The Mating Ball

Violet:

Twinkling lights, music, dancing, I could imagine it all so vividly as my mother tightened my corset.

The problem wasn’t that I couldn’t imagine the mating ceremony all day, I could drift in wonder of what would happen if I met my mate. I could daydream, buried in the deepest parts of my mind for hours.

The problem was now that the night was here, I had this deep, sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach.

“It’s just nerves, Violet,” my mother had said to my graying complexion more than once tonight.

But it wasn’t.

It was my future, it was my mate, the man who would become my everything in a violent rush of connection designed by the moon goddess herself.

 I had trained my entire life for this moment, for the time that I was to be the perfect mate. I can cook, clean, serve him wholly and completely in every way… so why was I worried? Why was my stomach sitting at rock bottom with no way back up?

“Are you paying attention, Violet?” My mother snapped, her shrill tone pulling me out of my thoughts and into the room warmed by the small fireplace.

“There, you’re done.” She huffed, standing to her feet, flaring my skirt around me.

The light blue fabric was opalescent, glittering in the firelight dancing on the walls, everything was perfect. But… goddess… something was terribly wrong.

“Mother, I don’t think I should go.” I admitted the sour truth that had been lingering on my tongue since I woke up this morning.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Violet. You must go. You’re eighteen now, it is required for you and your sister to go to the mating ceremony. You know that.”

I did know that.

Outside of being trained to be the perfect mate, I had found a love for books early, and because of that, I knew everything there was to know about this kingdom and the ones around it.

“Fine,” I held my chin up, convincing myself this feeling was just nerves, funny though, that feeling didn’t go away even as I stepped into the James house.

 Alpha Neal James had been alpha of the Dark Moon pack for four years, the young alpha king was twenty-one, unmated, gorgeous and just as deadly and being in his presence as an unmated she wolf was supposed to be a blessing, but like most times that I have met the alpha, it felt like a curse. His very presence sickened me. Something about him, something about his aura made my skin buzz, my stomach twist, and my heart jump out of rhythm.

Logically, it made no sense. After all, he had been dating my sister Penny for two years.

He had been at my home for dinner and holidays. But something in my soul was lit a fire around the man.

“Violet, did you hear anything I just said?” Penny grabbed my shoulders, turning me to face her in the grand foyer of James house.

“I… um…” I hadn’t but she already knew that by the look on her face.

“Goddess, Violet. Do you listen to anything?” I winced.

“Sorry, Pen.” I took her hands, pulling her close. “Tell me again.”

“I said, Neal and I have an announcement tonight.” I smiled and nodded despite the mere mention of the alpha causing the air around us to warm tenfold.

“Be at the center of the ball room floor at midnight. I want to see your reaction,” she smiled, warm and steady, always so sure of herself, carrying a confidence I couldn’t master in a million years.

“Okay,” I replied as she turned, her dark purple dress accentuating her curves, her blonde hair the stark difference to my brown.

I watched her walk away, our parents’ perfect child, the one who never questioned anything.

Part of me wanted to run. I wanted to get out of here. Being this close to Neal made energy swell beneath my skin, hot enough to burn, thick enough to seep from my pores, something so close to tangible that I could feel the hum against my lips.

I forced myself to move.

If I stood still, if I let myself think, that buzzing would swallow me whole. So, I drifted into the ballroom, smiling when spoken to, nodding when expected, my body moving through the motions my mind barely registered.

The ballroom was breathtaking—crystal chandeliers spilling light like liquid starlight, silver banners bearing the crescent sigil of Dark Moon lining the walls. Music swelled and softened in gentle waves, wolves were laughing, glasses clinking, silk skirts brushing polished stone floors.

I mingled.

I somehow survived it.

A she-wolf from the northern territory complimented my dress. An elder asked about my studies. Someone laughed at something I said, though I couldn’t recall what it was. Time stretched and folded in on itself, minutes blurring into something shapeless as midnight crept closer.

I avoided the exits.

Each time my feet angled toward freedom, Penny’s words echoed in my head.

Be at the center of the ballroom at midnight.

So, for her, I stayed.

The hum beneath my skin grew louder, sharper, no longer ignorable. It pulled at me, tugged me forward like an invisible thread wound tight around my ribs. Without realizing it, I found myself drifting inward—toward the very heart of the room.

The music slowed.

Then stopped.

A hush swept through the ballroom as an older man stepped forward, his voice amplified by the ancient acoustics of the hall.

“Attention,” he called. “Attention, please.”

Every head turned. Every conversation died.

My pulse thundered in my ears.

“The Alpha of Dark Moon has an announcement.”

Neal James stepped into the light.

The room seemed to lean toward him, the air thickening with power as his alpha aura rolled outward, dominant and suffocating. My knees nearly buckled. Heat tore through me, white-hot and brutal, my wolf clawing at the inside of my chest like she wanted out.

No.

No, no, no—

Penny joined him, her hand slipping into his with practiced ease, her smile radiant, victorious. My sister—beautiful, glowing, adored.

“This is it,” Penny said, her voice clear and ringing. “The moon goddess has blessed us.”

The world tilted.

“I am carrying the heir to the Dark Moon pack.”

Gasps erupted. Cheers followed. Applause thundered against the walls.

Neal squeezed her hand. “And I have chosen Penny as my mate.”

The word mate detonated inside me.

Pain unlike anything I had ever known ripped through my chest, sharp and feral, stealing the breath from my lungs. My vision blurred. My wolf howled in agony, rage, denial.

Then—

Then his eyes snapped to mine.

The connection slammed into place.

The bond.

Raw. Violent. Absolute.

Neal froze.

I watched realization dawn on his face—horror first, then fury, then something dark and calculating as the truth carved itself into him.

Me.

I was his true mate.

The silence was deafening.

Penny turned, confusion knitting her brow—then she felt it too. Her face twisted, disbelief cracking into rage.

“No,” she whispered. Then louder. “No. This isn’t happening.”

Neal released her hand as if burned.

“This is a mistake,” he said sharply, his gaze never leaving me. “The moon goddess—she’s wrong.”

A collective gasp swept the room. He stepped forward, voice cold, merciless. “I reject you, Violet Ambrose.”

The words struck like blades.

“I reject you as my mate. I want nothing from you. Nothing. You are weak, insignificant, and you will never be Luna of this pack.” Something inside me shattered. Penny screamed—at me, at him, at the world—her control snapping entirely.

“You ruined everything, Violet!” she shrieked, her wolf rising violently beneath her skin. I didn’t hear anything after that. My pain became rage, that rage became fire. My wolf tore free with a scream that ripped from my throat, raw and feral, my body surging forward as I turned and ran through the doors, through the night, through the trees.

Branches clawed at my skin, the gravel of James house cut into my feet, and the forest swallowed me whole as my howl shattered the silence, echoing through the Dark Moon territory like a promise of blood and ruin.