Since I was having such difficult coming up with a summary that included the actual characters, I decided to make the first chapter an introduction to the main characters themselves, and to terms that may be unique to the story itself.  This list is subject to changes as I tend to remember & forget with equal measure.

POV Characters:

Jinki: An alpha bonded to omega Minjung and sire to omega Jongin.  He found omega Taemin in the forest when the child was four and brought him home.  Both he and Minjung felt an immediate connection and, within six months, accepted him as their son through a Ceremony of Acceptance.  That same month, he ensures that Taemin has a covenant, surprised to discover that the alpha child he had chosen is Taemin's soul bond.  He begrudgingly agrees when the child's father insists that there be no ceremony and that they wait until both children are older for them to meet.  Throughout the story, his only intention is that his sons be safe. 

Taemin: An omega found abandoned in the woods and raised in a loving home.  He grows up believing that he has no covenant, a point that only begins to be of any pain the night he sees Jongin become Minho's Intended.  It is that same night, however, that he meets Kibum, another omega with no covenant. 

Kibum: An omega raised by his grand dam, he is fifteen when he meets Taemin at the Ceremony of Intention of his cousin and closest friend Minho.  He has no covenant, his grand dam insisting always that he bond for love, and no interest in any alpha he has ever met. 

Jongin: An omega and the eldest son of Jinki and Minjung.  He has known Minho as his soul bond since he was three days old.  Of all the characters, he is the kindest and the sharpest, the one who sees what is happening, but does not speak on it unless someone is being hurt.

Eunsook: An alpha in covenant with Taemin and his soul bond.  They met once when they were children, he four and she eleven, and she remembers still how he glowed.  When it comes time for her and Taemin to have their own Ceremony of Intention, she chooses not to, instead signing the documents that will make Taemin her Intended. 

Junghee: An omega who bends every social rule to nearly its breaking point, but never quite.  She and Eunsook are friends and a bit more, and she will be there to lend an ear when the story really begins to unfold.

Family Terms:

Guardians: Parents/Adults

Sire: Alpha parent

Dam: Omega parent

Appa: Dad

Amma: Mom

Cousin: Anyone not a sibling or guardian

Young: Another term for children

Social Terms:

Sir/Ma'am: The formal address of a guardian

-sire/-dam: The informal address of a guardian.  Example: "Jinki-sire"

Elder: Anyone old enough to be a guardian's guardian.

Ceremonies:

Ceremony of Acceptance: A ceremony performed when an orphaned omega child has been chosen by a dam and/or sire to be raised as their own.

Ceremony of Rejection: A ceremony performed by a dam and/or sire to withdraw all their rights from their child.  It is a legal abandonment.

Ceremony of Covenant: A ceremony performed when an omega child is put into covenant with an alpha child.  This is often done when they are quite young, usually around two.

Covenant: An agreement between families to have their children be bond mates when the omega child comes of Age.

Ceremony of Intention: A ceremony performed when an omega child in covenant turns 15 years of age.  It is performed on the anniversary of their birth.  At that time, the alpha child in covenant with them declares their agreement to the covenant and they become Intended.  The omega child has no say in the ceremony.

Ceremony of Bonding: A ceremony performed when an omega child in covenant turns 18 years of age.  It is performed on the anniversary of their birth.  At that time, they are given the option to refuse the alpha who presents themselves as a potential mate.  If they do not, the alpha accepts them as such and bites them on the wrist leaving their mark for all to see and passing genetic information that alters the omega's scent and doubles as an identification.  Additionally, a collar is placed on the omega's throat, covering their scent gland and further marking them as a bonded omega.

Ceremonial Hunt: A hunt performed by the community three weeks after the autumn equinox.  It lasts for a week, though participation time is individual. 

Holy day of Mourning: A singular day in early winter to mourn those who have passed.  It is often accompanied by traveling to a burial ground.

Bonds:

Familial bond: The bond between a parent & child, siblings, cousins, etc.  This bond can be formed but never broken.  If a Ceremony of Rejection happens it is either because this bond never formed, or because the guardian has done so to protect their young.

Love bond: The bond of romantic love.  The only bond that can be broken by both parties.  If it is, love sickness can last up to a year, often it is six months.

Soul bond: The bond between two souls.  The most common indicator of a soul bond is visual: Each party glows in the other's eye.  A soul bond is rare and has empathic elements.  Additionally, a love bond is virtually guaranteed at the moment of contact.  Once a soul bond sees each other clearly, they cannot be parted from each other.

Mating bond: The bond an omega enjoins to protect themselves from their heats.  If left without an alpha mate, an omega has few rights in society, and faces the uncertainty of finding a trustworthy alpha to get them through their heats.  An omega of Age cannot survive their heats left unattended by an alpha. 

Leadership:

Council of the Elders: A select group of elders consisting of both alphas and omegas who serves as a final authority outside of religious matters.

Priestesses: The religious leaders.

Ancients: Those that are worshiped/deified/beseeched through prayer

Avowed: Omegas who have altered their biology to no longer experience heat cycles.  They run the heat houses for the omegas before they are old enough to bond.

Note:

All omegas who experience heat and alphas who experience rut do so four times a year: once at each solstice and equinox.