Scarlett POV
Six Hours Before the Ceremony
"Stop breathing so loud," I snapped at Aria. "You're ruining my concentration."
The pathetic orphan mumbled an apology and scrubbed my bathroom floor harder. I ignored her and went back to practicing my surprised face in the mirror.
Wide eyes. Soft gasp. Hand over heart.
"Oh Damien, I had no idea you felt this way about me!"
Perfect. Believable. Exactly the performance I needed for tonight.
Mother swept into my room without knocking, her smile sharp as broken glass. "How's my beautiful girl?"
"Excited." I turned from the mirror, unable to hide my grin. "Tonight's going to be perfect."
"Have you told her yet?" Mother glanced at Aria, who was trying to disappear into the bathroom tile.
"I dropped some hints this morning. You should've seen her face." I laughed, remembering how Aria's eyes had filled with tears she was too scared to cry. "She actually thinks Damien loves her."
"Foolish child," Mother said, settling onto my bed like a queen on a throne. "Aria, come here."
Aria appeared in the doorway, wet rag in hand, her head bowed. She looked like a kicked puppy. It was almost boring how easily she broke.
"Do you know why I let you live here all these years?" Mother asked sweetly.
Aria's voice came out barely a whisper. "No, Luna."
"Because watching you hope for things you'll never have brings me joy." Mother's smile turned vicious. "Every time you looked at Damien with those pathetic puppy eyes, every time you dared to dream about being anything other than our slave—it made me happy. And tonight, when he rejects you in front of everyone, that will be the best gift you've ever given me."
I watched Aria's face go pale. Good. She should hurt. She should know exactly what was coming.
"Why?" Aria's voice cracked. "What did I ever do to you?"
Wrong question. Mother's expression turned ice-cold.
"You existed," she hissed. "You survived when you should have died. You're a mistake that keeps breathing, and I've spent nineteen years making you pay for it."
I didn't understand what Mother meant by that, but I didn't care. Aria was nothing—just the orphan Father brought home out of stupid pity. We'd given her food and shelter, and all she had to do was work. She should be grateful.
"Get out," Mother ordered. "Go finish your chores."
Aria practically ran from the room. The second she was gone, I grabbed Mother's hands.
"Tell me again how you convinced Damien," I said. "I want to hear it."
Mother's smile returned. "Easy. I simply explained that choosing you would make him the third most powerful wolf in the pack—right after your father and me. Beta rank is impressive, but being the Luna's son-in-law? That's real power."
"And he agreed just like that?"
"Men always choose ambition over love, darling. Always." Mother stroked my hair like I was still a child. "Besides, I reminded him what people would say if he chose a wolfless orphan. His reputation would be destroyed. No one would respect him. He'd be a joke."
I felt a small twinge of something uncomfortable. Damien had seemed sad when Mother talked to him yesterday. He'd kept looking toward the packhouse where Aria was working, his expression guilty.
But that wasn't my problem. If he'd really loved her, he wouldn't have been so easy to convince.
"What if he changes his mind?" I asked.
"He won't. I made sure of that." Mother's eyes glittered dangerously. "I told him if he chooses Aria, I'll make sure your father strips his Beta rank. He'll go back to being a nobody. Damien's ambitious—he won't risk everything for a girl with no wolf and no future."
Pride swelled in my chest. This was why Mother was the smartest woman in the pack. She always knew exactly how to get what we wanted.
"Now practice your acceptance speech," Mother said, standing. "When Damien chooses you, you need to look surprised but gracious. Like you're doing him a favor by accepting."
After she left, I stood in front of my full-length mirror and practiced.
"I accept you, Beta Damien, as my chosen mate."
Gracious smile. Humble nod. Perfect.
I couldn't wait to see Aria's face when it happened. For years, she'd been the invisible girl cleaning up after me, never complaining, always hoping for scraps of kindness. Tonight, I was taking the one thing she'd been stupid enough to love.
It wasn't even about Damien, really. He was handsome and useful, but I didn't love him. This was about proving who mattered and who didn't. About showing Aria—and everyone else—that girls like her stayed at the bottom where they belonged.
The hours crawled by. I changed into my ceremony dress—pure white silk that cost more than Aria would see in her lifetime. Mother did my hair and makeup until I looked like a goddess.
"Beautiful," she breathed. "Damien won't be able to say no."
"He already can't," I reminded her. "You made sure of that."
We walked to the ceremony together, heads high. Pack members bowed and smiled, congratulating me in advance like they already knew what would happen.
They probably did. Mother had always been good at making sure the right rumors spread.
I spotted Damien near the platform, looking uncomfortable in his new Beta cords. When he saw me, something flickered across his face—regret, maybe, or second thoughts.
I grabbed his arm and pulled him aside.
"You look nervous," I said.
"I'm fine." But his eyes kept searching the crowd.
"Looking for her?" I couldn't keep the edge from my voice.
"No. I just—" He sighed. "This feels wrong, Scarlett."
Panic shot through me. He couldn't back out. Not now. Not after everything.
"Wrong?" I forced my voice to stay sweet. "What's wrong about choosing the right mate? Someone who can actually help your future instead of destroying it?"
"Aria never destroyed anything."
"Because she's nothing!" The words came out harsher than I meant. I took a breath and softened my tone. "Damien, listen. Everyone's watching. If you choose her now, you'll be a laughingstock. Is that really what you want?"
He looked at me for a long moment, and I saw the exact second he gave up on whatever stupid dreams he'd been holding onto.
"No," he said quietly. "It's not."
"Good." I kissed his cheek. "Then let's give them a show."
The ceremony started. Alpha Father's voice boomed across the clearing. Couples paired off one by one, declaring their choices.
Then it was our turn.
Damien walked onto the platform, and I saw Aria at the edge of the crowd in her pathetic patched dress. Mother had pushed her forward where everyone could see her humiliation clearly.
Perfect.
I watched Damien's face as he looked at Aria. For just a second, I saw real pain in his eyes.
Then he opened his mouth and said the words that would break her forever.
"I reject Aria Blackwood as my mate."
Victory rushed through me like fire. I'd won. I'd actually won.
The crowd gasped and whispered. Aria stood frozen like someone had ripped out her heart.
"I choose instead Scarlett Blackwood. My true mate."
I climbed onto the platform, letting everyone see my beautiful dress, my perfect smile. I kissed Damien like we were the only two people in the world, even though I was really kissing him so Aria would have to watch.
The pack applauded. Mother beamed with pride. Father nodded his approval.
Everything was perfect.
Then the temperature dropped so fast my breath turned to fog.
The torches went out. Darkness swallowed the clearing.
And a voice like death itself shattered the celebration:
"ENOUGH."
Power slammed into the clearing—so much Alpha force that every wolf dropped to their knees involuntarily. Even Father went down, and he was the strongest Alpha I knew.
I fell hard, my white dress hitting the dirt, my perfect moment destroyed.
Three massive shapes appeared from impossible shadows.
The Moonshadow Triplets. The Lycan King's sons. The most powerful Alphas in existence.
And they weren't looking at me in my beautiful dress.
They were staring at Aria—worthless, wolfless, pathetic Aria—like she was the only person in the clearing that mattered.
One of them—the one with ice-blue eyes that could freeze your soul—spoke in a voice that made my bones shake:
"That girl is Seraphina Moonshadow. The Lost Princess. Our sister."
The world tilted sideways.
No. That was impossible. Aria was nobody. She was nothing. She was—
"She's also," another triplet said, his storm-gray eyes locked on Aria, "our fated mate."
And just like that, my perfect victory turned to ashes.