Talia’s POV
My body felt disconnected from my mind as I left the ballroom, surrounded by my family like they were escorting a criminal to execution.
The whispers of the pack members followed us like shadows, thick with shock and disgusted fascination.
I caught fragments of their conversations, each word slicing deeper than the last.
My father’s fingers dug into my arm with bruising force.
He could have snapped the bone if he wanted to, but he restrained himself.
Where had this protective instinct been when I was being tormented and ridiculed by everyone else?
Only when Caspian Vanderbilt had claimed me as his own did my father finally cross that crowded room to take my hand.
Not as some cruel joke.
Not as a misunderstanding.
But as his intended bride.
Now, as we departed the Astral Ball with the festivities still in full swing, his silence pressed down on me like a physical weight.
Tonight, I hadn’t just humiliated myself.
I had brought shame upon him and our entire pack.
I had become the center of attention in the worst possible way, drawing the scrutinizing gazes of influential pack leaders, respected elders, and even our future Alpha King.
My father had reached his breaking point with me.
Numbness had settled over me, caught somewhere between shame and rage, then terror and remorse.
This nightmare was far from over.
The real punishment was yet to come.
The journey back to our family compound felt like being buried alive.
Nobody dared to speak.
My father’s fury filled the Mercedes like poisonous gas, suffocating and merciless.
My mother occupied the seat beside him, her mouth set in a disapproving line.
She had stopped defending me since that cursed day, and tonight would be no different.
My older sisters, Bianca and Sasha, shared meaningful glances behind our parents, barely contained amusement dancing in their expressions.
They made no effort to hide their entertainment, even with me sitting right beside them.
I was their favorite source of amusement, after all.
My older brother Maddox gripped the steering wheel while one of our family’s security personnel sat in the passenger seat.
Maddox’s eyes kept finding mine in the rearview mirror, a cruel smirk practically etched into his features.
I forced myself to look away, clutching my ruined veil against my chest before his stare could burn me alive.
Nausea clawed at my throat as my breathing became shallow and uneven.
This was going to be an endless night.
MOONSTONE PACK.
The Blackwood Estate.
The moment our vehicle came to a stop in the circular driveway, my father wrenched the door open and pinned me with his lethal glare.
“Get out!” he commanded, his voice sharp as a knife’s edge.
I faltered for just an instant, glancing toward my sisters who should have exited first.
Fatal error.
His hand clamped around my arm like an iron shackle.
Agony shot through my shoulder as he hauled me from the car, his grip so vicious my bones seemed to creak in protest.
My veil tumbled from my grasp, falling into the dirt as I struggled to match his pace.
My father dragged me toward the house, pulling me through the main entrance while the guards stationed throughout the property watched with detached interest.
Seeing me disgraced was routine entertainment here.
None of them considered intervening.
They would much rather witness my punishment unfold.
My mother and siblings trailed behind us at their own relaxed speed.
Their role wasn’t to interfere.
They were here to observe, much to their delight.
The instant the doors crashed shut behind us, my father’s voice boomed through the entrance hall.
“What in the Goddess’s name have you done?!”
I barely registered his movement before his palm connected with my face.
CRACK!
Fire exploded across my cheek, snapping my head sideways as a high-pitched ringing filled my right ear.
It would be some time before my hearing returned to normal.
My hand flew instinctively to cradle the burning skin as the metallic taste of blood flooded my mouth.
I didn’t dare raise my head, fearing another strike.
“Lukas!” My mother’s voice sliced through the tension with practiced calm.
For a heartbeat, I forgot how to breathe.
My father whirled around, his expression growing darker.
“What?” he snarled with impatience.
A loaded silence stretched between them before my mother continued.
“Don’t hit her face.”
My stomach clenched as my siblings went completely still.
I lifted my gaze, something resembling hope stirring in my chest for the first time in years.
Then she delivered the killing blow.
“The wound will reopen, and we’ll waste more healing herbs sealing it again.”
