"Hi, babe. Meet me at the college. I have a big surprise for you ;)"

Sara's face broke into a grin as she read the message from Victor, her boyfriend of three years. She tried not to let her mind run away with her as she rushed around her room getting ready to go meet him, but she couldn't help it.

It was her eighteenth birthday. The day she had been dreaming about for so long. Now that she was eighteen, she and Victor could really get together as mates.

They had been dating since they were fifteen, and Victor had turned eighteen a month before. Now she too was eighteen…and she had a pretty good idea what his big surprise was about.

He was going to propose. She had dreamed about the day they would formalise their union for years, and she couldn't be happier that the wait was over.

After getting dressed, she left the house and started the walk towards the college. She wondered what kind of surprise he had in store for her. If he had prepared it at the college…did that mean he was going to make a public proposal?

She was smiling to herself and not paying attention to herself, so she didn't see the foot stuck in her path until she tripped over it and almost stumbled to the ground. Luckily, she caught her footing quickly and managed to avoid a fall.

She turned to see who had tripped her and found herself facing three girls she was never in the mood to deal with.

"Oh, look who it is," the one at the centre of their lineup sneered, giving Sara a once-over.

"What do you want?" Sara demanded, looking from Melody to her two companions, Stella and Bianca. The three were missing their usual gang leader: Laura, the beta's daughter. Which was fine with Sara. Dealing with three girls who hated her guts was better than dealing with four.

The group had been bullying her for as long as she could remember, but mostly after she and Victor started dating. Victor was the Alpha of their Blood Moon pack, and the Alpha King. Sara was an Omega who just happened to be adopted by the Alpha family.

Laura and her friends had never liked that an Omega like her got to date the Alpha King, and they made sure to remind her of her unworthiness whatever chance they got.

"Where do you think you are going?" Bianca asked, reaching forward and pushing Sara's shoulder with her hand.

Sara stepped back and glared at her. "None of your business."

"Haven't you guys heard?" Stella asked. "It's her eighteenth birthday. Look at how dolled up she is. It's obvious she is going to seduce Victor."

Melody scoffed, narrowing her eyes at Sara. "You are truly shameless, aren't you? Do you really think Victor will settle for an Omega like you? He has been playing around with you for years now, but I bet he's going to ditch you soon now that he is 18."

"I know, right?" Bianca seconded her. "If I were you, I would scurry along before I got humiliated. An Alpha King and an Omega? Oh please."

Stella twirled a strand of her brown hair around her finger. "Maybe we should save her the humiliation, girls. Now that she's eighteen, she could be having grandiose thoughts about being formally mated to him."

"What a joke," Bianca scoffed.

Sara sighed and turned to walk away, not interested in humouring them any further. She had heard such things from them before. She wasn't going to let them faze her today of all days.

She didn't care what others thought about her relationship with Victor. They had been talking trash about her being with him for three years now, but guess what? She was still with him. Whether they liked it or not, she and Victor were going to be mated, and they could choke on their jealousy for all she cared.

"Where do you think you are going?" Stella demanded, grabbing her forearm and keeping her from walking away.

"Let me go," Sara demanded, trying to release her arm from Stella's grip.

"What's the hurry for?" Stella asked. "We haven't given you your birthday present yet. Bianca, get the bucket."

Birthday present? Bucket? Sara watched Bianca skip away, a sense of foreboding filling her.

"I don't want anything from you," she told Stella, still trying to free her arm. "Let me go!"

"Come on, you'll like it," Stella promised. "We took our precious time to prepare this present for you. You're not allowed to say no."

Bianca reappeared, carrying a bucket in her hands. Stella finally let go of Sara, shoving her away. Sara huffed and rubbed the place she had grabbed her forearm.

Stella stepped towards Bianca and helped her hold the bucket. Before Sara could catch on to what was happening, the two girls swung the bucket and emptied its contents on her.

"Happy birthday!" they yelled between gales of laughter.

Sara stood frozen to the path as smelly brown water cascaded down her hair, shoulders, and body. The three girls walked away, laughing among themselves.

Cursing, she looked down at her outfit. The pretty sundress she had so carefully selected was now drenched with dirty water. So were her sneakers.

"You can't keep letting them get away with treating you like this," her wolf, Edna, groaned in her head.

"It's fine," Sara told her through her thoughts. "They won't be able to do it for much longer."

Once she was formally introduced as the Alpha King's mate, they wouldn't dare do any of this.

Even if Sara was from the Alpha family, she was only adopted. She was a homeless Omega before Victor's family took her in, and everybody in the pack knew that. Being a homeless Omega made her a target for bullies, and it got worse after she started dating Victor.

