The walk back to the main villa was humiliating, but the cold pavement felt better than those shoes.
When I entered the Crawford living room, the scene 'was a tableau painted specifically to break me.'
Damian was there. Not at the border. Not even hiding it.
He sat on the plush velvet sofa, arm draped possessively over the back. Next to him sat Hadley, giggling as she held up her wrist.
Cecil, Damian's mother, was clasping a bracelet onto Hadley's arm.
I froze.
'The Moonlight Bracelet. The Crawford heirloom. It was supposed to be mine.'
"Oh, look who decided to show up," Cecil sneered, not looking up. "The maid finally finished cleaning the ceremony hall?"
Damian looked up. His amber eyes swept over my disheveled appearance. 'No guilt. Only annoyance.'
"You're late," he said, a low rumble. "I told you to wait at the hall until I sent for you."
"You canceled the ceremony," I said. 'My voice was dead.'
"Plans changed," he shrugged. "Hadley was frightened by a rogue sighting. A Luna's duty is to comfort the pack, but since you can't even shift to defend yourself, Hadley needed a real Alpha's protection."
Hadley looked at me, eyes feigning innocence. "I'm so sorry, Ariana. I just get such bad anxiety since... since I saved Damian from that fire. The trauma, you know?"
She waved her hand, the moonlight bracelet catching the light.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Hadley cooed. "Cecil said it fits me perfectly. Better than it would fit someone with... rougher skin."
She meant me. My hands were calloused from chopping herbs for Damian's medicine and scrubbing floors.
I walked forward.
Cecil stood up, blocking my path. "Don't get any ideas, you little leech. This bracelet is for a wolf with noble blood. Not a defect who smells like dishwater."
I didn't look at Cecil. I looked at Damian.
"You gave her the bracelet," I stated.
Damian stood up, his Alpha aura flaring. 'He was trying to use the biological pressure of his rank to force me into submission.' Usually, my knees would buckle.
Tonight, I just felt a mild headache.
"She deserves it," Damian said. "Hadley is delicate. She is high-born. And she is my savior. What are you, Ariana? You're a charity case."
He stepped closer, looming over me.
"Look at you," he sneered. "You're a mess. You're weak. How can I have you stand beside me as Luna? The other Alphas would laugh."
"So you're rejecting the contract?" I asked.
"I'm postponing it," he corrected, 'arrogance dripping from every syllable.' "Until you learn how to behave. Until you learn your place. Maybe if you work harder, if you serve Hadley and learn from a 'real' high-ranking female, I'll reconsider."
'He wanted me to stay as a servant, a spare blood bag, while he played house with Hadley.'
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the crumpled Mating Contract.
"You don't have to reconsider," I said.
I ripped the paper in half.
'The sound was a gunshot in the quiet room.'
Damian's eyes widened. Cecil gasped.
I ripped it again. And again. Until the legal document was nothing but confetti.
I threw the pieces in his face.
"I'm done," I said.
'The air shifted. A low hum vibrated from my chest. Not a growl-I couldn't growl properly-but the sound of pressure building.'
The Alpha aura Damian was projecting hit a wall. 'My' wall.
Damian stumbled back, hand going to his chest. He looked at me, confusion warring with anger.
"What did you just do?" he demanded, reaching for my arm.
"Don't touch me," I said.
I didn't shout. 'I spoke with the absolute authority of a bloodline he couldn't comprehend.'
He froze. His hand hovered inches from my skin, his wolf instinctively recoiling.
"You're acting like a child," Damian scoffed, recovering his composure. "Where will you go? You have no money. No pack. You're an Omega without a wolf. You'll die within a day."
"I'd rather die free than live as your slave," I replied.
I turned to Hadley.
"Enjoy the bracelet, Hadley," I said, a cold smile touching my lips. "It's a fake, anyway. Just like you."
"You b'tch!" Cecil screeched, raising her hand.
I caught her wrist mid-air. 'My grip was iron.'
"I wouldn't do that," I whispered. "I'm not the girl who begs for scraps anymore."
I shoved Cecil back onto the sofa.
"Go comfort your fake mate, Damian," I said, turning my back. "She looks like she's about to faint from the lack of attention."
I walked out, leaving the Alpha of the Crawford Pack staring at my back, wondering why his command hadn't made me kneel.
