Vanc

y and my heart felt like a lead weight in my chest, but I refused to let them see they'd broken me.

uded corner table to hide myself away. I kept my head down, focusing o

dn't

moved together with an easy confidence, a king and his chosen queen, and the entire room se

tory. It didn't take them long to find me. Her lips, painted a blood-red, curved into

, a frantic bird trapped in a cage. *Don

r my table. "Well, look what we have here," she cooed, her voice pitched just loud

, crawled up my neck. I slowly raised my head, meeting her triumphant gaze.

fferent. He was watching this unfold as if it were a mildly amusing play, one he had no intention of j

ns of bacon, and with a flick of her wrist, she scraped the contents onto my clean plate. "Sinc

y worthlessness. I was the Alpha's ward, raised in his h

hrough me. I surged to my feet, my chair screeching back against the

my voice low and tight, eac

y sound. "You're right. You're

feel dozens of eyes on me, waiting to

's en

ood there, his presence radiating an authority that silenced the entire room in an instant. His gaze,

htened, but he

ed as he turned to me. "Elara

tion. But it didn't feel like a rescue. It felt like another spotlight on my weakn

was no apology in his gaze, no remorse. Only

ow. My heart, which I thought could

the Alpha'

surprised I didn't drop it. I turned my back on all of them-on Seraph

ack straight, my head held high. I scraped the disgusting mess into t

out of the Packhouse, and into the woods. I would rather be

arity. I will not be t