But once she became Victor's Luna, nobody would dare bully her. She didn't really care about Victor's station as the Alpha King. He was her mate, and that's what was important. But it was a relief to know that after years of putting up with insults and even physical assault, no one will dare hurt her again.

She turned to walk back home. Since they had drenched her with dirty water, she had to take another shower and choose a fresh dress. There was no way she was going to see Victor looking anything but stunning. Once in the house, she rushed upstairs, where her room was. She was about to open her door when a strange sound stopped her in her tracks.

She frowned when she realised the sound was coming from Victor's room, which was right opposite hers. Victor was at the college waiting for her, who could be in his room?

Curious, she stepped closer to his door and pressed her ear to the surface. Her eyes widened when Victor's voice sounded clearly through the door.

"You like that?"

Sara froze. What was he doing in his room? Who was he talking to? He had asked her to meet him–

"Yes, oh my God, do that again!"

Sara's heart hammered in her chest as the second voice came through the door. She knew that voice. Laura, the Beta's daughter! Laura and Victor–

Sara wrapped her hand around the door handle and turned it, pushing the door open. Her heart hammered even louder as she took in the scene in front of her.

Victor was having sex with Laura.

The guy who she thought was going to propose to her today, was fucking the girl who hated her and bullied her every chance she got.

She wanted to run, forget she ever saw it, but her feet couldn't move, and her eyes were glued to them.

She had no idea how long she stood there, too shocked to do anything, when Laura's eyes finally landed on her. Laura smirked at her over Victor's shoulder, and then said, "Vic, we've got a visitor."

"What?" he asked, his voice breathy as he kept on with his movements between her legs. He lifted his head and looked towards the door. When he saw Sara, he quit moving and quickly jumped off Laura. "Sara!"

"What is this?" Sara asked, finally finding her words. She had no idea why she was asking–she could see what it was.

"I can explain," Victor said, jumping from the bed and grabbing a discarded pair of boxers. He pulled them on and walked towards her.

"What does it look like?" Laura asked from her place on the bed. She didn't make a move to leave.

"Sara, babe, listen to me," Victor said, closing the door to the hallway.

Sara shook her head and stared at the floor. She couldn't bear to look at his face. In all the time they had been together, she had never imagined he could betray her like this.

Whirling around, she reached for the door, but Victor stepped into her path and stopped her. "Don't be mad," he said. "Let's talk."

"About what?" she snapped. "You were fucking her, and I saw it. What do you have to say?"

Victor sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "What did you expect me to do?"

Sara finally looked up at him, blinking in confusion. "What?"

"You pushed me away when I wanted to have sex with you," he pointed out. "I have needs, what did you expect?"

Sara was struck speechless for a second. He slept with Laura because she refused to have sex with him?

Her hands balled into fists. "You know why I couldn't. I told you I didn't want to lose my virginity until I was eighteen."

"Right," he said, tilting his head as he watched her. "You wanted to wait until you were eighteen. It's your birthday today. Are you willing to have sex with me now?"

Sara stepped back, disgusted by his question. After everything he had done, he dared to ask her that?

"Let me leave," she said, passing a hand below her eye to catch a stray tear.

"After you made me wait?" he asked. "You should keep your promise."

"What's wrong with you?" she demanded. "You were just with her, and now you…you…" She huffed and tried to walk past him to the door. "I'm done with you, Victor. Let me go!"

"I don't take orders from Omegas," he said, keeping his position in front of the door. He looked over her shoulder towards the bed. "If you're so mad about it, why don't you join us? Maybe you'll like it."

Before she could fully grasp what he was saying, he bent down and scooped her into his arms. She fought against him, but he was too strong and managed to get her to the bed. She tried leaving the moment he placed her down, but Laura grabbed her arm to keep her in place.

"What do you think you are doing?" Sara demanded, glaring at the other girl.

"You should be glad he is inviting you," Laura told her, sinking one hand into Sara's hair and gripping it tightly. "An Omega like you should never get close enough to touch him."

They were crazy, both of them! While Laura held her to the bed, Victor removed his boxers once again.

Sara struggled harder against Laura and managed to get free and crawl away. Whatever sick game they had in mind, she wanted no part of it. They had already humiliated her, why couldn't they just let her go?

Her wet dress clung to her body as she tried to get off the bed. But Victor grabbed her and threw her onto her back on the bed. He straddled her hips and pinned her wrists in place with his hands. "Where are you going? We are just getting started."

She blinked tears out of her eyes as she looked up at him. Looking at him, she couldn't see the guy she had been so madly in love with for three years.

How had she not seen this side of him all along? Even before they started dating, they lived together for a long time. He had never treated her harshly.

