Raven returned to the packhouse completely unconscious, and naturally, the mating ceremony had to be called off, despite being just moments from completion.
The guests had all left. Only Evelyn remained, standing alone in the ceremonial hall, rage churning violently inside her chest.
She had paid so much, sacrificed so much. Just one final step and she would’ve had everything she ever wanted, yet everything collapsed in the blink of an eye.
Her dignity, her pride, her ambition and dreams, all of it was destroyed in a single night. Every bit of effort, every calculated move she had made over so long now amounted to nothing.
She could still hear the whispers, see the glances, some sympathetic, most mocking or gleeful, from those who had watched Raven leave her standing there alone, the c
