CHAPTER NINE

The slap of his dismissal, delivered from across the ballroom, stung more than any physical blow. I felt the eyes of the pack on me, a hundred tiny pinpricks of curiosity and pity. I turned away, my composure a thin sheet of ice over a roiling sea of hurt. I grabbed a flute of champagne from a passing waiter, the bubbles doing nothing to wash the bitter taste from my mouth.

“Well, well. You actually came.” Riri’s voice was like honey laced with cyanide. She materialized at my side, a vision in blood-red silk that clung to her every curve. “I have to admit, I’m impressed. I didn’t think you had the stomach for it.”

I took a slow sip, refusing to let her see me flinch. “And miss the social event of the decade? Jack would never forgive me.” I kept my tone light, bored even. “The decorations are a bit much, don’t you think? All this silver… it’s trying so hard.”

Riri’s smirk faltered for a second. She was expecting tears, not critique. “It’s traditional for a unification ceremony,” she sniffed. “But I suppose you wouldn’t know about tradition.”

“No,” I agreed, meeting her gaze squarely. “I’m too busy with other things. Like ensuring my daughter’s medical treatments are paid for. You remember Elisse, don’t you, Riri? The one the *family doctor* always gave a clean bill of health?”

Her eyes narrowed, a flicker of unease in their depths. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s a shame a child has to be used as a pawn for her mother’s attention.”

The ice inside me cracked, but I didn’t let it show. I gave a low, humorless laugh. “Is that the story you’re sticking with? How very… predictable of you.” I leaned in slightly, lowering my voice. “Tell me, does it ever get heavy? The weight of all those lies?”

I didn’t wait for her response. I turned and melted into the crowd, leaving her sputtering. It was a small victory, but it fueled me. I could do this. I could survive this night.

I circulated, a ghost at the feast. I exchanged pleasantries with pack members whose names I barely remembered, my smile a fixed, practiced thing. I complimented dresses and praised the orchestra, all while my heart felt like it was being shredded in my chest. Every laugh, every clink of a glass, was a reminder of the celebration I was shut out of.

And then, the crowd parted. There was no avoiding it. Kairi and Bianca were making their rounds, and their path was leading straight toward me. My breath seized. The sea of jewels and silk seemed to blur, leaving only the two of them in sharp, painful focus. Bianca’s hand was resting lightly on his arm, a gesture of possession that felt like a brand.

They stopped a few feet away. Bianca’s gaze swept over me, polite, curious, and utterly devoid of recognition. I was just another face in the crowd.

Kairi’s eyes, however, held a storm. There was no warmth, only a cold, assessing intensity. He looked from my face down to my simple green dress and back up, and I saw the faintest flicker of… something. Not approval. Not disgust. Something more complicated. It was gone in an instant.

“Alpha Kairi,” I said, my voice miraculously steady. I dipped my head in the barest acceptable nod of respect. “Princess Bianca. A beautiful celebration.”

“Thank you…” Bianca began, her voice melodic. She glanced at Kairi, a silent question in her eyes.

“This is Sze Untalan,” Kairi said. His voice was flat, devoid of the warmth he used with others. It was the tone one would use to identify a piece of furniture. “One of our pack members.”

One of our pack members.

The erasure was so complete, so brutal, it stole the air from my lungs. I was the mother of his child, his lover for years, and I was reduced to ‘one of our pack members’.

Bianca offered a benign, regal smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sze. I hope you’re enjoying the evening.”

“Immensely,” I lied, my own smile feeling like a death rictus.

Bianca’s attention was caught by a dignitary across the room. She gently squeezed Kairi’s arm. “Darling, the ambassador from the Ridge Pack is signaling. We should pay our respects.”

Kairi didn’t move. His eyes were still locked on me, intense and unreadable. Bianca followed his gaze, her polite smile becoming slightly puzzled.

“Is everything alright?” she asked softly.

Kairi seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in. He finally looked away from me and down at her, his expression softening in a way that sent a fresh, searing bolt of jealousy through me. He’d never looked at me like that. Not once.

