“No, she doesn’t suspect a thing,” he continued. “She actually thinks she’s seducing me. Pathetic.”
My hands shook.
“She’s nothing compared to Elowen,” he said. “Elowen’s the one from the seer’s golden vision—you know that.”
That was the strike that finished me.
“I’ll stay until Elowen understands her role. Keep my pack running in my absence. Luminara holds until I return.”
Luminara. The name jolted through me. A phantom pack whispered about in the dark. Unmapped. Ruthless. And he was their Alpha?
The betrayal burned through me like acid.
I should’ve turned and walked away. Should’ve howled my grief into the forest. Should’ve become the mad thing my mother once was.
Instead, I kicked the door open.
Lyra’s POV
I didn’t move at first. Just stood there, the door half-splintered from my kick, staring at him as my pulse thundered and my wolf snarled beneath my skin.
His fingers still clutched the picture of Elowen as though it were a sacred charm. His other hand…
Goddess above.
The evidence of his arousal strained against his pants. He didn’t even look startled to see me standing there. Not a flicker of guilt, not a twitch of shame. He simply tucked the photograph out of sight, straightened, and faced me—expression calm, posture impeccable.
Like I hadn’t just caught him worshipping her in the dark.
I should’ve lunged for his throat. Should’ve ended it right there.
Instead, I smiled.
“Need a hand finishing that?” My voice dripped honey, every syllable lined with venom.
His gaze stayed steady. Empty. Professional. “That won’t be necessary, Young Miss,” he said evenly. “It’s a private affair.”
Of course it was.
Still Young Miss. As if I weren’t the woman who’d shared a home with him for years. As if he hadn’t sworn to protect me with his life. But then came her—Elowen, with her angel’s smile and poison-sweet scent—and suddenly, everything else vanished.
I turned away, forcing my wolf to heel even as fury trembled through me. I’d spent years begging to be chosen. That ended now.
Let Elowen play the darling bloom. I’d be the venom in its roots.
He broke the silence first. “What are you doing here?”
I gave him a thin smile. “Nothing,” I lied, voice smooth as glass. “But you’ll be accompanying me to the fashion gala tomorrow. Elowen will be there.”
A faint twitch rippled through him at her name. Barely visible—but I saw it. I always did.