Chapter Three: The Weight of Silver

​Amara’s POV

​I didn't notice it then... but across the crowded expanse, Kael's eyes had already left Tanya.

​And landed squarely on me.

​My stomach tightened into a hard, anxious knot. No. He couldn't possibly be looking at me.

​I glanced nervously over my shoulder, half-expecting to see a breathtaking noblewoman standing in my shadow. Nothing. Just a blank marble pillar. When I looked back, his gaze was still there. Steady. Piercing. Unreadable.

​Before I could even begin to parse the impossible meaning behind it, Serena hooked her arm aggressively through Vivian's.

​"Mother, let's go inside," she complained, pulling Vivian toward the grand doors.

​Vivian paused, casting a cold, warning look over her shoulder at me. "Try not to wander off, Amara." She stepped closer, lowering her voice just enough to ensure the venom only reached my ears. "And for heaven's sake, don't eat everything you see. The palace isn't your personal kitchen."

​The fragile smile I had been forcing faltered entirely. "I wasn't planning to."

​"Good." She turned away without waiting for a response. "Act like you have some semblance of shame."

​They glided ahead, leaving me standing alone in the wake of their remarks. I took a slow, stabilizing breath, forcing the humiliation down into the deep, dark place I kept all my hurt, before following them into the Grand Moon Hall.

​The ballroom was a masterpiece of opulence, already bursting with elite guests. Orchestral music drifted through the air while attendants carried silver trays loaded with sparkling drinks and delicate desserts. I instinctively gravitated toward the wall, pressing myself against the perimeter. It was safer that way. Less noticeable.

​Or so I thought.

​"There she is," a sharp, feminine voice hissed nearby, instantly halting my footsteps.

​Three elegantly dressed she-wolves stood in a tight cluster a few feet away. The speaker, a blonde in a scarlet dress, flashed me a polite smile—the kind of practiced, plastic expression that never reached the eyes.

​"Lady Everhart, isn't it?" she asked, stepping forward to block my path.

​I gave a tight, cautious nod. "Amara."

​"Ah, yes. I've heard so much about you." The second woman looked me up and down, her eyes tracking the curves of my body with a clinical, unbothered cruelty. She paused deliberately, letting the silence stretch. "...I expected someone much smaller."

​The other two snickered.

​The sting was immediate, but I forced my lips to curve upward, weaponizing my own self-deprecation before they could use it against me. "I'm afraid disappointment seems to follow me wherever I go."

​"Oh, don't be so sensitive, darling," the first woman scoffed, waving a dismissive, manicured hand. "We're only coming from a place of concern."

​"Concern?" I repeated, my voice hollow.

​She nodded smoothly. "The Summit is full of eligible, high-ranking Alphas tonight. It would be incredibly cruel to let you harbor any false hope."

​The second woman chimed in with a heavy, pitying sigh. "Most Alphas require a Luna who represents strength, agility, and elite bloodlines." Her eyes drifted pointedly over my waistline. "Not... indulgence. You understand, right?"

​Their laughter rang out, sharp and mocking against the background music. I lowered my eyes, my hands clenching into fists at my sides. Don't react, I told myself fiercely. That's exactly what they want. Just walk away.

​I took a step to bypass them, but the blonde in scarlet deliberately shifted directly into my path. As she did, she tilted her wrist.

​The glass in her hand tipped.

​A heavy splash of deep red wine collided with the front of my gown, soaking into the fabric. A sharp, collective gasp swept through the nearby guests.

​"Oh dear!" The woman covered her mouth dramatically, her eyes wide with faux horror. "How incredibly clumsy of me."

​"At least the stain won't be very noticeable on silver," her friend chuckled, her voice dripping with malice.

​A suffocating heat burned through my cheeks. This dress. It had been the first outfit in years that actually made me feel beautiful when I looked in the mirror. Now, a jagged, ugly crimson stain was spreading across the silk, ruining it completely.

​"I'm so sorry," the woman said, making absolutely no effort to sound remorseful. "But really, you should have moved faster."

