Chapter 2 The Night Everything Broke

Arielle's POV

Kael's eyes locked on the hairpin.

And his face twisted.

Not with love.

With disgust.

The great hall went silent.

Three hundred wolves watched him.

They watched Elara in her shining silver dress, hand still extended.

Then they followed his amber eyes up to the dark banister.

Up to me.

I stood in my wet, dirty servant dress, barefoot, bleeding and hair dripping.

Holding his silver hairpin like a vow.

Like a fool.

A gasp ran through the hall.

"Is that the wolfless one?"

"Why is she holding a Blackthorn hairpin?"

"Did she steal it?"

My father's face turned purple. The veins in his neck stood out.

"ARIELLE! Get down here at once! Now!"

Valeria's eyes cut like glass. Cold. Sharp.

"Who gave you that, thief? Who gave you Alpha pin?"

My legs shook so hard I had to hold the banister. But I couldn't look away from Kael.

The only one who ever said my scent was herbs and roses.

The only one who said my grandmother's book was not curse.

His disgust slowly curved into a cold, amused smile.

That smile broke me before he even spoke.

I walked towards him.

One step, my footprint on polished marble.

Another step, dripping water.

Another.

Every eye burned me.

I stopped three feet from him.

Close enough to smell snow on his leather. Close enough to see rain on his black hair.

I held out hairpin with shaking hand. My fingers bled from scrubbing.

"Kael," I whispered. Voice so small I barely heard it. "You said next time you came, you were coming to propose. You told me to wait. By the well, you told me to wait."

Silence.

So silent I heard torch crackle.

Then Elara laughed - soft, delicate, confused. Like perfect Luna.

"Kael, darling, what is she talking about? You came for me, right? For our alliance? For me?"

Kael turned to her.

His face softened like stone melting.

He took her hand and kissed it.

"Yes," he said, voice carrying through entire hall so even servants in back heard. "I came to propose... to Elara Silvercrest. The true Alpha daughter, the blessed wolf, the only one worthy to be Luna of Blackthorn."

The hall exploded.

Cheers, howls, warriors slamming fists on tables.

"ELARA! ELARA! BLACKTHORN AND SILVERCREST!"

The hairpin slipped from my fingers and clattered onto marble.

Loud like breaking bone.

"Kael?" My voice was barely air. Tears blurred everything. "I thought you were going to choose me."

He looked at me like I was speaking foreign language.

Then he laughed.

A short, cruel sound that whole pack joined.

"Choose you?" he said loudly. So all three hundred heard. "A wolfless failure who couldn't shift on her twenty-second birthday? A servant who scrubs floors with bleeding hands? Who sleeps in leaking room?"

He shook head, still smiling that cold smile.

"I never had eyes for you. Not once. I only pitied you."

The word hit harder than any slap.

Pity.

"You followed me like stray dog. Those meetings by well? Those notes you left in herb garden? I was bored, that is all. Even a wolfless girl is better than nothing in the dark woods when a man is bored."

Laughter roared around me, warriors, she-wolves, even omegas who used to be kind.

My father stepped forward, face twisted with rage and shame. He couldn't look at council.

"You embarrassing, witch-blooded mistake! You dare throw yourself at him in front of Alliance Council? I told you you were my biggest shame! My biggest mistake! Just like your mother!"

Valeria smiled, slow and satisfied.

"Some girls never learn their place, Witch blood always steals just like her mother."

Elara leaned into Kael's chest, fake tears shining in perfect eyes.

"Oh, poor Arielle. He told me you disgusted him, that your witch blood stank, that hat he had to wash hands after touching you."

My tears finally broke.

I fell to cold marble, sobbing into bleeding hands while entire pack laughed. My wet dress soaked through.

Kael looked down at me, no warmth, no herbs and roses.

"Take that trash off floor," he said to guards, voice bored. "She's staining my proposal hall. I came to claim my true Luna, not this."

He pulled Elara close and kissed her deeply in front of everyone. Her silver dress shone.

The hall howled in celebration.

My father didn't help me up.

He looked down at me with pure disgust and spoke to his Beta.

"Lock her in cold storage tonight, no food, no blanket, let her remember what she is."

Then, louder for all council:

"Tomorrow, I sell her to lowest pack. Let someone else feed this witch mistake."

Guards grabbed my wet hair and dragged me across marble. My knees bled.

Last thing I saw as doors closed was my silver hairpin - my promise - crushed under Kael's boot as he danced with Elara.