Chapter 3

Eliana POV:

Three weeks later, I was walking with a cane. The cast was off, but the limp was noticeable. The doctor said my dancing career was over.

I didn't believe him. I wouldn't let Jax take that from me, too.

Tonight was the Full Moon Party. Attendance was mandatory for all pack members. It was a time for the wolf spirit to revel in the moon's energy.

I wore a simple black dress that covered my brace. I stood in the corner of the great hall, watching the pack dance and drink.

The music stopped abruptly. The crowd parted.

Jax entered. He was wearing a tuxedo, looking every bit the future king. On his arm was Catalina, draped in red sequins, looking like a triumphant queen.

He reeked of her. He was marking her with his scent intentionally, masking her natural smell with his own to warn off other males.

It was the ultimate disrespect to a Fated Mate.

He scanned the room and locked eyes with me. He frowned when he saw the cane.

I felt a prod at my mental barrier. He was trying to Mind-Link me.

Open the link, Eliana, he pushed.

I kept the wall up. It was solid brick now.

Jax narrowed his eyes. He grabbed a microphone from the stage.

"Let's play a game!" he announced, his voice booming. The crowd cheered, drunk on moonshine and loyalty. "Truth or Dare."

The bottle spun on the large table in the center of the room. It landed on Catalina.

"Dare!" she squealed.

Jax smirked. "I dare you... to kiss the highest-ranking male in the room."

The room went silent. Everyone looked at me. I was the Mate. By law, I was the highest-ranking female. This dare was a direct challenge to my status.

Catalina pretended to look shy. She glanced at me, a mock apology in her eyes, before turning to Jax.

She grabbed his lapels and pulled him down.

Jax didn't pull away. He kissed her back. Deeply. Passionately. He tangled his hand in her hair, pulling her closer, making a show of it.

The crowd erupted in awkward cheers and nervous murmurs.

Look at her, they whispered. The Alpha prefers the mistress. The Mate is defective.

Jax broke the kiss and looked straight at me, wiping lipstick from his mouth.

"Some she-wolves are born to please," he said into the microphone, his eyes boring into mine. "And some are just... burdens."

The silence that followed was deafening.

I didn't cry. I didn't run.

I tapped my cane on the floor, the sound echoing in the quiet hall. I limped forward until I was standing in front of the stage.

I looked up at him. My face was completely void of emotion. No anger. No sadness. Just nothing.

"Are you finished?" I asked. My voice wasn't loud, but in the silence, it carried.

Jax blinked, confused by my lack of reaction. He wanted tears. He wanted me to beg.

"Eliana-"

"You are not a king, Jax," I said calmly. "You are just a male with a title your father gave you."

I looked at Catalina, then back at him.

"And you have poor taste."

I turned around.

"How dare you!" Jax roared. The Alpha Aura slammed into the room, making people drop to their knees.

But I didn't kneel.

The pain in my knee was blinding, but I locked my joints. I kept my spine straight.

"You are nothing to me," I said, not looking back. "Just a common male."

I walked out of the hall. The pressure of his aura pushed against my back, trying to crush me, but I used it as fuel.

I heard glass shattering behind me. Jax had thrown his drink against the wall.

He was angry. Good.

Because I was done being sad.