Chapter 1 Silverveil

Auren’s pov

“Watch it, you little nuisance,” Seris’s voice cut through the party noise.

I fumble, and the wine spills all over the floor, looking like blood under the lights. Everything goes quiet for a second, then the whispers start. My pack using me as their means of entertainment as usual.

I get down and start wiping up the mess before Seris can say more.

“You still can’t pour wine right? You’re really hopeless.”

Everyone nearby hears her and laughed but I keep cleaning, trying to stay calm.

“I’m sorry, ma’am.” I barely get the words out.

“Sorry doesn’t fix anything.” She gets closer, smiling in a mean way. “This is my Dad’s marriage ceremony, Your Alpha. Do you know how many people saw that? Try not to embarrass us again.”

I bite my tongue to keep from saying something.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good,” she says, like I’m a dog. “Now go get another bottle before Dad gets here and give you another lashing”

I get up and head to the bar, not looking at anyone. With the way she talks to me, one will never believe she is my cousin and we used to be close friends. Tonight is Alpha Magnus’s marriage party…….my uncle. Though this is like his third marriage this year, the man changes Luna the way one changes their phone cover, always looking for a way to marry into more power.

Seris is his only child, the Alpha’s beautiful perfect daughter so of course every rich eligible bachelor was invited.

From across the room, Alpha Magnus stands surrounded by investors and pack leaders, laughing and talking. His smile is perfect, charming even, but his eyes catch mine once, just long enough to remind me what happens when I draw attention. I lower my head and focus on the glass. I look up as Eron goes on stage with Seris, and grabs the microphone.

“Tonight, we celebrate our pack’s future,” he grinned. “To our Alpha and his Luna! Together, they’ll keep us strong.”

Everyone cheers and raises their glasses towards my uncle who grinned enjoying the attention, his bride was seated at a table surrounded by her friends. I was about to turn away from the stage when Seris sees me looking at them, she smiles sweetly at me before hugging Eron. He looks uncomfortable for a second, then sees me and fakes a smile.

I have got to get him alone and talk to him. Eron has been my childhood friend since we were seven and luckily for me he is also my fated mate, though he had been pretty distant for a while now. I tilted my head giving him the signal to meet me in the hallway and move towards there trying not to hear the whispers around me as I passed.

“Cursed”

“Killer”

The same people that used to call me their future Luna………until that faithful day that I woke up in the pool of blood, my parents dead beside me and my wolf quiet. The worst part? I had no memory of what happened. My pack had hated me since then, saying I was cursed and was also responsible for my parents death….I was just 15years old.

Eron came from the far end of the hall, moving like a man who didn’t want to be seen. He looked so handsome, with his blonde hair styled to perfection, the lines of his jacket clean and crisp and that proud tilt to his chin that I always love—but his eyes were different…..Distant and cold.

“What did you drag me away from the party for Auren?” he murmured, glancing toward the closed doors around us.

I stepped closer, lowering my voice.

“I need to get out of here, Eron. Please. I can’t stay another day. My uncle, Seris……they’ll kill me slowly if I remain here.”

He said nothing. The silence stretched between us until it began to hurt.

“Eron?” I tried to find his gaze. “You promised you would protect me. That you would stand by me, no matter what the pack said. Remember?”

He drew in a slow breath, his eyes fixed somewhere over my shoulder.

“It won’t work, Auren.”

“What?” I blinked, sure I had misheard.

“This,” he said, gesturing between us. “Us. It won’t work anymore.”

My stomach dropped.

“What are you saying?”

He ran a hand through his hair, not meeting my eyes.

“My father was against us from the start. The only reason he agreed was because you were supposed to be the Luna. A Luna without a pack and without a wolf isn’t an option. Not for his heir.”

I shook my head, my words coming out broken.

“No. You—you said none of that mattered. You said—”

“I said a lot of things when I thought you were still useful.”

The air went out of me.

“Useful?”

His mouth tightened.

“Alpha Magnus promised Seris’s hand to me. The match will be announced soon. She’s the key to my future, Auren. To my father’s trust and to the title.”

I took a step back as the ground tilted slightly.

“You’re marrying her?”

He finally met my eyes. “It’s done.”

The silence that followed didn’t feel real. Just the sound of my own heartbeat, hard and heavy in my ears. He is leaving me for my cousin, because I had no title? Because I had no wolf? He was the only person I thought I had in this world. Tears ran down my face.

“I loved you.”

It wasn’t an accusation. It was the truth spilling out because I had nothing else left.

“Then consider this mercy Auren. Better now than later.”

He took a deep breath, and the air around us changed. I didn’t need to have my wolf to know what he was about to do.

“I, Eron Blackridge, reject you, Auren Silverveil, as my mate.”

The words hits me like a blow and even without a wolf to mourn it, something inside me tore loose. My breath caught in my throat, and the ground tilted again. I grabbed the wall, my fingers scraping against the cold stone. It felt like the ground had opened under me. Like something that had been holding me up suddenly let go.

“Eron,” I whispered. “Please don’t.”

He turned, already walking away.

“You’ll survive, Auren. You always do.”

The sound of his boots faded down the hall. I stayed there crying, my hand against the wall, trying to remember how to breathe around the hollow space he had left behind. I finally stood up walking aimlessly in the hallway not caring where I was going. I had no parents, no wolf, no inheritance, my pack hates me and now I don’t even have a mate……what was left to live for?

I suddenly realized I was in front of my uncle’s office. I turned around about to go when I heard his voice. He was talking to someone that sound familiar. Their voices sounded so serious, almost with fear. I got curious and went closer

“…we can’t let anyone know he is here,” he was saying, his voice low.

I pressed myself against the door, listening through the small crack. Beta Grayson’s growl rumbled in reply.

“You think the Bloodborn pack won’t notice their Alpha’s gone missing? He’s not some wandering wolf, Alpha. He’s the Demon King. If they find out we have him hostage, there will be war”

I froze, I recognized the name “Demon King”. I have heard it whispered my entire life……Rhykan Dravik, Alpha of the Bloodborn syndicate. A monster wrapped in human skin. A man who had once burned an entire rival pack alive to make a point. Some said he could tear through steel with his bare hands; others swore he sold his soul to the moon goddess for power.

He had mafia ties, assassins, business empires that stretched from our world into the humans. The kind of man parents used to frighten their children into obedience…..and they had him here? My uncle’s voice dropped to a growl.

“The mistake has already been done He remains chained until I find a way to use this to our advantage.”

“We both know we don’t stand a chance if they openly declare war on us. That’s exactly the reason we only send spies to infiltrate them and get information. We should release him right now when it’s still early, apologize and hand over the men that brought him as scapegoats”. Beta Grayson paced the room.

A fist hits a desk.

“Nonsense! If we release him now he would tear our throats out before we even explain ourselves. He remains chained until I come up with a solution”.

My stomach turned and I took a step back, slow and careful, but my heel got tangled in my sneakers lace. I stumbled forward, losing balance, and fell right into the room. My palms hit the cold marble floor, and when I looked up, a half circle of faces stared down at me…….my uncle at the center, his eyes dark with fury.

Shit.

“Well, well,” his voice sounds like gravel. “Eavesdropping, are you, Auren?”