From a Broken Omega to the Northern Queen

After seven years in a dungeon for a crime I didn't commit, my fated mate, the Alpha who let them drag me away, finally opened my cell door.

He announced I would take my place as his Luna, not out of love, but because the law demanded it.

But the moment a frantic mind-link came through that his precious Seraphina-my adopted sister, the one who framed me-was having trouble breathing, he abandoned me without a second glance.

That night, huddled in a dusty shack, I overheard my own parents' secret conversation. They were planning to have me exiled. Permanently.

My return had upset Seraphina, and her "weak heart" couldn't take the shock.

I lay there in the darkness, feeling nothing. Not surprise. Not even pain. Just a profound, empty coldness. They were casting me out. Again.

But as they plotted my exile, a secret message arrived for me-an offer of escape. A new life in a sanctuary far to the north, where I could leave the Blackmoon Pack behind forever.

They thought they were getting rid of me.

Little did they know, I was already gone.

Chapter 1

Elara POV:

The heavy iron door groaned open, its protest echoing in the damp stone cell that had been my world for seven years.

Light, sharp and unfamiliar, sliced through the gloom, forcing me to squint. My muscles, atrophied from long disuse and poor nutrition, trembled as I pushed myself to my feet. A sharp, searing pain shot up my right leg, a permanent reminder of the silver shackle that had once bound me here. It had left me with a limp, a constant, nagging ache that was now a part of who I was.

"Elara."

The voice was deeper than I remembered, stripped of the warmth it held in my childhood memories. It was a voice that resonated with power, a sound that made the very stones seem to vibrate. It was the voice of my mate. My Alpha.

Kaelen stood silhouetted against the blinding light of the doorway. He was taller, broader, his presence filling the cramped space with an oppressive energy. The scent of him-a potent mix of winter pine and the clean, sharp air before a storm- flooded my senses, a scent that should have brought comfort but now only felt like a cage.

"The elders have agreed to your release," he stated, his tone flat, devoid of any emotion. He took a step inside, his dark eyes scanning my frail form with an unnerving detachment. "As per the laws of the Moon Goddess, you are still my fated mate. You will take your place as my Luna."

I said nothing. My heart, a tired, worn-out muscle, gave a feeble flutter and then settled back into its slow, rhythmic beat. The bond between us, that sacred connection the Goddess bestowed upon mated pairs, was a phantom limb. It was there, a dull throb in the back of my soul, but it was fractured, scarred over from the day he stood by and watched them drag me to this dungeon.

He seemed to take my silence as acquiescence. "Your parents... the pack elders, could not be here. Seraphina is unwell. Her heart condition has flared up again."

Seraphina. The name was like ash in my mouth. My adopted sister. The one whose place I was born to take, but who had stolen everything from me instead.

A bitter laugh threatened to escape my lips, but I swallowed it down. I was the true-born daughter of the pack's Beta, a direct descendant of the Alpha bloodline. Yet, at birth, a mistaken prophecy had labeled me an Omega, the lowest of the low. My parents, in their grief and disappointment, had adopted Seraphina, the orphaned daughter of the Gamma, and showered her with the love and status that should have been mine. I was forced to yield everything to her-my toys, my training, my position. And finally, my freedom. I had taken the fall for her, accused of conspiring with rogues, a crime she had committed. And Kaelen, my own mate, had believed the lie.

"Come," he said, turning his back to me, assuming I would follow.

I did. One slow, limping step at a time, I followed him out of the darkness and into the world that had forgotten me. The pack members we passed averted their gazes, their faces a mixture of contempt and pity. Whispers followed us like shadows, sharp and cruel.

We reached the center of the pack village, a place that once felt like home. Now, it was just a collection of hostile stares. Kaelen's Beta, a stern-faced wolf named Marcus, approached us. He bowed his head to Kaelen before turning his cold eyes on me.

"The elders have decreed that you will reside in the Omega housing for the time being," he announced, his voice loud enough for everyone to hear. "It is best you do not show your face in public until the Alpha deems it appropriate."

Humiliation washed over me, a familiar, chilling wave. Seven years in a dungeon, only to be released into another form of prison.

Before Kaelen could respond, I felt a faint flicker against my mental shields. A mind-link. It was weak, frantic.

'Kaelen! Where are you? Seraphina is asking for you! She's having trouble breathing!'

Kaelen's entire posture shifted. The cold indifference was replaced by a raw, immediate panic. His head snapped up, his eyes searching the distance as if he could see her.

'I'm on my way,' he projected back, his mental voice a sharp crackle of urgency.

He didn't even look at me. He just turned and sprinted towards the large, ornate house where the pack leaders lived, leaving me alone in the center of the square, the target of a hundred scornful eyes.

I didn't need anyone to show me the way. My legs, despite the pain, remembered the path to the outskirts of the village, to the dilapidated shacks reserved for the Omegas. I pushed open the door to the smallest one, the one that had been mine before the dungeon. Dust motes danced in the slivers of light piercing the grimy window. The air was stale, thick with the ghosts of loneliness.

I collapsed onto the thin straw mattress, my body screaming in protest. Exhaustion, deep and absolute, pulled me under.

Later that night, I was roused from a restless sleep by a familiar mental hum. My parents and my younger sister, Lyra, were communicating through the mind-link. My white wolf blood, a secret I had guarded my entire life, gave me the ability to perceive even the most private of these connections, a curse I had learned to endure.

'She can't stay here,' my mother's voice was laced with anxiety. 'Seraphina saw her from the window. The shock was too much for her weak heart. She's been crying for hours.'

'Father, what should we do?' Lyra's voice, once a source of comfort, was now sharp with annoyance. 'Her presence is a disruption.'

'I will speak to Kaelen,' my father, the Beta, replied, his tone heavy. 'For the good of the pack, and for Seraphina's health, Elara must be exiled. Permanently.'

I lay there in the darkness, my eyes wide open, feeling nothing. Not surprise. Not even pain. Just a profound, empty coldness. They were casting me out. Again.

Just as I was about to let the darkness claim me once more, a soft tapping sound came from the window. I dragged my aching body over and saw a small, dark bird perched on the sill. Tied to its leg was a tiny scroll. My fingers trembled as I untied it.

It was from an old healer in a neighboring pack, a kind woman who had known of my true lineage. The message was brief. She had arranged an opportunity for me, a place of sanctuary far to the north, a place where I could start over, under a new name, and leave the Blackmoon Pack behind forever. The offer was for ten days from now.

A single, hot tear traced a path through the grime on my cheek. It wasn't a tear of sadness, but of relief. This was it. My escape.

I looked at the scroll, then out at the moon hanging high in the night sky. They wanted to exile me. Little did they know, I was already planning my own departure. And this time, I would never look back.