CHAPTER 3

Aria’s POV

I didn’t realize how loud silence could be until I was forced to live in it. The quiet of the west wing had a way of amplifying everything I didn’t want to feel—doubt, confusion, fear, and now, anger.

Kael’s words from the night before still haunted me. “You have all three.” Power, danger, him.

I didn’t want any of it.

Especially not when every corner I turned reminded me that this place, this role, this mate bond—I wasn’t welcome here, not really.

I tried to make myself useful, but even the staff wouldn’t look me in the eye. The Omegas whispered behind their hands, and the higher ranks just ignored me altogether. It was like I was some cursed creature they were afraid to acknowledge, in case whatever darkness I carried might cling to them.

I made my way to the dining hall because I was tired of hiding. Tired of being afraid. I didn’t want to eat. I just wanted to be seen.

The room was already bustling with pack members gathered for breakfast, laughter echoing off the marble floors. The moment I stepped in, the sound seemed to stutter, then resume—more hushed now, like a current of judgment weaving around me.

I kept my chin up. I wouldn’t cower.

“Look who decided to join us.”

The voice hit me like ice water down my spine.

Lilith.

I turned and found her seated at the head of the long table, a perfect picture of elegance and control in her deep red dress, a wine glass clutched lazily in her hand despite the early hour. Her lips curved into a smile that didn’t touch her eyes.

“I didn’t realize this was a private meal,” I said quietly.

She rose with the grace of a queen, her heels clicking as she approached. “Oh, but it’s not. You’re more than welcome.” She looked at me slowly. “Though I must say, I’ve seen kitchen girls dressed for serving breakfast… not attending it.”

I glanced down at myself. I’d chosen a plain gray dress from the wardrobe left for me. It was modest, clean, and simple but next to her, I looked like a shadow—dull and fading.

“I didn’t come to impress anyone.”

Lilith laughed. “No, of course not. You’ve already done that, haven’t you? After all, it takes a special kind of talent to make the Alpha question centuries of tradition over a bond forged in the heat of a goddess's whim.”

A few people chuckled around us, and others just watched. I tried to step around her, but she blocked my path.

“You know what I think, Aria?” she said, voice sweet as syrup. “I think you’re confused. I think you still believe that being Kael’s mate somehow qualifies you to lead a pack. To be Luna.”

“I don’t believe that,” I said. “I don’t want it.”

“Oh, honey.” She leaned in, too close. “That’s the only intelligent thing you’ve said all morning.”

Someone snorted behind her. My cheeks flamed.

“But let’s not pretend for a second that you could be Luna, even if you wanted to,” Lilith continued. Her tone sharpened, like a knife hidden in velvet. 

“You weren’t trained. You weren’t born into status. You don’t even know the difference between a submission bow and a challenge posture. You’re not strong. You’re not strategic. You are an Omega girl who stirred stew, and swept floors.”

My hands clenched at my sides.

“I didn’t ask for this,” I said, barely holding back tears.

“Of course, you didn’t because deep down, you know you don’t belong here.”

I looked around the hall. No one met my gaze, not one person came to my defense, not even Kael, who was nowhere in sight.

Lilith smiled triumphantly. “Tell you what,” she said, stepping back. “Why don’t you prove me wrong? Address the pack. Right here, right now. Show them what kind of Luna you would be.”

The blood drained from my face.

“What?” I whispered.

“You heard me.” She turned to the watching pack. “Our Luna-to-be has something to say.”

Murmurs rose like smoke. Eyes turned to me, expectant and cold.

“I’m not Luna,” I said, voice trembling.

“No,” Lilith said. “But you’re his mate. That means something, doesn’t it? Go on. Lead.”

I stared at her. At the cruel curve of her smile. She didn’t want me to lead. She wanted me to fail.

I could walk away. I should have but instead, I stepped forward.

“I…” My throat closed.

The silence that followed was deafening.

“I didn’t grow up preparing for this,” I said finally, forcing the words out. “I’m not a noble-born. I don’t know all the rules but I know what it means to serve. I know what it means to sacrifice, and I know that I didn’t choose this bond—but I also won’t dishonor it.”

Lilith laughed. “You sound like a servant begging for permission to eat at the table.”

A cruel laugh rippled through the crowd.

I stepped back. “Maybe I am a servant, maybe that’s all I’ll ever be to some of you but I’ve seen more strength in the kitchens than I have in some of the ranks who were born with silver spoons in their mouths and steel up their—”

“Enough!” a voice snapped.

Kael.

The crowd parted as he entered, eyes blazing, jaw tight. He looked from Lilith to me, then back again.

“This isn’t a trial,” he said coldly. “This is breakfast.”

Lilith tilted her head. “Just giving your mate a little public education.”

“Humiliation isn’t education.”

“She needs to learn her place, Alpha.”

He walked straight to me and took my hand in his. Gasps echoed through the room.

“Her place,” he said, eyes never leaving Lilith, “is beside me.”

Lilith’s smile faltered. Just slightly.

“This is a mistake,” she said, voice dropping low.

“Then let it be mine.”

She looked at me then. But there was something different now. Not with pity but with scorn.

Fear.

Kael turned to me. “You don’t have to stay here.”

I looked at him, confused. “What?”

“You don’t owe this room a single second of your dignity.”

Tears burned at the edges of my vision, but I blinked them away. I nodded. He led me out, hand in hand and for the first time, I didn’t feel like I was walking away in shame.

I was walking toward something else entirely and I just realized something, Lilith wasn't my friend, she was a snake waiting to devour me.