The Omega Queen (Forgotten Bloodline)

"Sorry," I said after accidentally hitting a gentle wolf. "Watch your steps you clumsy kitchen mouse," a female by his side scorned bitterly, but I ignored. The drums of the mating ceremony pounded through the chilled night wind, their rhythm like a war cry echoing across the ancient stones of Obsidian Fang’s ceremonial grounds. The black rock beneath my feet thrummed with old energy, but all I felt was dread. Every beat slammed into my ribs, like it was a countdown to something I couldn’t put my fingers on. “I shouldn’t be here,” I whispered to myself, balancing the ceremonial tray in trembling hands. “I’m nothing but a useless omega.” Yes, just a servant to warm the beds of the alpha when he needed it. I am disposable and unseen. I moved through the crowd, careful not to look anyone in the eye. The scent of woodsmoke clung to my skin, mingling with the sharp metallic edge of my fear. “Keep your head down, Lyria,” I muttered. “Like always, as you were trained.” All around me, daughters of betas and councilmen shimmered in silks, laughing, flirting, eyes that were sharp with hunger. They circled the altar like vultures, vying to be chosen as Luna, how pathetic, but if only I was a beta's daughter, I would have been chosen as his mate. Right now the only thing that can save the love he always professed, was the mate bond, but for now, I am ok being his s*x toy, at least it will keep me close to the love of my life. But was he really in love with me like he always said, because he would only always say it in the dark and humiliate me in public, then say it was for my safety. I tried to serve the beta of the obsidian fang pack when it hit me. A pulse, so raw and primal. It didn’t just wash over me it crashed into me, my knees buckled as my lungs forgot how to breathe. The tray slipped from my hands and shattered on the stone as mead splashed across my skirt like blood. Gasps rippled through the crowd, as some whispers followed, vicious and fast. “Clumsy omega…” “She is gonna ruin the ceremony!” “Who let her so close to the altar?” But none of it mattered because my eyes had locked onto his, and I found something in the depth of my soul and it screamed MATE. Rylan Thorne, the alpha of the Obsidian Fang, was looking straight into my eyes. His gaze was fire and frost and our bond ignited the moment our eyes met. It tore through me and this time, it was no fantasy, he was mine. My lips parted, my heart could only tremble. But his jaw clenched so as his hands which fisted at his sides. “Rylan,” I whispered, stepping forward, my heart in my throat as I saw something like despair in his eyes. He didn’t speak at first, everyone knew what was going on, the crowd stilled, how could a useless omega be having a mate drive for the alpha? The air around me thickened. Then, his voice rolled out of the shackles of disappointment and despair. “I reject you.” The words landed like blades, prickling my heart like thorns piercing through. “Rylan…” I choked. “No, you feel it, right? I know you do...” “As my mate,” he continued coldly. “As my Luna, as anything.” His eyes avoided mine, “Just get out.” The silence that followed was deeper than death. “No… no,” I whispered, staggering back. “You can’t...why?, I thought you said you loved me,” His eyes flickered, was that pain or guilt? But it was gone in a blink, like I was nothing to him, after all the times we spent in the shadows of the night, well I have always known I was his s*x toy, but I was to blind to come to reality. “You’re weak,” he said. “And I need a Luna who isn’t a liability.” The crowd gasped again and laughter followed and they were cruel and sharp. And then she stepped forward. Seraphine, the serpent in silk, always lurking in whenever the Alpha was at his weakest. "Everyone, this is my Luna, brave, strong and from a reputable royal family." He voiced out so that the crowd could hear, some were disappointed but a few were happy. But that didn't fix the explosion that puffed in the depths of my heart. “Aww, did the kitchen mouse think she could be Luna?” she crooned. “Poor little thing, if that was the case then the Moon Goddess must be drunk.” More laughter erupted, but I could barely breathe and my wolf was stunned. “You heard him,” Seraphine sneered. “Get! Out!!” She kicked me, her heel slammed into my ribs while I gasped, crumpling. Still, I rose, shaking and bleeding, but that didn't hurt like the humiliation I was facing. I turned my eyes to Rylan. “Say it again,” I demanded, voice broken. “Say it while looking at me.” But he didn’t, he only looked away and that hurt more than everything else. My knees gave out as I dropped again, palms scraping the stone. “You said I was your light,” I sobbed. “You said the darkness listened when I spoke.” Silence spoke louder than the little whispers in the crowd. I laughed painfully, but It was a ragged, ugly sound. “Liar.” Something deep and ancient cracked inside me,the pain twisted and grew until it became something else. I screamed raw and unfiltered, my body arched and my mind splitted into two. Visions exploded behind my eyes. Silver wolves, crimson moons and a voice whispering from centuries past. And then. Nothing, everything went blank. I woke to darkness and frost biting my skin, this wasn’t the palace or even the village, it was the ruins of the Obsidian Fang. I bolted upright, my breath came in sharp gasps. “Where…where am I?” No answer, just the wind professing love to nature. Then footsteps crumpled through dry leaves, not one, but multiple. Fear clawed up my throat. "Run!!!" I heard my wolf scream. I ran until my lungs began to complain, until even the forest swallowed me whole. I stopped near a familiar tree, one I’d dreamed of before. Was that possible? My heart wouldn’t stay calm, everything hurt so badly. “I can’t go back,” I whispered. “He made sure of that.” I slid down to the roots, my arms around my knees. “Why did it hurt so much?” The mate bond wasn’t supposed to feel like that when severed. Unless… he hadn’t severed it. Why hadn’t he? I didn’t have time to dwell on questions as eyes glowed in the dark, they were amber and hungry. Rogues!!! They circled me like shadows with teeth as my breath hitched. One stepped forward, blood crusting his fur. “Pretty little abandoned omega” he growled. “All alone.” I backed away, my voice trembling. “Don’t come any closer.” He smirked. Another pounced. But something else moved faster than a flash of silver. It was a blur of claws and fury which I found difficult to decipher. A howl ripped through the woods; it wasn't that of a rogue, but that of an Alpha. Someone caught me before I hit the ground, a woman, runes glowing across her skin. She looked into my eyes. “You have her blood.” “W-what?” I breathed. “The Moonblood lives.” And then the world tilted, and I fell into darkness again.