Sapphire

Rain

Blue. My favorite color. I have never worn it before, but I have seen it all my life, draped over shoulders that were not mine, stitched into dresses I was not allowed to touch, because no matter what I did, I was different.

I was the wrong shade in a house of perfect colors. I wasn’t good enough, or beautiful enough, to wear something so pretty. At least, that’s what Hannah said. And everyone else agreed with her.

“How long are you going to stare at it for? Bring it already!” Hannah’s voice sliced through the air as I hurried across her room, clutching the blue satin gown to my chest like it might burn me.

Her room smelled like expensive perfumes and burning hair spray, thick and suffocating in a way I had learned not to complain about. She sat in front of the mirror, golden hair wrapped in rollers, her phone held high in the air as she tilted her head and made slow, practiced, seductive expressions for the camera.

“You know, Rain, I really need you not to slack off today,” she said, inspecting her reflection instead of me. “Do you know why?”

“Because today… is your sp-special day,” I answered, the words catching in my throat like they always did around her.

She smiled at that. A slow, pleased smile. “That’s right. Today, the Lycan King is choosing his bride. After six agonizing months of mourning that mysterious bride of his that no one ever saw,” she continued, eyes shining. “And I am going to be his bride.”

“Yes,” I said, forcing my lips into a small smile even though my chest tightened.

Her gaze snapped to mine, and before I could react, her hands crashed against my cheeks, sending my glasses flying to the ground.

“What was that smile for?” she asked sharply. “How many times have I told you that I don’t like it when you smile, you witch?!”

Without my glasses, all I could see were blurry shapes and shadows. I pressed my hands to my burning skin, swallowing the cry that tried to escape. I couldn’t let my stepmother hear me. I couldn’t risk her finding out that I’d upset her daughter. So, I did what I always did. I dropped to my knees and bowed my head low.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered again and again. The way she liked.

“Get up. Your useless apologies don’t matter,” she said, waving her hand like I was dirt near her feet.

“Yes,” I murmured, crawling forward to feel for my glasses. One of the lenses was cracked now, a thin splintering line running through it. I slid them back on anyway.

“The only useful thing you can do is to know your place. Look here,” she said, tilting her phone toward me. “This is what the Lycan King looks like. Do you see?”

The image was too blurred for me to make out properly through my glasses, but I nodded. It was safer than admitting I couldn’t see him clearly.

“You could never have someone like him,” she said, her voice dripping with certainty. “Never. So, stop trying to ruin my chances.”

“Who is ruining your chances?” Diane’s voice thundered from the doorway.

“Who else Mom?” Hannah replied quickly.

“Get out!” she hissed, slapping me harder than Hannah ever could.

I did everything I could to leave her presence quickly, but as always, she said the words she knew would sink deepest. “One would think that after you killed your mother during childbirth, you’d take a break. But you’re never satisfied!” she barked. “You better stay away from my daughter with that bad luck of yours.”

I shut my bedroom door and slid down against it, my body shaking. Her words crawled through my head, poisoning every thought. I hated how they treated me. I hated that after all this time, their words still hurt. But most of all, I hated that a part of me believed every word they said.

I stayed there until I heard my father’s car pull out of the driveway. He never came to check on me. It was easier for him that way, easier to let Diane and Hannah decide how much pain I was allowed to carry.

When the house finally fell silent, curiosity crept in. Dangerous curiosity. I wanted to see it – the party. The life that I could never be a part of.

I wore another pair of glasses and pulled my old phone from beneath my bed. Its cracked screen flickered to life as I searched for videos from the party. Golden halls filled the screen, glittering lights, beautiful people. Then a headline appeared, and my heart slammed against my chest.

Girls were being sent away for not having family access seals.

My hands went cold instantly. I knew exactly where Hannah’s seal was. It was under her chair. I had seen it just before I was sent away.

If she didn’t have it, she would be sent away. And if she was sent away, Diane would kill me.

I would’ve given it to her, but I wasn’t allowed to leave the house. Not ever. My father said I carried bad luck, that my presence outside would poison things. But no one else was home, and if I didn’t do this, they would destroy me regardless.

So, I made a decision that terrified me. I booked a ride. Even though it was straight forward, I was nervous since I had never done it before.

The moment I stepped outside my lungs forgot how to breathe. The air felt sharp and alive, the sky impossibly wide. Sounds crashed into me – cars, voices, the rush of wind. Buildings towered over me like giants. I had lived my whole life behind locked doors, and now the world felt endless and overwhelming, like it might swallow me whole.

I paid for the ride with some of the money I had saved up in years and I got down from the car carefully, adjusting my plain dress as I approached the gates of the venue.

“I’m here for the party,” I said softly to the guard at the gate.

He frowned. “Who are you with?”

“Hannah Ventura,” I replied. “She forgot her access seal.”

He studied me for a long moment, then made a call. When he hung up, he stepped aside. “Go. Quickly.”

Inside was a world I didn’t belong to. Crystal lights glittered overhead, velvet voices and everything sparkled too brightly. Then I heard Hannah screaming.

“I’m the first-born daughter of Alpha Jed! You can’t send me away over something so stupid!”

Seeing how much she was struggling, I ran toward her, but someone tackled me to the ground.

“Who are you?” a blond, tall man demanded. He was wearing a beta badge, meaning an Alpha must be nearby.

“I just wanted to give her this,” I said, holding up the seal with shaking hands.

Hannah stared at me like I had appeared out of thin air. “She’s no one,” she said sharply. “Send her away.”

The man helped me up, murmuring an apology, then froze when he saw my face. He released me so suddenly that I stumbled forward slamming into another man.

The man shoved me aside, but before he could scold me, I bowed my head in an apology and turned to leave.

“Where do you think you’re going?” someone said, causing silence in the room. “Apologize properly to the Lycan King!”

My heart stopped.

Slowly, I lifted my head, forgetting how to speak when I saw that it was the Lycan King I had bumped into. He wasn’t just any Alpha. He was the Alpha of alphas.

He was tall and broad-shouldered, commanding the space without effort. His dark hair fell well below his shoulders, and his face was sharp and balanced, every feature deliberate, as if nothing about him had been left to chance. His hazel eyes held the kind of power that made others lower their gaze. He was perfect.

He didn’t look at me properly at first, but when his eyes met mine, the half-empty wine glass slipped from his fingers and shattered against the floor.

The entire hall went silent.

His breath hitched as he looked at me, his eyes filled with tears, and in a voice that sounded like it was breaking apart, he whispered, “Sapphire?”

The moment he said that name, every single person within range gasped and stared at me.