​A few nearby nobles laughed. Others simply watched, their expressions detached, amused, or indifferent. No one stepped forward. No one said a word. The pack hierarchy was absolute, and at the very bottom sat a wolf-less girl.

​I swallowed the burning lump in my throat, refusing to let them see me cry. "It's alright," I whispered, bending slightly to try and dab at the soaking fabric with a cocktail napkin. "It's only a dress."

​Before my fingers could even touch the stained silk, a deep, resonant voice sliced through the ballroom like ice shattering on stone.

​"It was intentional."

​An absolute, dead silence fell over the Grand Moon Hall. The music seemed to stop. Every head turned in a uniform, terrifying motion.

​My breath caught in my throat.

​High Alpha Kael Draven was walking toward us. The crowd parted instinctively, expanding outward to give him a wide, submissive berth. His expression was perfectly calm, but his eyes—those striking, lethal silver eyes—were dangerously cold.

​He stopped directly beside me. The sheer power of his aura was staggering, making the air feel thick and heavy. His gaze settled briefly on the damp crimson stain covering my gown, and I saw a subtle, dangerous tightening in his jaw. Then, his eyes shifted to the woman holding the wine glass.

​"You threw it," Kael said. It wasn't an accusation. It was a fact.

​The woman’s confident, mocking smirk vanished instantly, replaced by a sudden, sickly paleness. "I-I didn't, High Alpha. Truly. It slipped."

​Kael looked down at the nearly full glass still gripped in her trembling hand. "It slipped," he repeated, his voice entirely level, which somehow made it infinitely more terrifying. "Then tell me... why is your glass still almost entirely full?"

​The woman opened her mouth, but her throat clicked. No sound came out. The entire ballroom had fallen so quiet you could hear the flickering of the candles.

​Kael's gaze hardened, radiating an ancient, unyielding authority. "The Imperial Summit welcomes honorable guests. It does not welcome those who mistake pathetic cruelty for entertainment."

​The woman's face drained of whatever color it had left. "I apologize, High Alpha—"

​"Not to me." Kael’s voice was like a gavel striking stone.

​Her eyes slowly, reluctantly turned toward me. Her chest heaved with humiliation as she forced the words out. "I'm... I'm sorry, Lady Everhart."

​I blinked, stunned into absolute silence. She had actually apologized. To me.

​Kael didn't look at her again. He locked eyes with a nearby palace attendant. "Escort this lady to the east lounge. She is done for the evening."

​"Yes, High Alpha," the attendant hurried forward, quickly ushering the trembling woman and her silent friends out of the hall.

​Before I could even process what had just happened, Kael’s hands moved to the buttons of his tailored suit jacket. He slipped it off his broad shoulders, and before I realized his intention, he draped the heavy, black fabric gently over my shoulders, completely obscuring the ruined front of my dress.

​The fabric was still incredibly warm from his body heat. Instantly, his scent enveloped me—a wild, intoxicating rush of midnight rain, cedarwood, and a dark, dominant spice that made my head spin.

​I looked up at him in utter shock, my heart hammering wildly against my ribs. "You'll catch a chill," I whispered, the words slipping out before I could stop them.

​Kael’s hand paused on the lapel of the jacket, hovering just inches from my collarbone. For a fraction of a second, a flicker of surprise crossed his sharp features, as if he hadn't even thought that far ahead.

​"I'll manage," he murmured, his voice a low, gravelly vibration.

​Our eyes met, locking together in the center of the crowded room. For a long, breathless moment, the rest of the world completely ceased to exist. There were no whispers, no cruel stepsisters, no judgments. Just him, and me.

​Then, almost as if snapping out of a trance, Kael took a sharp step back. His dark brows furrowed ever so slightly, a look of profound confusion momentarily cracking his stoic mask.

​Why did I do that? The question practically screamed from his expression.

​He didn't know. Neither did I.

​But as I looked at him, I realized something terrifying. Deep within his chest, the fiercely volatile, dominant wolf that usually roared at the world had gone strangely, utterly quiet. Content. As though protecting the girl standing before him was the most natural, instinctual thing in the universe.