- DEREK
The Masquerade Ball was a different kind of spectacle than the Alpha Ball. Where last night had been about power and alliances displayed openly beneath the amphitheater’s vast sky, tonight was meant to be a night of mystery, of fresh starts, of the Moon Goddess weaving her golden thread between lost souls.
The playhouse had been transformed into a world of whispered possibilities–masked figures gliding through candlelit halls, soft laughter behind velvet curtains, stolen glances
in shadowed alcoves.
It was designed for mystery.
For second chances.
For fate.
I hadn’t come for any of those reasons.
I’d come for her.
I lingered near the balcony overlooking the dance floor, the golden glow of chandeliers flickering off the polished wood below. The air was thick with the scent of wine and roses, sumptuous and intoxicating. Laughter drifted up from the couples weaving through the room, strangers seeking their other halves, hopeful souls chasing the invisible bond of
destiny.
I had once believed in fate.
I had once believed it had given me Elena.
And now, across the room, I saw her–draped in deep green, her hair cascading over one shoulder, a delicate mask hiding most of her face.
But I knew.
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Even in disguise, even behind a mask–I would know her anywhere.
Elena.
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A fierce, irrational sense of possession shot through me. She had been avoiding me, her family keeping me at a distance, and yet here she was, speaking with Silverclaw wolves like she belonged among them.
I forced my hands to unclench, inhaling slowly as I watched her. She was poised, graceful,
but something about the way she held herself told me she wasn’t entirely at ease. Her fingers tightened subtly around the stem of her champagne flute, her nods careful,
measured.
What was she doing?
a
Before I could move toward her, a ripple of excitement passed through the crowd, drawing
my attention.
A couple in the center of the ballroom had gone still, staring at one another as if the rest of
the world had vanished. The murmurs started almost immediately.
Fated mates.
The woman’s lips parted, her breath catching, and her partner–tall, broad–shouldered-
reached for her hand, as if drawn by some invisible force. A quiet gasp came from someone
nearby, followed by hushed murmurs.
The bond had snapped into place.
A moment later, it happened again.
me,
All around
them together.
wolves were finding their fated mates, the electric pull of destiny drawing
barely noticed.
My attention had locked onto Elena once more.
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She was speaking with a group of Silverclaw members, her voice light, but her posture guarded. My jaw tightened as I studied her, the way she tilted her head in polite interest, the way she seemed just slightly on edge.
She wasn’t here to find a mate. She was searching for something else.
My stomach twisted. What angle was she playing? Throughout her time with me, many members of Silverclaw had accepted her as their future Luna. Did she know them? Did they know it was her?
I’d expected her to avoid the Silverclaw pack members like she’d avoided me. It had been six years since she’d had any contact at all with them. What suddenly changed?
I moved down the staircase, ignoring the murmured conversations around me. The mask I wore was simple–black and unadorned, a stark contrast to the elaborate disguises around me. But it served its purpose. No one looked twice at me.
No one except her.
Elena’s gaze flicked toward me for the briefest moment, her body stiffening, before she quickly looked away. She recognized me too.
Good.
I watched as she excused herself from the conversation and moved toward the edge of the ballroom, toward the exit that led to the quieter halls beyond. She was running. Again.
I wasn’t going to let her.
I caught up to her in one of the darkened hallways that lined the playhouse, away from the music, away from prying eyes.
“Elena.”
She stopped.
For a moment, she didn’t turn, her fingers tightening around the edge of her mask. Then,
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slowly, she faced me.
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Up close, the disguise did nothing. It was still her. Still the woman I had spent years aching for. Still the woman I had lost.
“Derek.” Her voice was quiet. “You shouldn’t be here.”
I huffed a laugh, something acerbic curling at the edges. “Why not? I don’t have a mate anymore. Isn’t tonight about finding one?”
Silence stretched between us, charged, heavy.
“Isn’t that why you’re here?” I said finally. “You’re looking for someone. Does Logan know you’re here?”
I couldn’t keep the bitterness out of my voice and I hated myself for it.
She narrowed her eyes, venom rising to the surface. I probably deserved it.
I sighed, letting go of some of the anger. “Or is it…something?”
She turned to walk away again and then seemed to change her mind, her body sagging, as if accepting defeat. Though I had come to her to demand answers, I held my tongue, unused to seeing her so desperately forlorn.
She looked up at me sadly.
Something in me cracked, but I forced the weakness down. I had come here for a reason. “How long have you been with Logan?”
Her lips parted slightly, her breath catching.
The hesitation was all I needed.
I let out a slow exhale, nodding to myself. “Right. Since before you came back. Before you remembered who you really are.”
She said nothing.
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I forced myself to meet her gaze, to hold it. “And Aiden?” The words felt like glass in my throat. “Is he his?”
A shadow crossed her face, something unreadable. But she didn’t deny it.
My teeth clenched. “Of course he is.”
Still, she didn’t speak, a sadness in her eyes that I couldn’t name.
Something bitter lodged itself deep in my ribs.
I should have been furious. I was furious.
But there was something else, something creeping beneath my anger as I watched her. She
looked tired. Weary in a way I had never seen before.
Her voice was small when she finally spoke. “I thought maybe coming here…”
I stopped, held my tongue to see if she’d elaborate, if she’d give me some answers, but she shook her head, her sadness suddenly turning to anger.
“Never mind,” she said. “You’ll never change, will you?”
For a moment, I wasn’t sure what to do with the tangled mess of emotions inside me.
Because for the first time in all of this, I wasn’t looking at the woman who had betrayed me. I was looking at someone who had been stolen from me.
Her memories. Her choices. And maybe, in some twisted way, her truth.
Elena exhaled “You have the answers you want,” she said, then turned on her heel and
marched off.
I could have stopped her. I could have said something, done something.
But I didn’t.
I let her turn. I let her walk away, disappearing down the hall and back into the candlelit haze of the masquerade. I let her go. For now.
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Because this wasn’t over. If she thought she could keep me at arm’s length, if she thought Logan and her family could build a wall between us high enough to keep me out-
Then she had forgotten who I was.
And I was going to remind her.
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