Secrets and Black Dresses

NYSSA'S POV

We slipped back into the designated cleaning zone, but the floor space beside the mahogany door was empty.

"It is not here!" I yelled in a harsh, panicked whisper. I dragged my fingers through my messy hair, tugging at the roots as I paced the narrow floor. "What if Cormac found it? What if he read it? Goddess, my life will be over. If Mildred finds out about the diary, she will fire me on the spot. Since I am an unshifted omega without full pack standing, they will cast me out. They will force me to become a rogue. That is a death sentence for someone like me, Bessie!"

A sharp sting exploded across my cheek.

My head snapped to the side. The echo of the slap rang in my ears.

"Snap the fuck outta it!" Bessie gripped my trembling shoulders. Her nails dug through the thin fabric of my uniform, grounding me in the present moment. "You cannot spiral into these catastrophic what-ifs. We are not giving up just yet. Look at me. Are you positive you left it right here?"

I took a shaky breath, forcing the frantic beating of my heart to slow. "I am positive. I put the diary in my canvas bag and set it on the floor before I went in to clean his bathroom."

The door handle rattled before the heavy wood swung inward.

Piper rushed into the room, her chest heaving as she locked the door behind her. "Mildred is on the prowl. She is doing her notorious spot inspections of the servant areas right now. You girls need to leave before she catches you loitering." Piper paused, her eyes darting between my flushed cheek and Bessie's tense posture. "Did you find your bag?"

"No. It is gone," I breathed out, leaning against the wall for support.

Piper grimaced and crossed her arms. "Sloane was hanging around the main corridors earlier today. I saw her hand a stray, unclaimed bag straight over to Mildred. Could it be yours?"

My stomach dropped all the way to my toes. Standard pack protocol dictated exactly what happened to confiscated servant items. Mildred never bothered to look for the owners. She just dumped everything into the dreaded trinkets closet—a sprawling, disorganized storage room where all lost items went to die.

"We need to get to the trinkets closet," Bessie stated, releasing my shoulders.

"Good luck. I will keep watch on this floor," Piper offered, unlocking the door and peeking out.

Bessie and I slipped out into the main corridor. We hugged the shadows along the stone walls, our footsteps silent against the polished floorboards. We rounded a corner and immediately shrank back against the wallpaper. Mildred was marching down the opposite end of the hall, inspecting every crack and crevice with her terrifying glare. We spent ten agonizing, sweat-inducing minutes executing a stealth maneuver through the twisting back hallways. We dodged two other senior maids and ducked behind a heavy linen cart before finally breaching the door of the trinkets closet.

The storage room was expansive, smelling of old dust and stale lavender. Mountains of confiscated junk piled high against the concrete walls. We dove into the mess. We frantically rummaged through boxes of torn clothes, broken radios, and discarded servant uniforms. My fingernails finally scraped against a familiar canvas strap.

I ripped the bag out from under a pile of heavy winter coats. My hands shook as I yanked the zipper down. The bright pink cover of my diary rested safely inside the main compartment. My knees buckled, sending me crashing down onto the dusty floor in pure relief. The crisis was officially averted.

"Thank Goddess." I lifted the small book to my lips and kissed the cover.

"See? You were panicking over nothing." Bessie giggled, offering her hand to pull me up. "Now let us go finish our chores. We have a huge party to get ready for."

With the weight of the diary disaster lifted off my shoulders, we spent the remainder of the long afternoon scrubbing floors, dusting the archives, and folding laundry. The sharp smell of lemon cleaner filled our noses while our backs ached from the grueling labor. By the time the sun dipped below the horizon, the energy in the servant quarters shifted. The dread of our exhausting daily chores melted into electric anticipation for the Eclipse Caves party tonight.

I stood in front of the small, cracked mirror in my bedroom. Nausea swirled in my stomach. I rifled through my limited wardrobe, staring at three different black dresses. One was too long and frayed at the edges. Another had a massive bleach stain near the hem. I grabbed the shortest, most form-fitting one and pulled it over my head.

