The Night That Changed It All

Chapter 1

“You belong to us tonight, little omega. Try not to scream too loudly.”

The words still burned in my ears as I shoved open the heavy oak door of our small cottage, the night air clinging to my skin like a second, filthy layer. My legs trembled with every step, thighs aching, core throbbing with a sickening mix of lingering pleasure and raw violation. I could still smell them on me—dark cedar, smoked whiskey, and that sharp, electric storm scent that screamed power. Their scents had wrapped around me like chains while they took turns, growling promises they never meant to keep.

I slammed the door behind me and leaned against it, chest heaving. A broken sob tore from my throat before I could stop it.

“Elara?” My mother’s voice cut through the dim hallway light. She appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dish towel, her healer’s scrubs still on from the long shift at the clinic. Her eyes widened the moment she saw my face. “Goddess, what happened to you?”

I tried to speak, but my voice cracked. Instead, I slid down the door until I was sitting on the cold wooden floor, knees drawn to my chest. The dress they’d torn halfway off me hung in shameful tatters. Bite marks pulsed on my neck and shoulders, marks that should have been sacred. Mate marks. But they weren’t. Not to them.

Mom dropped the towel and rushed over, falling to her knees in front of me. Her gentle and steady hands that delivered pups and comforted terrified omegas every day, hovered uncertainly before cupping my tear-streaked cheeks. “Talk to me, baby. Who did this?”

I swallowed hard, tasting salt and shame. “They’re my mates, Mom. The Moon Goddess paired me with all three of them.”

Her face went pale. “The triplets?”

I nodded, another sob ripping free. Ryker, Ronan, and Rafe Blackthorn. The Nightshade Pack’s golden alphas. The most powerful, ruthless, and desired males in the entire region. Every girl at Blackthorn Academy wanted them. And somehow, the weak, wolfless daughter of a single mother had been chosen by the Goddess as their fated mate.

It had started this afternoon.

I’d felt the pull the moment I walked past them in the hallway after final bell. That unmistakable snap in my chest, the way my body had heated and my pulse thundered. They’d frozen too, nostrils flaring, eyes darkening with recognition. For one stupid, hopeful second, I’d thought it might change everything. That the bullying, the isolation, the constant whispers about my unknown father and my missing wolf would finally end.

Instead, Ryker—the eldest, with his sharp jaw and colder eyes—had smirked and jerked his chin toward the abandoned field house behind the academy. “Meet us there at eight. We need to… talk about our future.”

I had gone. Like a fool, I had gone.

They were already waiting, their girlfriends conspicuously absent. The air inside the old building had been thick with their combined scents. Ronan, the middle brother with the easy charm and wicked smile, had pulled me close first, murmuring how surprised they were that the Goddess would gift them someone like me. Rafe, the quietest and most intense, had watched with hooded eyes as his brothers slowly stripped away my dignity along with my clothes.

They hadn’t been gentle. Not really. Even when my body had betrayed me and responded to the mate bond, their touches carried possession, not care. Ryker had taken me first against the wall, growling that a wolfless omega should be grateful for their attention. Ronan had laughed softly when I cried out, whispering filthy praise in my ear. Rafe had been last, silent except for the low, possessive rumble in his chest as he finished inside me.

Then came the rejection.

I squeezed my eyes shut, remembering the way they’d stood over me afterward while I tried to cover myself with the remnants of my dress.

“We reject you, Elara Voss,” Ryker had said, his voice flat and final, the words slicing through the fragile mate bond like silver blades. “A weak, fatherless omega has no place as Luna of Nightshade. You were a fun distraction, nothing more.”

Ronan had added with a cruel chuckle, “Don’t worry, sweetheart. We won’t tell anyone how loudly you moaned for us.”

Rafe hadn’t spoken. He’d only stared, something unreadable flickering in his dark eyes before he turned away.

The bond hadn’t fully snap yet, rejection needed all three to complete it properly in a triplet set—but the pain had been immediate. Like someone had reached into my chest and crushed my heart.

“Elara.” My mother’s voice pulled me back to the present. She was stroking my hair now, tears glistening in her own eyes. “Did they… force you?”

I laughed, but it came out as a choked, ugly sound. “I wanted it at first. The bond made me want it. But they never wanted me. They just wanted to use me before throwing me away.” Fresh tears spilled down my cheeks. “They have girlfriends, Mom. Everyone knows that. I was just… a game.”

