Jade’s POV

***Less than an hour ago***

When Mr. Valerio finally stepped back from me, I almost didn’t recognize the girl staring back in the mirror.

Her skin glowed.

Her cheekbones looked sharper.

Her lips were full and sultry.

Her eyes, goddess, my eyes looked like fire trapped in amber.

I just.... stared.

“Holy...” I whispered before I could stop myself.

Mr. Valerio grinned like a proud peacock. “I know, darling. I outdo myself every time, but you....” He tapped my chin gently with a single purple painted claw. “You might just be my masterpiece. Truly, your face is the best canvas I’ve ever worked on.”

Heat rushed to my cheeks as I blushed hard. “Thank you... really. I don’t even know what to say.”

“Say ‘Valerio, you’re a genius,’” he replied dramatically.

“A genius,” I laughed, shaking my head.

My gaze fell to the red dress I had folded neatly over the back of the chair.

Valerio’s sharp eyes flicked to the dress.

“Is that what you plan on wearing?” he asked, already sounding offended.

I nodded. “Um, yes.”

He looked at the dress like it personally disappointed his ancestors. “Absolutely not.”

I blinked. “What? Why not?”

He placed a hand dramatically over his heart. “Darling, it’s pretty but not sexy. And you....” He circled me like a wolf assessing prey. “You are not going for pretty tonight. You want to get your boy’s attention.”

My breath caught. “How did you...?”

Valerio snorted. “Please. A girl walks into my salon desperate for a makeover, nervous, clutching a sentimental red dress? It’s always one of two things, she’s either trying to seduce a man or make a man jealous. Sometimes both.”

I bit my lip despite myself, a tiny smile slipping out. “So I’ve been caught red handed.”

“Red handed, red dressed,” he winked.

He lifted the gown, letting it fall from his fingers with a sigh. “Where exactly did you plan to wear this adorable relic?”

“To the Wolf Awakening Ceremony...” I said quietly.

Valerio froze. Then turned slowly toward me. “You’re going to that ceremony?”

“...Yes.”

He stared at me for a long second, then exhaled through his nose in disbelief. “Darling... darling. This changes everything.”

“What? Why?”

“I was invited, you know,” he said, flipping his purple tipped hair. “But I wasn’t planning on going. Too many stuffy elders, not enough good lighting.” He waved his hand. “But you...” His eyes scanned me again, pupils dilating. “You are about to cause a commotion so big it might knock the moon out of the sky and I cannot afford to miss it, so we are going to go together.”

I swallowed hard. “I don’t know about that....”

“Oh, I do,” he cut in.

Then he smiled, the kind of smile an artist gets when inspiration strikes.

“You are not wearing that dress.”

“But....”

“No buts!” He clapped his hands. “You’re coming with me. And I have the perfect gown for you in my VIP wardrobe. A red so bold it will make hearts stop. A fit so divine the goddess would weep. And when you walk in...” He snapped his fingers. “Every man will drool.”

My heart thudded.

Every man.

Including them.

“Are you ready to be unforgettable, my sweet muse?”

I took a slow breath.

Then nodded.

“Yes.”

***Present time***

The moment my heels touched the ground outside Valerio’s sleek car, every sound in the world seemed to melt away.

All I could hear was the rapid thudding of my heart.

All I could feel were dozens, no, hundreds, of eyes snapping toward me at once.

Whispers exploded through the crowd like wildfire.

“Who is she?”

“Is that Jade?”

“Goddess... look at her.”

“She’s gorgeous....”

Mr. Valerio leaned in slightly, his voice a smug purr in my ear.

“Told you, darling. Every man will drool at the sight of you.”

My stomach twisted. I wasn’t sure if it was butterflies, adrenaline, or the overwhelming sensation of finally, finally, being seen as something other than a curse or a criminal.

This.... this reaction was the kind of fantasy I’d only dared imagine in my saddest, loneliest moments.

But I never actually believed it would happen.

I exhaled shakily, trying to steady myself as the crowd parted around us. And then my eyes drifted forward....

Straight to them.

The triplets.

Ronan.

Renzo.

Ryder.

They stood at the front with Linda, but none of them were looking at her now.

They were frozen.

Absolutely still.

Their eyes locked onto me like they’d just been slammed in the chest.

And I didn’t imagine the hunger they felt cause it was evident in their eyes.

The shock.

The lust.

The same men who wouldn’t even spare me a glance.... 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

now looked like they didn’t know how to breathe at the sight of me.

And then there was Linda.

Oh, goddess.

Her face.

She looked like she’d just swallowed a lemon dipped in poison. Her eye twitched. Her jaw clenched. Her nostrils flared. For a second, she actually looked like she might transform right there out of sheer rage.

A small, wicked satisfaction curled up inside me.

Good.

She deserved to feel at least a fraction of what she’d put me through.

