The Rising Queen: Awakening of the Hidden Luna Novel – I was halfway through washing the lunch dishes. Water running. Foam everywhere. My hands already wrinkled and raw from soap. Then— the squealing hit. High-pitched. Shrill. Like nails dragged across my brain. I didn’t even bother looking up. Alpha and Luna’s three precious daughters were at it again. “Oh my Goddess, did you see him?” Jewel shrieked. “He’s so handsome. I hope he’s my mate!” She’d turned eighteen a few months ago. Since then, her entire personality had become one thing: Find. A. Mate. “If I wasn’t already happily mated,” Tracy purred, “I’d be trying to get him alone and have my way with him.” She said it like it was cute. Because in this pack, girls like her could say anything.
Girls like me—omegas—didn’t get to say no. I scrubbed harder. Tracy wasn’t even the worst part. Her mate was. Dexter. Future Alpha. His wandering eyes landed on me more times than I cared to count. Like I was something cheap he could reach for whenever he wanted. “Maybe Alpha Josh will turn out to be my mate when I turn eighteen,” the youngest, Emma, chirped. I scoffed quietly and kept washing. They were obsessed with boys. Obsessed with mates. Obsessed with being chosen. I had a mate too. Every wolf did. I just hoped mine came later.
Because a mate would ruin me. He would soften me. Distract me. Make me forget why I’m still alive. That’s when my wolf spoke. Rose’s voice slid through my mind, sharp and urgent. “We have to find him.” My fingers froze. Suds slid down my wrist. “Not this again,” I muttered internally. “Why are you so obsessed?” “Because he’s the key.” Key. The word punched a hole straight through my chest. “Key to what?” I snapped back. “And don’t give me another riddle.” Rose paused. Then—finally—she dropped the first real clue she’d ever given me. “If you want to take back what’s ours… we need his pack.” My eyes widened. That was new. “So…” My throat went tight. “He’s an Alpha?” Silence. Rose shut down instantly. Like she hadn’t said anything at all. I wasn’t shocked. I’m supposed to be Queen one day.
My mate being anything less than an Alpha would be strange. But the problem wasn’t who he was. The problem was who I was right now. I was an omega in the Opal Sun Pack. A basement girl. A dish-washer. A servant. A wolfless omega—at least that’s what they believed. For ten years. Because when I was eight— I watched my parents get murdered right in front of me. Blood. Screams. Tearing flesh. I didn’t save them. I just survived. Survived so I could take back what was mine. Jackson. My father’s Beta. The man who used to kneel at my father’s feet— and then climbed onto the throne with his hands still stained. Every night since, the same nightmare hunted me. Ten years without real sleep.
Ten years of darkness behind my eyes. Ten years of pretending to be small. Mate bonds were the sweetest poison. Rose whimpered softly in my head. She wanted him. Wanted him badly. And part of me wanted it too. A hand at my back. Someone on my side. But I couldn’t afford it. Not yet. First I had to live. First I had to win. “Oh, Betty~” A sugary voice drifted behind me. My spine went rigid. Luna Jenny. I turned immediately and bared my neck. Submission. Humiliation. I hated the posture. Hated the way it trained my body to obey. “Once you’re done with those dishes,” she sang, “go freshen up for dinner service. We have a very important guest tonight, and I want everything perfect.” “Yes, Luna,” I answered in my meek omega voice. Luna Jenny wasn’t cruel.
She was beautiful—honey-blonde hair, light brown eyes, a smile like sunlight. But she’d raised her daughters like princesses. And the rest of us like tools. I dried my hands and headed downstairs. Basement level. Omega quarters. We each had our own rooms, but we shared a communal bathroom. I stood in front of the mirror and pulled my long black hair into a sleek ponytail. Ice-blue eyes stared back at me—tired, shadowed, rimmed with dark circles. Ten years. Ten years since I’d had one decent night without the nightmares. I changed into a simple black dress. No jewelry. No sparkle. Being unnoticed was my safest weapon.
Then I went back upstairs to help the kitchen. They were cooking everything. The finest china. Dishes fit for royalty. Whoever Alpha Josh was, he mattered enough for them to go all out. “Dinner will start soon, Betty,” Clova told me, handing me a silver tray. “Take the champagne and start serving the guests before they sit.” Clova was head omega. Kind. Twenty years in the packhouse. She’d learned the same lesson we all had: Don’t ask why. I nodded and took the tray. As I approached the dining room door, Rose started to lose it. She jumped around in my head, tail wagging so hard I felt pressure behind my eyes. The excitement was dangerous. I needed her to stop before she blew our cover.
Rose had hidden for ten years. Everyone believed I was wolfless. To keep her secret, she suppressed herself. The only time she ever surfaced fully was when we trained alone in the forest. “Rose,” I snapped silently, “what is going on? Settle down before you show.” “I know,” she said quickly. “I’m sorry.” That was all. No explanation. Of course. Rose always kept secrets until she decided it was “time.” I clenched my jaw. “Push it down,” I ordered. “Now.” She forced herself calmer. The excitement still hummed under my skin—hot and restless— but she held it back. I pushed through the door. The dining room glowed warm and bright.
Laughter. Glass clinks. Expensive perfume. Beta and Gamma families gathered. The Alpha family stood in a circle, talking like they owned the world. I lifted the tray and put on my practiced smile. “Champagne?” “Champagne?” I moved around the room, careful. No eye contact. No attention. No mistakes. But the closer I got to Alpha Frank— the more Rose jittered. My temples throbbed. I was two seconds from telling her to calm the hell down before she ruined everything. Ten years. Ten years we’d convinced them I was nothing. I refused to let today be the day it all collapsed. I handed Alpha Frank his glass. He took it without looking at me. Then I turned to the man standing on his right. The guest of honor. Alpha Josh. I lifted a glass toward him. “Sir, would you—” I looked up. And the world stopped. Silver eyes. Moonlight-sharp. Rimmed with thick lashes that would make any girl jealous.