Seraphine’s POV

"You need to marry the Alpha, Seraphine."

My mom’s words just boom dropped right into the middle of our crappy little kitchen, heavy as hell. I just sat there, my fingers still tangled up in the shredded edge of my dress, picking at it like that’d help me disappear.

Did I just hear her right? Marry the freaking Alpha?

I sort of choked. "Wait, what?" My voice sounded like someone else's.

She didn't even spare me a glance. She stood by the corner as if she was talking to a ghost.

"You can’t stay here," she said, her voice dropping. "Not as an omega. Not when people already treat you like garbage. The Alpha… he’s you know, he’s your way out. Only one you’ve got."

God, I almost laughed, but it came out sounding hoarse. "My way out? You mean, like, as his charity project or something? That’s what I get?"

Her mouth went all pinched. "At surviving, Seraphine."

I hated that. Like she was saying I’d been born wrong. Omega like it was a disease or a punishment, not just me.

But surviving. That word just sunk its claws into me and wouldn’t let go.

I swallowed, hard. My throat felt raw. "And if he doesn’t want me? What then?"

For a second, she actually looked sorry. Like, really sorry. But then she glanced away and mumbled, "He will. He has to."

He has to. Yeah, sure. Sounded more like a wish.

I was about to ask what the hell she meant when someone knocked on the door.

My mum went into a semi panic mode. She clasped her hands together and her eyes widened for a second. My heart was hammering on my chest.

The door creaked open, and a woman walked in. Tall, hair in a ponytail, face stern it could give you a heartache. She looked at me knowingly.

"Seraphine Vale?" she said, eyeing me like a commodity.

I just nodded. What else was I supposed to do?

She didn’t introduce herself or explain anything else. "You’ll come with me."

That was it. No name. No reason. Just let’s go.

I looked at my mom, hoping for… I don’t even know. Something. Her lips wobbled, but she didn’t say a word. Not goodbye, not be careful, not even I love you.

Just dead air.

And honestly? That silence hurt.

The trip to the palace was a blur. Horses walking on the road, the woman beside me not saying a single thing, my hands twisting in my lap until they turned red. I kept thinking, maybe if I squeezed hard enough, I’d wake up from this dream.

By the time those giant, black gates showed up, I could barely breathe. Massive and cold, the kind of place you’d expect to see in a nightmare, or maybe a war. Not a fairy tale. Not home.

We rode in through the gates, the courtyard so big. We walked into the hallways and through so many doors.

Then, finally, she stopped. Heavy oak door, creaking open, and bam this narrow room stuffed with beds, baskets of half-folded laundry, the weird, sharp stink of soap and smoke. I just stared. “Uh… what is this?”

She didn’t even blink. “Maids’ quarters,” she said, all brisk and businesslike.

I probably looked like I’d been slapped. “There’s a mistake. I’m…I’m supposed to marry the Alpha.”

That got her. For the first time, she laughed if you can call it that. Sounded like glass breaking. Cut sharper, too.

“Marry the Alpha?” She stared at me like I’d grown a second head. “That’s what your parents told you?”

Cue humiliation, face burning, tongue tangled, words stuck in my throat. “They said…”

Her laugh died. What replaced it was worse, cold, flat, final. “Look, girl. You’re not a bride. You’re not Luna. You’re here because you’re an omega, and the only thing you’re good for is work. The Alpha doesn’t know your name. Hell, he wouldn’t care if he did.”

The floor sort of tilted. I mean, just gone. No bride. No Luna. No way out.

Just another maid.

She kept going, voice like a whip. “You’ll wake up before dawn, scrub floors, wash linens, haul water. Eat when you’re told. Sleep when you’re told. Step out of line, and this place will chew you up and spit you out.”

Every word almost made me cry. My wrists felt heavy and I wasn’t even wearing chains.

I wanted to scream, or smash something, or just run, but all I could do was whisper. “Why would they lie?”

She just tilted her head, looking way too tired for this conversation. “Because lies are easier than the truth. Especially for your kind of parents.”

I sank onto one of the small beds, the room suddenly suffocating.

My mom’s voice bounced around in my head. He has to. He’ll choose you.

Except he didn’t. He never would.

So here I was, stripped raw, facing a future that wasn’t even mine to choose.

Mistress Elora, my jailer, apparently turned to go. “Be ready. Kitchens expect you before sunrise.”

The door slammed. No mistaking that sound.

Final.

Like a judge’s gavel.

I sat there, heart hammering, chest aching, throat burning, refusing absolutely refusing to cry.

Crying meant they’d won. Crying meant I was weak.

But, yeah, the tears showed up anyway, silent and hot, burning their way down my cheeks. I mashed my fist against my mouth, trying to hold it all in.

Because deep down, I already knew the palace? It would break me.

I had no idea how long I sat there basking in my sorrow and the realization until the door opened. I jumped, wiping my face, bracing for round two with the gray-eyed warden.

But nope. Not her.

Instead, this girl about my age poked her head in. Freckles everywhere, wild red curls hanging out of a messy braid. She actually smiled, which felt a little like a miracle.

“New?” she said, soft enough the walls wouldn’t tattle.

Couldn’t even get a word out, so I just nodded.

She crept in, glancing around. “Don’t let her scare you. That’s Mistress Elora, head maid. She likes people afraid of her. But if you keep your head down, most days are fine.”

I wanted to believe her, truly. But hope here? It felt like glass. Handle it wrong, and it shatters.

She studied me, concerned all over her face. “What did your family promise you? To get you here?”

I couldn't answer without the tears falling.

She just shook her head, sighing like she’d heard this story before. “Yeah. They always do. Promise you something shiny, something better. But it’s never real. Not for omegas.”

That stung more than Elora’s laugh, honestly.

Not for omegas.

That night, I lay on the creaky bed, sleeping next to strangers.

I tried to imagine tomorrow, scrubbing till my hands bled, carrying trays for wolves who wouldn’t notice if I disappeared. And somewhere, in this fortress, the Alpha lived. He might help me if I see him.

That thought kept me together, at least for now.

But as sleep crept in, all I could see was that skinny, barred window high above. Like a little reminder that this was a cage.

And the worst part? I finally got it.

I wasn’t brought here to be married.

I was sold.