Maya's POV
I stood before the mirror in Nora's dress. It was a glittering silver thing, tight and revealing. It stuck to my feverish skin like a fancy wrapper. As Veyra commanded, I had scrubbed myself clean, and my skin was baby-soft, a reminder of my adolescent beauty.
A girl my age and position would squeal in delight and marvel at her own looks. But not me.
I knew my fate. I was a doll of slaughter, regardless of being the firstborn of Alpha Theron. Wolfless, cursed, despised. It was a shame no dress or makeup could conceal.
"You shouldn't go," Nora sneered from a fur-draped chair. She was my step-sister, a younger, snappier version of Veyra. Even at sixteen, she was everything I wasn't: shifted, poised, the pack's pride.
"You'll embarrass the whole pack, Maya," Nora added. "Reeking of heat, stumbling on your feet. Why don't you just run away? Perhaps someone will hunt you down and end your life."
I grasped at the hem of the dress and bit my lip to digest the insults. This was nothing compared to what I would suffer at the Gala. "I don't want to go either," I murmured. "But I don't have a choice."
"No choice?" Veyra exclaimed, walking into the dressing room in a much more pompous dress than before. "You're lucky we're letting you out at all, girl. You belong in the dog kennel. It is us who don't have a choice in the matter."
"Mother, I don't think this is the right decision," I protested, lowering my shoulders.
"You doubt your father's wisdom?" Veyra snapped. "You'll do as we say, Maya. Learn something from your little sister here. She's the pack's pride, and is everything you can only dream to be. I'm sure the Lycan King would've invited her if she were of age."
I was about to argue further when Alpha Theron walked in. "Maya, you're ready?" he asked, as if speaking to a lowly servant.
"Father, no, please," I said, walking toward him with joined hands. "We can call this off… You know what happens at the Gala… They'll…."
"Who gave you the right to question my orders?" Theron thundered, making me back away. "Get your shit together. Keep your head up and make sure not to humiliate me."
"Hold her head up?" Nora laughed. "She would be down on her knees, begging for any Alpha to take her. Won't you, Maya?"
"Nora, be quiet." Father said sharply, his gaze shifting back to Veyra. "Darling, see if you can make her look more presentable. Dry off her tears and hide those whip scars. We'll leave in an hour."
***
It was a long ride to Silvercliff. The vehicle swayed over rough roads, making me imagine I was in a gauntlet of hell. I sat across from Father. His eyes weren't even on me, looking instead out the window at the misty spruces in the distance, as though I didn't even exist.
"Do you have to stare like that?" he muttered rudely.
I looked away and slumped against the seat. The heat made my body ache. Despite my efforts, my pheromones were leaking out. Theron's nostrils flared and his jaw clenched, and I shrank back further in the seat until I wished I could crawl underneath and disappear.
"Sit up," he grumbled without even looking at me. "You're representing Grimridge. Act like it."
"Act like it?" My throat clenched, and my hands kneaded the gown's hem. "I'm wolfless, Father. I'm in heat. They'll smell me as soon as I set foot in that ballroom. How am I supposed to…"
"Enough!" he snapped. "Stop your incessant prattling for when you are alone!"
"You're embarrassed by me," I said, lowering my voice. "You always have been."
"It goes without saying," Theron scoffed. "You are my daughter. But you have no wolf. All you've brought is scandalous gossip and pity to our name."
"You can't even look at me without seeing a failure," I mumbled, my voice barely a whisper.
I pressed against the wall of the carriage. The landscape changed from dark pines to snowy heights. Mistveil Hollow was close. Its grove was a holy place for ceremonies, like the Gala. My stomach soured just thinking about it. A cursed and broken thing like me didn't belong here.
"Do you ever think about her?" I asked, suddenly, "Mother, I mean."
Father's shoulders became rigid, and his firm voice had hints of tremor. "I…I don't. There is no point in remembering the dead anyway. It does not make sense."
"Veyra said she was fortunate to die," I pressed him. "Fortunate not to see me. Is that what you think, too?"
Theron turned his face towards me finally. "Maya!" he roared, his eyes flashing at mine. "Your mother's dead. Talking about her changes nothing!"
I chewed at my lip, and unwilling tears slid down my face. I crossed my arms over my body, trying to keep the pieces from falling apart. How could he talk so dismissively about a woman he used to love?
