“I have had your mate wrapped around my fingers,Selene.All those nights you waited while he hunted and roamed—Adrian spent them with me.If not for the wards he kept tight around the lodge,I would already be carrying his child,unlike you,who is most likely barren.”
“What did you say?”Selene whispered,tears streaming down her face.
“You can never give him an heir,can you,Selene?”Cassandra closed on her without an ounce of guilt.“Adrian is tired of your useless,barren body.Unlike a countryside-born she-wolf like you,he is Alpha-born and raised among luxury.How can he not want an heir?”
Cassandra forced a smile and took Selene’s hand as if comforting her.“Do not worry,sister.When I carry Adrian’s pups,you will be the first to know.”
“Cassandra!”Selene screamed through tears;each word was a dagger.
“You are shameless!Even after ruining my life,are you still not satisfied?”Selene swatted Cassandra’s hand;Cassandra fell and cried out in pain.
“Selene!”Before Selene could make sense of what had happened,heavy footsteps pounded as Adrian stormed in.
“What the hell is going on?”His glare sliced through the room;contempt and disgust warped his features and froze Selene in place.
“I—it's all right,Adrian.Selene was angry—please do not be mad at her.I am fine.”Cassandra cried,eyes filling with tears,forcing Adrian’s jaw to clench.
“I’m asking you,Selene!Why did you harm Cassandra?”Adrian demanded.
“I didn’t...I never pushed her,”Selene whispered,trembling as the room’s occupants stared at her with cold evaluation.Adrian’s friends had already gathered,recording on their devices.
Adrian scooped Cassandra up protectively as if shielding her from Selene.The sight sent a wrenching pain through Selene’s chest.
“Let’s go,”Cassandra sobbed,voice cracking.“Selene has always been stubborn.We shouldn’t make a scene.”She tried to steer the moment away.
Adrian noticed people filming,and fury boiled over.“Selene,come with me now!”
Rather than carry Cassandra to her lavish chamber,Adrian walked to the old storage room—the small place Selene had once slept through freezing winters—and unlocked it.Where Selene had once kept her few things,it was now evidently used for Cassandra’s overflow possessions.
“Sister,the first-aid pack is at the back;fetch it for me,please,”Cassandra said,playing the injured sister.
“Why are you so considerate to her?She ruined your celebration.I shouldn’t have brought her,”Selene sobbed as Adrian’s back tightened and he strode ahead without so much as a backward glance.
Even knowing what Adrian had done,Selene’s body obeyed out of habit,as if on strings.In Cassandra’s opulent room,Cassandra lay against Adrian’s chest,crying in a pitiful,practiced way.
Adrian separated from her and turned his anger on Selene,grabbing her hand in a bruising grip.“Selene,massage Cassandra’s feet now!This is your fault.Do you know how much you hurt your sister?”
Cassandra watched with a small,satisfied smirk.
“I will not do it.”Selene’s heart felt trampled;death seemed preferable.
“What did you say?”
“I will not do it!”Her second refusal snapped like old bone.Enraged,Adrian shoved her down to Cassandra’s feet.Selene clutched her belly as her knee hit the floor,horrified by Adrian’s cruelty.
“Do you even know how to behave?How dare you accuse Cassandra of taking what is hers when you cannot do anything right!Even with everything,you would still be unloved.”
“Adrian!”Selene screamed,tears streaking her face as he showed no remorse.If not for the bed supporting her,she would have collapsed;fear for the pups inside her filled her with cold dread.
Cassandra began to speak,feigning concern.“Selene is my sister.Please get up—Adrian was too angry for a moment.Don’t misunderstand her.”
“Shut up!”Selene burst out,louder than she intended.“Just stop the fake crying!”
Adrian’s palm cracked across her cheek;the sound echoed through the silent room.The sting burned,but the betrayal in that strike sliced deeper than any pain.Selene touched the hot spot on her face,feeling the truth of what she had married.
