CHAPTER 33
1335 Words
ADINNA’S POV
The ballroom glows like sunlight trapped in crystal. Gold chandeliers hang above us, their lights spilling onto the very highly polished floor where bodies wave and laugh and flirt as if the world itself bends to meet them. Music pours from an invisible orchestra, something gentle and beautiful, but my heartbeat is too loud for me to discern. I stand at the edge of the room, fingers wrapped around a glass of mocktail I’ve barely touched, feeling like a ghost in a place made for stars.
Riley and Ashton are already lost in the sea of people. I can spot Riley's hair from anywhere, those red curls bobbing when she twirls, her laughter ringing above the music. Ashton twirls her, his arms clutching her waist, his gaze fixed only on her. They look good together. Complete. Whole. I don't let myself feel the emptiness that wells up in my chest, the kind that tells me I don't fit in here.
The rest of the girls float through in shiny dresses that capture every twinkle of light. Their dates flutter alongside them, whispering secrets that elicit smiles. I find myself wondering if I look as out of place as I feel to myself, my own little black dress hugging me as if it were made of shadow, plain but commanding. The moment I stepped into the room, heads turned, and I'm not sure that's a good thing yet.
My fingers find the Ace card pendant resting against my flesh. Metal feels cold tonight, thicker than usual. A few of the people nearby glance in my direction once more, whispering to each other before pretending like they did not stare. My stomach turns. I thrust the necklace under the collar of my dress and hope it remains hidden. I don't have eyes on me that exceed my own. Not after everything already said about me.
"Relax, Adinna," I tell myself, forcing a grudging swallow of liquid down dry lips. The sweetness there only dries my throat worse.
The fragrance-and-champagne-filled air has the scent of something charged beneath it—wolves. Everywhere I glance, the smell of one individual mixes with the other. The way that they lean toward one another, touch palms, share glances—it's wild and whirling. My wolf growls uncomfortably inside of me, irked by the entire thing.
I turn my back to the dance floor, resting it against the bar. I vow to myself I'll remain another five minutes, perhaps ten, just until Riley won't be complaining that I slipped out the whole night. I scan the room again and try to look like I'm having a good time. That is when I feel someone shift in next to me.
"I wonder why you are all by yourself," a smooth, deep voice says.
I turn and see a gaunt stranger with sharp features, grey-eyed and light-catchingly bright. His smile is poor, but it is a smile rehearsed to evoke reactions. His tuxedo is immaculate, his posture studied. I try not to return a smile.
"I prefer it that way," I tell him.
"Indeed?" He tilts his head to one side. "You don't strike me as someone who would enjoy solitude?"
I don't react. The music slows down, couples drawing nearer, and I glance at Riley again. She's laughing into Ashton's shoulder. I shut my eyes.
The stranger takes advantage of the moment to lean in. The aroma of something hot—his cologne, maybe—smacks my nose. I lean a little to the side, but he mirrors me. His fingers brush against my arm, and before I can shift a second time, his hand drifts down, resting almost on my thigh.
My breath hitches.
"Don't," I whisper, my voice barely above a whisper and laced with a threat.
He grins, his voice lowered to a whisper. "You should lighten up. Everyone's enjoying themselves tonight. No need to be a wallflower."
I push his hand away. "I said no."
But he pays me no mind. He edges in closer, his breath hot against my ear. "You've got the Ace card," he says. "That means you don't get to say no, doesn't it?"
The world outside of myself is a blur for a second. My hand is shooting to my Ace card pendant, and I see it's slipped out again, dangling free in the light. His hands grab it and tug at it harshly.
"Stop it," I insist more forcefully.
People around us glance over but then away. No one will get in the middle of this.
My wolf stirs, her claws scraping against my control. Fire sears in my chest, panic and rage twisting until I can barely draw a breath. I force him again, but he grips tighter. "Let go," I say again.
He chuckles low, the sound poisonous.
I can hear my heart beating in my chest. Everything within me screams to fight, to make him wish he had never laid hands on me, but I freeze instead. My mind runs through all the times I've been humiliated in the past—milk, detention, giggles, Jace's smirk—and I hate that I'm vulnerable again.
And then something shifts.
There's a sound cutting through the music.
A deep, throaty growl.
It rolls across the ballroom, bringing everything around us to stillness for one moment. The stranger stops dead. I sense it shudder through the floorboards, through me, and into my marrow. My wolf jolts inside me, with recognition and something else I do not know.
I turn slowly, my breath caught between shock and terror. The crowd parts just a tiny bit, but I'm still unsure. The growl returns, and this time it's low, almost threatening.
The stranger lets me go instantly, stepping back and grunting a curse. For an instant, his arrogant facade breaks down, and I catch a glimpse of unease. He glances over my shoulder, and I know whoever that snarl was directed at—it wasn't a normal wolf. It was for him.
My fingers clutch the Ace card again. My skin crawls where his hand rested on me. My heart pounds so hard it hurts.
The room feels smaller. Air is heavy.
I swallow hard and half-turn towards the direction of the sound. My body trembles, but not entirely out of fear. Something ancient and primal inside me responds to that growl as if it were a call. My wolf is restless, pacing, listening, waiting.
Those around us hush. The music ceases altogether. I watch Riley and Ashton stop mid-dance, their eyes scanning toward me. Riley's lips shape my name, but I hardly notice.
The air's scent changes again with a raw and captivating power. It slices through perfume and booze, demanding to be noticed.
The stranger clears his throat and utters something to the effect, "This isn't over," and takes a step back, his bluff quickly disappearing.
I don't move. I can't. My gaze is still fixed on the corner of the room where the growl came from, the shadows near the grand staircase. I can't see anyone clearly yet, but I feel them. The weight of their presence settles on my chest.
My wolf growls the word inside my head.
Mine.
My breath catches, and I grip the rim of the bar to steady myself.
A person emerges through the crowd, slow and deliberate. Every step thunders, though I don't hear the sound of their feet over the pounding of my own heart.
I have no idea who they are. I don't know if I want to. But I cannot look away.
And for the first time tonight, I remember neither the gossip, nor the laughter, nor the humiliation. I feel only the tug of something scorching and wild, something more terrifying than the stranger's hand can ever be.
The air crackles once more, another growl finding its way into the quiet as its owner draws nearer.
My wolf answers it with a shiver that shakes me deep within.
Then there’s silence.
- Writer
