Seraphina’s POV 1


    Ophelia dragged me back to her small apartment above the bakery, her eyes zing with determination. “We’re not letting those bastards win,” she dered, pulling out makeup and rifling through her closet.


    She spun around, holding up an emerald green dress that perfectly matched my eyes. “Tonight, we show them what they lost.”


    The dress was beautiful-silky and elegant, with a flowing skirt that hugged my curves in all the right ces.


    As Ophelia worked on my makeup, carefully applying smoky eyeshadow that made my green eyes pop, I felt something shifting inside <ol><li></li></ol>


    “There,” Ophelia stepped back, admiring her handiwork. “Now you look like the goddess you are.”


    I barely recognized myself in the mirror. The woman staring back at me looked confident, mysterious, beautiful. Nothing like the broken


    omega who’d fled Gabriel’s house just hours ago.


    “Come on,” Ophelia grabbed my hand. “Silver Moon Harbor awaits.”


    “I can’t believe we’re actually doing this,” I whispered as we approached the grand entrance.


    “Believe it, honey,” Ophelia grinned, straightening her own dress and passed me a mask. “Tonight, we’re not wolves from nowhere.


    Tonight, we’re mysterious beauties who belong wherever we damn well please.”


    The ballroom took my breath


    Way. Crystal chandeliers cast rainbow patterns across marble floors, and hundreds of werewolves in elegant attire mingled beneath soaring ceilings. Everyone wore borate masks, adding an air of mystery to the already intoxicating


    atmosphere.


    “Holy shit,” I breathed, then immediately covered my mouth.


    She pressed two tequ shots into my hands, raising her own. “To new beginnings and leaving the past in the dust!”


    The alcohol burned down my throat, but it was a good burn-cleansing, like it was washing away the bitter taste of betrayal. Ophelia


    immediately ordered two more.


    “I don’t usually drink this much,” I protested weakly.


    “You don’t usually find your boyfriend screwing your sister either,” she pointed out. “Extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary


    measures.”


    By the third round, I was feeling deliciously dizzy and incredibly free. The pain was still there, but muffled now, wrapped in cotton and


    shoved into a corner of my mind.


    “Dance with me,” Ophelia pulled me toward the crowded dance floor, and for the first time in hours, I smiled genuinely.


    We lost ourselves in the music, spinning andughing like we didn’t have a care in the world. Other wolves watched us with interest, but


    I was too caught up in the moment to care. This was what freedom felt like.


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    When a slow song began to y, I was about to suggest we get some air when I felt a warm hand capture mine.


    I turned, and my breath caught in my throat.


    The man standing before me wore an elegant silver mask that covered the upper half of his face, but what I could see was devastating. Strong jaw, sensual lips curved in a slight smile, and eyes… God, those eyes. They were the deepest blue I’d ever seen, so dark they were almost ck, but when the light hit them just right, they seemed to shimmer with silver.


    “The most beautiful woman in the room wouldn’t refuse a dance, would she?” His voice was like aged whiskey-smooth, rich, with just


    enough roughness to make my pulse skip.


    I should have said no. Should have remembered that I was hurting, that I’d just had my heart shattered. Instead, I found myself cing my hand in his and letting him lead me onto the dance floor.


    “Why not?” I heard myself say. “Let’s dance.”


    He was tall-at least six and a half feet-with broad shoulders that filled out his expensive suit perfectly. When he pulled me close, I could feel the solid warmth of his chest, the careful strength in his hands as one settled on my waist and the other cradled my palm.


    “I’ve been watching you since you walked in,” he murmured near my ear, his breath sending shivers down my spine. “You’re absolutely


    captivating.”


    Thepliment should have felt empty-we were strangers, after all-but something in his voice made it feel genuine.


    “You’re not from around here, are you?” I found myself asking, tilting my head back to look into those mesmerizing eyes.


    “What gave me away?” There was amusement in his voice, and I could see his lips curve into a more genuine smile.


    “You don’t feel… local.” It was hard to exin, but his scent was different from the wolves I’d grown up with. Richer, moreplex.


    “Very perceptive.” His hand on my waist tightened slightly, drawing me closer until there was barely an inch of space between us. “I’m


    here for friends. I would have arrived sooner.”


    “And what about you?” he continued, spinning me slowly before pulling me back against his chest. “Let me guess-dragged here by a


    well-meaning friend as well?”


    Iughed despite myself. “Something like that. Though her methods are a bit more aggressive than most.”


    We moved together like we’d been dancing for years instead of minutes, our bodies finding a rhythm that felt as natural as breathing.


    “You have beautiful eyes,” he said suddenly, his voice dropping to barely above a whisper. “Like emeralds in moonlight.”


    “I could say the same,” I replied, mesmerized by the way his eyes seemed to catch and hold the light. “I’ve never seen eyes quite like


    yours.”


    The song was ending, but neither of us made any move to separate. If anything, he held me closer, his hand sliding from my waist to the


    small of my back.


    “I think I need some fresh air.”


    “Come with me.” He led me toward a dim corridor that led to the emergency exit.


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    “I really want to kiss you. May 1?” I nodded.