“It’s fine,” he said, his voice dropping into a intimate murmur meant only for her. He patted her hand. “Don’t trouble yourself. She’s just one of the weaker Omegas in the pack. They often need a bit more… looking after. It’s part of my duty.”

The words were a whisper, but they hit me with the force of a shout.

One of the weaker Omegas.

The room spun. The music, the laughter, the clinking glasses—it all fused into a deafening roar in my ears. The carefully constructed mask of strength I had glued to my face shattered into a million pieces. He didn’t just dismiss me; he dismissed my entire existence, my strength, my struggle, reducing me to a pitiful burden, a weakling he was saddled with.

The hurt was a physical pain, a knife twisting deep in my gut. The jealousy was a fire, burning away the last of my composure. I wanted to scream. I wanted to rake my nails across his perfect, cold face and show him just how weak I really wasn’t.

But I did nothing. I stood there, my emerald armor feeling like a ridiculous costume. I felt the hot press of tears behind my eyes and willed them with every fiber of my being not to fall. 

Not here. Not in front of them.

I must have made some small, involuntary sound—a choked breath, a gasp—because Bianca’s gaze flicked back to me, her brow furrowed in faint concern. “Are you quite alright? You’ve gone pale.”

Kairi didn’t even look at me. “She’s fine,” he said, his voice final, already steering Bianca away. “It’s the heat. They often can’t handle the excitement. Come, my love.”

And just like that, they turned and walked away, leaving me standing alone in the middle of the crowd. The invisible knife was still lodged in my chest. I was humiliated, eviscerated, and so consumed by a raging, helpless jealousy I could taste its metallic tang.

I stood frozen, watching his broad back retreat, Bianca’s white gown glowing beside him. The crowd swallowed them, but the echo of his words remained, branding me.

Weaker Omega.

A hand touched my elbow. I flinched, expecting another attack from Riri.

It was Beta Kelra, his kind, weathered face etched with a concern that nearly broke me. “Sze,” he said quietly, his voice a low rumble under the din of the party. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Come, let’s get you some air.”

I nodded numbly, letting him lead me through the throng of laughing, dancing wolves, away from the glittering lights and the suffocating scent of my own betrayal. He guided me onto a deserted balcony overlooking the moonlit gardens. The cool night air was a shock to my system.

“I… I heard what he said,” Beta Kelra said gently, releasing my arm. “I am sorry.”

I wrapped my arms around myself, shaking, not from the cold, but from the effort of holding myself together. “It’s fine,” I whispered, the words raw. “He’s right. I’m just a weak Omega. A problem for the Alpha to manage.”

“That is not true,” Beta Kelra said fiercely. “You are the strongest woman I know. You have borne burdens that would break others.”

His kindness was the final straw. A single, traitorous tear escaped and traced a hot path down my cheek. I quickly wiped it away. “Why, Kelra?” The question was a broken plea. “Why does he hate me so much? Why her?”

Beta Kelra sighed, a heavy, weary sound. He looked out into the night, his jaw tight. “It is… complicated, Sze. It is not about hate. It is about a debt. A promise made a long time ago.”

Before I could ask what he meant, a commotion erupted inside the ballroom. The music screeched to a halt. There was a crash, followed by raised, panicked voices.

Beta Kelra’s head snapped up, his body tensing. “Stay here,” he commanded, his Alpha-born instinct to protect surging to the forefront.

But I followed him to the balcony doors, my own heart hammering. Through the glass, I could see the crowd had surged back, forming a wide circle around the center of the room.

And in the center stood Kairi, his body rigid with fury. He was facing a tall, broad-shouldered stranger I’d never seen before—a werewolf whose powerful, dominant aura was palpable even from across the room. The stranger’s clothes were travel-worn, his expression one of grim, relentless purpose.

The stranger’s voice, deep and laced with a raw, untamed power, cut through the silence like a blade.

“I’ve been searching a long time for you, Bianca,” the stranger growled, his eyes fixed not on Kairi, but on the terrified princess cowering behind him. “Your little game of playing princess is over. It’s time to come home.”