Chapter 23 THE PAST I BURIED
Ginnie
Kenna rose first.
The scrape of her chair against the stone floor cut through the hum of conversations in the dinner hall, loud enough that the entire hall slowly fell silent.
All eyes turned to her as she stood beside Varkos, radiant in an expensive red silk dress that clung to her body like a second skin. One of her hands rested lightly on the table, the other lifting her glass as if the world already belonged to her.
“Thank you all for joining us in this marking dinner tonight,” she began, her voice soft and polished, “honored Alphas, elders, and guests of the Blood Moon Pack…thank you for joining us tonight.”
I stood near the end of the dining hall with a silver tray pressed to my palms, my head bowed slightly not to dare look any high-ranked Lycan in the eyes, my spine aching from hours of standing still.
“Tonight,” she continued,” smiling as if she’d rehearsed this moment a thousand times."We celebrate love, and I being the true Luna of this pack,” Her gaze flicked briefly to Varkos, lingering just long enough to send a message everyone could see. “A future built on unity and devotion.”
A loud applause followed from the crowd immediately.
Meanwhile, Varkos remained seated, his hand resting beside hers, close but not enough to touch. The closeness between them shouldn’t have mattered to me, but it did.
Don’t be stupid, Ginnie! I muttered to myself
You shouldn’t be bothered about this!
But something bitter stirred low in my chest even as I told myself that, unwelcome and sharp. I forced it down immediately.
“To my mate, Varkos Draven.” Kenna’s voice drifted me off my thoughts, she lifted her glass higher, her voice bright with triumph. “And to the night that begins everything beautiful between us.”
The hall immediately erupted in applause, louder this time around.
“To the future Luna!” One of the high-ranked Lycan shouted.
I stared at the polished marble floor beneath my feet, grounding myself in the weight of the tray, anything that wasn’t the image of Kenna and Varkos’s PDA, her stupid fingers brushing his sleeve as if she had the right.
Fucking bitch!
My grip tightened around the tray as I lifted my eyes—just for a second, and I met his gaze. Varkos was already staring at me from afar, the expression on his face was unreadable, intense in a way that made my pulse stutter.
For a heartbeat, the music in the dining hall faded. And it was just the two of us, locked in something secret and dangerous.
Then Kenna touched his arm.
And just like that, his attention shifted back to her.
I turned my eyes away immediately, ashamed of the fact that this was hurting me more than it should have.
He chose her, I reminded myself coldly. He chose her over you. Because she’s not a human like you.
Kenna basked in every bit of the attention, she leaned closer to Varkos now, speaking close to his ear, her fingers tracing idle patterns against his arm. A pathetic move to make sure everyone saw how in love the two of them were.
But then—
Kenna stood up again, a sly smirk tugging slightly at the corner of her lips before she parted her lips to speak. “Since this is a celebration,” she announced lightly, “it would be cruel to deny our guests proper entertainment.”
I barely paid attention to what she was saying at first. Entertainment at pack dinners wasn’t unusual, so I drifted my gaze away from her, preparing to move if called by any guest.
“A celebration should reflect all parts of this pack,” she continued, her gaze sweeping the room slowly, until it stopped. On me. “Even the… lesser ones.”
“Can you come forward, Ginnie?” Kenna said calmly. The words didn’t register at first, not until every eye turned to me. “Did you not hear me?” Kenna hissed.
My legs felt like stone as I stepped forward, each step heavier than the last as the hall felt suddenly enormous, the air thick with curiosity. I stopped in front of Kenna, my head bowed as she began circling me like a predator.
“Some of you may not know this,” she said smoothly, addressing the guests, “but our little servant here wasn’t always just a cleaner.”
What the—
“She used to be a dancer.”
The words slammed into me instantly the moment she said them, hitting me like a hard slap across the face.
No.
My hands trembled. “That’s not—”
“Six years ago,” Kenna cut me off before I could finish, “She used to dance at a clubhouse here in Bleeding Rose…before she learned her place.”
Heat rushed to my face, humiliation burning so fiercely it stole every ounce of breath in me. “H…how do you know that?” The words left my mouth before I could stop them.
Kenna leaned closer, her lips hovering near my ear. “I did my homework.”
“Stop this, Kenna,” Varkos growled, standing up abruptly from his chair.
She straightened up, her eyes gleaming with cruel amusement, “It’s just a harmless thing for her to do,” she shot back. “Besides, you promised to grant any wish I wanted tonight, didn’t you?”
Without expecting a reply, Kenna turned back to the guests. “Since she has the experience,” her voice dripped with venom, “why don’t we let her remind us?”
“No,” I forced the words out of me, despite the dread of fear creeping into me. “I won’t—“
Kenna’s hand shot out, gripping my arm painfully before I could complete my words, “You will have to dance whether you like it or not, filthy human!” She barked. “Or you’ll be punished.”
I didn’t even have the time to react as she dragged me toward the center of the hall. A tall dancing pole platform staring me right back in the eyes…a painful reminder of everything I’d buried and prayed would stay dead.
The music changed.
My legs were shaking as she shoved me onto the podium. I looked out at the crowd—everyone of their eyes, curious, hungry, entertained.
Then my eyes met Varkos.
Whose face had gone dangerously still.
“Start dancing,” Kenna’s voice sliced through the music as she commanded. “Or I’ll make you to.”