Through blurred tears, I accidentally knocked the frame. It clattered to the stone floor.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry—" I dropped to my knees, reaching for it.
That's when I saw it.
Behind the shattered frame, tucked against the backing, was a photograph. Color. Glossy.
I pulled it free with trembling hands.
Kael and Raven. Together. Smiling.
The edges were worn soft—handled often, touched again and again by reverent fingers.
Suddenly I understood.
For five years, Kael had stood before this portrait. I'd thought he was paying his respects to my sire's memory. Begging forgiveness from the wolf who'd given him everything.
Now I knew the truth.
He was never looking at my sire.
He was looking at her. At that radiant smile. At stolen moments that should never have existed.
I turned the photograph over. A single line in familiar handwriting:
Kael & Raven. Forever.
His handwriting.
How pathetic I must have looked. A fool clinging to a mate bond my sire had paid for with his life.
And Kael?
He played the devoted Alpha to perfection—while hiding a scent-partner's photograph behind my dead sire's face.
My stomach heaved. I barely made it to the bathing chamber before I was retching, gripping the stone basin until my claws scored marks into the surface.
I couldn't wait another night. I needed to sever this completely.
The next morning, I met my Tribunal Advocate at a gathering den in neutral territory.
While I waited, a server approached with a steaming cup of spiced brew—then dumped it directly over my head.
"Oh no, I'm so sorry." The voice dripped with mock sweetness. "Clumsy me."
I looked up into Raven's smirking face.
"Lady Ashvale." She tilted her head, eyes glittering with malice. "How was your night? Lonely, I imagine. That big nest of furs all to yourself."
She leaned closer, and I caught the deliberate way she let Kael's scent drift from her skin—marking herself with him, making sure I knew.
"Kael was with me. We were up very late." Her smile sharpened. "He says you're like carved ice in the furs. Five years of bonding, and you still can't hold his wolf's interest."
I met her gaze. Ice cold.
"Did your dam never teach you proper pack manners?"
Raven's smile froze on her lips, then twisted into something far uglier. "My dam only taught me to seize what I desire."