If someone had told her he was cheating on her, she wouldn't have believed them. But now…now, she had seen his true face, who he really was, and even if the truth was glaring at her, it was so hard to believe.

When had he changed? When had he started seeing Laura behind her back? Had he ever truly loved her? Why had he dated her if he thought she was worthless? He could have rejected her from the beginning and gotten with the Beta's daughter, if that's who he truly wanted.

She had too many questions she wasn't sure she wanted answers to. Maybe she didn't need them. They wouldn't change anything.

"I won't bother you anymore," she told him, her voice strangled with the tears stuck in her throat. "Let me go, and I'll stay out of your life."

"Don't you want to have sex with me?" he asked, gripping her wrists in one hand and running the other one down the side of her face.

She flinched at his touch and turned her head to the side to get away from it. "Let me go," she whispered brokenly.

He grabbed her by the chin, his fingers digging painfully into her jaw. He wrenched her face back to face him. "Do you really think you can reject me? I'll show you who the Alpha is around here."

Laura snickered loudly. "Why do you even bother with her, Vic? You shouldn't taint yourself with such trash."

"Even stray dogs deserve crumbs," he said, leaning down to get closer to Sara's face. "I'm giving her a chance to stay by my side, but she is throwing it in my face like she is too good for me. She must have started thinking we are the same because I dated her for so long."

"Your mistake," Laura scoffed.

"Well then, let me fix it," he said and released Sara's face.

His hand moved between their bodies, where he grabbed Sara's wet dress and pulled it upwards, exposing her body. She struggled against his grip and thrashed her legs to throw him off, but he was too strong for her.

He managed to push her dress above her waist and then drag her underwear down her legs. He forced her legs apart with his knees and settled his hips between them.

Sara's pleas fell on deaf ears as he showed no sign to back down from his intentions. He used his hand to guide his length towards her centre, and her entire body tensed when she felt his tip graze against her.

She screamed for him to stop, but he just tried to enter her again. When he tried to push through again, she tried with all her might to throw him off. She felt a strange power rush through her body, and when she pulled her wrists this time, she was able to escape his grip.

Victor's eyes shot to her in surprise, but before he could grab her again, she rose on her arms and bit him on the neck. Victor yelled and pushed her off him, and then scrambled from the bed, grabbing his neck. "What the fuck?"

Laura got off the bed too, giving Sara a shocked look. "How dare you bite him?"

Victor moved his hand, and they all saw the blood streaking down his skin. The bite mark wasn't that of teeth, but fangs. As if her wolf had broken through to attack him.

"You are so dead," Laura said, inspecting Victor's wound closely. "How can an Omega like you hurt the Alpha King? Where do you get such power?"

Sara knew what she meant. It wasn't about her audacity to hurt Victor, as it was about her ability to attack and overpower him. An Omega could never do that to an Alpha, leave alone a weak female Omega like her. She had no idea how she had been able to, but it wasn't the time to wonder about that.

Staring straight into Victor's rage-filled eyes, she said, "I, Sara Mae Xavier, reject you, Victor Andrew Jameson, as my mate. I revoke the bond between us, and give up any responsibility, claim, and right to you as my mate. May the Goddess be witness to this."

Laura shrieked in mortification. "What? You are rejecting the Alpha King? The nerve!"

But Laura's profanities that followed all went through one ear and out the next, because she suddenly could not concentrate on anything. Her body was filled with a kind of pain she had never felt before. One she had only ever heard about.

When a mate bond was broken, you got weaker. As an Omega, the broken bond had a more severe impact on her. It didn't help that her mate was a strong Alpha king…she would be lucky to survive, at all.

She wanted nothing more than to get out of that room, but her body crumpled on itself and forced her to remain on the bed, helpless.

And then everything went blank.

When Sara woke up, she was lying on a cold hard floor. Her head hurt, and her entire body felt sore as she tried to rise and take in her surroundings.

Panic shot through her as memories of what had happened streaked through her brain. She looked around fearfully, afraid that she was still in Victor's room. But no. This was a…prison cell?

Chains jingled as she moved, drawing her attention to the strange weight around her hands and legs. Her hands were bound together with handcuffs, and so were her feet. A long chain joined the cuffs on her hands to those around her ankles.

How has she ended up here?

As much as she felt relieved that she was no longer in Victor's room, the werewolf prison was the last place she expected to be. She was still wearing her dirty dress from earlier on.

She remembered the strange power that had coursed through her before she bit Victor, and then the weakness that had overcome her before she fainted. That must be why her muscles were sore and her joints ached as she tried to rise.

