Lilith snatched it from his hands with a triumphant smirk, retreating just enough to mock me fully. “Look at you, so nervous now. Clearly, there’s more you don’t want anyone to see.”
She turned to Alaric, prompting him for the passcode. They tried his birthday, mine, even the day we first claimed each other under the full moon—but the device stayed locked. Alaric’s patience snapped. He yanked the communicator from her hands and barked at the security wolves to restrain me.
He attempted the facial recognition feature—but multiple failures forced the system to default to passcode entry.
“What is the password?” he demanded, voice like a growl.
Since the day we bonded, the passcode had always been the date he first admitted his feelings. I could almost smirk at the irony—he had forgotten. Not surprising.
Failing to access my device before his pack only fueled his humiliation. His pride crumbled, his face darkening with a storm of rage, every second deepening his fury.
“You keep insisting the photos were a misunderstanding—so why change your password?” he spat, the accusation heavy with irritation.
“It’s the date you first confessed to me,” I said calmly.
Alaric froze, struggling to remember that moment. His expression twisted, a chaotic swirl of confusion, anger, and something dangerously close to regret—a ruined masterpiece of emotion.
I wrenched free from the guards’ grip, snatching my communicator back. Alaric watched in silence as I unlocked it effortlessly. His lips parted, as if he wanted to speak—but no words emerged, and the tension hung between us, heavy as a winter storm over the pack.
Without any warning, Alaric ripped my communicator from my hands. His thumb flew across the screen, movements frantic and aggressive as he searched for proof of the betrayal he had already decided was real. Then, suddenly, he froze.
His body went rigid as his eyes locked onto a close-up image—me and my brother, shoulder to shoulder, faces clear beneath the moonlight. A heartbeat later, the tension snapped, and his rage exploded.
“Oh, Raven,” he sneered, holding the device up like a trophy. “Isn’t this perfect? The proof is staring us right in the face. So tell me—what excuse are you going to crawl out with now?”