Aria's POV
They made me serve at the feast like nothing had happened.
Even though my hands were shaking.
Even though my whole body was on fire.
Even though I was sure something inside me had snapped earlier in the woods.
They did not care.
I wiped blood off my lip as I stood at the back of the feast hall, balancing a heavy silver tray.
My knees were weak. My head was spinning.
The mark on my collarbone still burned underneath my shirt.
I had not told anyone about it.
I could not.
No one would believe me.
"Keep your head down and your mouth shut," Beta Lorna had hissed as she shoved me toward the hall. "And don't embarrass the pack tonight.
We have… important company."
"Who?" I had asked.
She slapped the back of my head.
"None of your business, omega."
So here I was.
Standing among fine silk and gold dishes while everyone else smiled and chattered like this was some normal celebration.
It wasn't.
Something felt different tonight.
The tension in the air was thick.
The Alpha had ordered the entire hall cleaned twice.
The walls were decorated with white and silver banners and the dining tables overflowed with food we never got to see, roasted lamb, rich sauces, rare wine.
They were trying to impress someone. Someone powerful.
My feet moved across the polished floor as I served dish after dish, trying not to tremble.
The heat under my skin was growing, like something was alive inside me, pacing.
"Omega," a guard snapped.
"Refill that wine."
I bit my tongue and nodded.
"Yes, sir."
Mae, the only other servant who didn't completely hate me, passed by carrying a tray of steaming bread.
"Do you know who is coming?" I whispered to her.
"No one will say," she muttered back.
"But the Alphas look nervous.
And when they are nervous…"
She didn't have to finish that sentence.
I already knew.
The doors at the end of the hall creaked open.
The scent hit us before the sight did, something wild, cold and ancient.
Every wolf in the room stood. Conversations stopped.
Forks froze midair.
Then he stepped in.
My tray slipped a little in my hands.
He was taller than I imagined.
Dressed in dark armor, a black coat trailing behind him.
His face was sharp, perfect like carved stone.
Blonde hair cut close.
His eyes… gods, his eyes.
Pale gray.
Piercing.
Empty.
Alpha King Lucian Nightshade.
The name made my stomach twist.
He did not smile.
He did not speak.
His presence alone was enough to send fear crawling over my skin.
I dropped my gaze quickly but not fast enough.
His eyes landed on me.
I stopped breathing.
Then he moved.
One moment he was at the door.
The next, he was standing in front of me.
His boots echoed on the stone floor like thunder.
My tray fell with a loud crash, scattering silverware everywhere.
"Aria!" Lorna hissed.
But I could not move.
My eyes were locked on his.
Something inside me… shifted.
He looked down at me like I was a puzzle he could not solve. Or worse, something rotten he just found under his boot.
His voice was low. Deep.
"Mate."
The word punched the air out of my lungs.
Gasps spread across the hall like wildfire.
"Did he just"
"She is his"
"No, that can't be right."
I stared at him, frozen.
My ears rang.
My knees buckled.
He looked just as shocked.
No, angry.
Furious, even.
"You?" he said, his voice sharp.
"You are the one?"
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
I wanted to say I didn't understand.
That there must be a mistake. That he could not be my mate.
That someone like me didn't get someone like him.
He stepped closer.
His aura hit me like a wave, power, cold and violent, wrapping around my throat.
"You are weak," he muttered.
"You stink of omega.
Your blood is wrong."
I flinched.
Whispers rose all around us.
Laughter followed.
"She is cursed," someone said.
"Of course it's her. That freak."
Lucian's eyes never left mine.
His lip curled in disgust.
"You don't belong in my world."
My chest ached like it was caving in.
"I....I did not choose this," I whispered.
"And I don't accept it," he snapped.
Then, loudly, so everyone could hear, he said:
"I, Alpha King Lucian Nightshade, reject you as my mate."
The words cracked something inside me.
The hall went silent.
Even the air felt like it stopped moving.
My heart broke in real time.
I could feel it. Shattering, piece by piece.
My wolf let out a low, broken whine inside my mind.
He turned his back on me like I was trash.
The laughter started again, louder this time.
"She thought she had a chance."
"With him? She is nothing."
I stared at the floor. I could not cry. Not here. Not in front of them.
But something inside me boiled.
Not sadness.
Rage.
My hands trembled again but not from fear.
The burning came back, worse now.
My vision blurred.
The mark under my shirt seared like it was being branded all over again.
I grabbed the edge of the table to steady myself.
Mae's voice called out nearby, "Aria? Are you okay?"
I wasn't.
Something was rising inside me.
Something loud.
Wild.
And angry.
Then, in my head, my wolf roared.
"No more hiding."
A blinding pain exploded across my chest.
I screamed.
Light burst from my skin, pure, golden light.
People screamed.
"Her...her body, what is that?!"
"She is glowing!"
"Get back!"
The floor shook.
I felt heat surge through my arms, my spine, my bones.
Plates shattered.
Wine spilled.
Walls cracked.
Lucian turned, eyes wide, finally looking at me like I was something other than garbage.
Like he did not understand what he was seeing.
Neither did I.
The last thing I saw before darkness swallowed me
Was the floor breaking apart beneath my feet.