Chapter 16: A Dress Stained in History
The great hall was awash in gold and firelight, chandeliers swaying gently with the breeze that crept through the stone arches. Dozens of noble eyes turned as Aria entered, her steps slow, unsure.
The gown weighed heavily upon her. Not just in fabric, but in memory—in legacy.
Each step echoed against the polished stone, louder in her ears than any murmur.
She had not been raised in halls like these. Her hands had once scrubbed the very floors she now walked.
And now she stood where a Luna would.
Before she could falter, a firm hand steadied her back.
Beta Cedric.
He leaned in, voice a quiet command against the chaos of her thoughts.
“Straighten your shoulders. Chin up. They’ve not seen your weakness yet—don’t hand it to them.”
She obeyed, though her limbs trembled.
Gasps rippled through the room.
Elders leaned forward. Whispers rose like smoke among the courtiers.
“That dress—” one of them rasped.
“Luna Giselle’s gown…” another murmured in disbelief.
“How does she have it?”
“This is an insult. A relic of our pack—given to her?”
“Alpha Demetrius let her wear it?”
Scarlet, watching from the side, sneered.
“A disgrace,” she muttered, voice thick with scorn. “That dress belongs to a true Luna. She has no right.”
Another voice rose, alarmed.
“What’s going on?”
“That is Luna Giselle’s wedding dress!”
“Has Alpha Demetrius accepted her?”
“Oh, please,” Scarlet scoffed. “His Grace would never do that. He couldn’t have known she was wearing it. Aurora is just like her mother—she’s trying to spite us.”
Muttered insults spread through the crowd like wildfire.
But Aria heard none of it.
She could feel the tension, the judgment, the disdain pressing in from all sides—but her mind was too full of her own steps, the unbearable weight of their stares.
Yet it wasn’t just the scrutiny of the elders or the nobles that made her skin crawl.
It was them.
Across the hall, Alpha Ethan’s packmates watched in silence, their expressions unreadable.
But behind their composed faces, their voices rang through their link.
Thank the Moon Goddess it wasn’t Aurora .
Did you see the way the Ravenwood Pack is tearing her apart?
Serves her right for playing dress-up in a place she doesn’t belong.
“Keep calm, or you’ll blow it all,” their Beta cautioned.
Near them, standing beside her mother, Aurora —the woman who was supposed to be Ethan’s Luna—smiled faintly.
Her voice slithered through the link, deceptively soft.
“Don’t waste your energy on her,” she murmured. “We’re only here to deceive their pack, not to get angry at a useless human.”
A few chuckled in agreement.
“You’ve forgotten—she’s not human,” her mother mind-linked her, blocking others from hearing them.
“Yet she still won’t last,” Kara replied. “Before they find out, we’ll have more of the other packs on our side. The Ravenwood Pack is already tearing her down. She won’t last long.”
Aurora gaze flickered to Aria , watching the sneers, the whispers, the judgment.
And she smiled.
Meanwhile, Ethan said nothing.
But his eyes burned.
Aria could feel them searing into her back, his rage, his… frustration.
Aria clenched her fists.
Aria forced herself to breathe.
There was another who had noticed her—though not in the same way.
At the head of the hall, Alpha Demetrius had risen from his seat.
For the first time since this gathering began, his calculating mind fell silent.
Because she was breathtaking.
The glow of the torches reflected off the silk, highlighting the soft curves of the dress. It clung to her in all the right places, regal yet delicate, a perfect fit despite the centuries that had passed since its last wearer.
Aria hair, no longer in the simple plaits of a meek woman, cascaded in loose waves, framing her face. Her eyes, wide and uncertain, shimmered under the dim light.
Demetrius forgot everything.
The high lords. The watching Alphas. The scheming elders.
For a moment, all he saw was her.
The dress should have made him think of his mother, of the history it carried.
Instead, it only made him wonder why he could be drawn to her this way.
Demetrius had never been a man who second-guessed his instincts. He had honed them into weapons, sharp and unyielding. But as his gaze lingered on Aria? something unfamiliar twisted in his chest.
His pulse quickened, his breath deepened. Every step she took sent a ripple through him, a sensation both foreign and dangerously intoxicating. The scent of her—soft yet distinct—wrapped around him, threading into his lungs, settling deep in his bones. It was maddening.
His fingers twitched against the armrest of his chair. His jaw clenched.
Then, he caught himself.
He was staring too long.
This wasn’t right.
He had known attraction before. Desire, even. But this? This was different. His senses sharpened, attuned to her every movement. The way her throat bobbed as she swallowed. The way her lashes trembled ever so slightly. He shouldn’t notice these things. He shouldn’t care. And yet, he did.
A growl rumbled in his throat, low and quiet, but it did nothing to shake the strange pull.
Ash.
He called for his wolf, needing an answer, needing reason.
Silence.
Demetrius brows furrowed. Ash always answered when he chose to. But not now, he desperately needed him now.
Ash.
Still, nothing.
The absence of his wolf was unnatural, unsettling. It wasn’t sleep, nor was it submission. It was avoidance.
Ash was hiding something.
A flicker of unease settled in his chest. His wolf had been silent since that night—since he had saved her from the rogues.
But then, he clicked.
Demetrius grip tightened on the chair’s edge. That had to be it.
The bond.
He had marked her with blood and magic, staking his claim as punishment, not as fate. This connection—this unnatural draw—was nothing more than the consequences of that choice.
It was normal. Expected.
Nothing more.
His expression smoothed over, the crack in his composure sealed shut.
And just as Aria reached the front of the long table, Demetrius spoke.
His tone was even. Regal.
But it echoed like a verdict.
“Come forth and take your place.”
He extended a hand toward the chair beside his own.
“Sit beside me, Luna.”