Chapter 3

Both hands were an inch from my dress when I moved.

I turned my shoulder just enough, stepped back at an angle they weren't ready for, and their hands closed on air.

"Don't touch me." My voice came out flat and cold.

I'd buried my scent the second I walked in tonight. But something in how I carried myself still made both guards freeze for half a second, like their gut was warning them off before their brain caught up.

Odette didn't notice any of that. All she saw was someone dodging her.

"You're still dodging?" She clicked toward me on ten-inch heels, all attitude. "You're bottom-feeder trash. You think you get to run around loose in a place like this?"

Then her eyes lit up like she'd just thought of something. She slapped a hand over her bare throat and let out a scream loud enough to turn heads two rooms over.

"My necklace! My Moon's Tears is gone!"

The whole room went still.

Moon's Tears was the Sharpe family's prized heirloom, some rare stone worth more than most people's entire pack fortune.

Callum caught on instantly. He rushed forward, wrapped an arm around Odette like he was shielding her from danger, then jabbed a finger at me.

"Marlowe! Not only did you crash this gala, you stole from us too!"

I almost laughed at how far these two would sink.

"Stole something? Is that the best you two can come up with?" I looked at them, unimpressed. "This place is covered in cameras. Pull the footage and we'll see."

"The cameras are down for maintenance right now!" Odette said it without blinking, lying straight to a room full of people. "Who else in here has no name, no pack, and light fingers, if not her?"

She spun toward the crowd, playing them like an instrument.

"Everyone here tonight is somebody. We've got a thief loose in this room. Who's to say your things are safe either?"

That did it. Whatever curiosity people had about me turned into something uglier.

"Search her, now!"

"Strays always have sticky fingers. Don't let her walk out of here."

"Yeah, strip her down if you have to. Search everything."

I felt myself go still and cold, listening to the shouting get worse by the second.

Stripping a woman in public, forcing her hands where they didn't belong, was about as low as it got in pack circles. It wasn't just an insult. It was meant to break someone completely.

Callum watched the crowd turn on me and smiled like he'd won something.

"Marlowe, here's your way out. Kneel down, apologize to Odette, hand over the necklace, and I'll make sure you don't end up in front of the pack court." He said it like he was doing me a favor.

"You want me on my knees?" I looked at his face and felt nothing but disgust. "Callum, did you forget the rule? A low-rank wolf who accuses a high-rank of a lie gets torn apart on the spot."

"High-rank? You?" Odette doubled over laughing. "A stray who can't even shift, calling herself high-rank? If you're high-rank, I'll eat this wine glass whole."

Her face dropped just as fast. She spun toward the head of security.

"What are you all waiting for? Hold her down! I want to search her myself, see how tough this trash really is."

The guard didn't hesitate this time. He snapped his fingers, and four of them came at me from every side, boxing me in.

"Strip her if she fights you. Pull her hair out by the root if you have to. I want everyone in this room to watch her fall apart," Odette shouted, her voice carrying over the whole hall.