"Evie? Evie, breathe!" Lilah's voice drifts to me, muffled, like I'm sinking underwater. The great hall tilts, faces smearing into a blur as laughter and chatter swell again, a cruel hum. Adrian's words echo, relentless: We'll be mated at the next full moon. My chest caves, the mate bond screaming, a raw, living thing.
"I need air," I gasp, shoving back from the table. My chair crashes down, a sharp crack in the din. Eyes turn, too many, and I catch Adrian's gray stare across the room. For a heartbeat, something flickers there, guilt, maybe, a flinch of regret. Then Serena's hand grazes his arm, her smile bright, effortless, and he's gone, pulled back to her light.
I stumble for the doors, Lilah's worried call trailing me. Packmates part, their whispers sharp as thorns. "Poor girl, she looks wrecked." "Too soft, always was." "Did you see her stare at the Alpha? Sad." Each word stabs, proof I'm a fool, an Omega who dreamed too big, thought an Alpha's heart could bend for her.
Outside, the night air bites, cool and crisp, but it doesn't ease the ache. The bond twists, torn between his pull and this gutting betrayal, like my heart's being clawed out, still pulsing. I press a hand to my chest, breath ragged, trying to hold myself together.
"Evelyn!" Lucas's voice cuts through, sharp with worry. Adrian's cousin hurries over, green eyes soft, kind, too kind. I can't stomach pity, not now.
"You okay?" He reaches out, hand hovering like I might break.
"Do I look okay?" My snap bites harder than I mean, and he flinches, hand dropping.
"I'm sorry," he says, voice low. "That… in there, it was rough."
"Rough?" I force a laugh, bitter, jagged. "Adrian's big news? Why would that bother me? I'm just an Omega, right? Pack politics aren't my problem."
Lucas steps closer, his gaze steady, seeing too much. "Because you love him."
The words hit like a fist, knocking the air from me. "You're wrong," I choke, the lie burning my tongue.
"You're not fooling me, Evie." His voice softens, gentle but firm. "I've seen it, how you watch him, how he tracks you when he thinks no one notices. Whatever's gone on, "
"Nothing's gone on!" I snap, the denial sour, desperate.
"Don't." His hand grazes my shoulder, warm, grounding. "Don't lie to yourself. Don't make it hurt worse by pretending it didn't mean anything."
"It didn't," I insist, tears spilling hot down my cheeks. "It couldn't have, or he wouldn't be up there, promising himself to her."
"Evie, pack politics, the pressure on him as Alpha, it's complicated, "
"Stop it." I jerk away, his touch too much. "Everyone says I don't understand, but it's clear as day. He picked her. I'm nothing. End of story."
"Evelyn, wait, " Lucas calls, but I'm already moving, fleeing his kindness, his excuses. I can't hear another word about why I'm not enough. I need my bed, my room, a place to break apart unseen.
The cottage looms dark, quiet, Lilah's still at the banquet, chasing some shred of joy. I'm grateful for the silence as I collapse onto my bed, the blue dress clinging to me, mocking me. I wanted to feel beautiful tonight. Instead, I'm a joke.
The mate bond pulses, a cruel throb, taunting me with what I thought we had. Was it all a lie? Just a release for him, a fleeting thrill until the real mate, poised, perfect Serena, stepped in? I curl into my pillow, sobs shaking me, raw and ugly. How could I be so stupid? How could I think Adrian Blackthorn saw me, really saw me?
A soft knock at the door jolts me, gentle but stubborn. I freeze, willing it away, but it comes again. "Evelyn?" A gravelly voice, rough with age. "It's Caleb. I know you're there."
Caleb Quinn, the pack elder, always watching with those sharp, knowing eyes, like he sees past my skin. I scrub my face, tears smearing, and drag myself to the door, opening it a crack.
He stands on the porch, silver hair glowing in the moonlight, his lined face soft with concern. "Can I come in?"
"Not really up for guests," I mutter, voice thick.
"Fair enough." He steps past me anyway, leaning his walking stick against the wall, moving like he owns the place. "But sometimes what we need to hear isn't what we want."
I shut the door, arms crossed tight, a shield. "If you're here to preach about pack loyalty or knowing my place, "
"I'm here to tell you this was never your cage." His words land, heavy, strange, stopping me cold.
"What?" I blink, confusion cutting through the fog.
Caleb eases into a kitchen chair, wood creaking under him, his stick resting by his knee. "Your blood, child. Your roots. They weren't meant to chain you, to keep you small or silent."
"I don't follow." My voice wavers, thin.
"Don't you?" His gaze pins me, sharp, piercing. "Those dreams, the child with silver eyes. Your scent, shifting so fierce at your awakening. It's no accident, Evelyn."
A chill races through me, icing my veins. "How do you know about my dreams?"
"Been waiting for 'em to find you." He leans forward, voice dropping, a hushed secret. "Your grandmother had 'em too, before she passed. Her mother before that. It's in your line, handed down through women told they're nothing special."
"What are you saying?" My hands tremble, breath shallow.
"Power, girl." His eyes glint, fierce. "Real power. The kind that rattles Alphas like Adrian Blackthorn to their core."