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Scarlett’s POV

It was a day like any other, and I was buried in chores when the heavy door creaked open. My stepmother, Luna Elena, strode in, her eyes sharp and lips curved into that cruel smile she wore so well.

“We’re going to the ball,” she declared with authority. “And you’re coming with us.”

The words hit me like a slap. “What?” My voice barely escaped my lips. A ball? For people like me? It seemed impossible.

“Are you deaf?” she hissed, taking a step closer. “Or should I carve it into that thick skull of yours?”

“No, Luna— I mean, yes— I mean… why?” I stammered, my thoughts racing. A ball was for nobles and alliances—people who mattered. People like Nina, her perfect daughter. The werewolf kingdom didn’t even know I existed. I was just a secret kept behind closed doors, a stain hidden from the eyes of others.

“You dare question me, b*tch?” Her glare burned into my skin.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, head bowed, hands trembling.

Her voice turned icy. “You think I want to parade you around? If not for your pathetic father’s request…” She cut herself off before she could finish her sentence. “Just find a dress and put it on. And make sure you don’t embarrass us.”

She left without saying another word, leaving me standing there with my heart pounding. Her words felt like shackles tightening around me. I hurried to finish my work before retreating to my small room. After a quick wash, I searched through my limited wardrobe of worn, outdated clothes. It wasn’t ideal, but it would have to do.

“Scarlett!” my stepmother’s voice called. I quickly tied my hair up and left my room.

The drive to the hall felt endless, the suffocating silence broken only by Nina’s perfect reflection smiling at me from the car window. She looked like a vision in her royal gown, while I felt like a mere servant beside her.

“Behave yourself,” Nina hissed as soon as we stepped out of the car.

“What the hell are you wearing?” my dad demanded as he stepped out of the car. His eyes roamed over me with unmistakable contempt. Usually, he ignored my existence, but not this time.

“Honey,” Luna Elena cooed with a sweet tone, “you know how she is. She refused the dress I gave her and insisted on wearing that... thing.”

“Just to embarrass me?” he growled. I stayed silent, knowing it was safer that way.

“She won’t,” she assured him, her eyes drilling into mine with a warning. “No one knows who she is.”

A smile slowly crept across his face, and his eyes lit up with a disturbing satisfaction. I felt something twist painfully inside me.

“You’re right, Elena,” he muttered. “No one knows who she is.” He turned to me, his eyes narrowing. “You will act like Nina’s maid, and you will not utter a single word about being my daughter.”

I stayed silent, fighting back the tears threatening to spill. I knew if I spoke, I’d start crying. “Do I make myself clear?”

“Really, Dad?” Nina chimed in, eager to seize any opportunity to make my life miserable.

“Yes,” he replied with a smile—the same smile I had always longed for, the one I had prayed he’d show me. “She’ll be your maid tonight, given the clothes she’s wearing.”

Even if I had been dressed like a noble lady, I’d still be treated like a maid, because that’s all I ever was to them. But it hurt to hear him say it out loud.

“Thank you, Dad,” Nina said with a smirk that made my skin crawl.

“Do I make myself clear, Scarlett?”

I could only nod, fighting back the tears threatening to spill.

The ballroom sparkled with luxury, yet a heavy sense of despair enveloped me like a suffocating veil. My stepmother had turned tonight into another opportunity to flaunt me like a prized possession—a pawn in her twisted game of control.

“Remember, Scarlett,” Luna Elena’s voice echoed in my mind, a sickly sweet reminder. “Behave like the perfect maid.”

The evening progressed, the laughter and chatter of the guests blending into a dull roar in my ears. After finally escaping Nina and her friends’ taunts, I found a quiet corner, desperate for a moment of peace. That’s when I saw him. And I smelled him.

It was as if time stopped when our eyes met. A magnetic pull so strong it felt like destiny itself was intervening. I had spent months praying silently to the Moon Goddess, begging her to free me from my chains. And now, here he was, standing tall and proud, his gaze holding mine with such intensity that I felt my heart skip a beat.

Could this be my salvation? The escape I had been longing for?

He walked towards me, each step confident and assured. The crowd seemed to part for him, though all I could focus on was the soft smirk playing on his lips. When he reached for my hand, a jolt of electricity surged through me—a promise of something more, something beyond the misery and pain that had defined my existence.

“I knew it was you,” he murmured, his voice low and warm, sending a shiver down my spine. “From the moment I saw you.”

I swallowed, unable to find my voice, overwhelmed by the intensity of the mate bond. Could he sense my desperation? The fragile hope that maybe, just maybe, tonight would be the night everything changed?