Chapter 98 The Gala
The city looks different from the top of Darius’s skyscraper.
Cleaner. Smaller. Like all the chaos below has been ironed flat beneath glass and steel.
Tonight, the building is glowing, every floor lit, the upper levels reserved for the fundraiser. Cameras outside. Protesters further down the block. Security everywhere.
A fundraiser.For supernatural-human relations.
The hybrid attacks have rattled everyone,humans, vampires, and witches. Fear spreads faster than facts, and tonight is about containment. About showing the world that the Alpha King is in control. That the monsters are not running loose.
That I am not the monster.
I stand in front of the floor-to-ceiling window in Darius’s private suite and stare at my reflection.
Black silk.
That’s what I chose.
It clings in ways that feel almost dangerous, cut low across my back, high at my thigh. The fabric moves like liquid when I breathe. My hair falls loose down my shoulders, darker against the pale line of my spine.
I smooth my hands down the length of my dress and stare at my reflection in the glass.
The door behind me opens softly.
I don’t turn immediately. I don’t have to. I feel him.
Darius steps into the room, adjusting the cuffs of his jacket. He looks exactly what he is tonight, the Alpha King.
He’s in a black suit tailored within an inch of perfection. No tie. Top button undone. Effortless authority. The kind of man who doesn’t need to announce himself because the room rearranges around him automatically.
His gaze moves over me.
Slowly.
It starts at my shoulders, lingers at my waist, drops lower, then comes back up to my face.
Something in his expression darkens. Possession.
“You know you’re asking for trouble in that dress, right?” he asks lightly.
“I don't plan on causing any trouble,” I reply. “Only when I get bored.”
His eyes flick to my bare legs again
“I didn’t realize the dress was that…” He clears his throat.
I step closer, lowering my voice. “I would have worn something safer.”
“Oh?”
A smile tugs at my mouth. “Relax. I’m not here to seduce the Tribunal.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about.”
The helicopter ride to the venue is short, loud, and intimate, as small spaces always are.
The city lights blur beneath us.
Darius sits across from me, knees nearly brushing mine. The wind from the rotors makes conversation close and personal. He leans forward slightly so I can hear him.
“You don’t have to prove anything tonight,” he says. “You don’t owe them softness.”
I tilt my head. “I’m not being soft. I’m being strategic.”
His eyes flick down, just for a fraction of a second, then back up.
“That dress is strategic?”
I lean closer, lowering my voice conspiratorially. “Yes especially that I'm not wearing any underwear.”
The words slip out before I can reconsider them.
For half a second, he just stares at me.
Then something in his composure fractures.
His grip tightens on the edge of his seat. His throat works as he swallows.
“Lyra,” he says carefully.
“Yes?”
He leans closer still, voice dropping to something rougher. “You are testing limits you don’t fully understand.”
I smile sweetly. “I understand them perfectly.”
“Lyra,” he warns.
I smile sweetly. “Relax. You’re the one who said I needed to make an impression.”
His hand slides to the small of my back, firm. Grounding. A silent warning.
“Be careful,” he murmurs. “You don’t know what that does to me.”
The bond hums faintly in agreement. The helicopter lands before I can respond.
When we land at the venue,a massive glass-and-marble cultural center owned by Darius,the red carpet is already lined with cameras and officials.
As soon as the doors open, all eyes turn.
I step out first. The silence is immediate.It spreads outward in a ripple, like a stone dropped into still water.
I keep my chin level. Back straight. Calm.
I am not a threat. I am not a lab experiment. I am not your nightmare.
Darius joins me a second later, his presence solid at my side. His hand slides around my waist, firm enough that no one mistakes the message.
The tension in the crowd is palpable. Humans try not to stare too openly. Vampires watch with calculating stillness. Wolves stand taller, proud.
We move inside under chandeliers dripping in crystal light. Music plays softly. Champagne flows. Conversations resume in cautious bursts.
Darius leans close. “Breathe.”
“I am.”
“Not like that.”
I exhale slower.
He guides me through the crowd.
Whispers trail in our wake.
“That’s her.”
“The hybrid.”
“She doesn’t look….”
“Careful.”
He guides me through the room, introducing me formally.
“Lyra Soren,” he says to each cluster of dignitaries. “My Queen.”
The word lands differently each time.
Some nod politely. Some hesitate before shaking my hand. A few avoid touching me entirely.
I keep my expression calm. My breathing even. I didn’t come here to intimidate.
I came to show them I’m not a monster.
We reach the center of the room where the Inter-Species Tribunal members are gathered. The air feels charged here,politics always does.
Darius’s grip firms slightly.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he says smoothly, voice carrying without effort. “Allow me to introduce my mate and Queen Lyra Soren.”
A murmur ripples outward.
Then an elderly woman steps forward from the group.
She’s small, silver-haired, wrapped in a deep blue gown that looks like it belongs in another era. Her eyes are sharp and bright despite the lines around them.
“Lyra,” she says warmly. “I am Chairwoman Eleanor Whitcombe.”
The Chairwoman of the Inter-Species Tribunal.
The most powerful human in this building.
She reaches for my hand without hesitation.
Her hand extends.
I take it carefully.
Her grip is surprisingly strong.
“If someone had told me fifty years ago,” she continues, voice carrying a gentle lilt, “that werewolves and vampires and all the creatures I read about in dusty folklore texts were real, I would have called them insane.”
A ripple of polite laughter moves through the circle.
“But to tell me that a werewolf and vampire hybrid exists?” She studies me with open curiosity. “That would have sounded like a miracle.”
The word hits me unexpectedly.
Miracle.
Her thumb presses lightly against my knuckles.
“And yet here you are.”
I swallow.
“I am honored,” she says softly, “to witness a miracle in my lifetime.”
Something inside my chest loosens.
Her words aren’t political. They aren’t calculating.
They’re sincere.
Warmth spreads through me in a way that has nothing to do with the dress or the lights or Darius standing beside me.
“Thank you,” I managed.
For a moment, I let myself believe this is possible. That I can stand here without being feared. Without being accused. Without being hunted.
And then…..
A slow, sarcastic clap echoes from behind us.
“Oh, how touching.”
The voice slices through the warmth like a blade. I don’t have to turn to know who it belongs to. But I do anyway.
Celeste stands poised in a deep emerald gown, her posture regal, her smile razor-thin, diamonds glittering at her throat. Beside her stands Faruk. At his side, his mate Amina watches quietly, assessing.
And at his side, Amina, his mate, quiet and observant.
Celeste’s gaze drifts over me slowly.Assessing me like she always did.
“Fifty years ago,” she continues coolly, “we would have burned creatures like her.”
The air tightens and the room stills.
Darius’s arm tightens fractionally around my waist.
I don’t look at him. I don’t need to. I meet Celeste’s gaze head-on.
“Celeste,” he says evenly.
She inclines her head. “Alpha King.”
Her eyes return to me.
“You do clean up well,” she remarks. “One almost forgets the… unfortunate headlines.”
There it is.
The reminder.The threat beneath the silk. I feel my beast stir ,not violently, but alert.
I step forward before Darius can respond.
“If I were a threat,” I say calmly, meeting her gaze, “you wouldn’t be standing that close.”
A flicker. Not fear. Annoyance.
Faruk’s lips twitch faintly, like he’s suppressing something.
Celeste smiles wider. “Confidence. How refreshing.”
The Chairwoman clears her throat gently. “Perhaps tonight we focus on unity.”
Celeste’s gaze lingers on me one beat too long before she nods. “Of course.”
But the damage is done.
The warmth from earlier has cooled and I can feel the room recalibrating around us.