He stood just inside the entrance, tall and unmoved, eyes steady, shoulders squared like steel forged from shame and survival. He wasn’t late. He was deliberate.
His black ceremonial robe clung to him like royalty. Rich velvet. Silver embroidery. A sash across his chest, traditional for bonding ceremonies: glimmered under the golden chandeliers. He looked powerful. Regal, even.
Too regal for someone who was, by status, still considered an Omega.
A servant.
A slave.
The crowd parted, silently, like the sea obeying a storm. Some sneered, others whispered, but Daniel walked forward with no falter in his steps. Not toward me, no. But toward the place where he would stand, as the one chosen by the Moon Goddess. The marked mate.
My fated mate.
I swallowed the hard lump in my throat and fo
