Chapter 30 Chapter 30
Zane
After Kaius disappeared somewhere in the hall and I did not care where, I loosened my grip on Tiana and walked out of the convergence ballroom.
I had walked halfway across the hall before Ezra caught up to me.
“Alpha.”
I turned on him, my jaw so tight that I could feel my teeth grinding. “What?”
“You need to go back inside.”
“I need,” I said, each word clipped, “to not be in that hall right now.”
Ezra didn’t flinch. He had served as my Beta long enough to know when to push and when to retreat. This, apparently, was a pushing moment, for him.
“I understand you’re angry—”
“Do you?”
“—but leaving now will have consequences. For the pack and did her.”
The mention of Tiana made a tightness twist in my chest, but I didn’t let it show.
“She made her choice,” I announced. “She chose to dance with him.”
“Alpha, I believe she chose to avoid causing a scene. I can see reasons with her.”
I wanted to argue and tell him that he was wrong, that Tiana had looked comfortable in Kaius’s arms, and had smiled at him earlier when she thought I wasn’t watching.
But the words stuck in my throat.
I exhaled through my nose, trying to force the tension out of my shoulders. It didn’t work.
“The Master of Ceremonies just announced the Mate auctioning,” Ezra continued. “The bidding for the Bonding Dance sponsorships.”
“Good for them.”
“Alpha—”
“I’m not participating.”
Ezra’s expression shifted to concern. “You know what that will look like.”
“I know exactly what it will look like.”
“Then you understand the implications.”
I did.
Refusing to participate in the Mate auction would send a message. A public declaration that I didn’t value my bond with Tiana enough to allow others to honor it. That our pairing wasn’t worth the political currency a high bid would bring.
It would be an insult. To her. To the pack. To the entire structure of what we were supposed to represent.
And after the scene I had just caused on the dance floor, the gossip would be vicious.
But the alternative, standing there while other Alphas bid on the privilege of sponsoring our dance, knowing full well that after my display, the amounts would be embarrassingly low, felt worse.
“Our odds of receiving a respectable bid are minimal,” I said, forcing the words to sound analytical rather than bitter. “Not after what just happened. Participating would only highlight the discord. Make us look weaker than we already do.”
“Or,” Ezra countered quietly, “it would show that you’re willing to honor tradition despite personal conflict. That you’re strong enough to put the pack’s image above your own pride.”
The accusation—because that’s what it was, thinly veiled, landed hard.
“This isn’t about my pride.”
“Isn’t it?”
I wanted to snap at him. He needed to be reminded of his place, that questioning an Alpha’s decisions had consequences.
But I did not.
Because again, he was right.
And we both knew it.
I turned away, staring out through the corridor windows toward the gardens beyond. The moon hung full and bright, illuminating everything in silver.
The same moon that had bound me to Tiana. That had chosen her—of all the wolves in existence—to be my mate.
“She didn’t do anything wrong,” Ezra said after a long silence.
“I know,” Except that my anger was not only about this night.
“Then why are you out here instead of in there with her?”
Because watching Kaius touch her had felt like claws raking down the inside of my chest. The bond had made my wolf roar with possessive fury I hadn’t known I was capable of. And I didn’t trust myself not to do something worse if I stayed in that hall.
Again, I didn’t say any of that.
“Give me a minute,” I said instead.
Ezra nodded once, then stepped back. Giving me space but not leaving entirely. A silent presence that somehow helped ground me.
I focused on my breathing. In through the nose. Out through the mouth. Continuously.
The anger was still there, coiled tight beneath my ribs. But the sharp edge of it had dulled slightly.
Enough that I could think and recognize what needed to be done.
I straightened my jacket. Rolled my shoulders back, letting the mask of control slide back into place.
Then I turned and walked back toward the hall.
The Master of Ceremonies was speaking when I entered, his voice carrying across the space with authority.
“—and with that, we conclude the Mate auctioning. A generous display of respect and unity from all participating packs.”
I had missed it.
The entire bidding process had happened in the time I had been outside, and I hadn’t been there.
Guilt flickered through me for a brief moment.
Around the hall, wolves were moving toward the center of the floor for the Bonding Dance—the final big ceremony of the evening, where each mated pair would dance before the assembly.
My eyes found Tiana immediately.
She sat alone at our table, her hands folded tightly in her lap. Her shoulders were drawn in, making her look smaller than she was. And even from across the room, I could see the slight tremor running through her, the exact fear I had put into her.
She possibly thought I had left her.
Undoubtedly, I was so close to walking out and not coming back. I felt for a moment to abandon her in front of the entire Convergence because of all that had happened with Kaius.
I crossed the hall in long strides, not bothering to acknowledge the wolves who tried to catch my attention.
When I reached her, she looked up.
Her eyes were wide. Uncertain. And something in them looked almost… relieved.
Like she’d been bracing for rejection and my presence alone had eased some of that fear.
“Tiana.”
She stood quickly, almost stumbling in her haste. “I thought—”
“I know.”
The words came out rougher than I would prefer. But they were honest, at least.
I extended my hand.
She stared at it for a moment, as if unsure whether to trust the gesture.
Then, slowly, she placed her hand in mine.
Her fingers were cold. Trembling slightly.
I closed my hand around hers, steadying her.
“Come,” I said quietly. “We have a dance to complete.”
The music began as we stepped onto the floor.
Soft at first. A melody that built gradually, weaving through the hall like something alive.
Other couples moved around us, Alphas and Lunas swaying together in synchronized grace.
I pulled Tiana closer, my hand finding her waist.
She inhaled sharply at the contact, but she didn’t pull away.
Her hand settled on my shoulder lightly, and then we began to move.
Our movements were slightly out of sync at first. Her steps were hesitant and mine, were a bit too controlled.
But gradually we found a rhythm.
Her body began to relax against mine. The trembling in her fingers eased causing her breathing to even out.
My hand shifted on her waist, pulling her incrementally closer, enough that I could feel the warmth of her through the silk of her gown.
She tilted her head slightly, her gaze lifting to meet mine.
In it was a look I could not exactly name, but it seemed really peaceful.
It should be enough to keep the question that was throbbing in my head away, but it was difficult.
And even as I had an idea of the effect my question could create, I went on:
“Why did you agree to a dance with him?”