Talia’s POV
The Astral Ball should have been my moment of triumph.
The night when everything would finally fall into place, when the Moon Goddess would bless me with the one thing I’d dreamed of since childhood—my destined mate.
Instead, as I lingered at the ornate entrance of the Moonstone Pack’s magnificent ballroom, drowning under the weight of countless judgmental stares, a familiar dread settled deep in my stomach.
Tonight would destroy me.
Every instinct I had left screamed the warning.
“Listen carefully, you disgusting little creature.” My father’s voice cut through my thoughts like a blade, low enough that only our family could hear his venom.
“That veil stays on your face no matter what happens tonight.
I don’t care if someone threatens your life—you keep it covered.
Are we clear?”
The momentary escape I’d found in my own thoughts shattered.
I’d almost forgotten they were here, hovering around me like vultures.
“And what possessed you to choose black?” He continued, his disgust palpable as his eyes swept over my dress before snapping toward my mother.
“Did no one check what this embarrassment was wearing before we left?”
“She can dress however she pleases, darling.” Mother’s tone was ice-cold indifference as her gaze barely touched me.
“It’s not as if she’ll be sitting at our table.
No one needs to connect her to our family tonight.”
Without another word, my father turned his back on me and strode into the ballroom.
Mother followed immediately, not even bothering with a final glance.
To her, I might as well have been invisible.
My sisters, Bianca and Sasha, approached next.
They looked me up and down with matching expressions of revulsion before shaking their heads in synchronized disappointment.
Their elaborate feathered fans—the ones they’d fought tooth and nail to acquire for tonight—fluttered as they walked away without speaking.
“Keep those revolting pheromones under control, you whore.” Maddox’s voice exploded right behind my ear, making me jump so violently that every muscle in my body tensed.
When had my brother gotten so close?
I hadn’t even heard him approach.
“I can smell your pathetic scent from across the parking lot,” he snarled, close enough that his breath made my skin crawl.
I immediately dropped my eyes to the floor, my heart hammering against my ribs as the sound of my own pulse roared in my ears.
Maddox terrified me more than the others—his punishments were always the most brutal.
The last thing I needed was for him to humiliate me further in front of the entire pack.
Thankfully, after a few agonizing seconds, Maddox decided I wasn’t worth his attention on such an important evening.
He stalked away, leaving me standing alone at the entrance.
The ballroom air was saturated with expensive perfumes, sparkling champagne, and the subtle pheromones of unmated wolves as they searched the crowd, desperate for that magical moment of recognition when they’d find their other half.
But I felt nothing except the constant ache of my own broken pheromones, each wave hitting me like a physical blow.
No magnetic pull.
No surge of heat.
No inner voice whispering that my soulmate was somewhere in this room.
Because I had no wolf to guide me.
Because I was marked by the curse.
Because the Astral Curse had ripped away my birthright before I ever had the chance to experience what others took for granted.
Even so, I already knew exactly who my mate was supposed to be.
Jaxon Faulkner.
The future Beta of our pack.
I’d caught fragments of conversations in the academy corridors weeks ago, classmates whispering about my tragic fate, speculating about the inevitable rejection that awaited me.
Still, I drew in a shaky breath and whispered a desperate prayer to any deity who might listen as I finally stepped into the ballroom, aware that dozens of eyes were tracking my every movement.
For sixteen blissful years, I had been everything my family wanted—their shining star, the pack’s golden child.
Then the Astral Curse manifested, leaving its crescent-shaped brand burned into my shoulder and stealing my wolf from me forever.
In that single moment, I had transformed from everything into nothing.
Tonight represented my final chance.
If the Moon Goddess had even a fragment of compassion left for me, maybe my mate would see past the curse and accept me anyway.
But luck had abandoned me long ago.
I understood that the instant I spotted Jaxon across the room.
He stood in the ballroom’s center, magnificent in his tailored black and silver suit, his arm possessively wrapped around another woman’s waist.
She was breathtaking—golden hair, perfect curves, the type of woman who commanded attention without trying.
Pain sliced through my chest.
Not from any mate bond calling to him—I couldn’t feel such things anymore.
But something else stirred deep inside me, something faint and buried that wanted to respond but couldn’t reach the surface.
The sensation was weak, distant—like hearing an echo of a song that should have been playing but had been silenced.
For the first time, I found myself wondering what might have been different if the curse hadn’t claimed me.
Would I have felt the warmth everyone described instead of this hollow coldness?
Would I have known love instead of rejection?
The questions would remain forever unanswered.
Because Jaxon lifted his head at that moment, and his piercing blue eyes found mine through my black veil.
The second our gazes met, his entire frame went rigid.
His nostrils flared as my scent reached him across the distance.
His wolf had identified me, and in that heartbeat, I witnessed the flash of horror that crossed his features before he began marching directly toward me, the beautiful woman still at his side.
Silence descended over the ballroom like a heavy curtain.
The whispers began immediately.
“She’s really his mate?”
“The cursed girl?
That wolfless freak?”
“There’s no way a future Beta would ever accept someone like her.”
Jaxon came to a stop directly in front of me and released his companion.
His eyes burned into mine with such intensity I thought they might leave scars as he declared loud enough for everyone to hear, “I would rather die than mate, marry, or mark a creature like you.”
The entire ballroom held its breath, every person present focused on our confrontation.
He had ensured that everyone would witness this moment.
My chest constricted, my throat burning with the weight of public humiliation.
I straightened my spine, fighting to keep my voice steady.
“Jaxon, please—”
He cut me off before I could finish.
“I, future Beta Jaxon Faulkner of the Moonstone Pack, formally reject you, Talia Blackwood, as my mate.”
Shocked gasps rippled through the assembled crowd like waves.
I felt the collective stare of the entire pack as something deep within me clenched in agony.
Not because a bond was severing—I had no real bond to break—but because Jaxon’s declaration made my worst fears reality.
And he still wasn’t finished.