Aelara's POV
Cold hit me before consciousness did.
I gasped as icy water drenched my body, shock ripping me out of sleep. The sting across my cheek came a second later — sharp, loud, humiliating.
I opened my eyes to find Roy, one of Ronan's closest enforcers, looming over me with an empty bucket.
"Up," he snapped. "Unless you want me to drag you."
I scrambled to sit, suddenly aware I had collapsed onto my bed without dressing the night before. I grabbed the thin blanket beside me to cover myself.
That earned me another backhanded slap that sent my vision flashing white.
I bit back a cry.
Blood trickled warm down my temple where my head had struck the stone wall.
"You think yesterday changed anything?" Roy sneered. "You're still nothing. Seraphine is Luna. You're just the pack's mistake that hasn't died yet."
Each word landed heavier than the bruises already coating my skin.
There was no voice in my head to comfort me. No second presence to lean on like other wolves described. Just a hollow ache in my chest and the dull throb of humiliation.
Roy paced the small room like I was an object he'd found mildly amusing. "Big day today. Coronation. The Alpha wants everything perfect." His eyes raked over me with open contempt. "So you'll work. And you'll do it quietly."
I nodded, eyes on the floor. Submission kept bones unbroken.
Before leaving, he leaned close enough that I could smell stale ale on his breath. "Don't forget your place," he said softly — a threat wrapped like advice — before slamming the door behind him.
I stayed still for a long moment after he left.
Shaking. Breathing. Existing.
Then I forced myself up.
The basin water was freezing as I washed the blood from my face. My reflection stared back at me — hollow cheeks, dull hair, eyes too old for eighteen. Once, my hair had shone like pale gold. Now it hung in tangled, lifeless strands from too many days without proper care.
The pack liked me looking broken.
It made their story easier to believe.
I dressed in the same worn servant's gown and limped upstairs, keeping to the edges of hallways like a shadow that didn't deserve light.
The kitchen smelled of fresh bread.
My stomach twisted painfully.
Lady Massy ,Ronan's mother stood near the hearth with Seraphine, both draped in fine fabrics, discussing decorations for the evening feast.
Lady Massy spotted me immediately.
"Finally," she said sharply. "The ballroom floors, the upper halls, the guest chambers — everything must be spotless. We will not have filth during my son's crowning."
Seraphine didn't speak.
She just watched me with a faint smile that never reached her eyes.
As they left, Lady Massy tipped my glass "accidentally," red juice spilling across the table and shattering the cup on the floor.
I dropped to my knees to clean it without being told.
Small mercies — no blows today. Not yet.
Hours blurred together in scrubbing, lifting, polishing. My muscles screamed. My hands shook. I didn't stop.
Pain was safer than attention.
By midday, the ballroom gleamed. Sunlight poured through tall windows, catching on polished stone and crystal chandeliers.
Tonight, they would dance here.
Celebrate.
Crown the man who had rejected me like trash.
A strange emptiness pulsed inside me — not a wolf, not a presence, just a quiet, aching void where something should have been. Other wolves talked about their inner beasts, their instincts, their strength.
I had only silence.
Voices echoed down the corridor.
I stiffened instinctively and lowered my head.
Ronan entered with several warriors, laughter loud, confidence radiating off him like heat. The future Alpha. The pack's pride.
He stopped when he saw me.
Silence followed.
He stepped closer and lifted my chin with two fingers — not gentle, not brutal, just enough to remind me how easily he could be either.
"You still here?" he said with mild disdain. "I figured you'd have run off to cry in a corner somewhere."
Laughter rippled through the men behind him.
I said nothing.
Silence was survival.
His gaze hardened slightly at my lack of response, but after a moment, he dropped my chin like I had bored him.
"Make sure you're out of sight tonight," he added. "No one wants reminders of mistakes during a celebration."
They walked away, conversation resuming like I had never existed.
My knees gave out once they were gone.
I caught myself on the wall, breath shaking.
Tonight.
The coronation.
The feast.
The distraction.
That was my window.
"They're right about one thing," I whispered to the empty hallway. "I won't be here tonight."
Fear twisted in my stomach.
But beneath it…
Something stronger.
Not a wolf.
Not power.
Just a girl who had nothing left to lose.
And that was more dangerous than any beast.