Chapter 4 Crescent Moon Academy
1705 Words
A deep-blue velvet box had been left outside my door.
When I opened it, I found a bracelet inside, a moonstone charm hanging from it. Beside it lay a black invitation edged in gold, Moonlight Hotel, Top-Floor Ballroom, Starlight Charity Gala. On the back, Scarlett had written one line in elegant script.
Scarlett: You really should come tonight. I'd hate for you to miss the show.
I gave a cold laugh, tossed the bracelet back into the box, crumpled the invitation, and threw the card into the trash. Just then, the door flew open.
Ethan walked in, soaked through, rainwater dripping from the ends of his hair. He had not come home the night before. The rose scent on his collar was stronger than the fragrance in the gift box. He must have just come off Scarlett's body.
He said nothing. He walked straight over, wrapped an arm around my waist, and pulled me into his arms. His chin rested on top of my head, and the vibration of his chest passed into me. His voice was hoarse, like crushed gravel.
"Just let me hold you for a minute. Don't pull away."
My whole body went rigid.
Then I shoved him off me.
He took half a step back, a flash of surprise crossing his amber eyes.
I picked up my phone, typed a sentence, and held the screen in front of him.
"There are photos of you and Scarlett all over the pack feed."
He read the message, paused, and then smiled.
"Are you upset?"
He did not deny it.
My chest tightened hard. He had told me himself that Scarlett was only an old friend and had nothing to do with him.
"It's just media hype. Don't take it to heart." He reached for my face. I turned away before his fingers could touch me. His hand hovered between us for a moment before he shoved it into his pocket. "Scarlett has been under a lot of pressure from her tour lately."
His phone rang.
The screen lit up between us with Scarlett's name.
I stared at her name until my fingers began to shake.
Ethan avoided my eyes.
He turned toward the door instead. "Pack business. I'll be back later."
He called it pack business again.
I chased him into the hallway. His back disappeared through the narrowing gap of the elevator doors. A sharp, clean pain cut through my chest and left me breathless.
I went back to the living room, picked the bracelet out of the box, and took the crumpled invitation from the trash.
I smoothed out the creases. Then my phone suddenly vibrated again and again.
Scarlett's messages came one after another, like bullets.
Scarlett: Sorry, I borrowed him again tonight, Aria.
Scarlett: But you really should come. I saved you the best seat in the room.
Scarlett: All these years, you've just been my placeholder in his bed. The least I can do is give you a front-row seat when he comes back where he belongs.
Every word was full of condescension and mockery.
Deep inside me, Lyric let out a low, furious growl.
I stared at the rain outside the window.
Then I turned, walked into the bedroom, and opened the closet.
At the entrance of Moonlight Hotel, I stood on the rain-wet steps in an ice-blue gown.
A huge poster outside the hotel covered the entire wall. Scarlett was on it, her copper-red curls flying, her emerald-green eyes full of ambition and desire. Beneath her image, in silver script, was the title of the event, Crimson Ember Dance Company World Tour, Stormhaven Stop. At the bottom sat a row of sponsor logos. Blackwell Enterprises came first.
I went cold all over.
Werewolves walked past me toward the entrance. A few glanced sideways at me, and the meaning in their eyes was obvious. An Omega who could not even shift, wearing a gown that did not belong at this event, standing in a place where she did not belong.
I tightened my grip on the ticket and let the crowd carry me inside.
My seat was in Section B, Row 3, Seat 7, because of course it was. Scarlett had not invited me to be hidden. She had invited me to be seen.
The crystal chandeliers in the ballroom had not fully lit up yet, but I could already smell that familiar floral scent, flooding in from every direction.
My hand closed so tightly that my nails bit into my palm. The sting shot through my skin, but the real pain settled in my chest. How ironic. Our scents were so similar that even I almost started to doubt myself.
I remembered how Ethan used to pull me into his arms, bury his nose in my hair, and say my scent made him feel at peace.
"Ethan, when you closed your eyes back then, were you thinking of me, or of her?'
*****
The lights came down. Scarlett stood at the center of the stage, performing a solo dance. Her copper-red curls whipped in a perfect arc. The spotlight stretched her shadow long and sharp, like a silver blade sweeping across the entire charity gala.
