Selena's POV:
Aria didn't stop. Still wrapped around Kael's arm, she kept smiling sweetly while her words turned sharp and poisonous.
"Kael, just look at Selena now. Don't you think she might've run into the wrong crowd? Maybe someone misled her? I've heard some rogue wolves are known for targeting inexperienced bonded females."
Every word landed on Kael exactly where it would hurt most.
Kael had already caught Damon's scent on me, and with Aria pushing him further, the anger he was holding back flared up again in his eyes.
"Selena!" His gaze locked onto me, his voice rough with anger. "So this is your choice? You'd throw away being Luna just to be with someone like Damon?"
"Aria." I didn't even spare Kael a glance and focused on the fragile-looking woman clinging behind him.
"No one else is here. You can drop the act." Taking a step closer, I met her eyes. "Instead of worrying about me, maybe you should worry about yourself first. Do you honestly need the Moonlight Grass?"
Aria's expression faltered for a split second, and she instinctively shifted back, using Kael as a shield.
"Selena, I don't know what you mean..." She coughed lightly at just the right moment, her face turning pale in an instant. "I was only worried about you..."
"That's enough!" Kael snapped as he shoved me aside and pulled Aria into his arms.
"Selena, you've gone too far." Disappointment darkened his expression as he looked at me. "Her condition isn't for you to judge. The doctor knows what she needs."
From the main hall, soft waltz music began to drift in. It marked the start of the evening's ball.
Drawing in a steady breath, Kael tried to rein in his anger. His eyes moved between Aria in his arms and me standing off to the side, watching without emotion, and then he made a move I didn't see coming.
Releasing Aria, he walked straight toward me. "Come dance with me." His tone left no room for refusal.
Before I could react, his hand locked around my wrist, firm and unyielding, as he pulled me toward the dance floor.
"Kael?" Aria cried out behind us, her voice filled with disbelief.
Annoyance crossed my face as I struggled against his grip. "Let go. What's wrong with you?"
"Why? Nervous now?" Kael didn't loosen his hold. Instead, his arm slid around my waist, forcing me forward into the center of the floor. "You seemed bold enough earlier. Outbidding me, getting close to another man... and now you won't even dance with me?"
Eyes from every direction turned toward us, drawn by how impossible it was not to notice our pairing.
I had no intention of causing a scene with him here. That would only turn me into something others could laugh at.
Instead of resisting, I let his pull guide me and matched my steps to the rhythm.
There was a time when I went out of my way to learn formal dance just for him.
Back then, I believed that if I ever stood beside him on the floor, I needed to be flawless. Yet in all those three years, he never once brought me to a ball. Never did I imagine that our first dance would happen like this.
Even Kael seemed caught off guard by how easily I gave in. His hand rested against my back, and through the thin fabric, the heat of his touch seeped through.
That same warmth used to be something I longed for. Now, it only felt bitter.
"Come back with me," he murmured close to my ear. "I'll overlook everything that happened tonight. Just come home, stay in line, and forget about that rogue wolf. I'll act like none of this ever happened."
There it was again, that same tone, like he was offering mercy.
Lifting my gaze, I met his golden eyes without hesitation. "Kael, do you really think I'll come running back just because you call for me?"
Kael's brows drew together. "Isn't that how it works? Do you think you can manage without me? Without me, who will support you, a waste?"
"A waste?" I let out a quiet laugh. "That 'waste' you're looking down on just outbid you."
"That only happened because I allowed it!" Kael's tone sharpened, rising in volume. "If you didn't belong to the Golden Moon Pack, do you really think you'd be walking out of here unharmed?"
"Is that how you see it?" I stayed calm. "Then maybe you should notice that rogue wolf is already watching us from upstairs."
Kael's head jerked upward.
Leaning against the railing of the VIP suite on the second floor, Damon held a glass of wine, watching us with clear amusement.
The moment he caught Kael's gaze, Damon casually lifted his glass in a distant toast.
Darkness spread across Kael's face instantly.
"Damon?" he ground out, anger thick in his voice. "That Rogue King... You actually showed up here with him?"
Kael's hands trembled from how furious he was. He tried to use the mate bond to overwhelm me and force me to yield.
But he was destined to be disappointed.
That bond had already been cut. To him, I was no different than something cold and unfeeling.
No matter how much Alpha pressure he released, it didn't affect me at all.
If anything, my movements only grew sharper, my steps more controlled and refined than his.
With every turn and step, I moved in perfect sync, yet kept a clear distance that no one could cross.
That lack of control on his end seemed to irritate Kael more than anything he had faced before.
"Selena, you've changed." As the music came to an end, he studied me with a conflicted look. "You weren't like this before."
"People don't stay the same, Kael." I stepped back from him and smoothed down my skirt. "Not after they've already died once."
Kael went completely still. It looked like he wanted to question me, but before he could, a flash of white rushed toward us.
"Ouch!" Aria stumbled forward, clutching two glasses of red wine as her body tipped straight in my direction.
