The Great Hall had never looked like this.
Silk draped the stone walls in midnight blues and moonlit silver, fabric catching torchlight and turning it into something softer, almost dreamlike. Chandeliers of crystal and bone hung low, their flames reflected a hundred times over in polished floors. Music threaded through the air, low and elegant, a pulse meant to draw bodies closer rather than drive them apart.
It was a celebration.
An honor ball for the new Alpha.
A masquerade.
And nothing in this pack was ever accidental.
Caleb stood at the top of the stairs, masked in black and silver, the symbol of the Alpha etched subtly across the curve of his cheek. Seren was beside him, her hand resting lightly on his arm, her gown a deep obsidian threaded with gold. Her mask was sharp, angular