Pressing her bound palms to the floor, she raised her upper body and looked around. The cell was small, with ugly grey walls. Steel bars separated her from a hallway on the outside.

She walked to the bars and wrapped her hands around them, trying to get a glimpse into the corridor. Right across from her cell was another one, but it was empty.

Was she here because she had bitten Victor? Is that why she was chained up like some rabid werewolf?

She heard movement, and soon, a male guard appeared in front of her cell. "Good, you are finally awake," he said.

"What am I doing here?" she asked, hoping to get an explanation from him.

The guard scoffed. "Did you lose your memory when you went rabid?"

She frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"You attacked the Alpha King and bit him. What did you expect would happen?"

She shook her head vehemently. "I did not attack him! I was defending myself! And I'm not rabid!"

The guard shook his head. "Save your story, you'll tell it to the court."

"The court?" she shrieked. The werewolf court?

"Yes, the court. You'll go on trial for attacking the Alpha. Did you think you could get away with it?"

"But I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Like I said, tell it to the court. I'll fetch you a tunic and then we'll escort you to the court right away," he said before walking back down the hallway.

Sara groaned and pressed her forehead against the steel bars. She had never in her life thought she would find herself facing the werewolf court.

Could she dare hope for justice? She was just an Omega, and Victor was the Alpha King. Would the court believe her over him?

***

"When I rejected her, she tried to seduce me and then attacked me."

A murmur rose in the court after Victor was done giving his testimony. Sara couldn't believe what was happening. Victor had twisted the story to make it seem like she attacked him because he rejected her. And so far, everybody seemed to be believing his story.

"That's not true," she denied, turning her gaze to the court members. "He is the one who attacked me and tried to force me to have sex with him. I only lashed out in self defence."

Victor scoffed, looking disgusted. "Why would I go to that length for an Omega?"

"The court is aware that there was one other person present at the time of the incident," the head of the court said. "Miss Green, please tell the court what happened this afternoon at the Alpha's house."

Sara turned her gaze to Laura, knowing even before the other girl spoke that she wouldn't tell the truth. After bullying her for so long, Laura finally had a chance to get her into trouble for real.

"Victor is telling the truth, sir. He invited me to his house and asked me to be his Luna. When Sara walked in on us, he rejected her, and she became violent. That's when she attacked him and bit his neck. There was so much blood, I thought…" she trailed off, her face twisting dramatically in feigned pain. "If it had been a weaker werewolf, he would have died. As if that wasn't enough, she tried to attack him again, but luckily, I stopped her."

Murmurs filled the court once again, as people looked at Sara with horror and disgust. She balled her hands into fists and faced the panel. "She is lying. She and Victor attacked me together. How can her testimony be taken as a witness?"

"What a shameless girl! You dare to make false accusations against the Alpha King and the Beta's daughter. Do you have a death wish?" One of the members of the crowd shouted angrily.

"They should never have adopted her. A classless Omega will always remain one. She even dared to attack their son. How ungrateful!"

As the sentiment grew against her, Sara turned her eyes to her adoptive parents. She gulped when she met her mother's icy stare. "Mother, I swear, that's not true!"

"Don't call me your mother, you ungrateful girl! Did we raise you so you could try to murder our son?"

Sara was lost for words. She had thought that her parents would know it was all a lie. Surely, they knew she was incapable of hurting Victor out of malice. She had thought they trusted her.

Her father didn't look any less threatening or angry, so she turned away from them, afraid to make a scene. Of course they would believe Victor's words over hers. He was their true son, after all. She was just a homeless Omega they took pity on and welcomed into their home.

An hour later, the court delivered their judgement. First, they stripped Sara of the right to be their Luna. That didn't matter much to her–she had already rejected Victor and had no intention of being his Luna anymore.

Second, they sentenced her to spend time at the notorious North Academy as punishment for biting the Alpha King. North Academy was a campus where werewolves who were deemed a danger to the community were sent. Sara had heard before that it was where all the powerful werewolf families sent their delinquent kids.

Sara's feelings were mixed as a pair of guards escorted her back to her house to gather her stuff before driving her to the campus.

She was saddened about the fall out with her adoptive parents, who had always treated her well. But she was sort of relieved to be leaving the pack. If she were to stay, after all the accusations lodged against her, her life would become even harder. Not to mention the fact that without the mate bond, she was now weaker than ever.

North Academy wasn't exactly the kind of place she would have preferred to spend the next few years at, but maybe she could figure out a way to survive.

The school's reputation had her worried. It was where the worst of the worst, including the worst bullies, ended up. What if she ended up being bullied over there too?

The more she thought about it, the more uncertain she became about what lay ahead for her. She could only hope.