The whole room held its breath. Every turn she made looked as if it had been choreographed by the Moon Goddess herself, and when she landed, her toes made no sound.
My nails bit into my palms.
I had belonged to a stage once. The vibration of the cello bow on the strings used to travel from my fingertips into my bones. That was the only way I could hear music. Before silver poison stole my hearing, I could even hear the subtle breath of each string.
A sharp heat gathered behind my eyes.
She had the stage. She had the applause. She had everything that had been taken from me.
When Scarlett held her final pose, the ballroom erupted.
Applause surged like a tide. Someone whistled. Someone stood to clap. A few young guests in the front row screamed Scarlett's name.
Then Ethan stepped out from the wings.
He had a bouquet of moon lilies in his hands. He walked toward Scarlett and handed her the flowers, wearing a soft, unguarded smile I had never seen before.
The audience lost whatever composure it still had.
"They're perfect together!"
"That's what a Luna should look like!"
Every word stabbed into my ears like a silver needle. Everyone still thought I was that deaf, wolfless woman, sitting in the front row, unable to hear anything.
My hand drifted to the delicate chain beneath my collarbone. The diamond ring hanging there had gone warm against my skin. Three years ago, Ethan had fastened it around my neck and promised that once he had established himself in the Pack, he would mark me properly.
Now he stood under the lights with his eyes resting on Scarlett's face, and she was reflected plainly in his amber gaze.
"Kiss her!"
"Kiss her!"
The chant grew louder each time it rolled through the room. Scarlett laughed and lifted one hand as if embarrassed, but her emerald eyes flicked toward Ethan anyway, quick and knowing.
He slid an arm around her waist. Then he lowered his head and kissed her.
The ballroom erupted.
Deep in my chest, Lyric let out a sharp whimper.
I only wanted to leave. But the spotlight slammed down on me.
White light poured down so suddenly that I had to narrow my eyes against it. The audience around me all turned to look.
Onstage, Ethan looked up. His gaze met mine, and for the first time that night, something in his expression broke. His eyes widened, just once, in a flash of startled recognition.
I dropped my gaze to my phone. The last message he had sent me still sat at the bottom of our thread from three nights ago.
Ethan: Wait up for me. I'll be home early.
He had not come home. That night, someone had posted a screenshot from the bar's security camera on Pack media. He was sitting in a booth, Scarlett leaning against his shoulder, champagne on the table in front of them.
Then Scarlett reached for the microphone.
Her voice came out sweet enough to curdle something in me. "There's someone very special in the audience tonight, Aria. She has trouble hearing, so can everyone help me thank her properly for everything she's done for me over the years?"
The people in the front turned first. Then the rest followed.
Soon, every face around me had turned toward me, mouths opening, voices rising, strangers calling my name and repeating Scarlett's words back to me as if kindness performed loudly enough could never become humiliation.
"Aria!"
"Scarlett says thank you!"
"Thank you, Aria!"
They meant well. That was what made it unbearable. My spine locked. My breath stalled in my throat.
In an instant, I was back at the Crescent Moon Academy. I saw the metal storage-room door.
I saw the words, sprayed in red paint, wolfless freak, across the wall. That afternoon, three upperclassmen cornered me. I curled up on the floor, unable to hear what they were saying.
Then Ethan had appeared. He had stepped in front of me, and the force of his Alpha presence had hit the room so hard it felt physical. The aura had changed. Everyone of them had backed off.
And now here I was again.
I was still being watched, still pinned in place, still unable to move.
He stood onstage with his hand at Scarlett's waist, and when he finally looked at me, there was none of the fury or protectiveness that had once burned in him. Three years ago, he would have crossed any room to get to me.
Now he only looked. I parted my lips, but no sound came out.
Scarlett finished her little speech with that same polished, honeyed smile, and the crowd closed in around her as she stepped offstage.
A moment later, the ballroom lights returned to normal.
I drew in a breath so deep it hurt. Pain spread through my ribs as if something inside me had been pried apart.
Then my phone vibrated in my hand with a message from Ethan.
- Writer
