“How do you want it?” she asks me. “Up or down?”
“Um. I was thinking – up? But kind of messy. Some tendrils coming down.”
“Make sure you use the jewels,” Jess instructs from her chair. “They’ll look amazing in your hair, Si.”
Leaning back, I take a deep breath as the stylist gets to work. Mama settles into her own chair next to me, holding out a hand for a beautician to do her nails.
“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” she asks me quietly. “About tonight?”
Sick. I feel sick.
Tonight we’ll be on public display, the talk of the gala. There’s no doubt about it, given the snippets my Mama has told me about all the questions.
Everyone wants to see the Denied omega with the pack who rejected her.
“Remember, you can leave at any time,” she reminds me. “If it all gets too much, all you need to do is leave.”
My spine tightens in resolve. I’m not going to let them run me off. Besides, I’m not doing this for them. I’m not even doing it for Ollena, despite her plea.
I’m doing it for me.
My eyes lock with Jess’s across the room, and she raises her glass with a smirk. “To vengeance.”
A grin tips my lips as I raise my glass back. “To alphas who need a little taste of their own medicine.”
* * *
I step carefully into my gown, holding on to my mother as she keeps me steady. Madame Dumas lifts up the corset, fitting it to my waist, and I watch in the mirror as the stars on my bodice catch the light in a shimmer. Carefully, I draw on the thin gloves, tugging them up to just below my shoulders.
“Beautiful, Miss Sienna,” Madame Dumas murmurs.
My eyes are wide. The stylists Jess brought in must be geniuses, because I barely recognize myself. My hair has been curled and swept up into a perfectly messy knot, tendrils snaking down to curl around my collarbone. My make-up is dark and glamorous, my eyes smoky and lined with sleek dark flicks.
And this dress. I wanted somethingsexy, something to make my pack sit up and pay attention - but something that still felt likeme. And this is… it’s perfect. My bodice hugs my breasts, dipping into a low v before flaring out in midnight blue tulle layers of stars, the long slit almost to my hips showing a glimpse of bare leg as I swish my skirt, topped off with a pair of elegant blush pink satin heels.
The stylist leans in, applying a light pink to my lips, and I blow a kiss to Jess. She looks radiant, her dress scarlet and sleek.
“They are going to fall to their knees when they see us,” she crows, joining me in the mirror. “We look freaking phenomenal. Don’t we, Helena?”
“You really do,” my mother says softly, elegant in her own dark green gown. “I hope this evening is everything you might wish for, Sienna.”
I meet her eyes in the mirror. “I hope so too, Mama.”
Grabbing my matching satin pink clutch bag, the three of us make our way down the hall to the top of the staircase.
“Go on, Si,” Jessalyn whispers. “This is your moment.”
She nudges me not-so-gently, and my mother pats my arm as I move past her.
We’re a little late, and I catch sight of my pack. Jax and Logan are talking quietly to each other, Gray leaning against a pillar with his arms crossed, and my breath catches in my throat as I take them in. Their hair is slicked back, each one of them devastating in black tuxedos.
Mine.
It’s a heady thought, that these men might actually be mine.
Emmett is standing with the others but Tristan is pacing, his hands behind him as he stalks up and down the hall.
My hand is shaking as I set it carefully on the stair rail, and make my way down, lifting up my skirt and taking each step slowly.
