From Rejected Omega To The Supreme Luna

Ember POV:

The rain was cold, but my blood was on fire.

I had walked out of the garden with my head high, but my body was failing. The shock and the damp chill triggered it.

Silver Fever.

When old silver wounds heat up, it feels like molten lead pouring through your arteries.

I collapsed in the servants' quarters.

For two days, I drifted in delirium. Sweating toxins that smelled like rusted metal.

No doctor came. Only Greta, an elderly Omega, brought cool rags.

"He's not coming, child," she whispered. "He's with her."

My phone buzzed incessantly.

From: Estelle

[Image Attachment]

A diamond collar on a velvet pillow. Tag: My True North.

Estelle: He says my neck is too beautiful to be bare.

Estelle: [Video Attachment]

Estelle in front of a mirror. Wearing my Luna Ceremony dress.

But the lace sleeves were ripped off.

"It was a bit baggy," Estelle giggled. "But the tailor took it in. Now it fits a real Luna."

Then a text from an unknown number.

Unknown: Heard the Alpha talking. He said he's only going through with the ceremony with you because he doesn't want the press saying he abandoned his savior. He calls it 'charity work'.

Charity.

The word turned the fire in my blood to ice.

I sat up. My back screamed.

I went into my mind. The Pack bond used to be a golden rope. Now, it was a frayed, gray thread.

I built a wall around it. Brick by mental brick.

Silence. Beautiful, empty silence.

The door banged open.

Julian stood there. Gray suit, tired eyes. He sniffed the metallic scent of my sickness.

"You're alive," he said flatly. "Good. Pack your bags."

"Where are you going?" My voice rasped like sandpaper.

"Copeland Manor. Mom insists on a 'traditional' prep for the wedding. We leave in ten minutes."

He paused.

"Estelle is coming too. She is the Maid of Honor."

I stared at his back. Maid of Honor. The woman he was sleeping with.

"Okay," I said.

Julian frowned, trying to read my scent, but I was a void.

"Don't try anything, Ember. The Manor is a fortress. Once the gates close, no one leaves until the ceremony."

"I know," I said. "I'm ready."

I wasn't going to a wedding. I was going to a war zone.