Omega’s Revenge: The Billionaire’s Secret

Seven Years Ago: The Wedding Sera Winters knew she was making a mistake the moment she saw Dominic Blackthorne waiting at the altar. Not because he wasn’t handsome. He was devastatingly so. Dark hair perfectly styled, golden-brown eyes that had haunted her dreams since she was sixteen, the kind of commanding presence that made every wolf in the territory instinctively submit. He looked like every fairy tale prince she’d ever imagined. But he was looking at her like she was a business transaction. The garden was perfect. Three hundred pack members filled the white chairs, the full moon blessed the ceremony, and roses bloomed everywhere like something from a dream. Sera’s dress cost more than most people’s cars, custom silk and lace that made her feel like a princess. Yet with every step down the aisle, her omega instincts screamed that something was wrong. Her father squeezed her arm. “Cold feet?” he whispered. Sera wanted to say yes. Wanted to turn around and run. But the mate bond hummed between her and Dominic, fated by the Moon Goddess herself. How could she run from destiny? “I’m fine,” she lied. When she reached Dominic, he took her hands. They were warm, strong, and completely impersonal, like shaking hands with a stranger at a business meeting. “You look beautiful,” he said. The words were perfect. His smile was perfect. Everything about this moment was textbook perfect. Except his eyes remained cold, distant, as if his mind were somewhere else entirely. The priestess began speaking about fate, bonds, and eternal love. Sera barely heard the words. She was too focused on Dominic’s face, searching desperately for some sign of the man she’d fallen in love with during their six-month courtship. He’d been different then, attentive and charming, saying all the right things. She’d thought he loved her. She had convinced herself that their fated mate bond meant they were meant to be together forever. Now, standing at the altar, she wondered if she’d imagined it all. “Do you, Dominic Blackthorne, take Sera Winters as your mate, your Luna, your forever?” “I do.” His voice was steady, firm, full of alpha authority. No hesitation, no emotion. “And do you, Sera Winters, take Dominic Blackthorne as your mate, your Alpha, your forever?” This was her last chance. She could say no, walk away, refuse destiny itself. But the mate bond pulsed between them, warm and insistent. The Moon Goddess had chosen them for each other. Who was she to refuse? “I do,” Sera whispered. “Then by the power vested in me and blessed by the Moon Goddess, I pronounce you Alpha and Luna, mate and mate, bound for eternity.” The mate bond snapped into place like a lock clicking shut. Sera gasped at the sensation, a golden thread connecting her soul to Dominic’s, unbreakable and permanent. For just a moment she felt his emotions bleeding through: resignation, duty, and underneath it all, a deep sadness that made her chest ache. Then his walls slammed up, and she felt nothing but emptiness. Dominic kissed her, a brief, chaste press of lips that held no passion or promise. He turned to face their pack as husband and wife, and the celebration erupted around them. Cheers. Howls. Congratulations. Sera smiled until her face hurt, but inside, a small voice whispered that she’d just made the biggest mistake of her life. The reception was a blur of well-wishes and forced smiles. Sera tried to find Dominic between greeting guests, but he was always somewhere else, talking to council members, laughing with pack friends, standing just out of reach. When she finally cornered him by the bar, he smiled that perfect, empty smile. “Having fun?” he asked. “Dominic, can we talk? Privately?” “After. We have guests to entertain.” He kissed her forehead, another gesture that looked right but felt hollow. “You’re doing great, by the way. Everyone loves you.” He walked away before she could respond. Sera’s eyes drifted across the reception tent to a woman in a red dress. She was beautiful, long dark hair and sharp features, the kind of confidence that drew every eye. She stood with a group near the dance floor, but her attention was fixed on Dominic with an intensity that made Sera’s wolf stir uneasily. “Who is that?” Sera asked Catherine, Dominic’s mother, who appeared at her elbow with champagne. “Hmm?” Catherine followed her gaze. “Oh, that’s Sienna Ashford. Gregory’s daughter. She and Dominic grew up together.” “She’s staring at him.” Catherine’s expression tightened almost imperceptibly. “Some people have trouble letting go of the past.” “What past?” Sera asked, but Catherine had already moved away to greet another guest, leaving her alone with unease. The wedding night was supposed to be magical, romantic, the consummation of their bond and the beginning of their forever. Instead it was mechanical. Dominic knew what to do, where to touch, how to move, what would bring her body to completion. But there was no emotion behind it, no passion or love. He could have been following instructions from a manual. When it was over, he rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. “Are you okay?” Sera whispered, the mate bond now fully formed and pulsing between them. “Fine. Just tired.” He didn’t look at her. “We should sleep. Big day tomorrow, pack introduction breakfast.” “Dominic—” “Goodnight, Sera.” He turned away from her, and within minutes his breathing evened out in sleep. Sera lay awake beside her new husband, feeling more alone than she ever had in her life. The mate bond should have brought them closer and let her feel his emotions and thoughts. Instead it was like hitting a wall, Dominic had shut her out completely. Through the window the full moon shone down on their marriage bed. Sera reached out tentatively through the bond, trying to touch Dominic’s consciousness, to understand what he was feeling. Nothing, just emptiness and walls. She curled onto her side, her back to her husband, and let silent tears soak into her pillow. Tomorrow she’d smile and play the happy bride. Tomorrow she’d be the perfect Luna everyone expected. But tonight, in the darkness of her wedding night, Sera Blackthorne mourned the love story she’d thought she was getting and faced the cold reality of what she’d actually signed up for. Forever with a man who didn’t want her. Bound by fate to someone who looked at her like an obligation. It’ll get better, she told herself desperately. Once we settle into marriage, once he gets used to having me here, he’ll open up. He’ll learn to love me. She had no way of knowing how wrong she was. Or how much worse it would get.