The hours before the gathering passed in a blur.
Cora slept first, because her body demanded it. The moment Damien left the room, exhaustion dragged her under.
When she woke,it was Late afternoon. Her body still ached, but the bone-deep emptiness had faded. She felt better again
A soft knock on the door with some hesitation
"Come in."
Mira slipped inside, her eyes bright with barely contained excitement. She was carrying something draped over her arms — fabric, dark and flowing.
"Before you ask," Mira said quickly, "yes, I have permission to be here. The Alpha himself said I could help you get ready. Which, by the way, is terrifying. He looked at me like he was deciding whether I was worth the air I was breathing
Cora almost smiled. "That's just his face."
"His face is a lot." Mira laid the fabric on the bed , it was a dress, Cora realized. Deep emerald green, the material rich and heavy. "Anyway. We have two hours before the gathering, and we have work to do."
She gestured at Cora's current state
"No offense, but you look horrible."
"I feel it too "
The dress fit like it had been made for her.
Cora stood in front of the mirror, barely recognizing the woman staring back. The emerald fabric hugged her body in all the right places, flowing to the floor in elegant waves. The neckline was modest but striking, enough to suggest without revealing. The sleeves were long, covering the fading bruises on her arms.
But it was the jewelry that made her breath catch.
A necklace rested against her collarbone — silver, delicate, with a single dark stone that caught the light like captured moonlight. Matching pieces hung from her ears. A thin circlet sat in her hair, which Mira had somehow tamed into soft waves that fell past her shoulders.
She looked like royalty.
She looked like she belonged.
"The Luna's jewels," Mira said quietly, standing behind her. "Damien's mother's. He had them sent up specifically for you."
Cora's throat tightened. "I can't wear these."
"You can. He wants you to." Mira met her eyes in the mirror. "Do you understand what that means? These haven't been worn since his mother died. He's not just presenting you to the pack tonight, Cora. He's telling them you're permanent."
Permanent.
The word settled into her chest, heavy and warm.
"I'm scared," she admitted.
"Good." Mira squeezed her shoulder. "That means you're paying attention. But you're also the girl who saved us from an attack,I think you can handle a dinner party."
Cora laughed. It came out shaky, but real.
"It's not a dinner party."
"No," Mira agreed. "It's a war. But at least you'll look amazing fighting it."
Damien came for her at sunset.
He paused in the doorway when he saw her. Just for a momentC a flicker of something crossing his face before he controlled it. His eyes swept over her slowly, taking in the dress, the jewelry, the way she held herself.
"You look—" He stopped. Started again. "You look like good."
"I feel like a fraud."
"You're not." He crossed the room, stopping in front of her. He was dressed formally too a dark suit that fit him so well ,his hair swept back from his face. "You saved lives last night.
"I don't know how to control it."
"You'll learn." His hand came up, fingers brushing the stone at her throat. His mother's necklace. "But tonight you stand beside me. You don't speak unless spoken to. You let them see that you're not afraid."
"Even if I am?"
"Especially if you are." His eyes met hers. "Fear is human. Showing it is weakness. You are not weak, Cora. You proved that last night."
He offered his arm.
Cora took it.
"Ready?" he asked.
"No."
"Good. Neither am I."
The great hall was overwhelming.
Cora had seen glimpses of the estate's grandeur before, but nothing had prepared her for this. Massive chandeliers hung from vaulted ceilings, casting warm light over a sea of faces. Long tables lined the room, filled with people,they were wolves in human form, dressed in their finest, all of them turning to stare as she and Damien entered.
The whispers started immediately.
She felt them like needles against her skin. Eyes tracking her every movement. Mouths forming words she couldn't quite hear but could easily imagine.
*Witch. Human. Outsider.*
Damien's hand covered hers where it rested on his arm.
They walked the length of the hall together. Every step felt like a mile. Cora kept her chin up, her expression neutral, her breathing steady. She thought about what Mira had said.
She was going to act like it too.
The head table waited at the far end , elevated, prominent, impossible to ignore. Several people were already seated there. Marcus, his expression carefully blank. A few older wolves she didn't recognize, their faces carved with age and authority.
