Freya had been living as the weakest wolf in Shadow Pinepack for seven years, and she had perfected the art of being invisible, pathetic, and utterly unremarkable. It was a lie, of course. Everything about her existence in Shadowpine was a carefully constructed deception designed to keep her alive. The small, pale, gray wolf she shifted into was not her true form.

 The timid demeanor, the downcast eyes, the way she flinched when stronger wolves passed too close. All of it was an act. Because if anyone discovered what Freya really was, if they saw her true wolf form, the assassins who had slaughtered her family seven years ago would find her, and this time they would finish the job.

 So Freya lived as an omega, the lowest rank in pack hierarchy, treated with contempt by warriors and pity by those with kinder hearts. She worked in the kitchens, kept her head down, spoke only when necessary, and made absolutely certain that no one ever suspected she was anything more than what she appeared to be.

 It was a lonely existence, exhausting, demeaning, but it kept her alive, and it had worked perfectly for seven years. Right up until Alpha King Theon decided to visit Shadow Pine Pack and Isolda decided Freya needed to be publicly humiliated. The announcement of the Alpha King’s visit had sent Shadowine into a frenzy of preparation. Theon was one of the most powerful alphas in the northern territories, ruling over multiple allied packs from his seat in the capital.

 He rarely traveled to outlying packs, so his decision to inspect Shadowpine was both an honor and a source of anxiety for Alpha Marcus and his Luna. Every surface in the pack house was scrubbed until it gleamed. The best food was prepared. Warriors drilled constantly to look sharp and disciplined, and everyone who had any status in the pack made sure they would be visible during the king’s visit.

 Freya, of course, was expected to stay in the kitchens and out of sight. Omegas were not meant to be seen by visiting dignitaries. They were the invisible labor that kept pack life running smoothly, acknowledged only when they failed at their tasks. Which was fine with Freya. The last thing she wanted was the attention of an alpha king.

 She just needed to survive the visit, let the pack return to normal, and continue her quiet existence of hiding in plain sight. But Isolda had other plans. Isolda was the daughter of Shadowpines’s beta, a sheolf who had grown up with privilege and power, and the absolute certainty that she was better than everyone around her. She was beautiful in the conventional sense, with long blonde hair, pale blue eyes, and the kind of figure that drew male attention wherever she went.

 She was also cruel, petty, and had decided years ago that Freya made an excellent target for her particular brand of bullying. It started small comments about how pathetic Freya’s wolf was, accidentally spilling things that Freya would have to clean up, making sure Freya was assigned the worst tasks, the hardest labor, the most demeaning duties.

 Freya endured it all without complaint. Fighting back would draw attention, and attention was the one thing she could not afford. But Isolda’s cruelty had escalated over the years, and the Alpha King’s visit seemed to have inspired her to new heights of malice.

 It happened during the welcome feast held in the great hall of Shadow Pine’s pack house on the evening of Theron’s arrival. Freya was not supposed to be there, of course. She was in the kitchens helping prepare and serve the endless courses of food required for such an event. But Isolda had arranged for Freya to bring in a particular platter at a particular time, ostensibly because she was short-handed.

Freya had not questioned it, too focused on balancing the heavy tray to wonder why Isolda was being uncharacteristically helpful. She realized her mistake the moment she entered the great hall. The massive room was packed with wolves, all dressed in their finest, all focused on the head table where Alpha Marcus sat with his honored guest.

 And there, seated in a place of prominence, looking every inch the powerful leader he was rumored to be, sat Alpha King Theren. He was younger than Freya had expected, perhaps 30 at most, with blonde hair that fell past his shoulders and eyes the color of storm clouds. He wore simple but finely made clothing, issuing the elaborate finery some alphas favored, and carried himself with the kind of confidence that required no ornamentation.

 Power radiated from him in waves that made every wolf in the room subtly orient toward him, instinct recognizing dominance even before conscious thought. Freya kept her eyes down and moved quickly along the wall, trying to deliver her tray and escape before anyone really noticed her. But Isolda was waiting for exactly this moment. Oh my. Isolda’s voice rang out clearly, cutting through the conversation.

