My ears rang, the humiliation settling deep in my chest. The pack—my pack—had just witnessed the Alpha’s mate slapped, disgraced in the very place I was meant to feel secure.
I straightened, ignoring the burning sensation on my cheek and the tears threatening to spill. My voice was low but sharp, each word laced with barely contained fury. “You dare to strike me, huh?”
Talia’s smirk didn’t falter. “Someone had to knock some sense into you.”
I took a step closer to her, my wolf howling just beneath the surface, desperate to be unleashed. “You’re lucky I have enough control not to end this here and now. But make no mistake, Talia—mate or not, family or not—you ever touch me again, and I’ll show you exactly why I’m the Alpha’s mate and not you.”
I could see the annoyance written on Talia's face.
Lucian moved between us, his expression one of anger—not at Talia, but at me. “That’s enough, Seraphina. You’ve embarrassed yourself and this pack enough for one night.”
The pack’s murmurs grew louder, their judgment cutting into me like shards of glass. I turned to him, my mate, my supposed partner, and stared into the eyes of a man who no longer saw me as his equal.