Damien wasn't finished. "Silver hair? Forever cursed. Magically having a mate won't erase the identification of your cursed blood."
Laughter rippled through the ball room.
Damien suddenly gashed his teeth in pain. That was the bond snapping. He shut his eyes, and grunted in raw pain.
Hannah took a step away, letting him go through the short process of the bond breaking.
Aire blinked, and tears threatened to leave her eyes. She hadn't expected this.
Twenty years ago, she had been born a normal girl who would grow up to have her wolf when the time is right.
However, her father had betrayed the moon goddess and on her twelfth birthday, the moon goddess had cursed her to be scentless and wolfless as a punishment for her father's sins.
Her parents had died right after, but the curse didn't leave. Rather, her once blonde hair turned silver in colour, which was the final reality of being cursed.
Every cursed wolf had silver hair. Unfortunately, for four centuries, no silver hair had been seen around, until her fifteenth birthday.
Now, no one would ever accept her. Not even her uncle and his family, who only took her in to get the wolves vote.
Aire refused to let her tears fall, as she watched him take two steps backward, now clinging to Hannah's wrist.
She barely had time to react before someone snarled, loud enough for the entire ballroom to hear.
"Wolfless traitor. Might just choose to let the council end it all!"
Laughter erupted, sharp and suffocating.
Hannah took a few steps forward, and just when no one expected, she rushed towards Aire, and gave her a quick sticking slap across her cheek.
"What were you playing at?" She asked, venomously. "Calling my mate yours?"
Aire felt blood in her mouth. She raised her face to Hannah, and the hall spinned.
Being the daughter and only child of the most respected beta in the park, everyone stood back to watch with full support towards her.
"I had wanted to let you go due to your pitiful nature, but my wolf couldn't." She snarled. "Answer me. How is my mate yours?"
Aire breath hitched, but Hannah wasn't letting her go. She had made sure Aire's life became hell ever since her father took her into his shelter.
She jabbed a hand on Aire's chest when she said nothing.
Aire's eyes looked around the ball, searching for her uncle. They promised to stay out of each other's way every night of the ball.
Also, she had no idea Damien had already chosen Hannah as a mate. Aire turned to walk away, but she found herself staggering to the floor.
She cursed out loudly as her hip bone slammed hard to the floor.
Snickers, chuckles, and laughter erupted through the ball room. Aire clenched her teeth together, and fisted her palm.
Just before she would stand up to do something stupid like fighting back, the ballroom opened again.
This time, the air changed strongly. A new scent filled the air, and then, every wolf stopped breathing for a second.
Alphas lowered their heads in instinctive submission.
Aire sat up under the chandelier, and watched as everyone bowed in outer submission and respect.
The three arrogant Alphas, and the crowned Kings of all Alphas walked into the hall smugly.
Aire's silver hair glistened under the chandelier, a sharp contrast to the way every wolf in the hall had dropped to their knees.
The silence was immediate and terrifying.
Aire felt it before she understood it.
Her chest tightened, with her breath stalling halfway into her lungs as something unseen wrapped around her ribs and pulled her.
The pull was possessive.
Her fingers dug into the fabric of her dress as the scent hit her fully—dark, scorching, overwhelming. It wasn't like Damien's had been.
This was… heavier, and older.
The kind of presence that pressed down on her spine. She lifted her gaze slowly.
Three men stood beneath the archway.
They were identical in height, broad-shouldered and carved from the same brutal mold, yet each carried himself differently.
One carried himself with a lazy arrogance, another with cold calculation, and the third with a quiet, dangerous stillness that made Aire's pulse jump.
Their eyes were already on her.
The murmurs started then again.
"Impossible…"
"The Alpha Kings—"
"All three of them—"
Hannah stiffened.
Her grip on Damien's arm loosened as she followed their line of sight. Her confident expression cracked, just slightly, when she realized they weren't looking at her.
They were looking at the girl still sitting on the floor.
Silver-haired.
Wolfless.
Cursed.
The first Alpha stopped a few steps away from Aire.
He tilted his head, with his eyes dragging over her with open scrutiny. He stared at her bruised cheek, the blood at the corner of her mouth, and the way she hadn't bowed like everyone else because she was still trying to breathe.
His lips curved.
"Stand up," he said, not kindly.
Aire's body reacted before her mind did. Her palms pressed against the floor as she pushed herself up, legs trembling beneath her weight.
The second Alpha's jaw tightened.
"Who did this to her?" he asked calmly.
The room seemed to shrink.
No one answered.
The third Alpha finally moved. He stepped closer, stopping directly in front of her. Aire had to tilt her head back to meet his gaze.
His eyes were dark.
They dropped briefly to her hair.
Silver.
Then his gaze snapped back up, sharp enough to cut.
"Look at me," he ordered.
Aire swallowed and obeyed.
The pull in her chest intensified suddenly, violently, like something inside her had been yanked awake. Her breath stuttered, and her knees nearly buckled.
The Alpha felt it too.
All three of them did.
The air cracked.
Power surged through the hall, raw and unrestrained. Chandeliers rattled. Glass trembled.
Damien cried out, collapsing to one knee as the remnants of his broken bond screamed in protest.
Hannah screamed.
"No!" she shrieked, backing away. "This isn't possible! She's cursed… she doesn't even have a wolf!"
The first Alpha smiled at her. He had always had a soft spot for Hannah. "And yet," he said, eyes never leaving Aire, "here she stands."
The second Alpha inhaled deeply, scenting the air around her. His pupils dilated.
"Three bonds," he murmured. "All intact."
The third Alpha's hand came up slowly. "You are ours," he said, voice steady and final. "Whether this world likes it or not."
The room erupted.
"The Moon Goddess would never—"
"She's cursed!"
"This is blasphemy!"
The Alpha Kings turned as one.
Silence fell again.
"Anyone who speaks against this bond," the first Alpha said mildly, "may challenge us."
No one moved.
Hannah's face was drained of color.
Aire stood frozen between them, heart pounding, mind reeling.
Three mates.
Three Alpha Kings.
Her.
The cursed girl no one wanted.
The third Alpha leaned closer, his voice dropping so only she could hear.
"Looks like the Moon Goddess has a cruel sense of humor," he said. "And you, little silver curse… are about to learn what it means to belong to monsters if you don't do anything about that hair."
Aire's breath shook. She was terrified.