Chapter 3

After my parents died in battle, the Alpha let me stay in his house. I was assigned to his son Adrian as his Omega servant, the lowest rank in the pack. Every day, I folded his clothes, made his bed, and brought him water.

Everyone in the pack knew exactly what I was: a useless Omega without an inner wolf, a parasite who only got to stay in the Alpha's house because of my parents' legacy.

No one wanted to sit with me in the cafeteria. When I walked over with my tray, a group of girls at the long table all stood up and moved away at once. I heard them whisper.

"Ew, she reeks of weakness."

"She can't even smell it. Her nose is basically human."

I kept my head down and found an empty seat in the corner.

But as soon as I set my tray down, someone knocked it over. Soup splashed onto my skirt, and the plate shattered on the floor.

As I crouched to pick up the shards, a hand reached out from beside me and took hold of mine. It was Adrian.

He placed his tray across from me and sat down.

The cafeteria fell silent for a moment.

He tore off half a piece of bread and set it in front of me. "Eat," he said, his tone as casual as ever, like he was just instructing his servant as usual.

Truth was, this was something he did for me every single day.

On the training field, I was always the one everyone ignored, but Adrian would come over and partner up with me.

When someone poured filth into my cup, their own cup would end up shattered on the floor.

When someone shoved a dead rat into my bedding, their bed would get smashed to pieces that same night.

He said, "She's mine."

Then they started targeting him.

Being the Alpha wasn't about bloodline. It was about strength. Only the strong won.

Adrian was a prodigy. Even at his age, he could beat most adult warriors on the training field. But every time he stood up for the lowest Omega, the other heirs saw it as an insult.

"The Alpha's son is playing lapdog for a useless Omega," one of them sneered. "He's embarrassing all of us."

That afternoon, three older candidates cornered him behind the training field. It was an official challenge. By pack law, he had no choice but to accept.

I hid behind a tree, peeking through a gap in the trunk.

The first challenger charged in. The fight was brutal, but Adrian took him down in the end.

The second one tried to attack from behind. Adrian caught his wrist, twisted hard, and with a sharp crack, the man's shoulder gave out. That arm was useless now.

The third challenger hesitated.

Adrian stood there, a fresh cut at the corner of his mouth, breathing steady like nothing had happened. His golden eyes locked onto the third challenger, steady and cold, like he could destroy the man with a single glance.

So the third challenger turned tail and slunk away.

Finally, Adrian collapsed against the tree trunk, suddenly drained and weak.

I rushed out from behind the tree.

His ribs were mottled with bruises and wounds, and his clothes were ripped in several places.

I crouched in front of him, my fingers trembling, not sure where to start.

He glanced at me and pulled off his shirt. "I'm fine. Go get me a clean one." His tone was as calm as ever, like he didn't care about the trouble he'd gotten into for my sake.

My eyes burned with tears I refused to shed. I nodded, turned, and hurried off to fetch a clean shirt for him.

Stuff like this happened all the time.

The more he stood up for me, the nastier the looks he got.

But he never lost a single fight.

He was always there, casting a wide shelter over me. Even when my world poured down rain, not a drop ever touched me as long as he was by my side.