Chapter 4

Mira POV

I came out of the restroom and turned into a secluded balcony off the main house to get some air.

The moment I stepped in, I froze in place.

In the shadows, Zane was pinning Sophia against the wall, kissing her intensely.

The thick Alpha scent in the air made the wolf within me instinctively tremble.

"Zane... will Mira be upset..." Sophia whimpered. "I saw her—she seemed to be crying..."

Zane released her, his thumb rubbing her swollen lips. "Whether she's upset or not has nothing to do with me."

He looked at her, enunciating each word. "Sophia, the only Luna candidate in my heart has always been you and you alone."

My face felt itchy. I reached up to touch it and found tears.

"Maybe it's my past self mourning," I thought.

I left expressionlessly.

Not long after returning to the banquet hall, Sophia rushed over excitedly.

"Mira, the necklace Zane gave me is missing! Did you take it?" Her eyes reddened. "A wolf guard saw you—you were the only one who went near my seat!"

My father and mother immediately rushed over.

"Mira, did you steal the necklace?" my father demanded harshly, his Alpha pressure bearing down directly.

My mother slapped me hard across the face.

"You've made the Silver Moon Pack lose all face! Hand it over now!"

My cheek burned with pain. I looked at my so-called biological parents, watched them trample me like this for a sister who had been drinking my blood for years, and felt only absurdity.

"I didn't take it."

I defended myself.

"Still lying!" My mother commanded the wolf guards. "Search her! Even if you have to strip her clothes off, find that necklace!"

Two burly wolf guards roughly grabbed me.

During the struggle, my dress tore, exposing my pale shoulder.

The surrounding guests let out mocking laughter.

Just then, a wolf guard suddenly pulled the necklace out of my handbag.

"Found it!"

Sophia took it back with tears in her eyes, looking wounded. "Mira, I know you're upset. If you really wanted it, you only had to ask and I would have given it to you. Why did you have to steal it?"

With one sentence, she sealed my guilt.

Zane slowly approached.

He didn't look at anyone else. His gaze fell only on me, his voice icy.

"Why steal it?"

A supremely mocking curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"I've never considered you my mate. Don't you know that?"

"Things that don't belong to you will never belong to you, even if you steal them."

The ultimate humiliation engulfed me.

Just when everyone thought I would break down, I suddenly laughed.

The laugh was soft, but it made Zane's expression change.

I raised my head and met his cold gaze.

"I didn't steal it."

I looked at him, enunciating each word as if using all my strength:

"Alpha Zane, I, Mira Glace, reject you as my mate."

Watching his pupils suddenly contract, I added coldly:

"Since I'm rejecting you now, you're nothing to me. Why would I steal that necklace?"