Is that little Freya? The Omega with the weakest wolf I have ever seen. Every head turned. Freya froze, the tray trembling in her hands. My lord, Isolda addressed Alpha King Theron directly, standing from her seat with practiced grace. Forgive me for interrupting, but I must tell you about our pack’s most amusing peculiarity.

 This omega here, Freya, shifts into a wolf so small and weak that we were all convinced she must be defective. Some kind of genetic abnormality that makes her barely capable of shifting at all. Polite laughter rippled through the room. Freya’s face burned with humiliation, but she kept her eyes down, focusing on not dropping the tray.

 In fact, Isolda continued, warming to her subject, “We have a running joke in Shadow Pine. We say that Freya’s wolf is so pathetic, even a human child could probably overpower her.” More laughter, louder now. Freya felt every eye on her, felt the weight of their judgment and amusement. She set the tray down with shaking hands, and turned to leave.

 But Isolda was not done. “Wait, Freya, don’t run away. I have an idea. Freya stopped, dread settling in her stomach. She knew that tone, knew that Isolda was about to push things further than they had ever gone before. “My lord,” Isolda said, addressing Theron again.

 “In honor of your visit, perhaps we could have some entertainment, a demonstration of pack strength. I propose a challenge. Freya here could shift and face off against any wolf willing to accept. It would be amusing to see just how weak her form really is. The hall went quiet. This was not a friendly suggestion. This was a public challenge, and refusing would be seen as cowardice.

 But accepting would mean shifting, and Freya had spent seven years making absolutely certain no one ever saw her true wolf form. Alpha Marcus looked uncomfortable, clearly not wanting to embarrass his pack by allowing what amounted to bullying in front of the Alpha King. But before he could speak, Theon’s voice cut through the silence.

You wish to challenge an Omega, one you have already established is weak and defenseless. His tone was neutral, but something in it made Isolda falter. I merely thought it would be entertaining, my lord. A bit of sport to celebrate your visit. Sport implies some level of fair competition. What you are suggesting sounds more like an execution.

Theon’s gray eyes moved from Isolda to Freya, and for a moment they locked gazes. Freya felt the impact of that look like a physical blow. There was power in those eyes, yes, but also something else. intelligence, perception, the sense that this alpha king saw more than most wolves did.

 “What do you say, Omega?” Theron asked, speaking directly to her for the first time. “Do you wish to accept this challenge?” Every instinct Freya had screamed at her to refuse, to bow out gracefully, accept the humiliation, and escape.

 But something in the way Theon was looking at her, in the way Isolda was practically vibrating with malicious anticipation, made her pause. She had spent seven years being weak, being pathetic, being someone no one would ever suspect of being anything important. And in that time, Isolda had tormented her relentlessly, confident that Freya would never fight back. Maybe it was time to end this. Maybe it was time to stop hiding.

 consequences be damned. I accept the challenge, Freya heard herself say. Her voice was steady despite the terror and determination warring inside her. The hall erupted in surprised murmurss. Isolda looked delighted. Alpha Marcus looked concerned. And Theren leaned forward slightly, his expression unreadable but intensely focused. Excellent.

Isolda clapped her hands together. Let us move to the courtyard where there is room. Everyone will want to watch this. The entire feast relocated to the large stone courtyard outside the pack house. Torches were lit to illuminate the space and wolves formed a ring around the open center.

 Freya stood on one side, her heart pounding, trying to calculate her options. She could still shift into her false form. Let Isolda dominate her quickly and get this over with. It would be humiliating but survivable. Or she could shift into her true form. End the charade once and for all.

 Risk the assassins finding her in exchange for finally finally being able to stop pretending to be weak. Anytime you are ready, Isolda called from across the courtyard, already beginning her shift. Her wolf emerged smoothly. A decent-sized gray and brown female with good muscle tone. Not particularly impressive by warrior standards, but certainly more than enough to dominate what everyone expected Freya’s wolf to be. Freya closed her eyes. Seven years of hiding.

Seven years of being small and weak and invisible. Seven years of enduring humiliation and cruelty because it was safer than the alternative. She thought about her family, her parents, her younger brother, all slaughtered because they had been born as pure white alphas, a bloodline so rare and powerful that other wolves coveted and feared it in equal measure.

