Unexpected claim

Rivenna's POV

**

Bria held a shocked expression as she stared at me. She had expected me to lash out — to play the role of the jealous woman determined to ruin her future mate's first love.

And Bria performed her part well, sniffling and shivering, almost like a pup that had been struck.

"I am sorry, Rivenna! Please do not punish me," she whimpered, milking the pity of the other girls watching.

That was all they wanted — a show. And so I said, "And why would I do that? It is just a dress." I watched Bria visibly stiffen.

"But you chose it because you loved it."

"And yet you insisted on wearing it, didn't you?" I said, watching her squirm. She had no clean way out — not without handing the hideous neon peach dress back to me.

"It would give me great pleasure to see you wear it, if you truly want to earn my trust," I leaned in to whisper at her ear.

I caught the flash of throttled anger in her gaze as she gripped the dress tighter. But she held it — and smiled.

"You are far too kind..."

"Oh, Rivenna! you truly are one of a kind. Even after Bria's mistake, you stayed perfectly calm!" Dania, one of the omegas, praised.

"Now that the fitting is done, I would like you all to go home and prepare for my choosing ball," I told them. They said their goodbyes and filed out, Bria the last to leave — her dark gaze holding mine a beat too long.

"Is there something you would like to say, Briadyn?" I said, catching her off guard.

"No — you just seem different from what Wren described."

"Is that so? Haven't you been apart from him for years? How exactly did he describe me?" I questioned, watching the panic flicker behind her eyes as she realised she had walked into her own trap.

"No — not from him. I must have been mistaken," she said quickly, and hurried out of my chambers.

The moment the door closed, the smile dropped from my face.

"Olena," I called. My maid stepped into the room and bowed as I rose and walked toward my bedroom.

"Yes, Rivenna."

"Has the dress I chose earlier been laid out in my room?" I asked — and then stopped.

There on my bed lay a single rose. Dark, delicate, and completely out of place.

This had not happened in my past life.

"Olena — did you put this here?" I asked, turning to her.

"No, my lady. I have no idea who could have left it," she replied, eyes wide.

I lifted the rose. It was a deep, dark maroon — gem-like sparkles caught in its petals, holding my gaze.

Extraordinarily beautiful. This rose grew only on the sparse, harsh land beyond the dark mountains.

Something stirred in me as a quiet suspicion crept in. "No — it cannot be from him. That is not possible," I whispered. Surely my proposal had been ignored by those beasts?

"Rivenna?" Olena's worried voice pulled me back. "Is it not from Wren?"

"Wren would never send me this. He is far too simple — he would try to win my heart with jewels," I murmured, still turning the rose gently in my fingers.

"Should I speak to the guards and ask them to be on alert?"

"That will not be necessary," I said.

"It may be from an admirer making a final gesture before your choosing day, my lady," she offered as I set the rose down and began to change out of my dress.

"Yes... it must be," I said — though the thought of a certain presence refused to leave my mind.

Olena crossed to the great wardrobe and returned with a dress that stole the breath from my lungs.

It had been kept for nineteen years by my birth mother, my father had told me — an emerald gown with a shimmer like a thousand stars scattered across silk.

I was still in my robe when a knock came at the door. I stepped out to find Wren, pacing in the corridor.

"Little birdie," he murmured, reaching up to caress my cheek.

In another life, I would have melted into his touch. Now I gave him a small smile and let my eyes light up just enough.

"Wren, what are you doing here?" I said warmly.

"I heard about what happened in your chamber. I heard about Bria's mistake."

"If you came to apologise on her behalf, truly, it is alright—"

"You should not have scolded her," he cut in, then paused as though registering his own words. But he meant them.

"Can you not see she is still shaken? She is family to me ..and she is pregnant," he pressed.

I kept my expression soft, watching him.

"Look ... I know you would never do anything to jeopardise what we have, especially tonight. And so I will keep my word of you act obediently." He sighed. "Then I will accept your choosing."

"Will you now?"I ask, clearly amused of his brazen words,

"Yes. Because I know it will make you happy — and keep you off her back," he said.

The insult of it landed quietly, especially knowing the backroom arrangement he had made with my father — our mating in exchange for the Alpha title.

