Omega's Revenge on False Mate

The Alpha ceremony preparations buzzed around me like static I couldn't quite tune out. I stood in the corner of the ceremonial hall, arranging white roses—Luca's favorite—along the altar where he would take his oath tonight. My hands trembled slightly as I worked, not from nervousness but from anticipation. Seven years. Seven years since he saved my life, gave me a chance to live when every wolfless Omega before me had withered and died. Tonight, he would become Alpha, and I would stand beside him as his mate, finally worthy of the bond the Moon Goddess had blessed us with.

I touched my neck absently, feeling the faint scar where his mark should be. Soon, I told myself. Once the ceremony concluded and his position was secure, we would complete our bond publicly. He'd promised.

"Riley, the crystal arrays need adjusting in the antechamber," one of the Deltas called out, and I nodded, grateful for another task to occupy my restless energy.

The antechamber was quieter, lit only by the soft glow of the communication crystals used for long-distance pack correspondence. I began realigning them according to the ceremonial requirements when one of the larger crystals suddenly flared with violet light. A private mind-link channel—left carelessly open.

I shouldn't listen. I knew that. But Luca's voice filtered through, clear as if he stood beside me, and my hands froze.

"Everything is prepared?" That was Luca, but his tone carried none of the warmth he used with me. It was cold. Business-like.

"Of course." A woman's voice, crisp and confident. Selene Montgomery. "The elders are thoroughly impressed with your 'sacrifice' for your weak mate. You've proven you can control even the most pathetic of bonds."

My breath caught. Control?

"The trial was more tedious than I anticipated," Luca replied, and I heard him sigh. "Seven years of playing devoted mate to a wolfless Omega. But it worked. Father said I passed with the highest marks in generations."

The roses in my hand fell, petals scattering across the floor like drops of blood.

"The essence graft was expensive," Selene continued, "but worth every resource my family invested. How much longer before it fades completely?"

"Marcus estimates she has seven years from the ritual. Maybe less." Luca's voice held no emotion, as if discussing crop rotations rather than my life. "By then, I'll be established as Alpha, and her... usefulness will have naturally expired. No one can blame me for a failed essence graft. These things happen with artificial bonds."

Artificial. The word stabbed through me, sharp and cold.

I stumbled backward, my hip catching the edge of a table. The crystal's light flickered, and I held my breath, terrified they would sense my presence through the link. But they continued, oblivious.

"I'll see you after the ceremony," Luca said, his voice dropping to something intimate, something he used to use with me. "Wear the Luna dress. The real one."

Selene laughed, low and satisfied. "Finally. Seven years of watching you pretend with