The carriage slowed down. The lanterns of the majestic Mistveil Hollow glimmered dimly through the windows. Father straightened and smoothed his long coat.
"You're going to be by yourself," he said flatly. "When we get there, I'm going to be with the Alpha Council. Don't seek me out unless I summon you."
"Alone? Father, no, please, I…" I wheezed, panic creeping onto me. What was he talking about?
"You heard what I said," he broke in. "Don't shame us, Maya. That's all I ask."
The carriage stopped. Father got down and left without giving me another glance. I waited for a minute before following him.
I was about to enter the Werewolf Pairing Gala, a pit full of predators, and I was a helpless lamb entering the jaws of destiny.
The ballroom was a gilded cage. I stood at the entrance for a while before gathering courage to enter. The whispers began before I set foot inside.
"Careful," a Silvercliff wolf jibed, her nose sniffing the air. "She's probably just begging for it. That's Grimridge's whore, isn't it? She's flaunting her heat as if it's her last day in the world."
"Pathetic," another jeered, a male Bloodfang with a scar across his cheek. "She's an insult to the Gala. Why is she even here? Don't we have guards posted outside to filter out the scum?"
My lips quivered, but I just put my head down. But the words kept coming at me like enemy arrows, landing hurtfully every time. My heat flared even more. My pheromones were leaking out, and the disgust of the crowd thickened.
One of the Duskmire women scrunched her face up, "She smells like a brothel. Her father must be so desperate to drag her here. Why not just dump her in the Wastes?"
I moved through the ballroom. Wolves stepped away, parting the crowd around me. Their eyes sparkled with scorn or worse… hunger.
An older Thunderrun wolf with white streaks approached me. He breathed hot in my ear, inches from my face. "You're wasting that scent, beautiful. I'll take you right here if you allow it."
I could feel my cheeks reddening as I made a run for it out of that group. I found a deserted spot away from the crowd, next to a velvet curtain. But the taunts found me on the way. As I walked by a cluster of Silvercliff elite, a woman's voice drawled, "No one's claiming a reject like you."
I made it to the corner and leaned on the wall, breathing heavily. The heat was unbearable. My body shook with desire and embarrassment. It was more so when I was in a crowd. I shut my eyes, refusing to hear the whispers. Suddenly, a prickling awareness gave me goosebumps. I couldn't help but raise my eyes.
Across the ballroom, a man had risen from his seat. His eyes were locked on mine, piercing through the chaos, and for a moment, the world stilled.
"Well, well, Maya Grimridge, all dressed up and nowhere to hide." Damien, Alpha of the Bloodfang, shattered my focus. He hated me since I turned him down years ago, back when my heat cycle first marked me as cursed.
He was flanked by his friends, two sneering Bloodfang wolves. "I see you got a little heat issue going." he said, stepping closer.
"Perhaps we could assist her with that, eh?" one of his friends mocked. "It's noble to do charity from time to time."
"Leave me alone!" My voice shook, and my back pressed against the wall. Running into guys like him was what I dreaded.
"Alone?" He chuckled, scooting ever nearer. "Your scent betrays your bitchy attitude. You might as well be spreading your legs, Maya. Smell that?" He took a long sniff. "You're begging for an Alpha to fuck you."
I shook my head in disgust. "I'm not!" But he had no intention of asking for consent. My hands pushed at his chest as he moved closer. "Please, Damien, stop!"
"Stop?" He took hold of my wrist and pulled me towards himself. His other hand snaked around my waist, feeling me through the gown. "You rejected me once, you little flirt, but you can't play bashful now. Not with that scent driving me crazy."
"She's begging for it," one of his friends laughed.
I struggled in vain. "Let me go! I don't want this!"
"No one cares what you want. All that heat needs an outlet. I bet you're just dying for someone to help you out, aren't you?" Damien growled, trapping me against the wall.
His breath was warm against my neck. "You're nothing, and hence you don't get a choice. And I'm going to accept what you are offering right now in front of everybody."
"Someone, please, help me!" I cried out, but the music muffled my cries, and Damien's boys surrounded me, forming a wall to block out the sight.
Damien's hand tightened its grip, and his lips brushed my ear. "Scream as loud as you fucking want," he whispered. "It will make what I am going to do to you so much sweeter."