Chapter 165
Freya’s POV
Thorne barely acknowledged Jasper's words. His eyes were fixed on me, scrutinizing my transformed appearance with an intensity that made my skin heat.
"So you really are here," he said, his deep voice sending an involuntary shiver down my spine. "Did I give you permission to leave Grey Estate without a word, Freya?"
The use of my real name was deliberate—a reminder of who I truly was beneath the elegant façade. I felt Jasper stiffen beside me but kept my focus on Thorne.
"That's right, Freya," Kaelin chimed in, her voice sweetly poisonous. "How could you just disappear like that? We were so worried about you."
The blatant lie might have amused me if I weren't so tense. I forced myself to stand straight, channeling the confidence I'd felt during Selena's photoshoot.
"Where I go is hardly your concern," I replied, my voice steadier than I felt.
Thorne's hand shot out, grasping my wrist with barely contained fury. "What did you say? Have you forgotten you're my servant?"
The contact sent a jolt through me—part fear, part something else I refused to name. I met his gaze directly.
"Let go of me," I said clearly. "I'm not your servant. I'm Mia Porter, designer for Stone Group."
Jasper stepped forward smoothly. "Ms. Porter is indeed one of our most promising new talents," he confirmed, his voice carrying just far enough for nearby wolves to hear. "We're fortunate to have recognized her potential."
Thorne's grip on my wrist tightened fractionally before he released me, his eyes never leaving mine. The fury in them was mixed with something else—confusion, perhaps, or disbelief.
A tense silence fell between us, broken unexpectedly by Kaelin's lilting voice.
"A designer, you say?" Her eyes gleamed with malicious amusement as she looked me up and down. "Perhaps Ms. Porter could put her supposed talents to use for our upcoming ceremony."
The sudden tension in Thorne's posture told me he sensed the trap as clearly as I did.
"With the full moon binding ceremony approaching," Kaelin continued, her voice honey-sweet but her eyes cold, "I think it would be... appropriate for Ms. Porter to design our ceremonial rings. Don't you agree, Thorne?"
The request was audacious. The binding ceremony rings were sacred symbols, traditionally designed by long-established pack artisans. For an "outsider" like me to be suggested was bordering on insult—and Kaelin knew it. This was her way of publicly humiliating me.
Thorne looked at me for a long, charged moment. I held my breath, certain he would refuse, possibly even cause a scene. Instead, his lips curved in a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"An interesting proposition," he said, his voice dangerously soft. "Let's see what your... designer can create, Alpha Stone."
The acceptance stunned me. Before I could process it, Jasper was nodding in satisfaction.
"Excellent. Ms. Porter will begin right away. I'm sure you'll be impressed by her talent."
Thorne's eyes held mine for one more burning moment. "I look forward to seeing what you can do, Ms. Porter," he said, the emphasis on my false name making it clear he wasn't fooled for a second.
---
After that tense exchange, I needed space to breathe. I excused myself from Jasper's side and found my way to the bar, where I ordered a glass of whiskey. The liquid burned pleasantly as it went down, helping to calm my frayed nerves.
One glass turned into two, and I felt a slight haziness beginning to cloud my thoughts—a welcome relief from the acute awareness I'd been maintaining all evening. My wolf, typically resistant to alcohol's effects, seemed equally willing to let the edges of reality soften.
The room had become warmer, more crowded. The press of bodies and competing scents made my head spin. I needed air—clean air free from the confusing mixture of perfumes, foods, and wolf pheromones.
I slipped through a set of glass doors onto a wide stone terrace that overlooked the gardens. The night air was cool against my flushed skin, and I took deep, grateful breaths. The moon hung high above, not quite full but bright enough to illuminate the formal gardens below.
Leaning against the stone balustrade, I closed my eyes and tried to process the evening's events. Thorne was here. He'd seen me. And somehow, impossibly, I'd been roped into designing rings for his binding ceremony with Kaelin. The irony was almost too much to bear.
I was so lost in thought that I didn't notice I wasn't alone until a male voice spoke from behind me.
"Beautiful night, isn't it?"
I turned to find a Beta wolf I didn't recognize—middle-aged, slightly heavy-set, with the unmistakable flush of someone who'd had too much to drink. His eyes roamed over me with inappropriate interest.
"Yes," I replied curtly, turning back to the view, hoping he'd take the hint.
He didn't. Instead, he moved closer, his scent—musk and alcohol with undertones of something sour—invading my space.
"You smell... different," he said, leaning in further. "Not quite like any Beta I've encountered before."
My wolf stirred uneasily beneath my skin. "I should get back to the party," I said, attempting to step around him.
He blocked my path with surprising agility for someone so intoxicated. "What's your hurry? I'm just trying to get to know Alpha Stone's new... friend." The pause before "friend" made his insinuation clear.
"Excuse me," I said more firmly, my hand instinctively curling into a fist.
"It's interesting," he continued as if I hadn't spoken, "how you managed to catch Alpha Stone's attention so quickly." His eyes narrowed. "Though it seems you've been trying to catch Grey Moon's Alpha too. Ambitious, aren't you?"
The accusation made my blood boil. My wolf, already agitated by the evening's events and emboldened by the whiskey, surged forward. Before I could stop myself, my hand shot out, fingernails momentarily extending into claws that left two thin scratches across his cheek.
He jerked back in shock, then anger flooded his face. "You little—" he growled, his own partial transformation beginning as his eyes gleamed with rage.
Too late, I realized my mistake. The alcohol had dulled my reflexes, and this wolf was larger and stronger than me. As he began to shift, I braced myself for an attack I wasn't sure I could deflect.
Then a sound cut through the night—a low, threatening growl that vibrated through the very stone beneath our feet. The Beta wolf froze instantly, his transformation halting as instinctive fear washed over his features.
"Step away from her," came Thorne's voice, deadly quiet yet somehow filling the entire terrace. "Now."
The Beta scrambled backward, terror evident in every line of his body. "Alpha Thorne," he stammered. "I was just—"
"Leave," Thorne interrupted, the single word carrying the full weight of an Alpha command.