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Zeva’s POV

The night of the mating ceremony was supposed to be every she-wolf’s dream. For three years, I’d watched others stumble into destiny’s arms, their lives ignited by a single spark that bound wolf to wolf, heart to heart. And for three years, I’d walked away with nothing but a hollow chest and a smile that didn’t quite reach my eyes.

Tonight, I told myself, would be different.

The hall glimmered with soft golden light, chandeliers dripping down like frozen stars, laughter weaving with music, and the scent of roses mixing with roasted venison. It was beautiful, extravagant… a fairytale made flesh. But I was not the princess in silk gowns or jeweled crowns. I was the shadow behind them.

“Hold still, you useless girl!” Thalyn hissed, yanking her hand away as I fastened the final clasp on her crimson gown.

I bit my tongue until I tasted copper. One and a half hours—an eternity spent painting her face, curling her hair, tightening her corset until she gasped dramatically about how worthy she looked. Thalyn, daughter of Elder Mael, wanted to be Luna so badly she could already taste the crown.

She turned to the mirror, eyes glittering like polished stone, and smirked at her reflection. “Look at me. No Alpha would be able to resist. Especially not Darian.”

Her words jabbed at me like thorns. I smoothed my plain sapphire dress, one I’d borrowed from another omega and altered myself. The fabric clung awkwardly to my frame, but it was the best I had.

“You should fix your hair,” she added cruelly, flicking her gaze toward me. “Not that it’ll matter. No one notices omegas, especially the lowlifes like you.”

Her laughter trailed her as she left the room, her perfume choking the air.

I exhaled shakily. Leah, my wolf, stirred within me, her voice a low growl. “Ignore her. She’s nothing but insecurity wrapped in silk.”

“I know,” I whispered. But it didn’t stop the sting.

When I finally stepped into the packhouse’s grand hall, my pulse quickened. Wolves from every corner of the East had gathered—betas, warriors, ranked families, and hopeful she-wolves shimmering like gemstones. Music pulsed, filling the air with expectation, while on the podium, the high-ranking seats gleamed with power.

That was when it hit me.

The scent.

Wild, sharp, undeniable. My breath caught as Leah surged to life, her excitement flooding me. “Mate!”

My heart leapt to my throat. For three long years, I’d waited for this moment. My feet carried me before I even thought, weaving through the crowd, skirts brushing against strangers as my eyes frantically scanned the high table.

And then I saw him.

Alpha Darian Kaelith.

Tall. Commanding. His raven-black hair gleamed under the lights, his sharp jawline set in authority. His eyes, a piercing silver, swept the room… and landed on me. For one heartbeat, recognition flickered there. A tether snapped into place between us, invisible but unbreakable, and Leah howled in triumph.

“He’s ours.”

I trembled, tears prickling at the corners of my eyes. After years of emptiness, of wondering if fate had forgotten me, my mate was real. Not just real—he was an Alpha. My Alpha.

Darian rose to his feet, the hall silencing instantly under his presence. My chest swelled. This was it—he would acknowledge me. Us. The bond.

But then his voice, cold and cutting, rang out across the room.

“Tonight, I claim my Luna.”

The crowd erupted in cheers, wolves pounding fists against tables. I blinked rapidly, my smile faltering as I waited for him to call my name.

He extended his hand. Not to me.

To Thalyn.

The elder’s daughter rose gracefully, her crimson gown blazing like fire as she took his side. Her smirk was crueler than any blade.

I couldn’t breathe. My body locked in place, the cheers warping into thunderous echoes.

Darian’s gaze flickered toward me for the briefest second. Cold. Dismissive. As though the bond had meant nothing at all. Then he turned away, lifting Thalyn’s hand high.

“I choose Thalyn Veyra as my Luna.”

Gasps rippled through the hall. My ears rang, my heart plummeting to my stomach. Leah’s howl twisted into a broken wail, her anguish tearing through me.

“No… no, this isn’t right. He’s ours! Why would he—“

But the truth was as sharp as a dagger: he had rejected me. Publicly. Cruelly. As though I was nothing more than a discarded shadow.

The crowd erupted in applause, drowning me in waves of humiliation. I stumbled backward, my chest caving in as whispers followed me.

“Wasn’t she running toward him?”

“The omega thought the Alpha would pick her?”

“Pathetic.”

Hot tears blurred my vision, but I refused to let them see me crumble. Not here. Not now.

The air in the hall shifted the moment Darian’s words sank in.

He stood tall, the light catching on the obsidian trim of his ceremonial jacket, his hand resting on Thalyn’s as though she had been his chosen destiny all along. My wolf whimpered inside me, a sound that clawed at my ribs, but I refused to let the tears fall.

My legs moved before I could stop them, carrying me closer to the podium. Every step echoed in the hushed silence of the hall, eyes burning into me, whispers already spreading like wildfire. “She’s interrupting.” “Doesn’t she know her place?” “An omega daring to speak…”

“Alpha Darian,” my voice cracked, but I pushed the tremor down and forced it steady. “Why? Why Thalyn… when it should be me?”

The question hung heavy, like smoke suffocating the air. For a heartbeat, I thought I saw a flicker of something—hesitation—in his dark gaze. But it was gone as quickly as it appeared, replaced with cold, calculating disdain.

“Why?” His laugh was low, mocking, a blade scraping against stone. “Because you are nothing, Zeva. Nothing but an omega with no strength, no title, and no worth. What would my pack think of me if I paraded a weakling like you as Luna?”

His words sliced deeper than any claw could. My knees nearly buckled, but my wolf, Leah, bristled with rage, forcing me to stand tall even as the hall erupted in quiet gasps.

Thalyn stepped forward, her lips curled into a smile that never reached her eyes. “Oh, poor Zeva. Did you really think this moment would end any differently? Did you think he would ever choose you?” She tilted her head, mock sympathy dripping from her tone. “We knew you were his mate long ago. Darian told me himself. But why waste the truth when we could wait for tonight? For this… perfect moment.”

Her laughter chimed like broken glass.

My breath caught as memories slammed into me—how Thalyn once treated me with kindness, even friendship. The sudden shift in her demeanor long ago, the cruel sneers, the whispers behind my back. It all clicked. She had known. She had been waiting.

“You…” My voice shook with the betrayal clawing inside me. “You’ve been planning this.”

Darian smirked, his arm sliding around Thalyn’s waist as if to seal his betrayal with her body. Then his voice thundered across the hall, cold and final.

“I, Alpha Darian Kaelith of the East, reject you, Zeva Ashryn of no house and no standing.”

The words slammed into me like a thousand knives. A sharp, burning agony seared through my chest, my wolf howling in agony inside my mind. Every fiber of me wanted to crumble to the floor, but I clenched my fists so hard my nails bit into my palms.

“I…” My voice cracked, tears burning my eyes, but I forced the words out. “I accept your rejection.”

The bond snapped like a brittle thread. The pain roared through me, white-hot, blinding. My heart felt as though it had been ripped out and trampled before the pack’s eyes.

But the night wasn’t done with me.

“Guards,” Darian’s voice cut through my haze of pain, sharp as steel. “Take her to my private quarters. There are… other issues that should be resolved in closed doors.”

Gasps rippled through the room. My blood ran cold. I didn’t understand—was the rejection not enough? Why was he dragging this out? What other issues were there to resolve?

Two guards stepped forward, their grips like iron on my arms. I tried to pull free, but my strength was nothing compared to theirs. The hall spun as I was dragged across the marble floor, past the judging eyes and the cruel smirks.

What was the night turning into?