Ember POV:
The boutique smelled of lavender and old money. It was the kind of place where the price tags were hidden because if you had to ask, you couldn't afford it.
Karyn lounged on a velvet sofa, sipping champagne provided by the nervous shop assistant. Chace stood by the window, scrolling on his phone, looking bored.
"That one," Karyn pointed a manicured finger at a rack in the back. "For the servant."
The assistant hesitated. "Miss? That is the... discount section. It is mostly uniforms."
"Exactly," Karyn smiled, showing too many teeth. "She needs something practical. Grey. Shapeless. She is there to hold my purse, not to attract attention."
The assistant handed me a dress. It was made of scratchy wool, the color of dirty dishwater. It looked like a sack.
"Go try it on," Chace commanded without looking up.
I took the dress, my hands shaking slightly. But as I walked toward the changing rooms, my eyes caught a flash of crimson.
It was a gown displayed on a mannequin in the center of the room. Deep red silk, cut to cling to every curve, with a neckline that was both elegant and daring. Red was the color of power. The color of a Luna.
My inner wolf, usually dormant, stirred. She wanted that dress. She wanted to be seen.
I didn't know what possessed me. Maybe it was the lingering adrenaline from the Wolfsbane. I grabbed the red dress off the mannequin.
"I'm trying this one," I said.
The silence in the shop was instant.
Karyn dropped her glass. It didn't break, but champagne spilled onto the expensive rug.
"What did you say?" she hissed.
"I said I'm trying this one," I repeated, my voice steady. "If I am to represent the Red Stone Pack at a high-society auction, I should not look like a maid. It insults Chace's status."
I used his ego against him. I saw Chace's head snap up. He looked at the grey rag in my hand, then at the red silk.
"She has a point, Karyn," Chace muttered. "The Alpha King will be there. We don't want to look poor."
Karyn's face turned purple, but she couldn't argue with Chace's vanity. "Fine. Put it on. Let's see how ridiculous a wolfless rat looks in silk."
I went into the changing room. The silk felt like cool water against my heated skin. I zipped it up. It fit perfectly, as if it had been made for me.
I stepped out.
The shop assistant gasped.
I looked in the three-way mirror. The dress hugged my waist and flowed around my legs like liquid fire. My pale skin glowed against the dark red. For the first time in years, I didn't look like a victim. I looked like a queen.
I turned to face them.
Chace dropped his phone. His mouth hung open slightly. His pupils blew wide, swallowing the blue of his irises. I could smell his scent spike—musk and arousal. He was looking at me not as a childhood friend, but as a male looks at a female he wants to claim.
"Ember," he breathed. "You look..."
Karyn saw his reaction. The air in the room instantly grew heavy and sour.
"Ow!" Karyn shrieked, clutching her chest. She collapsed onto the sofa. "Chace! Help! She's doing it again!"
Chace blinked, shaking his head as if waking from a trance. "What?"
"Her pheromones!" Karyn wailed, squeezing out fake tears. "She's releasing malicious intent! It's attacking my wolf! I can't breathe!"
It was a lie. I was an Omega. I couldn't project intent like that. But Chace didn't care about logic. He only cared that his 'true mate' was distressed.
His face hardened. The lust vanished, replaced by the cold fury of an Alpha protecting his own.
"Take it off," Chace growled.
"Chace, she's lying," I said, standing my ground. "I'm not doing anything."
"I said take it off!"
He used the Alpha Voice.
It hit me like a physical slap. My knees locked together. My lungs seized. The command bypassed my brain and went straight to my muscles. My hands moved on their own, reaching for the zipper.
"Kneel," Chace barked.
Gravity seemed to increase tenfold. I crashed to my knees on the hardwood floor. The impact bruised my skin, but I couldn't cry out. The Alpha Command sealed my throat.
Karyn sat up, her 'pain' miraculously gone. She looked down at me with a smirk.
"You thought you could outshine me?" she whispered, leaning close so only I could hear. "You are nothing. You are a placeholder."
Chace loomed over me. "You will wear the grey dress. And you will stay in the shadows where you belong. If you ever try to stand above your Luna again, I will go to the cemetery tonight."
My blood ran cold.
"I will dig up Liana's bones," Chace threatened, his voice devoid of mercy. "And I will let the wild dogs in the Rogue territory chew on them."
Tears of rage welled in my eyes. Not fear. Rage.
He knew my mother was my whole world. He knew I stayed in this hellhole only to be near her grave.
"Do you understand?" he demanded.
I couldn't speak. I nodded, forced by his command.
"Good," Chace said, turning away. "Get changed. You disgust me."
I watched his back. Inside my chest, the growl returned. It was louder this time. It didn't sound like a whimper.
It sounded like a promise of war.
