Lily's POV
The blood wouldn't come out.
Lily scrubbed harder, her knuckles already bleeding from the stone. The water was pink. Then red. Then brown. She didn't want to think about whose blood it was.
"Move."
A boot came down inches from her hands. She jerked back, apologizing before she even looked up. But it was just Vivienne. Of course it was Vivienne.
"Clean that up, orphan. Some of us have preparations." Vivienne stepped over her like she was dirt. Like she was—
The other wolves laughed. Not mean laughs. Worse than mean. Bored. Like Lily wasn't worth the energy to actually hate.
She started over. The bucket was heavy. Her hands hurt. She didn't know why she kept scrubbing when nothing ever actually came clean. The ceremony was tomorrow. Somewhere in the pack, girls her age were putting on white dresses. Getting their fur done. Waiting to meet their soulmates.
Lily was going to be wearing this same dirty shift she'd had for two years.
That was fine. That was—
No. She wasn't going to think about it.
The water turned brown again and she scrubbed harder, not because it helped but because stopping meant thinking and thinking meant remembering that tomorrow night was going to be the worst night of her life.
Omegas didn't get fated mates.
Everyone knew that. The Moon Goddess didn't notice wolves like Lily. Weak wolves. Orphan wolves. Wolves that nobody wanted.
She was twenty-two years old and nobody had ever looked at her twice. The pack had raised her as charity when her parents died. Taught her that being weak meant being useful for the garbage jobs. The blood jobs. The jobs where you didn't matter if you got hurt because you were already nothing.
"You going tomorrow?"
Lily looked up. Sera. With her friends.
"Yeah," Lily said quietly.
"That's sad," one of them said, and they both giggled.
They didn't wait for her to answer. They never did.
The sun was setting when she finished. Orange sky. Then purple. Then dark. Lily sat back on her heels and tried to ignore the ache that was everywhere now. Her back. Her hands. Her chest.
The thing about being invisible was that people forgot you needed things. Food. Rest. Space. They remembered you existed when they needed something done. After that, you didn't exist anymore.
"Still here?"
Lily looked up. Zara dropped down beside her like she actually wanted to be there.
Zara had wild black curls. Warm amber eyes. She was the only person in Shadowridge who had ever treated Lily like she mattered.
"Where else would I be?" Lily tried to smile.
"Out. Celebrating. Getting ready for tomorrow like normal people." Zara looked at her seriously. "You know you're not hideous, right? You just act like you are."
"Because I—"
"You're not invisible," Zara said quietly. "You hide. It's different."
They sat for a moment. Lily wanted to believe her. Wanted to believe that tomorrow the Moon Goddess would look at her and see something good. Something worth noticing.
But the world didn't work that way.
Not for girls like her.
"Hey," Zara said, and her whole voice changed. Got sharp. "You heard anything weird today?"
Lily's stomach dropped. "Weird how?"
"About the ceremony." Zara glanced over her shoulder. "About who's coming."
"Who?"
Zara leaned in. Close. Her voice dropped to almost nothing.
"Lysander Stormborn. The exiled brother. He sent word he's coming back. For the first time in five years. He's coming back to Shadowridge."
The world went quiet.
Lily knew the story. Everyone did. The Stormborn twins used to be close. Then Lysander had wanted to change things. Wanted reform. Wanted weaker wolves to not be treated like garbage.
Kael had stopped him.
The fight had nearly killed them both.
"He's coming back," Lily heard herself say.
"Tomorrow. For the ceremony." Zara's eyes were wide. "If those brothers see each other in the same place—Lily, there's going to be blood. They tried to kill each other five years ago."
Lily's mind was spinning. The ceremony was supposed to be about bonds. About love. About the Goddess noticing you. But if Lysander came back, if the twins had to face each other—
This wasn't going to be about bonds.
This was going to be about war.
"Maybe they made peace," Lily said, but she didn't believe it.
"Alphas don't make peace." Zara's voice was flat. "They make deals or they make bloodbeds. That's it."
The air changed.
Lily felt it before she understood it. Got colder. Heavier. In her bones. The wind shifted and the light darkened and—
A howl.
Distant. Broken. Absolutely furious. From the north.
It was the kind of howl that meant danger. That meant something wild was coming and it didn't care who got in its way.
Alpha Garrick's voice boomed across the entire pack territory, calling every warrior to arms. It wasn't words. It was pure command.
Lily stood up slowly. Her heart was hammering.
This was wrong.
All of this was wrong.
Zara grabbed her hand. "We need to get inside. Now."
But Lily was looking north. Toward the shadows. Toward where that howl had come from. Toward where the exiled brother was returning.
Toward where everything was about to break.
"The ceremony was supposed to be tomorrow," Lily whispered.
But she could feel it in her bones.
Tomorrow was already over.