The container hit the floor. Scalding broth splashed everywhere, pooling across the tiles. The rich aroma of herbs and bone marrow filled the air, mingling with the sharp crack of splintering wood.
Almost simultaneously, the door burst open. Fenris rushed in, his Alpha presence flooding the room like a storm. His gaze swept across the mess on the floor, then to Selene's tear-streaked face. In two strides, he was at her side, pulling her behind him, his voice tight with concern: "Selene, are you alright? Did it burn you?"
Selene bit her lip. Tears spilled down her cheeks like a broken string of pearls, but she said nothing—just shook her head, the portrait of wounded innocence. Fenris's heart clenched. Without asking permission, he lifted the hem of her dress. When he saw the faint red mark on her calf, the worry in his eyes hardened into rage.
He whipped around to face Lyra, his accusation sharp as an ice pick: "Lyra! This is too much! Selene came here to apologize, to bring you broth—she's done everything she could. Why do you have to make her life miserable at every turn?!"
"I'm making her life miserable?" Lyra stopped packing. She turned to face him, chest heaving with fury, a bitter laugh threatening to escape. "She came to borrow my trophies. I said no. And that makes me the villain? Fenris, how far has your bias gone? It must have sunk to the deepest cavern of the underworld by now—there's no pulling it back."
She pointed at the wreckage on the floor, her voice cold enough to freeze the air: "She dropped that broth herself. You didn't even bother to ask what happened before attacking me. If you're going to protect her like this, worry about her like this—why don't you just claim her as your mate? Why bother with me at all?"
Lyra thought surely, surely, even Fenris would see reason after hearing this. But his anger only intensified. The disgust in his eyes scraped across her face like a blade as he spat each word: "Lyra, stop twisting the truth! Selene is your half-sister. She's been nothing but good to you, and you treat her like this? Doesn't your conscience hurt?"