 She had been 16 when the assassins came, barely trained, barely understanding what she was. She had escaped only because her father had held them off long enough for her to run, his dying command echoing in her ears. hide, survive, live. She had honored that command for seven years, but maybe her father had not meant for her to live like this forever. Maybe surviving was not enough anymore. Freya opened her eyes and made her decision.

 She would shift into her true form, let the consequences come. She felt the change begin, but this time she did not force it into the small, weak shape she had maintained for so long. This time she let her true wolf emerge. The shift took longer than usual, her body remembering what it felt like to take its real form.

 After years of suppression, power flooded through her, intoxicating and terrifying in equal measure. Her bones lengthened, her muscles expanded, her senses sharpened to a clarity she had almost forgotten. And when the shift completed, when Freya stood in the courtyard in her true wolf form for the first time in seven years, the entire pack went absolutely silent.

 She was massive, easily twice the size of Isolda’s wolf, with presence and power that radiated outward in waves. But it was not just her size that made every wolf in the courtyard freeze. It was her color. Pure white, not gray, not cream, not blond tinged, pure pristine white that seemed to glow in the torch light unmarked by any other color.

 Her eyes were a pale crystallin blue, and when she moved, power rolled off her in waves that made nearby wolves instinctively step back. She was a pure white alpha, one of the rarest bloodlines in wolf history, thought to be extinct, possessed of power that exceeded normal alphas by an order of magnitude. She was everything she had spent seven years hiding. And she was magnificent.

 The first wolf to react was Isolda. Her brown and gray wolf froze, tail dropping, ears flattening. submission instinct kicked in before conscious thought. Her body recognizing an alpha so far above her own rank that resistance was not even possible. Around the courtyard, similar reactions rippled through the crowd. Lower ranked wolves dropped to their bellies without conscious decision.

 Even higher ranked wolves found themselves lowering their heads, unable to meet the gaze of the massive white alpha that had appeared from nowhere. Alpha Marcus stared in shock, his own alpha power feeling suddenly diminished in the presence of something so much greater. His Luna had one hand pressed to her mouth, eyes wide with disbelief.

But it was Theren’s reaction that Freya noticed most. The Alpha King had gone very still, his entire body rigid, his gray eyes locked on her white wolf form with an intensity that made her wolf want to either run or move closer. She could not decide which.

 And then she felt it, the mate bond snapping into place with the force of destiny recognizing itself. It hit her like lightning, making her wolf whine involuntarily, making her human consciousness reel with the sudden overwhelming certainty that this male, this alpha king, was hers. She saw the moment it hit Theren, too. saw his eyes widen. Saw him rise from his seat without seeming to realize he was moving.

 Saw the recognition blaze across his face. “Mate!” The word echoed through the bond that had just formed, carrying with it all the weight of fate and longing and rightness. But before Freya could process what was happening, before she could begin to deal with the implications of her mate being the alpha king, Alpha Marcus found his voice.

 “Fya?” He stepped forward cautiously, speaking to the massive white wolf. “Is that truly you?” She shifted back to human form, suddenly aware that she was standing in a courtyard full of stunned wolves, having revealed the secret she had guarded for seven years. Her clothes had shredded during the shift as they always did, and someone quickly threw a cloak around her shoulders. “Yes, Alpha Marcus,” she said quietly.

“It is me.” “You are a pure white alpha.” It was not a question. The evidence was impossible to deny. “How? Why would you hide such a thing?” Because pure white alphas are hunted, Freya said, her voice steady despite the fear and adrenaline coursing through her. My family was killed seven years ago by assassins seeking to eliminate our bloodline.

 I have been in hiding ever since. 7 years. Theron spoke for the first time since her shift, his voice rough. You have been living in my territories as a false omega for seven years. Freya turned to face him, and the mate bond pulled taut between them, demanding acknowledgement, demanding completion. But there was anger in his eyes alongside the recognition. Betrayal even.

I was trying to survive, she said. I did not know any other way. And you thought living as the pack weakling was preferable to revealing your true nature. Theren’s voice was controlled, but she could hear the fury beneath it. You let wolves like her? He gestured at his olda, who was still frozen in her shifted form, torment you rather than simply be who you are.

 Being who I am means death, Freya shot back, her own anger rising. It means assassins finding me and finishing what they started. It means losing the only family I had left. Because yes, Shadow Pinepack became my family, even if they never knew what I was. I chose survival over pride. I am not ashamed of that choice. You should be.