And Seraphina.
The vampire hybrid sat at Damien's right hand, exactly where a fiancée would sit. She was stunning, as always, But her eyes were fixed on Cora with an intensity that could cut glass.
Damien led Cora past her. To the seat at his left.
The Luna's seat.
The whispers grew louder.
Damien didn't sit immediately.
He stood at the head of the table, his presence commanding instant silence. The entire hall went quiet, hundreds of eyes fixed on their Alpha.
"You all know why we're here," he said. His voice carried easily, filling the space without effort. "Last night, we were attacked.Wolves who do not belong to this pack crossed our borders, entered our halls, and tried to slaughter our people."
He paused to Let the words sink in.
threatened our people." He paused. "They failed."
A murmur of approval rippled through the crowd.
"Many of you saw what happened. Many of you have heard the stories by now. The woman beside me saved lives last night. She stood between our people and our enemies, and she did not falter." Damien's voice hardened. "She is not a threat. She is not an enemy. She is my mate."
More whispers. Cora felt her face heat, but she didn't look away.
The silence that followed was deafening.
Then chaos.
Voices erupted across the hall — shock, disbelief, outrage. The elders at the head table exchanged glances. Marcus's expression remained carefully neutral, but Cora saw his jaw tighten.
And Seraphina….
Seraphina laughed.
It was a sharp, brittle sound that cut through the noise. Her composure cracked actually cracked her perfect mask shattering for one horrible moment.
"Your mate?" Her voice was loud enough for everyone to hear. "This — this human? This witch?" She stood, her chair scraping against the floor. "You would humiliate me like this? After everything I've—"
"Seraphina." Damien's voice was ice. "Sit down."
"I will not—"
"You will." He didn't raise his voice. Didn't need to. The authority in his tone was absolute. "You will sit down. You will compose yourself. And you will remember where you are and who is watching."
The hall was silent. Every eye fixed on the confrontation.
Seraphina's chest heaved. Her hands trembled at her sides. For a moment, just a moment Cora saw something real in her expression. Pain and Betrayal. The raw wound of a woman who had just lost everything she thought she had.
Then the mask slid back into place.
Seraphina sat.
Viktor spoke next.
He stood from his place further down the table, his expression carefully composed into something like thoughtful support. Cora recognized him immediately, the lazy smile that didn't quite reach them.
"If I may, Alpha."
Damien gave a short nod.
"I think we can all agree that last night was... unprecedented." Viktor's voice was smooth. "And I think we can also agree that we owe this woman a debt. I was in the eastern corridor when the birds came. I saw what she did. Without her intervention, many of our people would be dead."
He turned to face Cora directly. His eyes met hers, and something flickered in them, something that made her skin crawl.
"The bond between Alpha and mate is sacred," Viktor continued. "It is not chosen. It simply is. And if the fates have decided that our Alpha's mate is a woman of such extraordinary power—" He smiled. "—then perhaps we should be grateful rather than afraid."
Murmurs of agreement rippled through portions of the crowd. Not everyone some faces remained hostile, suspicious but enough. Viktor had shifted the tone deliberately and in a skillful way.
Damien inclined his head. "Thank you, Viktor."
"Of course, Alpha." Viktor sat back down, his expression perfectly pleasant.
The gathering continued. Food was served. Conversations resumed, though the tension never fully dissipated. Cora picked at her plate, too aware of the eyes still watching her.
Seraphina didn't look at her again. Didn't speak. Just sat in perfect, poisonous silence, her food untouched, her gaze fixed on some middle distance.
But Cora caught her eyes.
And what she saw there wasn't defeat.
"This isn't over."
The message was clear.
Cora looked away first.
Damien's hand found hers beneath the table. His fingers intertwined with hers, warm and solid.
"You did well," he murmured, low enough that only she could hear.
"It never does." His thumb traced circles on her palm.
Cora looked at him. At this man who had kidnapped her, tortured her few days ago , This man who had just declared her his mate in front of everyone he ruled.
"What happens now?" she asked.
His jaw tightened.
"Now," he said, "we find out who betrayed us. And we make them pay."
The gathering continued around them.
But the war had already begun.