skylight above. My father’s heavy boots echoed as he stopped beside me. The crowd parted instantly at his presence.
“Ignore the pups, Colette,” he murmured, his voice low and rough. “They bark because they fear the mountain. You are my blood. You have nothing to fear from the moon. No matter what you manifest as, you will always be my daughter!”
I looked at him. In my past life, he never even talked to me, rather he looked disappointed when I showed up with Micheal, looking like a ghost.
Now, I noticed the slight tension in his hand, the way he positioned himself between me and the King’s gaze as if he was trying to protect his only child from the predator's eyes.
The King approached, his aura heavy enough to crush the room. Beside him, Aurelian leaned against a pillar, his silver eyes fixed on me with predatory interest.
“Commander Alaric,” the King boomed. “Your daughter is just as the rumors suggested. She has her mother’s face.”
“Do you think so?” my father replied, his hand resting briefly on my shoulder. It was a heavy, grounding touch. “I just hope she does well today. Are you ready?”
Aurelian’s voice cut them. “Ready for what, Commander? To lead an army, or to break a hundred hearts?”
My father’s eyes narrowed, making me confused as to why he was acting this way. “She will be whatever her nature demands, Your Highness. And I will ensure no one stands in her way.”
“Heirs, step forward!” Just then the High Elder commanded as the moon reached its peak.
The air filled with cracking bones and guttural roars. A massive grey wolf emerged, followed by a scarred brown one. The heirs shifted violently, desperate to climb the hierarchy.
“A Beta!” the crowd cheered for the first.
“A High Alpha!” they roared for the girl who had sneered at me. She stood tall in her tawny form, chest puffed toward the crowd.
“Now,” my father whispered, his voice strangely solemn. “Go, Colette.”
I stepped into the center of the circle. The moonlight felt like ice against my skin. I didn’t pray for power. I didn’t fight the shrinking of my frame.
I let the Omega out.
Silence fell over the ballroom.
My fur shimmered like crushed pearls against the lavender silk. Smaller than the others, yet the air around me carried a haunting, ancient resonance.
A White Omega—the rarest bloodline in the history of the Great Packs.
“An… Omega?” someone whispered, the word dripping with scandal.
The tawny Alpha girl growled, her wolfish face twisting with mockery. The crowd erupted into cruel whispers about “wasted potential.”
I shifted back effortlessly while the other heirs still panted for breath.
Michael pushed through the crowd, his face pale with rage and embarrassment.
“Colette, what the hell was that?” he hissed, loud enough for everyone nearby to hear. “An Omega? Are you serious? I was ready to accept your marriage proposal, and now you humiliate me like this? I can’t marry a woman who can’t even stand on a battlefield.”
“Humiliated you?” I laughed softly, the sound cold and sharp as I stepped closer, amber eyes fixed on him. “You should worry less about my proposal and more about your own standing, Michael.”
“You’re useless to me now!” he snapped, his Alpha aura pressing against me. “I wasted years building a future with you. Do you know what it means for me to be tied to an Omega? You’ve turned me into a joke.”
“You gave me nothing but lies,” I said, my voice cutting through the hall. “What else are you hiding, Michael? The dress you planned to steal before pretending my father forgot about me? I know exactly what else you’ve taken.”
His eyes widened, fear flashing behind the rage as he slowly approached me. “I don’t know what you’re talking about—”
“Back away from her, Michael.”
My father stepped into the circle, his face cold with fury. He moved between us, his Alpha pressure so overwhelming Michael nearly stumbled.
“Commander,” Michael stammered, forcing himself upright. “She’s an Omega. You know she’s worthless in this empire now. No family would want her after tonight… but I’m still willing to keep her by my side. Even if it ruins my reputation, I’m willing to make that sacrifice.”
“The only thing disgraceful here,” my father said, his voice colder than anything, “is the way you speak to my daughter.”
He stepped closer, Alpha pressure crashing down hard enough to force Michael back another step.
“You call her worthless while begging to keep her at your side? Pathetic.”
Then he turned to me.
For the first time, the coldness in his eyes cracked. His gaze moved over my lavender dress before settling on my face. Slowly, he reached up, his rough thumb brushing a strand of hair from my forehead.
“A White Omega,” he whispered, something raw and hidden breaking through his voice. “You won’t die on a battlefield. You won’t rot in the mud as I will.”
Then he turned toward the crowd, his presence swallowing the entire hall.
I looked at my father, emotions twisting so hard in my chest I could barely breathe. I had already decided I wouldn’t care about him anymore and would live this life for myself alone.
So why was he shaking the walls I built around my heart?
Then his next words stunned me even more.
- Writer