He reached into his pocket and produced a gemstone necklace — a glaring sapphire stone, clearly chosen in Bria's favourite colour. "Wear this tonight," he said, steering me toward the mirror.

He fastened it around my neck with eager hands. "Look how perfect you are. Everyone will admire it," he said.

And that was when I saw it clearly — he had never truly looked at me. Only at the idea of me, and what my status would mean for him.

"Alright, Wren."

He kissed my forehead and bid me goodbye.

The moment the door closed, I tore the necklace from my neck. There was no hesitation left in me now.

I was ready for my choosin day..

---

The sound of the live orchestra drifted through the great doors.

My brother walked beside me, his arm entwined with mine. He alone knew my choice.

"Still no word from Father?" I murmured. He shook his head.

"None at all," he said quietly.

It was strange. In my past life, my father had arrived the day before the choosing.

I tried to set the worry aside and keep my thoughts in the present.

We were announced into the choosing hall to all eyes and all attention.

My dress drew gasps , a sweetheart neckline, spaghetti straps, with a slit that matched the dark gleam of my eyes.

I wore no jewelry except for the dark red rose tucked into my hair.

I caught the surprise on Wren's face and the horror on Bria's face as she stared at my Dress,

She had changed hers, she wore a pastel pink dress now, having clearly seen the atrocity she had greedily claimed while trying to sabotage me.

Wren's gaze dropped to my neck and his jaw tightened. I was not wearing his necklace.

"Wren," my brother Ryson said with a curt nod, though I could see the conflict in his expression — he and Wren had always been close.

"I would like a word with Rivenna," Wren muttered, not waiting for permission before he seized my arm. I pulled my hand free.

"What is it?" I said calmly .

Bria drifted to his side as he leaned in. "Why the hell didn't you wear the necklace?" he hissed, loud enough to earn glances from those nearby. Good. I wanted witnesses.

"It was a gift. I am under no obligation to wear it."I answer quickly, my words taking him by surprise as he seethes.

"You damn well are when it comes from me, so you whole have worn it!" he said through his teeth.

"Then why did you not say the same to her about the dress i gave her? One she clearly refused to wear? " I said,

Then nodding toward Bria, who blinked back at me with wide, innocent eyes.

She sheds pitiful tears in seconds. I had to give her credit for that.

"I knew it — I knew you were angry with me and disliked me. But what could I do, Rivenna? The dress was ruined by the spilled juice, and Wren told me to change it. I truly would have worn it. Please forgive me," she wept, and the whispers began.

"So she is the one who wanted an apology all along!"

"Imagine being this petty on your own choosing day!"

"You see what you have caused?" Wren snapped. "Apologise to her. Now."

"What do you think you are doing?" my brother Ryson cut in sharply.

Wren turned to him, his gaze hard. "You know Rivenna can act the spoiled princess. Since you seem unwilling to correct her, I will. Rivenna — apologise, or I will not accept your choice tonight."

I ignored him. I turned to my brother and rested a hand briefly on his shoulder. "It is alright, brother. You may proceed with my choosing," I said.

He took a breath and stepped forward as the royal decree was placed in his hands.

"I welcome you all to my dear sister's choosing day. May the grace of the Moon Goddess be with us all," he announced, unrolling the scroll, his eyes finding mine as it stilled with worry, begging me to change.

"Crown Prince — we all know who she has chosen!" one of the elders called out with a laugh, and the hall joined in, the outcome already assumed.

My brother reached into the ceremonial box and drew out the item I had chosen.

The black rose.

Silence fell over the hall like a held breath — and then Wren's voice broke it.

"No. That is not possible. I — I am not her chosen mate?"

And at that moment, the great doors of the hall were pushed open.

Two enormous figures stepped through, and my body went rigid.

The insignia on their robes stopped my heart.

The Aralez Lycans. The beasts of the mountains.

They had come. They had come to claim me as their king's bride.

At that moment, I couldn't help feeling my world stop the moment i had seen the eyes of the first Lycan male that walked into the room, how his beastly stare had set me on fire had me questioning my own choice.

Had I just sealed my fate to a crueler end?