Chapter 4

• Dallas’s POV
• My wrist was a breath away from snapping.
• Damian had never handled me like this. Not once in five years. I had been his hidden mate-in-waiting, hidden Luna candidate, hidden everything. Yet now his grip dug in hard, and beneath his storm-dark eyes flickered a panic edged with something colder.
• Anger.
• Because I showed up.
• A humorless smile tugged at my mouth.
• I rose slightly on my toes and leaned in until my breath brushed the line of his throat. His Alpha pulse beat steady under the skin marked with the Bloodfang sigil. A shiver went through him, sharp and instinctive, when I whispered for only our wolves to hear.
• “This is my unveiling ceremony, Alpha Damian. After all these years, I think it is time I show my face. Don’t you agree”
• For a heartbeat he met my eyes. Guilt flickered, then vanished behind a hard, neutral expression.
• “It isn’t your time. Leave. Now.”
• The irritation rolling off him was suffocating.
• My chest twisted tight.
• Why was I still hoping he would pick me Why did some fragile part of me still wait for him to step toward me instead of away Even once If he had been honest. If he had spoken one real truth. If he had claimed me instead of handing my life’s work to
• No.
• Hope had always been a cruel joke.
• I swallowed. “You will reveal who I am”
• Damian’s jaw clenched. “Dallas, what are you doing You were never this irrational. Go back. I will speak to you later. I will send a driver.”
• He reached for his comm-stone, fumbling for control that kept slipping.
• I curled my hands into the fabric of my dress until my palm stung.
• This was the man I had loved for five years.
• “I am not leaving.”
• His pupils tightened. “That isn’t your choice to make.”
• He moved toward me, but I pulled free, stepping back just far enough for Eveline Ashforde to see the moon-diamond bracelet on my wrist. Her expression sharpened with fury.
• Good.
• A little rage from her was overdue.
• Eveline strode toward us and shoved me. My heels scraped across the stone floor.
• “Dallas, today is the Bloodfang unveiling of the Beloved Collection.” Her voice rang through the hall. “Why is my bracelet on your wrist Did you steal it”
• The room fell silent. Dozens of faces turned toward me.
• “She looks expensive, but thieves can look expensive too.”
• “A Frostclaw stray clinging to Alpha Damian. Pathetic.”
• I bit the inside of my lip until I tasted metal. “It is mine.”
• Eveline laughed. “Yours A cast-out Frostclaw nobody Think you can afford a moon-diamond piece”
• She flipped her hair. “Everyone, this is Dallas Ashforde. Our former mistaken heir. She was thrown out five years ago.”
• Thrown out.
• A soft phrase for being whipped near death.
• My back burned with a phantom memory. The scars underneath my dress ached.
• Damian knew every mark. He had tended them with shaking hands once.
• Now he looked away.
• He did not correct her.
• He did not defend me.
• He did not even breathe in my direction.
• He would not cross a dying wolf. Not Eveline. Not with Moon-rot eating her life.
• Something in me cracked.
• I drew a slow breath. “Miss Eveline believes this bracelet must be stolen because of my caste. How reckless. How do you know I did not gain recognition these past years”
• She snorted. “You A joke. You want proof”
• Her smile sharpened. “Fine. I will give you proof.”
• She raised her chin so the cameras caught her clean profile.
• “As everyone knows, today marks the unveiling of the Beloved series by the designer called Sunny. And I, Eveline Ashforde, am Sunny. The bracelet she is wearing was designed by me. Alpha Damian can confirm it.”
• Gasps rippled across the hall.
• “Sunny is Eveline”
• “No one knew her identity”
• But I did not look at Eveline. Not once.
• I watched Damian.
• My greatest mistake.
• He felt my stare like claws across his skin. His brow tightened.
• Eveline clung to his arm, breath trembling. “Damian.”
• A plea. A reminder. A dying wolf’s leverage.
• He exhaled. When he spoke, the last of my illusions died.
• “Yes. Eveline is Sunny. She has been Bloodfang’s chief designer for five years.”
• My world split clean down the center.
• Every sleepless night.
• Every sketch drawn until my fingers cramped.
• Every piece I created for Bloodfang.
• All handed to her.
• My vision blurred. The metallic taste in my mouth thickened.
• Eveline turned, triumphant. “Since the truth is clear, Dallas must have stolen my work. I want her searched. Strip her dress if you must. Empty her bags.”
• Two Bloodfang enforcers grabbed my arms and forced me to my knees.
• “Do not touch”
• “Secure her.”
• Fabric tore.
• A harsh, ripping sound.
• My left strap snapped.
• Cold air hit my back.
• My scars twisted across my skin, raised and brutal under the lights. The entire hall gasped.
• A sharp crack sounded from somewhere near the bar. Glass shattering.
• I looked up out of pure instinct. And I saw him.
• A man half-shadowed near the bar.
• Tall. Broad-shouldered.
• Dark hair pushed back in lazy waves.
• A tailored black suit that molded to a body built for violence and control.
• Shards of crystal glittered around his feet. Blood slid down his hand, slow and steady.
• His eyes locked with mine.
• Not warm. Not gentle.
• A cold, focused intensity that felt like being pinned by a predator.
• I could not sense his pheromones. Not a hint of his wolf. Nothing.
• But something in him radiated danger.
• Power held tight under the surface.
• A presence that pricked every instinct I had.
• Who is he? And why does he look at me as if my suffering has enraged him?