 The voice came from his olda who had shifted back to human form and was now standing wrapped in a borrowed cloak, her face flushed with humiliation and rage. You made fools of us all. Made me look like a bully for tormenting someone I thought was weak. How long were you planning to keep up this farce? Forever if I could. Freya said honestly. But you forced my hand.

 You pushed and pushed until I had no choice but to reveal myself or let you kill my wolf in front of everyone. So here we are. Here we are indeed. Theron said his voice cold. We will speak privately. Now it was not a request. The alpha command in his voice made every wolf in the courtyard straighten instinctively. Freya found herself following him without conscious decision.

 The mate Bond and his authority combining to make refusal impossible. He led her to a private room in the pack house, gesturing for her to enter first. The moment the door closed behind them, Theon turned on her with barely controlled fury. Seven years, he said again. Seven years I have been searching for my mate, traveling to every pack in my territory, hoping to feel the bond, desperate to find the one wolf meant for me.

 And all this time she was here, living as a false omega, letting herself be abused and humiliated, making absolutely certain I would never notice her. “I did not know you were my mate,” Freya protested. “I did not know there was a bond to find. I was focused on survival, not romance. Survival? Theron laughed bitterly. You call that living? Being the weakest wolf in a pack, enduring cruelty, hiding your true self so thoroughly that even fate struggled to bring us together. Yes, I call it survival.

 Freya’s own temper flared. Because the alternative was death. You have no idea what it is like to be hunted for what you are. to know that powerful wolves want you dead simply because your bloodline threatens their power. My parents died protecting me. My brother was 10 years old when they cut him down.

 I survived by making myself invisible and I will not apologize for that. I am not asking you to apologize for surviving, Theon said, his voice dropping. I am angry that you had to. That for seven years my mate endured hell while I searched for her without knowing she was right under my nose. That the mate bond did not snap into place until you shifted into your true form because you had suppressed yourself so completely.

He moved closer and Freya felt the bond pulse between them, demanding proximity, demanding touch. I am angry because now that I have found you, now that I know you are mine, I also know that claiming you will put a target on both our backs because pure white alphas do not just threaten pack hierarchy. They threaten the entire power structure of our world.

Freya’s breath caught. You understand what I am? What it means? I understand that pure white alphas are more powerful than any normal alpha. that their bloodline is considered sacred by some and terrifying by others, that the last known family of pure whites was slaughtered and their daughter disappeared. Theren’s eyes met hers.

 I also understand that my mate is that daughter, and that makes her the single most valuable and vulnerable wolf in my territory. I should leave, Freya said, though the words hurt to speak. Disappear again. You could tell everyone I died. That the stress of revealing myself caused some kind of attack.

 It would be safer for both of us. No. The word was absolute. Carrying alpha command that made her wolf whine. You will not run. You will not hide. You are my mate and I will protect you. You cannot protect me from assassins who have been hunting pure whites for generations. Watch me. Theron closed the distance between them and suddenly his hands were on her face, tilting her head up to look at him.

 I have spent years being an alpha king without a queen. Building power, forming alliances, making myself someone even other alphas respect and fear. I did not do it for politics or ambition. I did it because I knew that when I found my mate, I would need to be strong enough to protect her. And now I know why fate made me wait.

 Because you needed a mate who could stand between you and the entire world if necessary. His forehead touched hers, and the mate bond sang with rightness. I will not lose you now that I have found you. I will not let assassins or power-hungry alphas or anyone else take you from me. You are mine, Freya, and I protect what is mine.

Tears spilled down Freya’s cheeks. Seven years of holding everything in. Seven years of being alone with her fear and her grief and her desperate need to survive. And here was someone offering to share that burden, to stand beside her instead of expecting her to carry it alone.

 I do not know how to be anything but weak, she whispered. I have spent so long pretending that I have forgotten how to be strong. Then I will remind you. Theron’s thumb wiped away her tears every day until you remember what it feels like to be the alpha you were born to be. He kissed her then and the mate bond completed with a rush of power that made the room glow with ethereal light.

 Seven years of suppression, of hiding, of fear. All of it burned away in the face of this connection that felt like coming home. When they finally broke apart, both breathing hard, Theren rested his forehead against hers again. We have challenges ahead. Political complications, dangerous enemies, wolves who will question a pure white alpha as queen.

