3. ENGAGED.

Melissa.

Caleb’s voice tore through the crowd, “You are our mate!”

The word mate did not come with awe or reverence. It came wrapped in a growl, heavy with contempt. He stepped forward as he said it, boots striking the ground with purpose, his eyes locking onto mine, not with recognition, not with longing, but with naked disgust, as though the bond itself offended him.

Before I could even breathe, Cypril scoffed.

“How hilarious, brothers,” he said, his lips curling into a cruel smirk. “This weak thing was mated to us.” His gaze dragged over me slowly, deliberately, as if measuring how unworthy I was. Then he laughed, sharp and mocking. “Does the Moon Goddess take us as a joke?”

His glare cut deep, pinning me in place. It felt like every flaw I’d ever had was suddenly visible, magnified beneath his stare. My chest tightened as my eyes flicked from one face to the next—Cain, Cypril, Caleb, the others—each expression reflecting the same emotion. Revulsion. Disbelief. Shame… for me.

I swallowed hard, my throat dry, my heart pounding so loudly I was sure they could hear it. This was not how it was supposed to feel. The bond, the moment every wolf dreamed of. Instead, all I could feel was humiliation crawling beneath my skin.

I wished, suddenly and desperately, that I had never been chosen.

The thought came unbidden, sharp and terrifying.

Would they reject me?

Just imagining it sent chills racing down my spine. A rejection wasn’t just a refusal, it was a scar that never healed, a mark that followed you for life. My fingers trembled at my sides as the fear settled in my bones, heavy and suffocating.

Then Cain laughed.

It wasn’t loud at first. Just a low, amused chuckle that made my stomach twist. He stepped closer, invading my space until I could smell him, power, dominance, judgment. Before I could react, his hand shot out. Rough fingers grabbed my chin, forcing my face upward. His grip was firm, uncaring.

With a sharp twist, he tossed my face to the side, like I was nothing more than an object he was done inspecting.

“This is really a joke,” he said coldly. “She can only pass as our maid.”

The words landed like a slap.

For a heartbeat, the world went silent.

Then laughter exploded around me, loud, merciless, echoing from every direction. It swallowed me whole. I felt dozens of eyes burn into my skin, stripping me bare, feeding on my humiliation. My chest ached as I stood there, frozen, unable to defend myself, unable to disappear.

Somewhere in the crowd, a whisper rose, soft, but sharp enough to reach me.

“Can you imagine?” a voice sneered. “She just went from a thief to a reject.”

The words pierced straight through my heart, sinking deep like a thousand needles at once. My breath hitched. I blinked rapidly, fighting the sting behind my eyes, fighting the weakness threatening to drag me down.

More laughter followed, cruel and endless, until it felt like it was ringing inside my skull. My ears burned. My face burned. Everything burned with shame.

I wished the ground would open up beneath my feet.

I wished it would swallow me whole and spare me this moment, this bond that felt more like a curse than fate.

My father rushed forward before I could even gather my thoughts, his movements hurried, almost desperate. He bowed low, his voice trembling as it rang out across the clearing.

“Forgive my incompetence, Alphas,” he said quickly. “I am willing to make amends for my daughter!”

The words struck me like a blow.

Make amends?

My mind reeled as I stared at his back. What did he mean by that? What kind of mistake was I that needed correcting? Was it a crime…my crime…that the Moon Goddess had bound me to them?

My chest tightened painfully as the question echoed in my head, unanswered and heavy.

One of the Alphas–Cain spoke, his tone cold and sharp, slicing through the murmurs around us.

“And how do you intend to make amends, Beta Silas?”

The clearing fell silent. Every breath felt too loud.

My father straightened slightly, as though he had already made his decision long before this moment. There was no hesitation in his voice when he answered.

“I am willing to offer my other daughter to you all.”

The world tilted.

My heart lurched violently in my chest, panic exploding through my veins. I stared at him in disbelief, my hands curling into fists as the meaning of his words sank in. Just like that, he had discarded me. Just like that, he had placed my sister on a silver platter and handed her over to the triplet Alphas.

Then what would happen to me?

The question screamed inside my head, loud and desperate. No one answered it. No one even looked at me. I was suddenly invisible, a problem pushed aside, a mistake erased.

Fear wrapped itself tightly around my lungs, making it hard to breathe. If Amelia took my place if she stood where I had been forced to stand, what was left for me? Rejection? Exile? A life branded by shame?

Even through the fog of my despair, my eyes betrayed me. They lifted, unwillingly, to the triplet Alphas.

And that was when I saw it.

The subtle shift in their expressions. The way their rigid disgust melted into something else. A smile, slow, satisfied, crept onto their faces, one after the other. It was small, but unmistakable.

My heart sank.

They would accept this. Of course they would. This was everything they wanted, everything they had been denied. Finally, they could be with the one they loved.

Tears blurred my vision as the truth settled deep in my chest. I had never stood a chance. I never did.

“I have always lost to you, Amelia,” I whispered, the words slipping from my lips like a broken confession. They tasted bitter, heavy with years of silent defeat.

My father’s voice rang out again, formal and final, sealing my fate without ever looking my way.

“I, Beta Silas, hereby announce and declare my daughter Amelia engaged to the Alpha triplets.”

The word engaged pierced straight through my heart.

It hurt so much I nearly staggered.

Slowly, I turned my head, drawn by an ache I couldn’t ignore. Amelia was looking at me. Her lips curved upward, her eyes shining, not with surprise, not with gratitude, but with triumph.

It was a smile I knew too well.

Her victory smile.

The Alpha triplets didn’t waste a second. They stepped away from me as though I had never existed, closing the distance between themselves and Amelia instead. Their hands reached for her, gentle, possessive, reverent, holding her as if she were the rarest gem in the world.

And I was left behind.

They didn’t tell me my fate. No words of acceptance. No words of rejection. Nothing.

I stood there alone, abandoned in the space between what I was and what I was no longer allowed to be. Neither chosen nor cast aside completely.

And I realized, with a hollow ache in my chest, that this, this uncertainty, this silence was the greatest torment of all.