Her lips twitched. “State your business. Your mate isn’t here.”
I pulled the small bag from my pocket and tossed it onto the table. “You seemed to have misplaced something.”
She opened the bag, and when she saw what lay inside, a slow, triumphant smile curled on her lips.
“Next time, don’t leave your underwear behind,” I told her, voice low and laced with fury.
Brielle chuckled—a soft, poisonous sound. “Oh, I didn’t forget it. He wanted something that reminded him of me… while he was stuck with you.”
My hand moved before my mind even caught up. The slap cracked through the office like a whip. Her head snapped to the side, and a thin line of blood appeared at the corner of her lip. She pressed her fingers against the swelling cheek, then smiled—a deranged, satisfied smile.
“I don’t care what idiocy exists between you and Gideon,” I growled, every inch of me vibrating with wrath. “But you will never address your Luna with disrespect.”
Her grin widened. “And I warned you from the start, Selene… everything that happens now? You brought it on yourself.”
My eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”
Suddenly, Brielle lunged forward and grabbed my arm with a grip surprisingly strong for someone pretending to be delicate. Then—she screamed.
“Luna Selene, please! Please don’t hurt me! I’m sorry!” she wailed loudly, voice trembling in a deliberately dramatic display.
“Let me go,” I muttered, trying to pull my arm free, stunned by her theatrics.
She released me abruptly, staggered back three steps, then threw herself to the side—crashing against the sharp corner of Gideon’s desk.
The sound of her skull hitting wood echoed like a thunderclap.
I screamed as she collapsed to the floor, motionless. Blood seeped rapidly into the thick carpet, spreading like a dark, blooming stain around her.
And there she lay—Brielle, the she-wolf who ruined everything—lifeless at my feet.
Selene
“What did you do?” Gideon’s voice cut through the room like ice, each word sharp and furious. I spun around to meet his gaze, the fire of rage and betrayal glowing in his amber eyes.
“Gideon… I—” My explanation was swallowed by the sting of his hand across my cheek, and I staggered backward, clutching my burning face.
“You… you struck me?” I croaked, my voice trembling at the edges, disbelief coating each word.