But Freya, we will face them together. Together, she repeated, the word feeling foreign, but right. I like the sound of that. They returned to the courtyard together, and the assembled pack immediately noticed the change between them. The completed mate bond was visible to anyone with eyes to see.

 The way Theron kept one hand on Freya’s lower back, the way she leaned slightly toward him, the synchronized way they moved. Alpha Marcus was the first to approach, his expression carefully neutral. My lord, I had no idea that Freya was your mate, or that she was a pure white alpha. Had I known, you would have what? Theren interrupted. Treated her better, protected her more carefully, or would you have reported her presence to the council, potentially exposing her to the very assassins she was hiding from? Marcus had no answer to that.

 Freya chose to hide for good reason, Theon continued. And she did so successfully because your pack accepted her as Omega without question. In a way, you gave her exactly what she needed, a place to be invisible. For that, I thank you.” He paused, his gaze sweeping across the assembled wolves. But things are different now. Freya is not just any wolf.

 She is a pure white alpha, the last of a sacred bloodline, and she is my mate, which makes her your queen. Anyone who treated her poorly in the past would do well to make amends. Anyone who threatens her in the future will answer to me. Isolda, still present in the crowd, looked like she wanted the ground to swallow her whole.

 The sheolf, who had tormented what she thought was a weak Omega for years, had just discovered she had been tormenting her future queen. The political ramifications alone were staggering, not to mention the personal danger of having earned the hatred of someone so powerful. But Freya surprised everyone by addressing Isolda directly.

 “You were cruel to me,” she said, her voice clear and steady. “For 7 years, you made my life harder than it needed to be. You humiliated me, mocked me, treated me like I was worth less than dirt,” Isolda flinched, but did not look away. “But Freya continued, you also made me stronger.

 Every insult, every task you threw at me, every moment I had to endure your cruelty, it taught me patience, resilience, the ability to survive in hostile territory. In a twisted way, you helped prepare me for what is coming next. So, I will not punish you, Isolda. Consider your past behavior forgiven. But if you ever treat another wolf the way you treated me, if you ever use your status to abuse someone you perceive as weaker, I will remember this and I will act.

 Am I understood? Isolda dropped to one knee, head bowed. Yes, my queen, I understand, and I apologize for my behavior. I had no right to treat you that way. Regardless of your status, you are correct. You had no right. Freya’s voice was firm but not unkind. Learn from this is Oldi. True strength is not about dominating those weaker than you. It is about protecting them.

The crowd was silent, absorbing this exchange. The weak Omega they had dismissed for years was speaking with the authority of a queen, tempering justice with mercy, demonstrating leadership that went beyond mere power. Theren looked at his mate with obvious pride. We will depart in the morning, he announced. Freya will return with me to the capital.

 She has much to learn about being queen, and I have much to teach her about the territory she will help me rule. Alpha Marcus bowed. Of course, my lord. Shadow Pinepack is honored to have hosted you, and we will always be loyal to you and your queen. That night, in the private chambers they had been given, Freya stood by the window, looking out over Shadowpine territory.

 This place had been her home for seven years, her refuge and her prison both. Regrets? Theron asked, coming to stand beside her. “Some?” Freya admitted. “I wish I could have been honest from the beginning. Wish I could have trusted these wolves with the truth. But mostly I am grateful. This pack gave me seven years of life when I should have been dead. That is not a small thing.

 And now the wrapped his arms around her from behind, his chin resting on top of her head. Are you ready to stop hiding? To be the alpha you were meant to be. I am terrified, Freya said honestly. But also excited. For seven years, I have been small and weak and invisible. I think I am ready to try being strong again. To remember what it feels like to use my real voice, my real power.

 You will not be alone. Theron promised. Whatever comes, we face it together. Assassins, political enemies, wolves who fear your power. We will stand against all of it. together,” Freya repeated, leaning back into his embrace. “I think I could get used to that.

” Three weeks later, Freya stood in the great hall of the capital, surrounded by alphas and lunas from across the territory, all gathered to witness her formal coronation as queen. She wore white because of course she did. The color of her wolf, the color of her bloodline, the color that marked her as something rare and precious and dangerous all at once.

