Chapter 4 4

Chapter 4

Tiara’s POV

My breath hitched the moment I saw him, my so-called savior walking toward me. Alpha Damien. Each step he took made my heart pound harder, not with excitement but with dread. My thoughts tangled into knots of fear.

Why is he coming to me?

Did I offend him somehow?

Is he here to punish me because I dared to escape his sight the last time he saved me from Alpha Killian?

My palms dampened with sweat, my legs screaming for me to run. I wished the ground would open up and swallow me whole, but wishes were wasted on Omegas like me.

Inside, my wolf trembled but not with fear. She was anxious, restless, her energy surging with an eagerness I couldn’t understand. We were opposites, me sinking in dread, her rising with anticipation.

When Alpha Damien finally closed the distance between us, I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing myself for the worst.

Instead, his voice deep, firm, impossibly gently slipped into my ears.

“Pup… you’re my mate.”

My eyes flew open. My heart stopped. My mind rejected the words, but my soul recognized the voice.

Alpha Damien.

He was kneeling before me. An Alpha, the most powerful man in the room, lowering himself to my level. My wolf howled with recognition, her joy bursting free, honoring him, craving him, as if she had been waiting for this very moment.

But me? I was frozen. Shocked. Confused. Never once in my miserable life had I imagined having a mate, let alone one like him. I was nothing. A commoner. An orphan. An Omega. The dirt beneath their boots. And yet, his scent coiled around me, intoxicating, comforting, undeniable. My wolf cried: Mate.

Gasps rippled through the crowd. Eyes turned, piercing me from every corner of the hall. Murmurs rose, their words sharp enough to cut skin.

Alpha Killian’s voice broke through the noise, sharp and scornful. “Brother, have you been bewitched by this wretched Omega?”

But Alpha Damien didn’t even glance his way. His golden eyes were locked on mine, burning with a strange obsession that made my chest ache. Muscles carved like stone, gaze unyielding, he was everything powerful and dangerous. And yet… my traitorous heart fluttered for him.

“This is impossible,” someone spat. “She must have cursed him.”

“No, she’s using some dark spell to bind him,” another added.

Their words stung, but worse was how my body betrayed me, my lungs drawing in his scent like it was the sweetest nectar, my wolf dancing with joy.

I dropped to my knees before him, my forehead nearly touching the floor. “Please, Alpha… I’m not worthy to be your mate. Spare me. I beg you,don’t bring trouble upon me.”

But my wolf roared against me, jubilant, ecstatic, ignoring my fear.

Alpha Damien’s voice carried across the hall, firm and unshakable. “I, Alpha Damien, declare Tiara as my fated mate.”

The room erupted. Whispers, shouts, gasps. Words that dripped venom. Unworthy. Cursed. Disgrace.

My throat closed as I whispered, “Please, Alpha, my taskmaster will kill me for this. I… I can’t.” My voice cracked like brittle glass.

But he reached for me, pulling me upright, his touch igniting sparks across my skin. His wolf’s voice broke into my mind, brushing against mine like a warm flame. I’m glad I’ve finally found you, my mate.

And my wolf, without hesitation, replied, I thought I would never meet you.

I wanted to scream at her, to silence her joy. Because I knew this would bring nothing but ruin. Omegas weren’t allowed to even speak to Alphas without permission. And here he was claiming me.

Alpha Damien turned to the pack, his grip firm on my trembling hand. “She is mine. I choose Tiara as my fated mate.”

Sarai’s shrill voice cut through the crowd. “She’s a lowly Omega! A nobody! She doesn’t deserve you!”

Alpha Damien’s eyes darkened. He sent a mind-link blast at her so strong she staggered back, clutching her head in pain. For the first time in my life, someone defended me. Stood for me. And it was an Alpha.

The hall fell into stunned silence, broken only by Sarai’s groans as her musketeers scrambled to her side.

Alpha Damien guided me forward, shielding me with his body, but Alpha Killian’s growl stopped us cold.

“I can’t believe you, brother.” His sneer was venomous. “How could you stoop so low for this… lowlife commoner?”

Alpha Damien’s jaw tightened. “The lowlife you insult is my mate. My fated one. And you will show her respect.”

Gasps echoed again. But before the weight of his words could settle, a single voice cut through the air like a dagger.

“She’s a breeder.”

The room stilled. Silence dropped heavy, suffocating, as every pair of eyes bore into me.

And in that silence, I felt it, my fragile world, already cracked, now shattering to pieces.