Whispers slithered into my ears.

“Is she insane?”

“Wearing a fake to this?”

“It’s a slap in the face to the Vampire Prince!”

“If the Prince finds out…”

“The entire wolf pack is done for!”

The murmurs grew louder. Panic started to spread through the crowd.

Everyone stared at me like I was already dead.

The color drained from Seth’s face.

He felt the furious glares of the pack elders and scrambled to distance himself. “For the record, I have nothing to do with this lunatic!”

He shouted, making sure everyone could hear him.

“She was cast out of the pack three years ago! Her actions have nothing to do with us! If there are consequences, she’ll face them alone!”

His words were a dagger in the heart he’d already shattered.

“That’s right!” Brielle strode toward me, her eyes glittering with venom. “Does a traitor really think she can defile the sacred Truce Gala?”

She pointed a sharp finger at my necklace, her voice a piercing shriek. “Take it off! Now! And get out! Don’t you dare disrespect the Vampire Prince any further!”

I stood my ground, unmoving.

“Are you deaf?” Brielle had completely lost it.

She lunged, her hand reaching to rip the necklace from my throat.

I recoiled instinctively.

Just then, a foot shot out from the crowd.

The trip came out of nowhere. My feet went out from under me.

THUD.

I crashed onto the slick marble, the impact jarring me to the bone.

My head spun. Blinding pain shot up my spine.

But a colder fear seized me. The fall had jolted my womb.

The moonstone necklace slid from my neck, clattering against the ground.

“Hahaha!” Brielle shrieked with glee. She scrambled to snatch it up. “Finally got it!”

She held the necklace high, then smashed it onto the floor.

CRACK!

The clasp broke. The delicate chain scattered. But the massive moonstone remained perfectly intact.

It lay silently on the ground, still glowing with a mysterious silver light.

“Huh?” Brielle froze. “This fake is pretty tough, isn't it?”

Not giving up, she grabbed the moonstone and hurled it against the wall.

CRACK!

A fissure appeared in the wall. But the moonstone was still flawless.

“Interesting,” Brielle sneered. “Too bad it’s going to bring ruin to our entire pack.”

She loomed over me, malice dripping from her eyes.

“You’re going to die, Ember. When the Vampire Prince finds out someone insulted his mate, you’ll learn what a fate worse than death really is.”

She waved to the guards.

“Drag this madwoman out! Don’t let her taint this sacred night!”

Two towering werewolf guards started toward me.

“Wait!” I forced myself to sit up. “How dare you…”

“Still trying to argue?” Brielle strode over.

SMACK!

Another slap. The other side of my face flared with pain.

“Still talking back?”

SMACK! A second one.

“You ungrateful traitor, you worthless blood-slave! Wasn’t three days ago enough of a lesson for you? Did you really think you could fool everyone with a cheap fake?”

She was completely unhinged, her words a frantic tirade.

I slumped to the floor, my cheeks swollen, a trickle of blood at the corner of my mouth.

But all I could worry about was the baby in my womb. My stomach ached from the fall.

In this moment of utter humiliation, Seth seemed to make up his mind. He walked slowly toward me.

He crouched down, putting on a pitiful, sympathetic face.

“Ember, look at you. Why do this to yourself? You knew it was a fake. Why embarrass yourself like this? Why drag the entire pack down with you?”

He reached out a hand, as if to help me up.

“But I’m a forgiving man. If you get on your knees right now and beg me, I can still forgive your foolishness.”

A twisted pleasure flickered in his eyes. This was what he craved.

To see me broken. Begging. Sobbing at his feet. He wanted to own me again.

I looked up at him through my swollen eyes, utterly disgusted.

Just then, the great doors of the ballroom swung open. An ancient, suffocating power filled the air.

The Vampire Prince, Lucian, had arrived.

His mere presence, the aura of a born king, plunged the entire hall into a dead silence.

Seth, who a moment ago was demanding I beg him, scrambled backward, his eyes screaming a threat: You’re finished, Ember. I can’t save you. You’re dead.

Then, under the terrified gaze of everyone present, Lucian stalked straight toward me, radiating a terrifying killing intent.