Evaline:
Tonight was supposed to be beautiful.
The full moon bathed the garden in silver light, illuminating the celebration in my pack. Laughter and music was filling the air as wolves danced, drank, and cheered for the future Alpha of the Bloodmoon Pack - Ethan Blackwood.
My Ethan.
My heart swelled as I watched him from the shadows, noticing how his golden eyes gleamed with pride. He stood tall, confident, the very embodiment of strength and everything I had ever wanted. He was my beacon of light in this cruel world.
For as long as I could remember, my life had been a never-ending nightmare. My mother died when I was young, and my father - the mighty Alpha of Shadowfang pack - remarried a woman who despised me.
My stepmother made sure I knew I wasn't wanted, and my stepsister, Lillian, took every opportunity to remind me of my worthlessness. As for my stepbrother, Damian… at his very thought, feared gnawed at my insides. He was the monster in my shadows, and the reason for my deepest fears.
But Ethan… he had always been my escape, my sanctuary. He had cared for me when no one else did. And last night, he had made me believe I was his.
I still felt his touch on my skin, his lips on mine, the way he made my body and soul come alive.
And tonight, I was here to confirm what I already felt deep in my soul last night. Ethan was my mate.
My hands trembled as I stepped forward, pushing through the crowd. I could feel their eyes on me, their sneers and murmurs. I had been the laughingstock of these two packs ever since my sixteenth birthday when I failed to shift.
I was an Alpha's daughter - but wolfless. It made me nothing more than a shame on my father's legacy and name.
But none of it mattered now.
Ethan turned toward me as I reached him, and the moment our eyes met, something happened.
A force unlike anything I had ever known crashed into me, searing through my veins like fire and ice. My body trembled, and I caught my breath as my vision blurred.
The mate bond.
It was real.
It was him.
I gasped. "Ethan..."
Silence.
The laughter died and the music stopped. I felt the entire garden coming to a still.
And at the same time, I noticed how Ethan's expression hardened before a slow smirk curled his lips, but there was no warmth in it.
"Are you serious?" His voice was cold, filled with amusement.
Confusion twisted inside me. "Ethan, we are mates. Don't you feel it?" I was excited to finally be mated to my boyfriend, but a strange feeling was starting to twist my insides.
He chuckled, but it wasn't the sound I knew, the one that used to comfort me. This laugh was cruel, mocking.
"Feel what?" he drawled. "Disgust? Humiliation? Because that's what I feel right now."
A chill ran down my spine.
My heart was pounding wildly, and I felt my chest tightening.
No. No, this wasn't right.
"Ethan," I whispered, reaching for him, "last night... we..."
His smirk widened. "We what?" He leaned in. "Did you really think last night meant anything?"
Something inside me cracked at these words. I felt dizzy, as if the ground had disappeared beneath my feet.
Ethan turned away from me, his golden eyes now locked on someone else. I followed his gaze and felt my blood turn to ice.
Lillian.
She stood beside him in a shimmering silver dress with her brown eyes gleaming with triumph.
Ethan wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. "Because I have already chosen my mate."
I stopped breathing... for real.
Lillian smirked down at me, tilting her head. "Oh, Eva. Poor, pathetic Eva. Did you really think you deserved a happy ending?"
The crowd roared with laughter.
But I was barely able to process what I was experiencing. And then, a sharp, searing pain exploded in my chest as Ethan spoke the words that would break me forever.
"I, Ethan Blackwood, reject you, Eva Greystone, as my mate."
Agony.
It tore through me like a thousand silver blades, ripping apart every fiber of my being. My knees buckled, and I collapsed to the ground, gasping.
No. No. No.
This wasn't happening.
This was a nightmare.
I clutched my chest, my nails digging into my skin as if I could physically hold myself together. My vision blurred with tears, and my body started trembling uncontrollably.
And then… a heavy boot slammed into my back, shoving me face-first into the dirt.
Laughter erupted around me once again while panic seized me as rough fingers tangled in my hair, yanking my head back.
A voice, dark and sickeningly familiar, murmured against my ear.
"She looks so pretty like this. Broken. Humiliated."
My blood turned to ice.
I knew this voice - it was Damian. My stepbrother. My worst nightmare.
His grip tightened, causing his nails to dig into my scalp. "Did you really think Ethan wanted you?" His voice was low, meant only for me. "He was mine to control, just like you are. Just like you'll always be."
Terror flooded my veins.
I struggled against his grip, but he only chuckled. "You have nothing now. No pack. No mate. No future." He leaned in closer, his breath hot against my skin. "And that means you belong to me."
No.
No.
I had to get out of here.
With the last of my strength, I twisted out of his grasp and ran.
"Stop her!" someone shouted.
But I didn't stop.
Wolves lunged for me, but I was faster... for once. Fueled by desperation, I tore through the garden.
I didn't stop running until I reached the gates. Until I crossed the borders. Until the darkness of the forest swallowed me whole.
Only then did I collapse to the ground, sobbing.
I had lost everything.
I had nothing.
What I didn't know yet… by morning, I was going to lose even more.