49
SIENNA
The car pulls to a stop outside the Council chambers where the gala is being held. We disembark in silence, Gray holding out his hand and winding my arm into his as he escorts me up the red carpet. The majestic building almost glitters in the night, thanks to the thousands of lights wound around each of the columns.
“You’re going to give us a taste of our own medicine tonight, aren’t you, Bonded?” Gray asks almost conversationally as we set a steady pace, the others following behind. I can hear Jess and Emmett hissing at each other, and my heart sinks. I don’t want to cause any trouble for them.
“Maybe,” I respond carefully. “Is that so bad?”
He looks down at me, a rueful twist on his lips. “It’s a diabolical plan. We’ll hate every single second. You know how many alphas attend the Omega Gala?”
I swallow. “No?”
“All of them.” Music and laughter floats out of the doors ahead of us. “Have fun tonight, Sienna. We’ll watch over you.”
Tristan takes over from Gray as we join the queue for announcements. His face is closed off, but his hand squeezes mine. “Remember what I said,” he murmurs as we step out to the top of the ballroom stairs. “Enjoy yourself. But afterwards, you’re ours.”
The promise in his words makes my mouth dry as our names are read out. Hundreds of faces turn to us amongst the thousands of glittering candelabras, each lit with at least a dozen candles, casting a warm glow. Tristan keeps a tight grip on me as I lift my skirts and we descend the stairs into the melee.
We’re grabbed almost as soon as my foot touches the floor.
“Why, Sienna Michaels! What a surprise toseeyou here!”
I grit my teeth to greet an old classmate. I haven’t seen her since we graduated from the Hub and it’s very much for the lack of trying. “Clarissa.”
Clarissa sidles up to us, not even trying to hide the fact that her eyes are greedily passing over my Bonded. She completely ignores her own pack, who are hanging back and muttering amongst themselves.
“Well, you hear these things,” she whispers conspiratorially, except her voice carries like a damn foghorn. A few people look at us. “What an awful experience for you, darling. Sometimes these Trials can be so hard, especially when a pack is already taken.”
Tristan turns to stone next to me as he looks down his nose at Clarissa. “I beg your pardon?”
His tone is so hard that Clarissa takes a step back, her confident expression faltering. “Oh – well, I—,”
“You,” Tristan says smoothly, “appear to have been misinformed. We are blissfully happy with ourSoul Bondedmate.”
Clarissa’s eyes widen as they swing between us, and she manages a weak smile. “Oh. Ah – congratulations! If you’ll excuse me, I think I see someone…”
As she almost runs away from us, I lean into Tristan. “I think you terrified her.”
“Good,” he responds crisply. “Some people need terrifying. Shall we?”
The further we move into the ballroom, the more I begin to doubt our plan. We take our seats around the table allocated for us, and Logan and Jax order drinks from one of the smartly dressed beta waiting staff. I catch Emmett watching them, his mouth set in a grim line. He and Jess aren’t talking, and she keeps her eyes down on her champagne glass.
The first alpha appears moments after I’ve taken my first sip. “The elusive Sienna Michaels.”
Jax sits back in his chair, crossing his arms with a drawl. “Perry. Always a pleasure to see you. How’s mated life treating you?”
His eyes are hard. Perry laughs, although there’s an edge to it as he brushes off Jax’s question. He’s handsome, with thick blonde hair and blue eyes, but there’s a sharpness to his expression that smacks of cruelty.
He makes my skin crawl, more so when he looks down at me, his lip curling into a leer. “I’ve heard a lot about you. Would you care to dance?”
I lean back into the warmth of Gray’s arm, slung casually across the back of my chair. “Not right now, thank you.”
I’m not about to put myself in a potentially difficult situation just to wind my pack up. Gray’s arm softens behind me, his fingers just brushing the nape of my neck.
“He’s not a good man,” he murmurs as Perry walks away without responding. “We’d only end up dragging him out by his neck when he tried to touch you.”
Perry is only the first of a steady stream, none of whom make me feel comfortable enough to say yes to dancing. Jess catches my eye after turning down one of her own, a nice, slightly-awkward looking alpha who vanished fairly rapidly after seeing Emmett’s scowl. She rolls her eyes, downing another drink.
