Aria's POV
The wine glass slipped from my trembling fingers and crashed against Celeste's white dress.
Time stopped.
Red wine spread across the expensive fabric like blood, and I watched my life end in slow motion.
"You stupid omega!" Celeste's hand connected with my face so hard I tasted copper. The tray I'd been holding clattered to the floor, sending more glasses shattering everywhere.
The entire pack gathering went silent. Fifty wolves stopped talking, stopped eating, stopped breathing—all eyes on me.
"I'm so sorry," I gasped, dropping to my knees to pick up the broken glass. My hands shook so badly I could barely grab the pieces. "It was an accident, I swear—"
"An accident?" Celeste's voice was pure venom. "You did this on purpose, you jealous little rat!"
"No! I would never—"
Another slap, harder this time. My head snapped to the side, and I felt blood drip from my split lip.
"Celeste, maybe that's enough—" someone started to say.
"Enough?" She laughed, high and cruel. "She ruined my dress! The dress Daemon bought me for tonight's announcement!"
My eyes found him automatically. Daemon stood ten feet away, his emerald gaze locked on mine. For one second, I saw something flicker in his expression. Concern? Regret?
Then it vanished.
He turned away and took a drink, like I didn't exist. Like we hadn't spent last night tangled together in my bed, his lips promising me forever.
Three years. Three years of secret nights and public nothing. Three years of believing things would change when he became Alpha.
Tonight was supposed to be that night. His Alpha ceremony. The moment everything would supposedly be different.
"Get out of my sight," Celeste hissed, shoving me with her foot. "You're pathetic. No wonder no one wants you."
I scrambled to my feet and ran. Behind me, I heard laughter. Heard someone say, "She gets clumsier every year."
Heard Daemon's voice, warm and apologetic: "I'm so sorry, love. I'll buy you ten new dresses."
The bond in my chest shriveled up and died a little more.
I made it to my tiny room before the sobs came. Three years of holding everything in, and it all came pouring out now. I curled up on my thin mattress, crying so hard I couldn't breathe.
How much more could I take? How many more times could I watch him choose her? How many more lies could I swallow?
My stomach cramped painfully, and I pressed my hand against it. I'd been feeling sick for weeks now. Dizzy. Nauseous. Exhausted even though I barely did anything.
Probably stress. Or maybe I was finally dying like I'd wished for in my darkest moments.
A knock on my door made me freeze.
"Go away," I choked out.
"Aria." Daemon's voice. "Let me in."
"No."
"Please. I need to explain—"
"Explain what?" I sat up, anger burning through my tears. "Explain why you let her hit me? Explain why you bought HER a dress when I'm wearing rags? Explain why after three years, nothing has changed?"
Silence. Then: "Open the door and I'll tell you everything."
I shouldn't have. Should have told him to leave forever. But the stupid bond pulled me to my feet, pulled me to the door, pulled me into his arms the moment I opened it.
"I'm sorry," he whispered into my hair. "I'm so sorry. But tonight changes everything, I promise."
"You always promise." My voice was dead. Empty.
"This time it's real." He pulled back to look at me, his hands gentle on my face. "Tonight I become Alpha. And tomorrow, I'm making my announcement."
My heart stopped. "What announcement?"
"That you're my chosen Luna."
Hope—that dangerous, stupid thing—flared in my chest. "Really?"
"Really." He kissed my forehead. "I know I asked you to wait three years. It's been exactly three years, Aria. Tonight, everything changes."
I wanted to believe him. Wanted it so desperately it hurt.
"But Celeste—"
"Will understand she was just a placeholder." His smile was confident. "Yes, I'll face some pushback from the pack. Yes, it'll be hard at first. But I'm Alpha now. My word is law. And I choose you."
The bond sang with joy, drowning out every warning bell in my head.
"You mean it?" My voice was so small, so broken. "You're really going to claim me publicly?"
"Tomorrow night." He kissed me softly. "At the pack gathering. I'll announce you as my chosen Luna, and no one—not my father, not Celeste, not anyone—can stop me."
I threw my arms around him, crying into his chest. "Thank you. Thank you for not giving up on me."
He held me tight, and for the first time in three years, I felt safe. Felt chosen. Felt like maybe, just maybe, the Moon Goddess hadn't forgotten about me.
"Rest tonight," Daemon said, kissing my temple. "Tomorrow, your life changes forever. No more hiding. No more secrets. Just you and me, the way it should have been from the start."
After he left, I lay in bed staring at the ceiling, my hand on my cramping stomach. Tomorrow, I'd be Luna. Tomorrow, everyone would know I mattered.
Tomorrow, I could finally hold my head high.
I fell asleep smiling for the first time in years, dreaming of a future where I wasn't invisible anymore.
What I didn't know—what I couldn't possibly know—was that tomorrow wouldn't bring the happiness Daemon promised.
Tomorrow would bring the announcement that shattered my world completely.
Tomorrow, I'd learn exactly how much a promise from Daemon Crest was worth.
And tomorrow, when I finally understood the truth, it would already be too late to save myself from drowning.