~Roselyn~

"You're going to be my mate when we get old enough, right?" the young alpha asked, making me blush.

"You really want me to be your mate?" I asked, wide-eyed, pointing to myself.

He grabbed my hand with an eager, honest nod as he blushed. "I promise I'll make you happy, and I'll never treat you unkindly!" he exclaimed, a sparkle in his eyes.

Blushing hard at the thought, I shook my head. "But Father won't allow it. It's forbidden. Even if I wanted to say yes, I—"

"I'm an Alpha just like him!" he interrupted, looking into my eyes. "He can't tell me what to do! Neither can my mom! They can't stop us!"

I avoided his gaze nervously, but he held my hand tighter, though still gently. "We won't have a choice but to listen," I said, hanging my head in defeat.

"Then I'll find a way," he said confidently, a cocky half-grin on his face. "I won't let anyone hurt you or boss us around. We don't have to listen to them; this is our decision." His expression shifted to one of seriousness and determination.

I stared back into his eyes, filled with strength and adoration. He radiated so much confidence that I couldn't help but feel hopeful, and I started to believe his words. "You'll really do it?" I asked shyly. "You'll protect us from them?"

"I'll do anything for you. I promise..."

——

I jolted awake, breathing heavily and drenched in sweat. It was the first dream I'd had in over 10 years. Running my fingers through my hair, I glanced around the dimly lit room, cluttered with maps covering the floor and my desk. Who was that Alpha, and why was he being so nice to me? Saying such ridiculous things... and acting even more ridiculously. The most absurd thing about the entire dream was that I was going to agree to be someone's... mate. The thought filled me with disgust.

Flinging back the covers, I noticed not only my clothes but the bedsheets were soaked with sweat, outlining my body. With a heavy sigh, I leaned over the side of the twin-size bed, clasping my trembling hands together to calm my nerves. I tried to remember the dream, but it was slipping away as quickly as it had come.

"What the hell was that..." I whispered to myself, trying to shake the uneasy feeling that lingered.

Goosebumps spread across my skin as I strained to recall the unfamiliar scene. I felt hot, as if Apollo himself had placed the sun directly on my forehead. My heart raced, and I still couldn't catch my breath, as if I'd been running for miles. The room seemed to close in on me, so I squeezed my eyes shut and forced myself to take deep breaths through my nose. Panic attacks were something I had often as a child, but it had been so long since the last one that I had almost forgotten how terrible they were.

"Lyn!" a voice called, followed by a knock on the door. "Lyn, are you awake? It's time for us to head out."

"Give me a sec! I'll be out in a few!" I yelled back, still irritated and trying to regain control of my breathing.

I stood and headed to the bathroom, flipping on the lights and splashing cold water on my face. I stared into the mirror, where golden irises flecked with light green around the edges stared back at me, set within almond-shaped eyes framed by long, jet-black lashes. A beauty mark rested under my right eye, complementing my round button nose. My sculpted face was accentuated by high cheekbones, full lips, and dull copper skin—a marker of my dormant status. My southwestern heritage was evident in my features. Standing at 5'11" with a slim yet slightly muscular build, my jet-black, wavy hair fell to the middle of my back, braided with interwoven gold ribbon.

The cold shower helped calm me down somewhat, but that uneasy feeling never quite left. "Something's wrong," I thought to myself, although I had no idea what. Was it possible that damned God Apollo was trying to show me something through that dream? I pushed the thought aside, deciding not to dwell on it with such a busy day ahead. Solving a dream sent by the Gods was like finding a needle in a haystack, and having a dream as a dormant spelled nothing but trouble. Dreaming, for wolves of the Sol pack, signaled a connection to the God Apollo and the gifts that came with it. But a dormant was supposed to be free of such ties, never presenting as an Alpha, Beta, or, worst of all, an Omega. In rare cases, some wolves were born without any pheromones that typically indicated their status, and it was even rarer for them to present during adolescence. My family had thought I'd be an Omega, raising me as one, but I never presented, thankfully. That also meant I had no connection to the Gods. No connection, no dreams—or so I had thought.

I slipped into black cargo pants, a black thermal shirt, and a black leather jacket. My hair was slung over my shoulder in a long braid, though a few coils stuck out, since I hadn't put much effort into it. As I stepped into the corridor outside my room, the bright lights stung my eyes. Evidently, I had overslept, which bothered me because I was usually the first one awake. Wolves bustled through the hallways, moving supplies, engaging in hand-to-hand combat training, and tending to daily tasks. Moss-covered the walls of the old ruins, but the area was otherwise tidy.

