Chapter 5

Kenia POV:

The graveyard was shrouded in mist. It was dawn, the sun a pale, sickly bruise on the horizon.

I hid behind a large oak tree, watching.

They hadn't even given him a ceremony. Just a hole in the ground in the "Unranked" section-the muddy corner reserved for Omegas and criminals. Elder Evans, who had served three generations of Alphas, was being discarded like trash.

Only a few people were there. Sarah. The orphanage cook. A few old wolves.

Holden wasn't there. Estella wasn't there.

I waited until they left. Then I stepped out of the shadows.

I knelt by the fresh mound of dirt. I didn't have flowers. I placed the shredded remains of my white dress on the grave.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, pressing my hand into the cold earth. "I'm so sorry I couldn't save you."

"Touching."

I froze.

Estella stepped out from behind a mausoleum. She was wearing a black fur coat, looking immaculate and cruel. She held a small gift box.

"You escaped," she noted, looking bored. "Holden is furious. He's tearing the estate apart."

"Let me leave, Estella. You have him. You won."

"Oh, I know I won." She tossed the box at me. It landed in the mud. "A little parting gift. From Holden. He signed the card."

I opened the box.

Inside lay a dead rat. Its neck was snapped.

"He said it reminds him of you," Estella laughed. "Small. Dirty. Vermin."

Something inside me snapped. Not a bone, but a chain.

A low growl vibrated in my chest. It wasn't the submissive whimper of an Omega. It was deep, resonant, and dangerous.

Estella took a step back, her smile faltering. "What... what was that?"

I looked up. My vision shifted. The world became sharper, the colors more vivid. I felt a surge of power in my veins that I had never felt before.

"Tell Holden," I said, my voice sounding like two voices layered over each other-human and wolf, "that he should have checked the trap before he taunted the prey."

Estella hissed. "You're a freak! No wonder your parents abandoned you!"

"Estella!"

Holden's voice boomed across the cemetery. He was storming toward us, flanked by his grandmother, Annabella.

Annabella was a withered, hateful woman who clung to the old ways. She looked at me with pure disgust.

"So this is the mongrel causing all the trouble," Annabella spat. "Look at her. Filthy. Why haven't you banished her yet, grandson?"

"She has her uses," Holden said, eyeing me. He looked tired, manic. "Kenia, come back to the house. Now."

"No."

"You want to be stubborn?" Holden sneered. "Fine. You want to be part of the wedding? You can be."

He turned to Estella. "Make her the bridesmaid."

Estella's eyes lit up. "Oh, perfect! In our tradition, the Omega bridesmaid kneels at the altar to hold the Luna's train off the floor. She can be my footstool."

"Did you hear that, Kenia?" Holden asked, stepping closer. "You can attend the wedding. On your knees. Where you belong."

I looked at the fresh grave of Elder Evans. I looked at the dead rat. I looked at the man I had once thought I loved.

If I ran now, they would hunt me down before I reached the border. I needed a distraction. I needed the chaos of the wedding.

I needed to buy time for Gael.

I lowered my eyes, hiding the silver flash that was pulsing in my irises.

"Okay," I whispered.

Holden exhaled, looking triumphant. "See, Grandmother? She knows her place."

"Good," Annabella sniffed. "Clean her up. She smells like death."

Holden grabbed my arm. "Tomorrow, Kenia. You watch me marry a real woman. And then, maybe, if you're good... I'll keep you as a mistress. Paris, remember? I can still send you there."

He really believed that. He believed he could break me, humiliate me, and then buy me.

I let him drag me back to the car.

Tomorrow, my wolf whispered in my mind, speaking for the first time since the fall. Her voice was strong, ancient, and terrifying.

Tomorrow, we burn their world down.