 Her blonde hair had been elaborately styled, and she wore the crown of the queen, delicate, but unmistakably powerful, crafted from white gold and moonstones. She looked like a queen, but more importantly, she felt like one. The three weeks since leaving Shadowpine had been a whirlwind of lessons and training, and remembering what it felt like to not suppress her true self.

Theren had been beside her for all of it, patient and supportive, and occasionally pushing her to reach further than she thought she could. And now here she stood, about to be formally recognized before all the packs, about to claim her place as the pure white alpha queen that fate had destined her to be.

 Theon stood beside her, magnificent in his own formal attire, his presence steady and reassuring. When he reached for her hand, she took it without hesitation, their fingers intertwining in a gesture that spoke of partnership rather than possession. “Are you ready?” he asked quietly for her ears alone. “No,” Freya admitted. “But I am going to do it anyway.” Theren smiled. That is my queen.

 The ceremony was elaborate and steeped in tradition with formal words and ritual gestures that bound her to the territory and its wolves. But when it came time for her to speak, to address the assembled alphas as their queen, Freya spoke from the heart.

 I know what many of you are thinking, she began, her voice carrying clearly through the massive hall. that I am too young, too inexperienced, that my bloodline makes me dangerous rather than valuable, that a pure white alpha as queen threatens the established order.” She paused, meeting the eyes of various alphas, seeing the weariness and calculation there.

 “You are not wrong to have concerns. Pure white alphas are powerful in ways that make normal alphas uncomfortable. We challenge hierarchies that have stood for generations. We represent something that is both sacred and terrifying. But she continued, her voice strengthening, I am not here to disrupt your packs or threaten your authority.

 I am here to serve these territories the same way my mate serves them, with justice, with wisdom, and with the understanding that true strength protects rather than dominates. She felt Theren’s pride through the bond as she continued. For seven years, I lived as the weakest wolf in a pack. I was humiliated, overlooked, dismissed. I know what it feels like to be at the bottom of the hierarchy.

 To have no voice, no power, no recourse when treated unjustly. That experience has taught me something that power alone never could. empathy, understanding, the knowledge that every wolf, regardless of rank or status, deserves to be treated with basic dignity. Murmurss ran through the assembled alphas, some approving, some skeptical.

 “I will be your queen,” Freya said, her voice ringing with the authority of her true nature. “Not because I am the most powerful, though my bloodline gives me strength. Not because I am the most experienced, though I will learn quickly, but because I understand that leadership is not about dominating those beneath you.

 It is about lifting them up, protecting the vulnerable, using power to create justice rather than to enforce hierarchy. She felt the weight of history on her shoulders, the legacy of pure white alphas who had come before, the responsibility of representing a bloodline that had nearly been extinguished. But she also felt the beside her, felt the bond connecting them, felt the strength she had rebuilt over the past three weeks.

 “I will be a queen worthy of this crown,” Freya declared. “Not because I am perfect, but because I will never stop trying to be better. And any wolf who threatens these territories, any assassin who comes for me or mine, any enemy who seeks to destabilize what we have built, they will discover exactly why pure white alphas are feared.

 She let her eyes flash with the pale blue power of her wolf. Let a whisper of her true strength fill the hall. I am Freya, pure white alpha, queen of these territories, and I do not hide anymore. The hall erupted in howls of approval, the assembled packs acknowledging their new queen. Not all of them were genuine. Freya could see the calculation in some eyes, the wolves already planning how to use or neutralize her, but many were sincere.

 wolves who respected strength when they saw it, who responded to the vision she had laid out. And through it all, Theren stood beside her, his presence steady and supportive, his hand still holding hers, his love and pride flowing through the bond they shared. Later that night, after the formal celebrations had ended, and they were finally alone in their private chambers, Theren pulled Freya into his arms and just held her. You were magnificent, he murmured against her hair.

 Every word, every gesture, perfect. I was terrified, Freya admitted. Some of those alphas looked at me like they were already planning my assassination. They probably were, Theon said bluntly. We have made powerful enemies today. Pure white alphas threaten the established power structure, and there will be wolves who see you as a problem to be eliminated. Comforting, Freya said dryly.