Mom pulled me into her arms, holding me tight against her chest. I could smell the faint antiseptic scent of the clinic on her clothes mixed with the comforting lavender soap she always used. For a long moment, the only sounds were my ragged sobs and the distant hoot of an owl outside.

“I hate them,” I whispered against her shoulder. “I hate what they made me feel. I hate that part of me still wants them even now.” The admission tasted like poison. The mate bond was already trying to heal, trying to tug me back toward them despite everything. It made me sick.

“You’re in shock, my love. The bond is cruel that way.” Mom rocked me gently, the way she had when I was a pup and nightmares plagued my sleep. “But you are not weak. Never let them convince you of that. Being wolfless doesn’t make you lesser. It just means the Goddess has a different path for you.”

I pulled back slightly, searching her face. The lines of exhaustion around her eyes seemed deeper tonight. She worked so hard, long hours at the clinic, coming home to cook and clean and raise a daughter the pack barely acknowledged. All because my father had disappeared before I was born.

“I can’t stay here,” I said, my voice gaining strength even as it shook. “I can’t walk those halls knowing they’re laughing about me. I can’t risk seeing them with their girlfriends, pretending I don’t exist. Please, Mom. Let’s leave. You always said you could take us back to Silverveil Pack, your old home. Grandma’s house is still there, isn’t it?”

Mom hesitated, her gaze drifting toward the window as if she could see the Nightshade Pack lands stretching beyond our quiet street. This pack had never been kind to us, but it was familiar. Leaving meant starting over completely.

“Elara… it’s not that simple. Silverveil has its own problems. Alpha Thorne—”

“Pleaseee mom, I'm begging you, please..,” I cut in, desperation clawing at my throat. “Anywhere is better than here. I’ll get a job. I’ll help at the clinic like you. I’ll do anything, just… please. I can’t face them again. The rejection… it feels like my soul is tearing apart.”

She was quiet for a long time, her fingers tracing soothing circles on my back. I focused on the sensation, trying to ground myself. The wooden floor was cold beneath my bare thighs. A draft slipped under the door, carrying the distant scent of pine from the forest bordering our neighborhood. Somewhere nearby, a pack wolf howled, probably one of the warriors on patrol. The sound used to comfort me. Now it only reminded me of the power I would never have.

Finally, Mom sighed and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Alright. We’ll go. I have some savings. We can leave at the end of the week once I wrap up my cases at the clinic. Your grandmother’s cottage in Silverveil might need repairs, but it’s ours. No one can take that from us.”

Relief washed over me so strongly that fresh tears sprang up. “Thank you,” I whispered. “I’m sorry I’m dragging you away from everything.”

“Don’t you dare apologize.” Her tone turned fierce, eyes flashing with protective fire. “You are my daughter. My only priority. Those boys may be alphas, but they are fools if they think they can break you and walk away unscathed. The Goddess sees everything.”

I wanted to believe her. But as the ache between my legs pulsed again, reminding me of how easily they had used my body, doubt crept in like shadows. What if the bond never fully let go? What if I spent the rest of my life feeling this hollow?

Mom helped me stand, supporting my weight as we moved toward the small bathroom. She ran a hot bath, adding healing salts and herbs from her personal supply. While the water filled, she gently peeled away what remained of my ruined dress, her jaw tightening at every mark they’d left behind.

“They will regret this one day,” she murmured, almost to herself. “Triplet alphas or not, the Moon Goddess doesn’t take kindly to the desecration of a mate bond.”

I sank into the steaming water with a hiss, the heat both soothing and stinging against my sensitive skin. Mom sat on the edge of the tub, washing my hair with careful fingers. The familiar ritual loosened something tight in my chest.

“Tell me about Silverveil,” I said quietly, needing to focus on the future instead of the nightmare still replaying in my mind. “What was it like when you were young?”

A soft smile touched her lips. “Wilder than here. Closer to the old ways. Your grandmother was a respected healer there too. The pack house was always full of laughter and chaos. But after I met your father…” Her voice trailed off, pain flickering across her features.

I never pushed her about him. The wound was too old, too deep.

As she rinsed the soap from my hair, I closed my eyes and tried to imagine a life without the Blackthorn triplets looming over it. No more stolen glances in the academy corridors. No more wondering why the Goddess had cursed me with three mates who saw me as nothing.

But even as the water cooled around me, a traitorous whisper lingered in the back of my mind—They felt it too. The bond doesn’t lie.

I shoved it down viciously. They had rejected me. Used me. Humiliated me.

And I would rather die than let them break me again.