The Beta's Forbidden Omega

POV: Lando

The moon hangs fat and silver over Silverwood territory, watching everything. I watch it back from my bedroom window, knees pulled to my chest, breath fogging the glass.

Somewhere out there, wolves are running. Shifting. Feeling the pull of the full moon in their bones. I haven't shifted in three weeks. Not because I can't.

Because every time I do, I feel it more—that ache. That emptiness. Like my wolf is searching for something she can't find. Ridiculous. Wolves like me don't get to be restless. Wolves like me stay still and quiet and safe.

That's what they tell me, anyway. A knock rattles my door. "Lando. Father wants you." Rowan doesn't wait for an answer. He never does. By the time I turn from the window, he's already halfway down the hall, his boots heavy against the old wood floors.

Future Alpha energy. Always moving. Always doing. Well Rowan is my elder brother. He 26 years old he should be Alpha now like alpha of the pack and stuff but my father the one who I'm currently dragging my feet to see doesn't really want to retire. Especially not now with all the rogues attacking packs.

I pull on a sweater and follow Rowan

He's still unmated. Even though everyone wants to get in his pantes, man, woman betas omegas even Alphas. Not that I blame them my brother is the definition handsome, of made like a Greek god, he has black shoulder length hair like our fathers, silver eyes that we got from mom and a jaw so sharp it could cut through paperhe doesn't seem all that interested in forming a mating bond. Part of the reasons father has given him the reigns yet.

Our territory stretches for miles—dense forests, a river that never freezes, hunting grounds that make other packs jealous. Silverwood is strong because my father made it strong.

Every wolf here knows their place. Mine is in that office, apparently. Father's study smells like cedar and old paper. Maps cover his desk, red ink marking places where rogues have tested our borders.

Three new marks since last week. He doesn't look up when I enter. "Close the door." I do. "You know why you're here." It's not a question. I've been preparing for this conversation my whole life. "The summit. The alliance." Now he looks at me.

Alpha Cedric Windmere has green eyes that used to so beautiful and full of life but now they're like winter—clear, cold, dead and seeing everything. He has black hair and a handsome face. He has a few cringes but if you didn'tknow his age you think he was stillin his late thirtiesand not the firty eight years he has.

"Twelve alphas have confirmed attendance. Six have specifically requested an introduction to you." Six. My stomach drops. "That's... more than I expected."

It's was higher than I expected considering they don't know my where I'm male or female alpha or beta because my father has made it his mission to kewp me from the rest of the "cruel, unfriendly world" as he calls it. Not even my own pack members know, only a few father and Rowan obviously and my father's Beta. So those three basically raised me.

Some of the pack think I might be a female omega or a beta. Ugly, which is why they keep me locked away, so it's really surprising that my father announces I'm gonna make an appearance at the summit for marriage proposals and the alphas are eager.

But it's could also be that the summit isn't actually my arraged marriage party but a meeting all packs gather to attend every year along with the council to talk about... "things" for lack of better words. Or the facts that Silverwood has the largest pack lands and those greedy Alphas are trying to get their hands on it. Either way they coming and they is no need to ponder on it since they are coming and I might actually be getting married soon "hoooray" hope you caught the sarcasm there.

"Lando!" I look at my father who has been talking while I was in my own head. Great

"Yes father"

"Your value is higher than you understand." Of course it is. He leans back, studying me like a general studies a battlefield. "Male omegas haven't been documented in this region for forty years. The last one—" He stops. Doesn't finish. I know the story anyway.

The supposedly last male omega was taken by an Alpha against his will and the mark didn't take so the bond never formed and he died a few months later. The Alpha was never even held accountable. His pack fell within the year. No heirs. No bloodline. Just ash and memory. No really believes the story because no one can actuallysay they'd once seen the male omega.

"Your mother wanted you to have choices," Father says quietly. "I told her that wasn't how our world works." My throat tightens. Mother died when I was young. Rogues killed her when she went hunting and wondered too far from the borders. Dad chnged a lot after that. They had loved each other a lot and sometimes when I had looked at them I wondered if fated mates were really a thing of the past or not.

Mom was a kind Luna and everyone loved her, she loved my brother and I more than anything. Sometimes I wonder if she'd look at me now and see a son or a solution. "I understand my duty," I say.

"Do you?"

He stands, moves to the window. His back is broad, unbreakable. "Duty means putting the pack above yourself. Above your wants. Above your feelings." He glances back. "I've sheltered you, Lando. Kept you close. Maybe too close. But the world outside these walls doesn't care about what you want. It cares about strength."

I know. Gods, I know. "I'll be ready." He nods once. Dismissal. I'm halfway to the door when his voice stops me. "Lando. There's something else." I turn. "Tomorrow your brother and I have a meeting with the new Alpha who just moved North, make sure you stay in your room" he says.

"Understood"

I say as I leave his study with my heart pounding and no idea why. Back in my room, the moon still watches. My wolf paces beneath my skin, restless, agitated. Not afraid. Something else. Waiting. I press my palm to my chest, feel the heartbeat there.

Twenty years old in one month. Twenty years of shelter, of safety, of being the rare thing everyone wants to protect or possess. What would it feel like to be wanted for me? Stupid question. Wolves like me don't get to ask it. But as I stare at the moon, something shifts in my chest.

Something small and stubborn. A whisper that says: what if. What if fated mates aren't dead? What if mine is out there? What if everything they told me is wrong? I shake my head, climb into bed, pull the blankets tight.

Outside, the moon keeps watching. And somewhere deep in the eastern ridge, a beta with no idea he's about to destroy everything raises his eyes to the same sky and wonders why his wolf won't stop howling.

POV: Lando

Breaking pack rules wasn't something I did. Ever. Rowan had extra wolves out tonight. Father signed off on tighter patrols myself. Rogues had been creeping closer, testing, waiting for someone to slip. So naturally, I slipped.

The lake sits maybe half mile past our eastern border. Neutral ground. No pack marks the trees there, no wolves claim it. Just water and moonlight and silence.

I needed that silence.

The moon hit the water like someone spilled silver across the surface. The moon spilled on the lake like silver paint. It's was beautiful in that quite, aching way that makes that makes your chest tightens for no reason.

I dropped onto the grass, pulled my knees up, let myself breathe. This used to be our spot. Mine and Mom's. Elara Windmere had this way of making everything feel okay. Even when it wasn't. She'd sit right here, run her fingers through my hair, tell me I was moon-touched. Like being different was something to celebrat