That fragile hope withered before it could take root.
I felt absolutely nothing upon realizing that my mother’s indifference toward me was preferable to her concern.
At least indifference made sense.
My father shifted his blazing stare back to me before settling into a chair.
He agreed with my mother’s logic, unlike my siblings, who simply didn’t care either way.
“Kneel!” My father barked, his eyes burning with rage.
Without hesitation, I dropped to my knees before him and lowered my gaze, clasping my trembling hands in front of me.
“You are a complete disappointment and a disgrace to our family and our pack!” My father began, pointing an accusing finger at my face.
“I warned you never to remove that veil!”
“And I told her to control those disgusting pheromones!” Maddox interrupted, looming over me.
“Now look what she’s done tonight, seducing half the men there with them!”
“Right after being rejected by her mate,” Bianca added with a sneer.
Sasha quickly contributed the third offense to their list.
“As if that wasn’t humiliating enough for one evening, she allowed our future king to claim her like it’s some kind of achievement,” Sasha said, her voice dripping with venom.
At that moment, Maddox struck the back of my head.
“The cursed whore finally caught an Alpha’s attention—too bad she doesn’t realize he’s going to use her as his plaything.”
My fingers tightened around each other until my knuckles went white.
That was the only way I could express my anger since I didn’t understand a word my brother had just said.
From behind my father, Bianca scoffed.
“Look at her,” she muttered.
“Acting like she’s worth something.”
Sasha sighed theatrically.
“I told you she’d embarrass us eventually.”
My father’s breathing was labored as he rose to his feet.
His hands shook at his sides—not with remorse, but with barely controlled fury.
He wanted to strike me again, but instead, his voice turned ice-cold.
“You have brought shame upon this family,” my father spat, pacing like a trapped wolf.
I curled my fingers into my palms, nails digging into my skin.
I remained silent.
It was my only defense.
“You were already a disgrace,” he continued, his voice thick with revulsion.
“A wolfless, cursed mistake.
But now, you’ve made yourself into a spectacle.”
I swallowed the words I desperately wanted to scream—that I never asked for any of this.
That none of it was my fault.
That he, my mother, my siblings, my mate…
they had all predetermined my worthlessness because of that damn curse.
But I knew better than to speak.
His glare was pure loathing.
He was repulsed by me, and I knew he wished I had never existed.
“First, your mate rejected you.
Then, you made a fool of yourself with those revolting pheromones.
And now, you allowed Caspian Vanderbilt to claim you?” he demanded.
I hadn’t allowed Caspian to claim me.
He had decided without warning, without hesitation, that I would belong to him, and I had outright refused.
But none of that mattered to my father.
In his eyes, I was a disgrace regardless.
I braced myself for another blow, but instead, my father turned to my mother and spoke the words I dreaded most.
“Lock her in the poultry shed!”
My stomach plummeted.
The poultry shed—the place they had banished me every time I had disgraced the family.
Dark, frigid, and crawling with filth.
My mother hesitated, her eyes flickering toward me.
“Lukas, perhaps—”
“I said now!” my father roared.
Just like that, my mother nodded.
“Yes, dear.”
Her hands shook as she grasped my wrist.
I didn’t resist.
I had learned long ago that fighting only made things worse.
I allowed her to lead me outside, past the main house, to the small wooden structure behind the estate.
The smell of damp hay and the faint musk of long-gone birds filled my nostrils.
I stepped inside without protest.
The door slammed shut behind me, and the lock clicked into place.
For the first time tonight, I actually considered Alpha Caspian’s claim and the fact that he was coming for me tomorrow.
“I don’t understand why that wound refuses to heal after all these months!” My mother snapped angrily, jerking me from my thoughts before walking away.
After she disappeared, I reached up, my fingers brushing against the scar on my left cheek—the one that stubbornly refused to heal.
Because I didn’t want it to.
Because it was the only part of myself I still controlled.