"Tell me you hate me, Eira."

His voice was a low growl, rough with pain. My dagger was still in his chest, my hands shaking.

"I do," I whispered, even though my heart was splintering.

His eyes, gods, those eyes aren’t cold like I dreamed they’d be. They are heartbreak and I hate him more for that

“Then finish it,” he breathes.

I didn't. Instead, I run.

~

My name is Eira Frostclaw, daughter of Alpha and Luna Frostclaw. Born as an Omega into one of the oldest warrior lines in the Kingdom, I was trained to fight, to think and to protect my pack.

Omegas were meant to serve, not to lead, but my father always said I carried warrior blood in my veins.

Our home stood high on the ridge, overlooking forests so vast they looked like oceans of green. From my window, I could hear the howls at night and the heartbeats of my people in the wind.

My sister, Diana, is the heart of our pack. She is gentle, golden-haired, with a laugh like bells. I would have killed for her. I thought I have a lifetime to prove that.

And then there's Victor. His name is Victor Shadowbite, he is the son of a wealthy allied Alpha of Shadowbite. A soon-to-be Alpha of his pack.

He was the boy who used to throw pinecones at my head when we were cubs. Now, he makes my pulse quicken with a glance.

~

There, comes the night everything shattered. Something happened and the world felt too quiet.

The fire in the hearth burned low as Mother brushed Diana’s hair by the window, the silver strands of moonlight turning it to gold. Father sat across the table, reading over trade agreements with a scowl.

I was polishing my dagger, the one Father gave me on my sixteenth birthday when I noticed it again this morning.

There comes the silence.

No crickets, no wind. Even the usual distant patrol calls were gone.

“Do you hear that?” I asked.

Father’s head lifted. His brows drew together but he didn’t answer. Instead, he rose and crossed to the door.

It began with a howl, sharp, sudden and cutting through the night, then another with a scream.

Father spun toward us, his voice turning to a steel. “Stay inside and bolt the door.”

“Father” I called

“Now, Eira!” He yelled.

He was gone before I could argue, the door slamming behind him.

Mother stood pressing me to Diana. “Take her upstairs. Don’t open the door for anyone unless it’s your father or me.” She ordered Diana.

Her voice was steady but I saw the fear in her eyes.

Diana took my hand and pulled me toward the stairs. I stumbled, glancing back. “What’s happening?”

“I don’t know,” She answered.

The next minutes were blur. Shouts outside and thud of boots on the porch. Then a crash.

The front door swung open as Diana rushed out of it. I also stood up, raced down the stairs but froze.

Mother lay sprawled in the entryway, her throat was slashed, her eyes were open but seeing nothing. Blood pooled beneath her, warm and slick, spreading toward my bare feet.

“No, no” I dropped to my knees, pressing my hands to the wound but my fingers slipped uselessly. “Mother, stay with me, please”

Diana was with father trying her best to save him too.

I didn’t hear anyone come in neither did I see who struck the blow that knocked me sideways. My temple hit the floor.

When my vision cleared, Diana was lying down beside father, his chest unmoving and his sword lying just out of reach.

I couldn't scream. My hands were shaking so violently I barely realized they were coated in blood.

The voices outside grew louder, feet were pounding. The main doors slam open, more howls cutting through the night and the front of my house filled with pack guards, neighbors and my Victor.

They all stepped in and shocked when they saw me kneeling between my parents, drenched in red.

“She, she’s covered in blood and only her is alive.” One of them said

“Goddess, Eira…” The other can't believe her eyes.

“An Omega? Why would she” One about to accused me of what I didn't do.

Victor stepped forward, his dark eyes wide. “Eira… what did you do?”

“I didn’t. Victor, I swear..” My voice cracked but the words felt thin against the scene before them.

No one listened. Their hands grabbed my arms, pulling me back from my parents’ bodies while someone muttered about using shackles on me.

I caught one last glimpse of Diana and my parents lying helplessly on the floor. Then a guard drag me out into the cold night.

The moonlight turned the blood on my skin to black. Every howl in the distance felt like an accusation. That moment, I knew the pack I bled for would never see me as anything but a killer.

When the whole pack believes you’ve slaughtered the only people who would defend you, you stop fighting, you just… exist.

They kept me in the old meeting hall that has a stone walls that is damp and cold, the smell of mildew clinging to my clothes. Every time the door creaked, I thought it would be someone telling me this was all a mistake, that they have found the real killer, but no, it never happened.

~

Three days later, they let me out to attend my parents burial day.

When they brought me to the Frostclaw graveyard, the wind carried the scent of fresh earth and crushed pine. My parents’ bodies lay side by side, wrapped in white cloth, their faces uncovered for the last time.

I couldn’t move at first, my knees wanted to buckle., my wolf was silent and a hollow echo in my chest.

Diana wasn’t here, I heard she haven’t wake up since then but not yet dead.

I wanted to see her even if it's just to confirmed their claim but the guards flank me, making it clear I was only here for one thing: to watch them put my parents on the ground.