I smoothed the dark fabric down my thighs. If I was going to insert myself into a high-society party filled with elite, top-ranked werewolves, I needed to show some serious leg. I desperately hoped the Moon Goddess would feel generous enough to finally send my mate my way. Or, at the very least, make a certain Beta's son look in my direction.

The thin curtain acting as my bedroom door swished open.

Piper popped her head inside. She wore a black skater skirt, scuffed combat boots, and her signature pink hoodie. The words 'Bite Me' were bedazzled across the chest in bright rhinestones. She leaned against the doorframe, looking me up and down with a wicked, approving smirk.

"I think you are about to show Cormac Bloodfang exactly what he has been missing out on," Piper declared confidently.

I groaned, burying my flushed face in my hands. "Does everyone know I have a thing for the Beta's son?"

Bessie walked into the room, adjusting a red sweater dress that matched her shiny boots.

"Yeah!" Bessie and Piper laughed in unison.

I dropped my hands, shooting them a miserable glare. "It is not funny. He barely knows I exist outside of fetching his laundry."

Piper hopped onto the edge of my narrow bed. "That might change tonight. Have you heard the latest pack gossip? Kaelen Kincaid is coming home. Tonight."

My jaw dropped.

The Alpha's legendary, scandalous eldest son was returning. For the last ten years, he had been away doing intensive overseas leadership training. The older she-wolves always whispered about him in the washrooms. They called him a brooding, terrifying, and dangerous figure. They swore he was a dark force of nature with a jawline sharp enough to slice through iron. I even heard a wild rumor that a girl passed out for four whole minutes just because he winked at her. Some of the older girls claimed he was physically hotter and more devastatingly handsome than Cormac.

That concept was pure blasphemy to me. No one could top Cormac. Cormac was golden perfection. His sun-kissed hair and caramel eyes were unmatched. I still remembered the one time I saw Kaelen ten years ago. He was walking out of the territory gates, lugging a black leather duffle bag over his shoulder. He looked like a ruthless soldier heading into a warzone. Even then, something about his aura felt heavy and suffocating.

Bessie sat next to Piper, nodding her head to confirm the news. "When I was cleaning the Alpha's suite this evening, I overheard him talking to Luna Rowena over the Moonbowl. He told her to cut her Paris trip short because their son was already on his way back to the pack."

"Think about the strategic advantage here, Nyssa," Piper said, her eyes gleaming with mischief. "Sloane is notoriously unfaithful. With the Alpha's son back in the territory, she will drop Cormac in a heartbeat. She will run straight back into Kaelen's arms. That leaves Cormac as a free agent on the dating market."

I picked up a piece of tissue to wipe away a stray smudge of eyeliner. Bessie always went a little overboard with the makeup. "You really think Sloane will dump him just like that?"

"I guarantee it." Piper jumped up from the bed and nudged my shoulder. "You need to take a leap of faith tonight. Confess your romantic feelings to Cormac at the party. Claim him before someone else does."

"Piper, he is a Beta's son. I am a lowly omega. The status gap is huge," I argued, the familiar weight of my rank pressing down on my chest.

Piper proudly held up her wrist. A beautiful, shimmering engagement bracelet caught the dim light of my bedroom. "Status does not dictate destiny. Look at Garrison and me. He is a Gamma's high-ranking son. We did not know we were true mates when we started dating. We just took a chance on love, and it led to a perfect match. You can have this too, Nyssa."

"I agree with Piper. Someone needs to stand up for us omegas, and moving up in the ranks is a good start. Tell him how you feel," Bessie encouraged, crossing her arms over her chest.

I snorted, feeling a deep wave of skepticism wash over my fairy tale hopes. "Very unlikely. The only reason he even gave me the time of day ten years ago was out of pity. He was fifteen and I was eight. He was probably just being nice to the weird, hungry orphan girl who stared at him too long."

Bessie refused to let me drown in my own self-pity. She stepped right in front of me, her expression fierce and unshakeable. She forcefully grabbed my hand, giving it a hard squeeze.

"Well, now you are the weird, hot omega with attitude," Bessie declared boldly. "Let us go show these elite-blooded jerks exactly how we party."