They Called Me A Beta

There were two things everyone in the Blackwood Pack knew about me. I was an orphan. And I was lucky. Lucky that Alpha Richard Blackwood and Luna Elena Blackwood had taken me in when I was six years old. Lucky that they had given me a home when I had nowhere else to go. Lucky that they had raised me alongside their son, Kieran. I had heard those words so many times that they had become part of me. But the Blackwoods had never made me feel like a charity case. Luna Elena still knocked on my door before entering my room. Alpha Richard still asked about my day when he came home from pack business. On my birthday, there was always a cake. At the dinner table, there was always a seat for me. They never called me their ward. Never their servant. Never the orphan they had rescued. They simply called me family. I loved them for it. Which was probably why loving their son had always seemed so natural. Unfortunately, Kieran Blackwood had never seemed to share that particular feeling. "You're staring again." I nearly dropped the stack of folded towels in my arms. I turned toward the voice. Mia, one of the kitchen maids, was standing in the doorway with a knowing smile. "I'm not." "You are." "I'm watching the training." "You're watching Kieran." My face heated. "I was looking at the training." She laughed. "Of course you were." I ignored her and looked toward the training grounds. Kieran was sparring with one of the senior warriors. He was twenty-four now, broad-shouldered and tall, with dark hair that always seemed to fall messily across his forehead no matter how often someone tried to tame it. He was good. Very good. But he knew it. That was the problem with Kieran. He had grown up knowing exactly who he was. The Alpha's son. The future Alpha. The most desirable male in the Blackwood Pack. People moved aside when he walked through a room. Warriors listened when he spoke. Young she-wolves watched him whenever he entered the training grounds. And somehow, despite all of that, I had spent years hoping he might look at me differently. It was embarrassing. Especially because I knew exactly what I was. A Beta. An ordinary one at that. No powerful bloodline. No influential family. No remarkable designation. Just Seraphina Vae, the orphan the Blackwoods had taken in. "Seraphina!" I looked up. Alpha Richard was standing near the training grounds. He smiled when he saw me. "There you are." I hurried over. "Alpha." He frowned. "How many times have I told you not to call me that?" I smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Uncle Richard." "Better." He took half the towels from my arms. "I can carry those." "I've got them." "I know you do." He winked. "Doesn't mean you have to." My chest warmed. This was home. It had been home for eighteen years. Sometimes I wondered what my life would have looked like if the Blackwoods hadn't found me. I couldn't remember my parents. I couldn't remember the pack I'd been born into. I couldn't even remember my real surname. All I had was the name the Blackwoods had given me. Seraphina Vae. And I had never thought about questioning it. "Seraphina." I turned. Luna Elena was walking toward us, carrying a small wooden box. "There you are." She opened her arms. I smiled and hugged her. "You're back early." "I finished my meetings." She pulled away and looked at me. "You look tired." "I'm fine." "You're always fine." She touched my cheek. "You need to stop saying that." I laughed. "Okay." She opened the box. Inside was a delicate silver necklace. My eyes widened. "Luna..." "I saw it yesterday and thought of you." "It's beautiful." "Then it's yours." I hesitated. "I can't take this." Her expression softened. "Seraphina." She placed the necklace in my palm. "You are my daughter. Stop behaving as though you need permission to accept something from your mother." My throat tightened. I nodded. "Thank you." She kissed my forehead. Behind us, someone cleared his throat. Kieran. He had finished training. Sweat glistened across his skin, and there was a small cut across his cheek. His eyes briefly moved to the necklace in my hand. Then to his mother. "What are you giving her now?" Elena smiled. "A necklace." "I can see that." His tone was teasing, but there was something underneath it that I couldn't quite identify. His mother frowned. "Don't start." "I'm not starting anything." Richard laughed. "You've been complaining about everything since you were born." Kieran rolled his eyes. "Nice to know I'm appreciated." Elena walked over and kissed his cheek. "You know you are." Then she looked between us. "You two should come to dinner tonight." Kieran groaned. "I have pack business." "You have dinner." "Mother—" "Dinner." He sighed. "Fine." I smiled. "See you tonight." Kieran looked at me. For a moment, neither of us spoke. His eyes lingered on mine. Something strange passed through his expression. It was so brief that I almost imagined it. Then he looked away. "Yeah." He walked off. I watched him go. Elena noticed. She sighed. "You know, Seraphina..." I looked at her. "What?" She smiled knowingly. "One day, you're going to realize you deserve someone who looks at you the way you look at him." My cheeks burned. "There's nothing like that." "Of course." She kissed my forehead again. "Keep telling yourself that." I laughed. But later that afternoon, something strange happened. I was carrying the last basket of towels back toward the training grounds when Kieran suddenly stepped into my path. I stopped. He was still sweaty from training. His hair was damp. His breathing was heavier than usual. "You're blocking the way." I immediately moved aside. "Sorry." He didn't move. Instead, he stared at me. His expression changed. The teasing disappeared. His nostrils flared. I felt it then. Something inside my chest. A strange warmth. A pull. My wolf—quiet and almost nonexistent for most of my life—stirred. For the first time, I felt something I couldn't explain. Kieran stepped closer. His eyes darkened. "What are you?" My heart pounded. "I'm a Beta." He stared at me. "No." The word came out almost like a growl. I froze. He leaned closer, breathing in my scent. Then his entire body went rigid. His wolf was reacting. I could see it. Recognition. Shock. Something almost primal. "Kieran?" He stepped back. His expression hardened so quickly that I barely recognized him. "Forget it." "What?" "Nothing happened." He turned away. I stood there, confused. "Kieran." He stopped. For one second, I thought he might turn around. Instead, he said quietly: "You're a Beta, Seraphina." Then he walked away. I looked down at the silver necklace still resting against my chest. I didn't know why his words suddenly hurt. I didn't know why my wolf had awakened for the first time. And I certainly didn't know that three days later, Kieran Blackwood would stand before the entire pack and reject me. I didn't know that the name Seraphina Vae wasn't the name I had been born with. And I didn't know that the truth about who I was would eventually make the entire Blackwood Pack regret the day they ever called me a Beta.