Polite applause followed, and conversation resumed, though the whispers about the Luna’s hidden mark lingered in the air.
Roselyn leaned closer to Darius, curiosity sparking in her eyes. “So, she really is hiding her mark? Even here?”
Darius gave her a pointed look, his tone firm. “We do not have to add to the gossip, Roselyn. That is not why we are here.”
“I was just asking,” Roselyn muttered defensively, but her eyes were still fixed on the alpha couple. They looked like they truly loved and supported each other, their hands brushing occasionally, their gazes softening when they glanced at one another. Yet the mystery of Kathy’s hidden mark continued to fuel questions in the minds of the guests.
Roselyn, who has not seen Kathy before, could not help but wonder. Every appearance, every event-the mark was always hidden. And though the Silverblade pack remained silent on the matter, ordered never to speak of it, secrecy only stoked the flames of curiosity.
“We are not in our own pack, Roselyn,” Darius reminded her gently but firmly. “We have to respect our hosts’ privacy and not involve ourselves in what does not concern us.”
Roselyn sighed, finally nodding in reluctant agreement. But just as she turned her eyes away from the alpha and luna, her gaze fell on the figure standing just behind them-their beta.
Her breath caught. Her heartbeat stumbled, then surged violently in her chest. Her wolf erupted inside her, howling with joy, claws scraping at the edges of her control as if desperate to break free and run to him.
“No…” Roselyn whispered under her breath, her hand flying to her chest.
Her wolf’s elation clashed with the storm in her mind. This couldn’t be happening. The mate bond was unmistakable-the pull, the overwhelming connection, the way the world suddenly narrowed down to that one person-but of all the wolves here tonight, why him?
Not Silverblade’s beta. Not someone from this pack.
Her thoughts spiraled, a desperate plea forming in her mind. Goddess, no. Please, not with them. Not with the pack that hurt and abandoned my best friend. Not with a wolf who belongs to those who scorned the very blessing of a fated mate.
Please, anyone but him.
Her wolf, however, paid no heed. Inside her, the joyous howl only grew louder.
Darius heard the tremor in Roselyn’s voice before he even turned his head. It wasn’t just nerves anymore-there was pain in her tone, a raw edge of disbelief that made him immediately alert. His sister stood rigid beside him, her fingers gripping the stem of her wine glass so tightly he feared it might shatter. Her face had gone pale beneath the warm glow of the chandeliers, her lips parted as though she were trying to breathe but couldn’t.
Following the line of her gaze, Darius’s eyes landed on a tall man across the room. Recognition was immediate. Calvin. Silverblade’s beta. The second most powerful wolf in this territory.
He stood behind Alpha Michael and Luna Kathy like a sentinel, his sharp eyes scanning the crowd-until they found Roselyn.
“Roselyn,” Darius said quietly, his voice laced with concern. “Are you all right?” He knew the answer already. The signs were too obvious: the stunned look, the trembling hands, the way her wolf flickered in her eyes. But he needed her to speak.
Needed to be sure.
She turned to him slowly, her expression twisting with pain. “Darius… this. This is why I didn’t want to come to a mating ball. Why did you have to push me?
Why did you make me promise Nathan?” Her voice cracked as she said his son’s name, as though the memory of the pinky promise only added salt to her wound.
Darius felt a pang of guilt. “Roselyn, we’ll talk about this-just not here-“
“No!” she hissed, cutting him off sharply. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears, and her wolf’s energy buzzed around her like static. “I can’t do this, Darius. Not with this pack.
Not after everything they did to Elaine. Not after the pain she endured here. They abandoned her. They abandoned a fated mate as though the Goddess’s blessing meant nothing.” Her voice broke on the last words.
Darius felt his jaw tighten. He had suspected this was about Elaine-how could it not be?- but hearing his sister’s anguish brought it home. “Who is he?” she demanded, almost a snarl, her wolf just beneath the surface.
“He is Calvin,” Darius said softly. “The beta of Silverblade.”
Roselyn’s breath caught, her hands trembling so violently she nearly dropped her glass. “Oh, my Goddess…” she whispered. “Why him? Why him?”
Her voice cracked, a mix of anger, grief, and disbelief. “He was one of them, Darius. One of the ones who abandoned her. I can’t… I can’t stay here.”
And before he could say another word, she spun on her heel and bolted from the hall, her gown sweeping behind her as she disappeared into the crowd.
Darius remained rooted to the spot for a heartbeat, helpless as he watched his sister vanish. His wolf rumbled inside him, torn between following Roselyn and keeping control of the situation here. When he turned back, Calvin was already moving, his expression thunderous, his strides purposeful as he tried to push through the throng to follow Roselyn.
Darius stepped directly into his path, his voice calm but iron-clad. “Not right now, Beta Calvin.
Calvin’s eyes blazed, his wolf close to the surface. “Alpha Darius, you don’t have the right to stop me from going to my mate.” His voice was deep, edged with desperation.
“I’m not stopping you forever,” Darius said evenly, though his own wolf bristled at Calvin’s tone. “I’m telling you-not right now. My sister is not ready to talk to you. Do not push her.”
Something flickered in Calvin’s eyes-shock, confusion, then recognition. “Sister?” he repeated, as though testing the word on his tongue.
“Yes,” Darius confirmed. His voice carried the weight of his authority, but there was an edge of protectiveness there too.
Calvin’s face shifted from anger to shock, then to worry. Darius watched him carefully, trying to decipher the man’s reaction. Why should Calvin look worried? He truly does not understand how deep Roselyn’s affection to Elaine is-or how entwined she and Elaine were? ToRoselyn, Elaine was more than a friend-she was family.
“What is going on here?” a new voice demanded. Alpha Michael had noticed the commotion and strode over, his brows drawn together in a hard line. “Calvin, what happened? You just took off like you’d seen a ghost.”
Calvin’s jaw tightened. He turned to his alpha, voice raw with frustration. “My mate was here. She’s the sister of Alpha Darius. My mate ran away from me, Michael.
Do you have any idea how that feels?” His voice rose slightly, then dropped, cracking on the last words. “And do you have idea why? Because I sure as hell do.” any
Darius caught the flicker of shock on Michael’s face. Even Luna Kathy’s composure cracked, disbelief flashing in her eyes. She opened her mouth, then shut it again, glancing between her brother and the alpha as tension crackled like lightning around them.
“Brother-” Kathy began softly, stepping toward Calvin.
“Don’t, Kathy.” Calvin’s voice was sharp, cutting her off before she could continue. “Not one word. Not from you, not from Michael. Not right now.”
Pain flashed in Kathy’s eyes, but she swallowed whatever she had been about to say and pressed her lips together, looking down.
Calvin turned back to Darius, his tone now pleading, no longer just a beta demanding his rights. “Alpha Darius… she’s my fated mate. Please. She can’t just run away from me without giving me a chance to talk to her.”
Darius’s wolf growled softly inside him. He wanted to throw Calvin’s words back at him, wanted to demand what right he had to invoke the sanctity of the mate bond after what this pack had done to Elaine. But he was an alpha. And an alpha always honored the Goddess’s will.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.