The Coronation

POV: Olivia

The hall felt too bright.

Candles blazed from iron sconces, chandeliers dripping firelight. Heat rolled heavy with perfume and expectation. The elder’s speech ended, leaving silence so sharp it rang.

All eyes turned to him.

All eyes turned to me.

I stood near the dais, heart battering my ribs. The silk clung to me like a promise. My skin still carried the memory of his hands, his mouth, his wolf’s claim. The bond hummed inside me, fierce and certain.

Tonight, he would speak. Tonight, I would no longer be invisible.

Luther rose.

The air shifted, pressing against every chest. The Alpha returned from training, stronger than ever. The crowd leaned toward him like grass bowing to the wind.

His gaze swept the hall. Then it landed on me.

My stomach flipped. My lungs burned. I lifted my chin. Say it. Please. Say it.

He stepped forward.

The silence was a blade.

“Tonight,” he said, voice carrying like thunder, “I stand before you as Alpha reborn. Trained. Tempered. Ready to lead this pack into a future of strength.”

Approval rumbled through the crowd. Elders nodded. Warriors thumped fists on tables.

I waited.

Any second now.

His eyes lingered on me. The bond burned so bright it hurt.

My throat tightened. I swallowed, bracing for the words that would change everything.

Instead, his jaw locked. His voice cut like iron.

“And that future will not be led by weakness.”

The words didn’t make sense.

Whispers hissed, sharp as knives. The room tilted under my feet.

An elder’s voice cracked through the silence. “Servant Olivia, step forward.”

My legs moved before my mind caught up, the bond dragging me like a leash. Silk trembled against my skin as I climbed the dais, every eye a weight.

Luther’s face was stone.

His voice thundered, each word a blade.

“I, Luther Reed of the Red Moon Pack, reject you, Olivia Wade, as my Goddess-chosen mate. May She grant you another more fitting.”

Gasps. Laughter.

The world split beneath me.

My blood froze. My lungs seized. The bond shrieked inside me, tearing and fraying, every syllable ripping another piece away.

Whispers swelled, sharper, crueller:

“The latent—of course.”

“Did she really think—?”

“She wore a Luna’s gown. Gods, how pathetic.”

The heat scalded my face. My vision blurred. My knees threatened to buckle, but I forced them straight, chin high.

Mae stood at the edge of the crowd, pale, lips parted as if she might scream.

I wanted to run. To rip the gown from my skin. To vanish until the bond stopped bleeding.

But I couldn’t leave. Not until I said the words did they burn my throat.

My voice cracked, but it carried.

“I… accept.”

The bond convulsed, recoiled—then snapped quiet. Cold rushed through me, leaving a hollow ache.

The hall stilled.

I swallowed hard. Forced the rest.

“I, Olivia Wade, accept Alpha Luther’s rejection.”

The silence after was worse than laughter.

I stepped back, each breath jagged, my spine trembling under every stare.

Inside, I was dying. Outside, I lifted my chin higher—because it was all I had left.

---

POV: Luther

The moment she spoke, my wolf broke.

Her voice—shattered, trembling—ripped through me like fire through dry grass. I accept.

The bond recoiled. Frayed. Silenced.

Recce exploded. No! NO. Ours. You let her cut the thread. You LET HER GO!

A howl split my skull. I gripped the table until the wood cracked. My teeth ached with the urge to shift, to tear the hall apart until she was back in my arms.

Instead, I stood frozen.

The elders nodded, satisfied. My father’s eyes gleamed, pride cold and sharp.

“Well done,” he murmured. “You’ve chosen the pack.”

I hadn’t chosen anything.

I’d lost everything.

Across the dais, Olivia stood pale and small, drowning in silk, chin lifted like a warrior walking to her death. Her courage cut deeper than any blade.

Recce clawed at my insides, snarling: Fix it. Undo it. Take her back. Bite her now.

I stayed still, because if I moved, I’d rip out every throat in the hall.

The pack erupted—cheers, fists pounding tables, cups raised high. To them, it was a victory. Strength. Tradition upheld.

To me, it was a ruin.

And then—eyes.

My mother’s.

She hadn’t moved from her seat on the dais, hands folded in her lap, back straight as ever. But the look she gave me cut deeper than claws. Disappointment. Not in Olivia. In me.

She didn’t speak—she didn’t need to. That silence was worse than my father’s words, worse than the elders’ cheers.

And louder than all their praise, one word echoed through me—

Mine.

And I had just cast her aside.

---

POV: Olivia

The hall roared as I stumbled down the steps, the gown heavy and mocking against my skin.

Every whisper clung like knives:

“Latent.”

“Pathetic.”

“Unworthy.”

Mae reached for me at the door, but I shoved her hand away. If she touched me, I’d collapse.

And then—I saw her.

The Alpha’s mate. His mother.

She rose as I passed, not stopping me, not offering comfort, but her eyes followed me, wet with a grief that mirrored mine. Her lips moved soundlessly—just once—I’m sorry.

That nearly undid me.

The night air hit like ice. My breath tore ragged, chest hollow, the bond gone where it once burned.

He had promised. He had held me. He had whispered mine.

And then he had destroyed me before them all.

I pressed my fist to my mouth to hold back the sob. It didn’t work. My knees buckled in the dark, silk pooling in the dirt, tears burning hot down my face.

For the first time in my life, I wished I had no heart at all.