CHAPTER 451: ALONE IN MISERY

Oscar:

I never understood why people enjoyed such events. The lights, the music, the polite chatter that was neither honest nor interesting... it all made my skin crawl.

The ballroom gleamed with golden chandeliers and mirrored walls, the orchestra playing a soft waltz in the background, the scent of polished wood, perfume, and wine blending into something that felt suffocating.

I stood near one of the tall columns, with a glass of something fizzy in hand that I hadn’t touched in ten minutes, and smiling politely at the group of instructors gathered around me. They were talking about something or other... but my attention had long since drifted. My mind was elsewhere.

To be more specific, it was near the ballroom entrance.

Every few seconds, my gaze flicked toward those double doors. I did it subtly, of course, but not subtly enough to fool anyone who might have been watching closely.

Draven was nowhere to be seen... not surprising, since my younger brother usually arrived fashionably late. Kieran, on the other hand, stood across the hall, deep in conversation with Alpha Raine and Alpha Morgan. As headmaster, it was his duty to entertain the chief guests, and I knew better than to hope my older brother would come rescue me from the tedium of small talk.

Still, that didn’t stop me from silently begging for it.

I nodded absently to a comment from Professor Halloway, pretending to listen while my eyes again darted toward the entrance. Nothing. No trace of her.

My jaw tightened.

Where was she?

I had been waiting since I stepped inside the ballroom about fifteen minutes ago. Waiting for that one moment... when she would walk through the doors and my world would just... stop.

I didn’t even bother lying to myself about it anymore. She had that effect on me. She always had.

A light tap on my shoulder pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Waiting for someone, Instructor Thorne?"

I turned and found Professor Varys studying me with a knowing smile. The older man’s sharp eyes missed nothing, apparently... not even my not-so-subtle glances toward the door.

"Hmm?" I played it off smoothly, giving the man a cool, polite smile. "Just wondering when the students will finally start arriving so this whole thing can begin."

Professor Varys chuckled. "And end, I assume?"

I allowed myself a wry smirk. "You know me too well, Professor."

"Indeed I do." The man’s laughter was low and knowing. "You have never been one for social gatherings. Though I must admit, you look like you would rather be anywhere but here."

"You are not wrong," I replied dryly.

Before Varys could respond, a new voice interrupted us.

"Instructor Thorne," came the calm tone of Instructor Corey. "If I may steal you for a moment. We need to finalize the dispatch orders for the warriors during the break."

I almost sighed aloud but managed to school my features. "Of course."

The conversation was all duty - numbers, locations, patrol schedules, the upcoming security arrangements for the holidays. My responses were crisp, efficient, and detached, as always. But even as I spoke, something inside me stirred.

A quiet, familiar pull.

I felt her before I saw her.

It was always like that. A subtle shift in the air, a flutter deep in my chest, a sudden awareness that belonged only to her.

I turned my head slowly toward the entrance just as the grand doors of the ballroom were pushed open.

A small group of students stepped inside, laughing softly, the sound swallowed by the music. But my gaze didn’t linger on any of them... only her

.

Evaline.

And Moon Goddess help me, she was breathtaking.

For a moment, I forgot how to breathe.

She wore black. A sleek, off-shoulder gown that clung to her like a shadow carved from moonlight. The fabric shimmered faintly with every step she took, flowing effortlessly around her legs until the high slit revealed a glimpse of pale skin, smooth and flawless beneath the soft glow of the chandeliers. The neckline dipped just enough to be daring, balanced by the long line of her neck and the elegant curve of her shoulders.

Her hair - those silvery curls she had styled this morning - was now swept to one side, cascading like liquid starlight down her back. And speaking of her back... the gown’s dangerously low cut revealed far too much for my sanity. The contrast between her pale skin and the dark fabric drew every eye in the hall, mine included.

I swallowed hard.

Her makeup was subtle - just a sweep of eyeliner, a whisper of shimmer around her eyes, and lips painted the faintest shade of rose. But it was her eyes that killed me. The warm amber of them reflected the lights, calm yet alive, confident yet unguarded.

My mate.

Every instinct in me screamed to move, to cross the distance between us, to pull her into my arms, to remind her and everyone else in this cursed room who she truly belonged to.

But I couldn’t.

I couldn’t ruin the illusion.

Because to everyone else, she wasn’t mine.

She was Draven’s.

The thought barely formed when my younger brother appeared, emerging from the crowd like the devil himself. Draven’s stride was unhurried, confident, but the look in his eyes when he saw her was enough to tell me that my brother was just as undone as I was.

Draven didn’t hold back.

Within seconds, he reached her, his hand sliding around her waist in a way that made my chest tighten painfully. The entire hall turned to look, whispers rising immediately - half awe, half envy. And Draven, damn him, looked proud of it. Proud of her. Proud that everyone knew she was with him.

My grip on my glass tightened, my knuckles whitening.

I wasn’t angry at Draven - not truly. I couldn’t be. My brother was just playing the part the world expected him to. Protecting her in his own way.

But still, it bothered me.

Because while Draven was allowed to touch her, allowed to look at her like that, allowed to show the world what was his... I had to stand in the shadows, silent. Watching.

I saw the way the other men looked at her too - the hunger, the awe, the admiration. Every last one of them. I could almost read their thoughts, their wandering eyes, and each one ignited something possessive and primal inside me.

I wanted to break every single gaze.

To make them look away.

To remind them she wasn’t for them to admire.

My restraint hung by a thread.

"Beautiful, isn’t she?" came a voice beside me.

I turned slightly. Professor Aldric had appeared, watching the same scene with a smile.

"Draven and Evaline," the professor continued, shaking his head in mild amusement. "They look quite good together, don’t they?"

I forced my lips into a smile. "They really do."

Aldric nodded, seemingly unaware of the storm brewing behind my calm eyes. "Young love. It’s refreshing to see among all the politics and pressure."

I hummed in response.

I was happy for Draven... truly. But that didn’t stop the ache. The longing. The silent yearning to hear someone say ’you and Evaline look good together’.

I wanted to see her laugh with me like that in public. To be the one she smiled at across the room. To have her look at me the way she was looking at Draven now.

A low exhale slipped past my lips, quiet and controlled. I lifted his glass and took a slow sip, more for the sake of having something to do than any real thirst.

Then, across the room, movement caught my eye.

Kieran.

He stood near the Alphas, his expression unreadable as ever. But I knew him too well. I could see it - the faint tightness in Kieran’s jaw, the flicker of emotion he couldn’t quite hide. His gaze was fixed on her too.

For once, the sight didn’t make me feel so alone in my misery.