Linda stepped forward stiffly, her eyes glued to me as if trying to peel off my beauty with her glare.

“Jade?” she asked, disbelief twisting her voice. “Is that actually you?”

She moved closer, but Mr. Valerio smoothly slid an arm in front of her like a barricade.

Linda blinked, stunned. Then she pasted on a smile and addressed him.

“Good evening, Mr. Valerio. I.... I did send you an invitation, but I didn’t think you would actually come.”

Valerio gave a polite nod. “I wasn’t going to. But my muse convinced me.”

Linda’s smile died at the last word.

“Your.... muse? She’s your muse???” She looked personally offended. Disgusted even.

Valerio nodded proudly. “Yes. I assume you don’t have a problem with that?”

Her lips pressed so tightly I thought they might fuse together.

Valerio turned to me, his hand extended elegantly.

“Shall we go in, darling?”

I nodded, slipping my hand into his, feeling the warmth of his confidence steadying me.

But Linda suddenly jumped in front of us, voice sharp.

“No, this can’t be. This can’t....”

“Enough, Linda.”

Ronan’s voice cut through the tension like a blade.

My breath stopped.

He grabbed Linda’s arm firmly, pulling her out of the way. “Let them through.”

I stared at him, stunned.

Ronan?

Ronan had always been glued to Linda’s side... defending her, believing her. Never me.

Yet right now...

He chose to stop her.

Not me.

I forced myself not to react, lifting my chin, trying to stay poised and unbothered as Valerio led me past them and into the hall.

Inside, the crowd parted again for us, like I was some kind of royalty.

Valerio led me straight to the front row VIP seats.

And as we sat, I felt it...

Their gazes.

All three triplets.

Heavy.

Burning.

Unrelenting.

I kept my posture elegant, my expression soft but confident, but inside?

A part of me, one I hated, thrummed with satisfaction.

They couldn’t stop staring.

Even with Linda practically clinging beside them, their eyes kept drifting back to me.

And then there was Linda’s stare...

If looks could kill, I’d be a corpse sprawled across the table.

The ceremony began.

Lights dimmed. Drums echoed. Performers took the stage, dancing and chanting wolf hymns. The energy vibrated through the hall, ancient, electric, sacred.

But the entire time?

I could feel them watching me.

Three sets of intense eyes.

Three different kinds of hunger.

And behind them, Linda’s simmering hatred burned like a torch ready to ignite.

Then the drums stopped.

And the music shifted, soft, slow, deep enough to thrum beneath my skin. Staff members moved through the hall with practiced ease, gliding chairs aside, clearing the center for the dance we must participate in before the Awakening, a tradition. A final celebration of who we were before our wolves chose who we would become.

Valerio offered his hand with exaggerated charm.

“Shall we, my muse?”

I rolled my eyes, but my heart fluttered. “We shall.”

He pulled me into the crowd of dancers, his palm warm against my back as we swayed to the velvety rhythm. “Who would’ve thought I’d ever get to dance with such a beautiful damsel?” he murmured, smiling down at me.

I laughed softly. “Flattery will get you nowhere.”

“Oh, on the contrary,” he winked. “It usually gets me everywhere.”

We danced like we had known each other for years, and for the first time since stepping out of the car, my nerves softened. But then the music shifted to one of those traditional partner switch steps that everyone in town somehow just instinctively knew.

Hands broke apart.

Bodies rotated.

It was a seamless exchange.

And suddenly...

I was in Renzo’s arms.

He didn’t touch me at first, not really. His hand barely ghosted the back of my dress, his other kept me at a distance, his gaze fixed somewhere over my shoulder. Like he was fighting the very idea of being this close to me.

I stared at him for a few seconds before whispering, “Do you despise being close to me that much?”

His jaw flexed.

Then, slowly, he looked at me.

That cold, electric stare hit me first. Then the heat under it. A dangerous heat. The kind that made my pulse stutter and my stomach twist.

And without warning, his hand slid from the middle of my back down to my waist, pulling me firmly into him, so close my breath tangled in my throat.

My body reacted instantly, arching, tightening, aware of him in every place he touched and even in the places he didn’t.

Renzo bent his head, lips brushing the shell of my ear as his voice dropped, smooth, dark, devastatingly low.

“I wasn’t avoiding you,” he murmured. “I was trying to be a gentleman.”

My breath hitched.

His grip tightened.

“Because every time I look at you in this dress...”

His lips grazed my skin, barely.

“...all I can think about is ripping it off you and fucking you hard till you breathlessly scream out my name"

The heat shot through me down, immediate and overwhelming.

My knees nearly gave out.

His forehead dipped against mine, his breath warm.

He inhaled slowly, like the scent of me did something to him he couldn’t control.

“So no,” he whispered. “I don’t despise being close to you. I’m just trying very damn hard not to act like a wolf in heat.”