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 that pathetic creature. Tonight, you're mine, Luca. Officially."

The connection severed, and the crystal dimmed.

I stood there, surrounded by scattered roses and shattered illusions, trying to remember how to breathe. Seven years. Not of love. Not of sacrifice. A trial. A performance. An elaborate lie funded by the woman who would take my place.

My legs moved without conscious thought, carrying me through corridors I'd walked a thousand times but no longer recognized. Everything looked different now, tainted by the truth. I found myself outside the Healer's quarters, my fist pounding against the door before I could think better of it.

Marcus Stone opened it, his weathered face creasing with concern. "Riley? What's wrong?"

"Tell me the truth." My voice came out raw, barely above a whisper. "About the ritual. About what Luca did to me."

Something flickered in his eyes—guilt, pity, resignation. He stepped aside, letting me enter. The door closed with a soft click that sounded like a coffin sealing.

"You know," he said quietly. It wasn't a question.

"I want to hear it from you." I gripped the back of a chair, my knuckles white. "All of it."

Marcus moved to his desk, pulling out a leather-bound journal. "The essence Luca grafted into you wasn't a gift, Riley. It was borrowed. Artificial. Designed to give you the appearance of a wolf bond without the substance."

"How long?" The words tasted like ash.

"Seven years from the ritual. The magic is already degrading." He met my eyes, and I saw the truth he'd been carrying. "I'm sorry. I was sworn to secrecy by Alpha command. I thought... I hoped Luca might find another solution before—"

"Before I died." I finished his sentence, my voice eerily calm. "He never intended to save me. Just to use me long enough to pass his trial."

Marcus said nothing, but his silence confirmed everything.

I left his quarters as the ceremony bells began to toll, their sound hollow and mocking. My feet carried me toward the sacred grove, drawn by some terrible need to see the full extent of the betrayal with my own eyes.

The grove glowed with moonlight filtering through ancient trees. And there, in the center where Luca had once knelt before me with false devotion, he knelt again. But this time, before Selene.

She wore white—not the simple dress of a mate ceremony, but the elaborate Luna ceremonial gown with silver embroidery that caught the light like stars. The dress I'd dreamed of wearing. Luca's hands cradled her face with a tenderness I'd convinced myself was real when directed at me.

"By the Moon Goddess," he murmured, his voice thick with emotion I'd never truly heard from him, "I claim you as my true mate and Luna."

His canines extended, and he leaned toward her neck.

The bond—the false, artificial, dying bond between us—flared with his awareness of my presence. His head snapped up, his eyes finding me in the shadows. For a moment, something flickered across his face. Not regret. Irritation.

"Riley." He straightened, not releasing Selene. "You shouldn't be here."

Selene turned, her ice-blue eyes raking over me with open contempt. "The trial mate. How quaint."

"Trial mate?" I forced the words past the tightness in my throat.

Luca sighed, as if I were a child interrupting important adult conversation. "Our arrangement served its purpose, Riley. I'm Alpha now. You should be grateful—I gave you seven more years than you would have had otherwise."

"Grateful," I repeated numbly.

"Don't be dramatic." His tone sharpened, the Alpha command bleeding through. "You knew what you were. Wolfless. Weak. Did you really think the Moon Goddess would gift someone like me with someone like you as a true mate?" He gestured dismissively. "Accept reality. I have my true Luna now. You... were always temporary."

Selene pressed closer to him, her smile victorious. "Run along, Omega. Some of us have important ceremonies to complete."

The false bond between Luca and me pulsed once, twice, then felt hollow. Empty. As artificial as everything else had been. I met his eyes one final time, seeing clearly now what I'd been too desperate to see before—he'd never loved me. Never even liked me. I'd been a project. A trial. A disposable tool.

"You're right," I said softly. "I was temporary. But so is your control over me."

I turned and walked away from the sacred grove, from the man I'd believed was my salvation, from seven years of beautiful lies. Behind me, I heard Luca complete his marking of Selene, her gasp of pleasure like shards of glass against my skin.

But I didn't look back. Because for the first time in seven years, I saw the path forward with terrible clarity. I had seven years left to live. And I would not spend them dying for the man who'd already killed me.