The Defiant Omega

Adeline Cobb POV:

"Oh, sister, you're awake," a voice said, so sweet it was sickening. "You look so pale. Are you unwell?"

My sister Aisili, disheveled, leaned against my fiancé, Prince Angelo Hamilton. Seeing me awake, she actually added provocation to her eyes and, without a care for anyone else, kissed the completely naked man still in his beast-eared state.

I forced my eyes open and realized I had been drugged with something that made me groggy. What met my eyes was the dim light of the bedroom and layer upon layer of gauze curtains.

Then, previous memories surged crazily into my mind. I saw myself drugged by my stepmother Lady Ginny, saw myself full of heart and hope, putting on the expensive white wedding dress, wanting to marry my fated mate, the Alpha Prince. I imagined marriage would be my salvation, helping me escape the shackles of the Wallace family, and from then on, the sky would be high and the sea wide, and we would stay together until our hair turned white, never apart. But it was all false.

On the wedding night, my fiancé had sex with my sister. This was supposed to be the wedding bed belonging to me and Angelo, but now I could only watch as Angelo cheated and betrayed me. The primal, soul-deep pain of the violated mate bond tore me apart. The dream that had begun in my girlhood shattered. As much as I had once wanted to marry him, that was how much I now hated him.

I let out a mocking snort. What a pair of shameless lovers. Mother was absolutely right. Not a single man is reliable. I remembered her words before she died: "Before you are strong enough, you must endure and lie low. Don't let others know who you are."

Since childhood, I had received secret training from my mother: combat, tactics, weapon design, herbology. Before she died, my mother passed on to me all her lifelong knowledge and the secrets of the family legacy. Over the years, I had tried my best to disguise myself as a weak omega. I knew that once I was exposed, being eliminated by my father and stepmother was only a matter of time. A marriage with the royal family was unreliable. In the end, I still had to rely on myself.

Angelo finally moved his gaze away from Aisili. His amber eyes, when they met mine, held no guilt at all. There was only the displeasure of being interrupted and a kind of arrogant contempt.

In the air, the pheromones of the three of us intertwined: lily, wood, and that nauseating peach blossom scent.

Angelo lazily draped an outer robe over himself, released the oppressive aura belonging to an Alpha, leaned lazily against the headboard, and put away his beast ears. "Since you're awake, stay quiet and don't disturb my fun."

I forced myself to stay conscious. Out of habit I wanted to find a knife to defend myself, and I subconsciously touched the callus on the web of my hand. Realizing I was still wearing a wedding dress and had no handy tool, I pinched my palm hard until it bled, forcing myself to stay calm. I coldly shifted my gaze to them, like a predator observing two stupid, trapped prey, unwavering.

My silence made them uneasy. Aisili's smile froze. Angelo's brows furrowed slightly.

"Disturb?" I finally spoke. My voice was hoarse from the drug, but every word was like a shard of ice. "I think you've made a mistake."

My gaze swept over them. Thinking of how their bodies had been tangled together earlier, my disgust almost solidified in the air. "This room was prepared for my marking ceremony. This bed is mine. This man... was once mine."

I paused, watching the color drain from Aisili's face. "But I've never been very interested in used things. Especially not this kind of secondhand goods."

Angelo's face flushed dark red, furious. His powerful Alpha pheromones were no longer simply released but came straight at me, trying to force me to submit. "Adeline! Watch your tone!"