Tribrid : Rejected By One, Claimed By Four

POV: ARIA FROST

I swallowed the last drop of the bitter herbal drink and quickly placed the cup on the table before the taste could make me vomit. I hated this drink, but I had been taking it every morning for twenty-two years. It was the only thing keeping the three things inside me quiet. My wolf, my vampire blood, and the witch magic I was never supposed to have.

Without it, my wolf became restless, my vampire hunger grew stronger, and the strange power sleeping inside my blood started pushing against the cage I had built around it. To the Frost Pack, I was just Aria Frost, a weak Omega who could barely shift and had nothing special about her.

I needed them to keep believing that.

“Are you still not ready?” Nolan asked as he walked into my room without knocking.

I turned toward him and forced a small smile. He was already dressed in his formal Beta tunic, looking every bit like the man everyone expected to become Beta-select after today's Luna Awakening Ceremony. He walked straight toward me and grabbed the collar of my dress, pulling it into place while his eyes moved over me with an expression that made me feel like I had done something wrong just by standing there.

“I'm ready,” I said quietly, reaching for the edge of my dress.

“You don't look ready.” He tightened my collar a little more before letting it go, then looked me over from head to toe. “Today is important to me, Aria. The elders are coming, and I don't want you embarrassing me.”

I lowered my eyes, even though something inside me wanted to tell him exactly what I thought of that.

“I won't embarrass you,” I whispered.

Nolan reached for my chin and lifted my face until I had no choice but to look at him. “Good. Just stay behind me during the ceremony, keep your mouth shut, and don't do anything stupid. You're already lucky I'm willing to stand beside an Omega like you.”

My chest tightened at his words, but I swallowed the pain like I had done countless times before. Nolan had known me since we were children. He was the man everyone believed would become my mate, and for years I had convinced myself that maybe one day he would stop looking at me like I was something beneath him.

“Okay,” I said, forcing myself to nod.

He released my chin and straightened his tunic before walking toward the door. “Come downstairs when you're done.”

The door shut behind him, and I stood there for a few seconds without moving. My hands curled into fists at my sides before I slowly forced them open again.

I couldn't afford to get angry.

Anger made my blood move faster, and when my blood moved too fast, the things I had spent twenty-two years hiding became harder to control.

I took a deep breath and reached for my dress, smoothing the wrinkles before leaving my room. The Great Hall was already crowded when I arrived. Wolves moved around with drinks in their hands, elders sat near the high table, and everyone seemed excited about the ceremony.

I followed Nolan exactly as he had ordered, keeping two steps behind him while he greeted the important members of the pack. He laughed with some of them, shook hands with others, and received several congratulatory pats on his shoulder.

Nobody greeted me.

Nobody even cared that I was there. That was… fine.

Being invisible has kept me alive this long.

I stood quietly behind Nolan as the ceremony preparations continued, trying not to think about the bitter drink still burning the back of my throat. My suppressed scent was barely noticeable, only carrying the faint smell of sweet amber.

Nothing strange. Or powerful.

Nothing that could make anyone curious about me.

Then my heart suddenly slammed against my ribs. I stiffened.

A cold feeling moved through my blood, so sudden that my fingers tightened around my dress. My wolf lifted her head inside me, and for the first time in years, she wasn't restless.

She was damn afraid.

I slowly raised my eyes toward the balcony above the Great Hall.

The upper level was mostly covered in shadows, but there was someone standing there. I couldn't see the person's face clearly. I could only see the eyes.

They were fixed directly on me.

My breath caught in my throat as another strange sensation moved through my body. For one brief second, beneath the faint pine of my suppressed scent, I caught something else.

Something cold.

Dark. And underneath it was the faintest smell of mint. My wolf went completely silent.

I didn't know who was standing in the shadows. But whoever it was had been watching me.

And somehow, I knew they hadn't just noticed me today. They had been looking for me.