THE HUMILIATION

Ginnie**

The engagement party felt like a funeral dressed in gold, and music drifted through the grand hall in soft, elegant rhythms. Laughter followed, sharp and brittle, bursting from high-ranked Lycans’ throats as they all danced to the music.

I stood among the servants with my eyes lowered, one eye contact with any Lycan in this room and I would be dead meat…snapped in half. But inside, my thoughts screamed, spiraling over and over again, refusing to be silenced.

Kenna was going to drug Varkos tonight to force him to mark her. 

Oh, God…Should I tell him?

If I stayed silent, her evil plans were surely going to succeed, which would spell doom for Lily and me. But if I spoke, I could die in the hands of Varkos.

Before I could let myself drown in thoughts, my eyes found Kenna. She wore a silver dress as though it belonged to her bloodline, expensive jewelry glittering at her throat, wrists, and fingers, while she smiled at every guest as though the world bent willingly at her feet.

I moved quietly through the crowd, refilling glasses of champagne. “Just get through the night,” I muttered to myself, “For Lily.”

But then—

“My bracelet!” Kenna’s voice drifted me off my thoughts, she stood abruptly, her chair scraping loudly against the marble floor. The radiant smile she’d been faking vanished in an instant, replaced by something darker. “The Blackwell heirloom.”

A murmur rippled through the entire ballroom, low and uneasy.

“That bracelet,” she continued, turning slowly, as though everyone in the room was a suspect, “has been passed down through my family for generations. It cannot simply… disappear.”

Her eyes swept the room, and immediately landed on the servants. My stomach dropped so violently I thought I might be sick.

“This morning,” Kenna said slowly, circling every one of us like a predator does its prey. “Which one of you idiots cleaned my chambers?”

I’m so fucked!

The head maid, Maria, has appointed me to clean Kenna’s room today. Why on earth didn’t I say no! My fingers clenched around the tray in my hands until my knuckles burned.

“Who was it!?” Her voice thundered through the entire ballroom.

Maria flinched at Kenna’s voice, her lips parting forcefully to speak, “…It was Ginnie who cleaned your chambers this morning, my lady.”

Kenna’s lips curved—not into a smile, but something colder as she turned fully toward me now, her gaze sharp enough to kill if it could. “You.”

Every head in the room turned in unison, the weight of their eyes, pinning me in place. “I…I cleaned your room as instructed,” I said quietly, forcing my legs to move as I stepped forward.

“And you were alone?” Kenna asked.

“Yes,” I whispered.

A bitter laughter tore out of her, It echoed off the walls like broken glass. “You see,” Kenna began, stepping closer in front of me, “that bracelet is worth more than your filthy life.” She stopped right in front of me, her gaze dropping deliberately to my worn uniform, “More than you could earn in ten lifetimes of scrubbing floors and licking crumbs off Lycan tables.”

“I didn’t take it,” the words left my mouth before I could stop them, “I swear—“

“Oh, shut the fuck up,” she snapped, cutting me off without even glancing at me. “You dirty little humans always swear when you’re caught.”

“I didn’t—” My voice cracked despite grounding myself. 

“Do not speak unless spoken to,” Kenna hissed, lifting a finger to silence me. My face burned as humiliation crawled its way into every bone in my body.

“Imagine the audacity,” Kenna scoffed mockingly, turning to the guests, “A human thinking she could steal from her future Luna.” 

 “Did you really believe yourself clever enough to outsmart us?”

“I did…I didn’t steal anything from you, my lady. I wouldn’t dare do such a thing” I pleaded, desperation bleeding into my voice. “Please…check your room again. I would never—”

“Are you calling me careless?” Kenna turned to face me so fast I flinched.

“No!”

“So what are you trying to say then? That I misplaced my own jewelry?”

“I’m saying—”

“Enough!” Her voice cracked like a whip across the hall. “Who are you to dare accuse me!” She barked, stepping closer. “Do you know how many humans have had their hands cut off for stealing from me?”

Tears burned behind my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I would never give her that satisfaction. 

“Perhaps,” Kenna continued softly, her eyes flicking to my trembling fingers, “Cutting them off would teach you a lesson.”

I stood there, stripped bare under everyone’s gazes, while every ounce of dignity I had was being clawed away piece by piece. And the worst part?

This devil was enjoying every second of it.

“Enough of this drama.”

A voice sliced through the hall like steel, forcing the room to fall dead silent as every head turned. Varkos stepped forward, something glittering between his fingers.

The bracelet.

“I found it,” Varkos said, holding it up for everyone to see. “It was lying on the floor near your chamber door….looks like it must have slipped from your purse.”

“That’s…that’s impossible.” Kenna shot back, her voice drained of color. 

“It’s not,” Varkos replied coldly, “The clasp is loose.”

Holy shit!

Why the hell was Varkos defending me? 

But before I could answer that question myself, Varkos turned his gaze on me. He looked at me the way one looks at something insignificant.

“Besides,” he continued calmly, “A human like her couldn’t steal such a thing. She’s too weak, and fragile.”

His eyes scanned me from head to toe as if I were garbage. “Even if she tried,” he added, his eyes locking onto mine, “I’d snap her in half before she ever made it out of this mansion.”

The words slammed into me like a blow, but before I could part my lips to speak, he leaned in, closing every inch of space between us.

“Get out of my sight,” he ordered.

Without hesitation, I bowed quickly and turned away before anyone could see the tears spill, laughter following me as I fled the hall.

But beneath the humiliation, one truth echoed louder than anything else over and over in my skull. And for reasons I didn’t understand…

Varkos had chosen to save me tonight.