ESMERAYMy hands were curled into fists as I made my way to the dining table with Smythe leading the way, and it had nothing to do with how uncomfortable I felt with what I was wearing, or the many eyes that were fixed on me. Everyone looked on as we passed, whispering amongst themselves and some even pointing at me without making any efforts to hide it. Many looked on with admiration and envy and some with scorn. Others, it was hard to place their expressions. But my thoughts were in no way connected to my present surroundings. My thoughts were with Prince Draven.He was still with Heather. It wasn’t any of my business but I couldn’t help but wonder what they were up to. Heather was pretty, a royal from a noble background, and there was no denying the bond the both of them shared. I was a nobody, definitely not a match for a man of his status. But why did I feel uncomfortable that they’d been together for the last hour? He wants me to put up a good show but is Smythe supposed to be

The last time I ever had a new outfit was during the feast of the moon when I turned eight. I still remembered the look on my mom’s face when she picked out that dress for me. She’d almost gone into tears rambling about how fast I was growing and how perfect the dress looked on me. ‘I bet this was made especially for you Ray,’ she’d told me. Even if I wasn’t exactly a fashionable kid, the look on my mom’s face made me fall in love with the dress. Every day until the war broke out, I admired the little green dress, counting the days till I got to wear it again. But it never came. My parents did the worse and I lived the rest of my life putting on rags that I picked out from the dump at Silver Moon. Ailana gave me some of her clothes, but I could never wear them at Silver Moon. Zayden found them on me and ripped them off my body, telling me how unworthy I was of the dresses. He went on to threaten Aila and we thought it best that she stopped giving me her clothes. In Silver Moon pack,

“Esme,” I stifled a sob when I heard a familiar female voice, wiping my cheeks as I did but she’d already heard me crying. She pulled the blanket away from my face and sighed, looking worried. “What did he do?” she spoke softly with a voice full of concern.I shook my head and sat up slowly but froze when Scarlett unexpectedly pulled me in for a hug. I didn’t realize how much I needed it till she did. Aila was the only one who ever hugged me at Silver Moon, so it wasn’t something I was used to. To the others, I was just a filthy piece of shit. I wrapped my arms around her for a minute until I started to feel better, and when I pulled away, she still looked worried.“Esme,” she paused, studying my face “I know it’s not going to be easy being mated to a man like Draven. He doesn’t know how to love,” she picked her words carefully as she spoke, and I got the feeling that she wanted to say a whole lot more, but she was holding back “But whatever he said to you to make you like this, he di

Heather cracked her knuckles noisily, glaring at me as she did. I moved one step back when she started stalking towards me, and then she broke into a run, throwing her fists into my face as soon as she was close enough. Her fists landed on my left eye and I staggered back, clutching my hurting eye as darkness temporarily clouded my vision.Was this a set up? Did Draven bring his mistress here to beat me up because he couldn’t do so himself? There were other female warriors that could train me but he chose Heather to do so, and her harsh glare didn’t look like someone who had the intentions of training me. It looked like she wanted to kill me.I staggered as I tried to regain my balance “I wasn’t ready,”“That’s no excuse, you have to be ready every time,” she hissed. I was going to respond, but she lounged at me again, kicking me in my stomach and before I could recover, her fists collided with my jaw, sending me flying in the air. My back hit the floor and I groaned rolling over on m

“You need to stop. I think you’ve had enough,” Scarlett warned, but I laughed and waved it off, gulping down another glass of wine at a go. That last cup took me from tipsy to drunk.I have never been drunk in my entire life. The only time I ever took alcohol, Aila had made sure I didn’t take so much. I’d been tipsy but not drunk. I remember the events of that day all too well and how much work I had to do the next day when one of the beta’s daughters at Silver Moon reported us to Zella. It was my eighteenth birthday, but Zella didn’t care about any of that. I was given two times as much work as I normally did but I made sure not to tell Aila about it, or else she’ll blame herself and have one of her usual fallouts with Zella because of me. “I’m fine,” I smiled at her, laughing hysterically at the doubtful expression on her face. Big Matt was staring at me too, his usual smile on his face. But everything around me started to spin, and I knew we needed to leave fast or else I make a