Claimed, then cast aside.

Elara's POV

Squeaky sneakers against an unyielding polished wooden floor repeatedly echoed through the pack academy gymnasium. That thrumming beat felt especially potent today; it felt like a rhythm that told me I didn't belong. Every thump of basketball rushed through me and squeezed my grip even tighter on the tired notebook pressed against me like a shield.

Not that anyone noticed me.

No one ever did.

Well, except for that time Darius Blackthorn decided I was funny to laugh at.

He was always at the center of the maelstrom—certainly, he was tall, broad-shouldered, dark-haired, and that hair managed somehow to fall just so, even when sweat-drenched. But golden wolf eyes gleamed at me under fluorescent lights, and his smile—God, that smile—could light an entire room if he wanted it to. And right now, all of Blackthorn Academy seemed to orbit around him.

You could tell from the huddled bleachers, not for the game, but for him. Darius Blackthorn: the alpha heir. Every shot he made sent the crowd roaring. Every grin he tossed in their direction received as if it was a blessing. He was everything that I was not—loud, bright, adored, unforgettable.

And me? I stayed stuck to the wall like a shadow, clasping my notebook and hoping I could melt into it.

With his shoulder, Finn nudged me. He was my best friend, sprawling on the bleachers, emerald eyes glistening with mischief, curls falling across his forehead in merry disarray. "If arrogance burned calories," he muttered under his breath, "Darius Blackthorn should have died of starvation ages ago."

I caught a tiny laugh before I could stop it; the sound felt dangerous and too noticeable, like laughter was something I wasn't supposed to have.

On my other side, my brother Garrick stood stiff as stone, arms folded, jaw set. Narrowing those ice-blue eyes—so much like my father's—on Darius as though glaring hard enough might knock the crown from his head.

"He's just a spoiled show-off," murmured Garrick contemptuously. "Don't even look at him, Elara. He's not worth it."

As if I could help it. My gaze betrayed me, flickering back to the court, to the way confidence clung like a second skin to Darius. He didn't see me—not really. To him, I was nothing more than background noise. Elara Silvermoon: the girl who never quite fit, whose stepmother never let her forget her inadequacy, who drifted through this world like she was always half a step behind.

Well, of course the game had its closing statement by his team in victory. He jogged toward the court's end, with a towel draped about his shoulders, and a chest glistening with sweat and triumph. The crowd shrieked and drank in every move of his. Then his gaze lazily swept across the sidelines and landed on me.

My stomach dropped, cold and heavy.

"So, Elara Silvermoon," Darius began with the voice that carried over laughter and buzz everywhere he went. Loud enough for all to hear, his sharp grin designed to cut said as much. "Didn't think gyms were your natural habitat. Careful, little one—you might trip over the ball if you get too close."

The crowd erupted. Laughter crashed against me like waves, my complexion burning, hot and unbearable. I hugged my notebook tighter and wished the polished floor would just crack open and drag me under.

"Back off, Blackthorn," Garrick snapped, stepping forward like a shield. His voice was ice. "She's not here for you."

Darius arched his eyebrow as he glanced down at Garrick, unabashedly exuding arrogance through every inch of him. "Relax, Silvermoon. I'm just having fun. Don't be so sensitive."

"Funny," Finn chimed sweetly, his sarcasm sharp as glass, "I thought fun was supposed to be mutual. Guess you missed that memo."

That flap of Darius's smirk stopped for a beat, but he recovered quickly. He looked in the direction of the adoring crowd and marched away like none of this mattered. Like I didn't matter.

But I did. At least enough to be his punchline.

My chest burned. Because the worst part wasn't that he mocked me. The worst part was that his words echoed everything I already believed about myself. Everything Selene drilled into me every day: invisible. Awkward. Embarrassing.

Garrick put a hand on my shoulder. It was a strong touch, an assurance. "Don't listen to him, Elara. Not worth it."

I nodded. But that sting was buried deep, into a place where no words of comfort could reach it.

----

By the time we reached home, the night had fallen heavy over the estate. The Silvermoon den loomed ahead, bathed in silver floodlights, its marble pillars standing tall and unyielding. Carved beauty in stone, cold and unreachable.

Inside, it stank of expensive polish and moonblooms: too perfect, too staged.

And there she was.

Selene. My stepmother.

She was there in the grand foyer, solid as a stormcloud in that room. Obsidian hair twisted into perfection into a bun; frock tailored to hug into her elegant shape yet molded the body of the one present before me. And those sharp silver eyes would slice straight through me the moment I set foot into the house.

"You look like a mess," she said glumly. Not even a hello. Her eyes ran across the blemished cheeks, scuffed shoes, dirt on my skirt. Her lips curled. "Were you clumsy again, Elara? Honestly, can't you go a single day without humiliating this pack?"

Those words weighed them down as they always did. Stones pressed into my chest. My throat tightened. "I'm sorry," I managed to say.

She arched one brow, unimpressed. "Don't bother apologizing. Just try not to embarrass me further."

She stops and lowers her voice and it becomes something far more dangerous: amusement. "Especially at the Blackthorn gathering this weekend."

Blinking, I said, "Alpha Blackthorn's gathering?"

Selene's smile could only be described as all venom. "Don't tell me you haven't heard. The Blackthorns are holding one of their private full-moon shindigs. Everybody that matters will be there. Darius, his packmates, his kin—and expect us there." Her eyes took over view over me from head to toe, and I shrank under the tremendous weight of disdain then. "You will attend, of course. Try to look presentable for once. I will not allow the packs to whisper about me because of you."

Then it knotted, my stomach. A gathering by the Blackthorns. Indeed, I had seen these gilded cages before—rooms flooded with champagne laughter and diamond-studded judgment. Omegas like me disappeared, unless someone chose to make me the evening's entertainment.

"I—" my voice drifted off, trembling. "Must I go?"

Gleaming eyes sparkled with unkind amusement. "Yes, Elara. You must go. And do try not to trip over your own paws in front of the entire elite packs." Her smile was cold as marble. "You've humiliated me enough for one moon cycle."