 But Theron continued, “We also made powerful allies. Alphas who see the wisdom in what you said, who respect strength that chooses mercy, who want a queen who understands the wolves at the bottom as well as those at the top.” He pulled back enough to meet her eyes. We have a fight ahead of us.

 political battles, potential assassination attempts, constant challenges to your authority and our bond. But Freya, we are going to win because you are stronger than any of them realize. Because I will stand beside you through all of it. And because together we are unstoppable. Freya rose on her toes and kissed him, pouring all her gratitude and love and determination into the gesture. When they finally broke apart, she smiled.

7 years ago, I thought my life was over. I thought I would spend the rest of my existence hiding, pretending to be weak, slowly dying inside while trying to stay alive outside. And now, the prompted, “Now I am mated to an alpha king. I am queen of the Northern Territories. I am finally, finally able to be my true self.

” She laughed, the sound bubbling up from deep inside. I am still terrified, but I am also more alive than I have been since my family died. Good, Theren said firmly. Because the wolf I met in that courtyard, the pure white alpha who stepped out of hiding and claimed her power, that is the wolf I fell in love with. That is the queen these territories need.

 Never be less than that again. I will not, Freya promised. I hid for seven years out of necessity, but I am done hiding. Let the assassins come. Let the power-hungry alpha scheme. Let anyone who wants to challenge me step forward. Her eyes flashed with pale blue light. Her wolf pressing close to the surface. They mocked my weak wolf for seven years.

 Now they are about to discover what a pure white alpha can do when she stops holding back. And I promise you, they are not going to like it. The smile was fierce and proud. That is my queen. Show them, Freya. Show them all. And in the weeks and months that followed, she did exactly that. There were challenges, as they had known there would be.

Attempted assassinations that failed because Theron’s security was meticulous. Political maneuvers from alphas who tried to undermine her authority, only to discover she was far more politically savvy than they expected. Whispered campaigns designed to make wolves fear her power, countered by her consistent demonstrations of justice, tempered with mercy.

 Slowly, steadily, Freya claimed her place. Not just as queen, but as a force for change in territories that had grown stagnant under old traditions and rigid hierarchies. She reformed laws that had been unjust. She protected vulnerable wolves. She proved again and again that her power was not something to fear, but something that could create real lasting good.

 And through it all, The Theren stood beside her, not above her or behind her, but beside her as an equal partner, supporting her strength rather than trying to diminish it, celebrating her victories and helping her learn from her defeats. Two years after her coronation, Freya stood on a balcony overlooking the capital city, watching wolves go about their lives in a territory that had changed dramatically under her influence. It was not perfect.

 Change took time, and there were still wolves who resisted, still enemies who plotted, but it was better, measurably, undeniably better. “Regreats?” Theren asked, coming to stand beside her in their customary position. Not a single one, Freya said, leaning into him. Well, maybe one. I wish I could tell my family about all of this. Show them that their sacrifice was not in vain.

 That the little girl they died protecting grew up to be someone worth protecting. They know, Theon said quietly. Wherever they are, they know, and they are proud of you. Freya believed him. Had to believe him because the alternative was too painful. She looked out over her territory, at the wolves who now called her queen, at the life she had built from the ashes of loss and the determination to survive.

 She had been weak for seven years, hiding and hurting and enduring. But she had emerged from that crucible stronger than anyone could have imagined. They had mocked her weak wolf, dismissing her as pathetic and powerless. But when she finally shifted into her true form, when she let the world see what she really was, they had all bowed.

 And Freya had learned the most important lesson of all. Sometimes the strongest wolves are the ones who survive when they should have died, who endure humiliation and emerge with grace, who choose mercy when they could demand vengeance. She was a pure white alpha, a queen, a force for change in a world that desperately needed it. And she was done hiding.

What did you think of Freya’s transformation from hiding Omega to powerful queen? Have you ever had to hide your true self to survive only to finally reveal who you really are? Share your thoughts in the comments. And if you love this story of wolves who pretend to be weak, mates who discover each other at the perfect moment, and queens who change everything, hit that subscribe button for more.

 New stories drop every week, each one celebrating strength that comes from survival, power that chooses mercy, and the courage it takes to finally stop hiding and claim who you were always meant to be. Remember, your true strength is not diminished by hiding it when necessary.

 But when the moment comes to reveal it, make sure everyone remembers what they dismissed.