"Morning, boss!" echoed from various wolves as I passed, nodding and smiling in return. Every day, it seemed like more faces were added to our makeshift pack. It was a heavy burden to lead so many displaced souls, but as more kept arriving, especially with winter setting in, I felt motivated to keep them safe and create a family for them. Being a dormant was the lowest status in the ranking system of the packs—below even an Omega. As a result, many of us had been cast out or forced to go rogue.

"You guys ready to go?" I asked, grabbing a gun off the table, checking the clip and chamber before sliding it into my thigh holster.

Izzy turned to me with a squint, arms crossed. "You feeling alright? You never oversleep." He pressed the back of his hand to my forehead. The contact stung, like being pricked by a thousand hot needles.

I swatted his hand away, irritated. "I'm fine," I snapped. "You know I don't like being touched."

"The attitude's there, so he seems fine to me," Jodi chuckled with a shrug. "You worry too much, Izzy," she said, patting his shoulder as she headed toward the black cargo van.

"Let's get this over with," I sighed, following Jodi. Izzy stopped me, placing a hand on my shoulder with a stern expression. The prickling sensation crept over me again.

"You sure nothing's going on?" he pressed.

It was frustrating how perceptive Izzy could be. He noticed everything.

"My instincts are on edge today," I admitted, hoping half the truth would satisfy him. "And stop touching me! It fucking hurts." I smacked his hand away again, harder this time to get the point across.

He sighed as he climbed into the driver's seat, but I didn't care. I didn't need him watching over me like I was fragile. I could take care of myself.

My name is Roselyn Sunfire. I ran away from my birth pack 10 years ago, when I was 15, before my father had the chance to shamefully exile me. I didn't want to give him the opportunity—or the satisfaction—to make the experience more cruel than it needed to be. I've never been able to sense pheromones in my life, as far as I can remember. That classified me as a dormant, which, fortunately for me, set me apart.

I can still recall how my idiot father threatened any doctor who dared mention my "condition," as he called it, into silence. He wanted to marry me off as an Omega since I looked the part, but the older I got, the clearer it became that this was not going to be possible. I was unruly as a child, and since I couldn't sense pheromones, none of the Alphas' usual control tactics worked on me. To the suitors my father found, this was an unattractive trait for an Omega. What exactly made my "condition" so special was never fully disclosed to me, as most doctors were too terrified of my father's wrath to speak openly. But honestly, I didn't care. It gave me the chance to escape those awful etiquette classes and to have a will of my own—unlike the weaklings I was surrounded by. I was glad to finally make my own choices in life, and being a rogue dormant allowed me that freedom.

Originally, it was determined I was an Omega at birth, but somewhere along the way, that changed. I can't remember much about my childhood before I ran away, other than certain memories I've tried my hardest to forget. I don't know exactly what changed in me, but I was grateful for it. I preferred being dormant to being some asshole Alpha's bitch in heat. I hated children and the very thought of having them. To me, they were little vermin, good for nothing. Honestly, I didn't even understand why people had them. I shuddered at the thought of having anyone's child as a group of pups walked by just as I opened the garage door.

"What's up with you?" Jodi asked, peering up from the back seat.

"Kids," I spat, frowning as I glared at them. Growing up, I'd been forced to take care of newborn pups as part of the standard Omega training, and it had turned any intrigue I had into pure disdain. They were loud, stinky, sticky, messy, and very, very irritating. Regardless of how cute they were while sleeping, I grew to hate the sight of them.

"Crumb snatchers, aren't they?" Jodi teased, and Izzy chuckled.

I glared at both of them before shielding my eyes as the garage door opened, revealing the morning sun. The rays felt good on my skin, a welcome change from the darkness and fluorescent lights of our underground base. I smiled, taking a deep breath of the brisk morning air. As a wolf of the Sol pack, it was natural to feel an uncanny love for the sun. But because our base was full of dormants, we had to take shelter in out-of-sight places to avoid conflict and detection. Rogue packs were exterminated without prejudice, after all.

My smile faded slowly, an uneasy feeling creeping back as a flash of that dream sent a chill down my spine. Izzy, of course, noticed my reaction when I got into the van.

"Save it," I said, holding up my hand before motioning forward. "Let's just hurry up and get back. Something's off today, I can feel it."

"Should we reschedule the exchange?" he asked, clearly concerned.

"No, it has to be today," I said, shaking my head.

"You sure, Lyn? You're not often wrong. If you feel we shouldn't go, then we shouldn't," Jodi chimed in, leaning forward from the back seat.

"We need the supplies for the new arrivals. More keep showing up now that it's winter, and we won't last another month with what we have. So unless you guys have a better idea, let's go before it starts snowing. We've got mouths to feed and stupid kids to keep warm," I said, glancing between the two of them. They both nodded.

Hopefully, we could just get in and out today. Still, something was prickling at my nerves, and I didn't like it.