ELLEN
I stood just inside the pack house, my hands clenched into fists at my sides as the soft hum of conversation from the ball faded into silence. The hall felt colder now, and I was left alone with nothing but my growing frustration.
I had failed.
The night had been my chance to expose Valerie for what she truly was, to show everyone that she didn’t belong here. Instead, I ended up humiliating myself in front of the entire gathering. The triplets, the Alphas, even Luna Beatrice—all of them had looked at me as if I were a desperate fool, grasping at thin air.
But I wasn’t wrong. I knew what I had seen.
Valerie’s hands had glowed, faint but unmistakable, when her glasses were removed. That was no illusion, no trick of the light. It was real. She was hiding something, and I had been t
