Selena's POV:
Behind the mask, I fixed my gaze on Mason, the whole situation feeling ridiculous.
Kael wanted to talk to me? Did he really think he could pressure me into handing over the Moonlight Grass, either with money or threats?
"No time," I said sharply, already moving to pass him.
"Why hurry off when you've just arrived?"
A low, familiar voice sounded from behind me.
Out of the shadows, Kael stepped forward.
Without hesitation, Mason moved aside, lowering his head in respect.
Stopping right in front of me, Kael towered over me as he spoke. "One hundred million."
A slow breath left him as smoke curled from his lips, drifting against my mask. "I didn't expect you to have that kind of cash."
Had he already figured out who I was?
Masking my scent had never been my strength, not like those rogue wolves, especially with no wolf to rely on.
I kept the mask on. "I paid for that herb. It's mine."
A short, mocking laugh escaped Kael. In the next second, his hand shot out and tore the golden mask from my face.
The mask dropped onto the carpet with a muted sound.
Recognition flashed briefly across Kael's eyes when he saw me, but it faded just as fast, replaced by cold contempt.
"So it's really you."
A crushing wave of Alpha pressure dropped onto me, heavy enough to make it hard to breathe. "You disappeared for a week, and this is what you do? Come here and compete with me for the herb? Selena, I can't make sense of you anymore. Where did that money come from?"
Before I could react, his hand locked around my wrist, the force sharp enough to bruise. "You left the black card behind on purpose, trying to make me think you had nothing. Meanwhile, you were already moving the family assets behind my back."
Watching him speak with such certainty, I almost laughed at how absurd he sounded.
To him, I was nothing more than someone driven by greed.
"Kael, you really do have quite the imagination," I said, my voice turning cold. "I earned the money on my own. It has nothing to do with you or the Golden Moon Pack."
"You earned the money?" Kael's gaze darkened instantly. "How? Don't tell me you sold your body."
Suddenly, the sharp crack of the slap rang through the corridor.
My hand stung as I pulled it back, while Kael's face turned to the side from the impact.
Standing nearby, Mason froze, barely daring to breathe. No one had ever struck an Alpha like that before.
Slowly, Kael turned his head back toward me.
Blood touched the corner of his lips, and he dragged his tongue across it. In an instant, his dark pupils shifted into a blazing gold.
That color meant his wolf was about to lose control.
"You think you can lay a hand on me?" he said, his voice dropping into something rough and dangerous, like a beast ready to snap.
Without warning, he drove me back against the wall.
His Alpha scent closed in around me, thick and suffocating. Then, all at once, he stopped moving.
Lowering his head, he hovered near my neck, breathing in sharply as if trying to confirm something he couldn't believe.
The next second, his expression twisted, anger flashing violently in his eyes.
"Who does this scent belong to?" he demanded through clenched teeth. "Why do you smell like another man?"
It was Damon.
For the past week, I had been inside his territory, and just moments ago, I had walked in beside him.
A werewolf could never mistake a scent.
"That's none of your concern." I shoved at Kael, trying to create distance. "What I do has nothing to do with you."
"Nothing to do with me?" Kael snapped, his anger breaking through all restraint. "Until that bond is properly ended, you're still my Luna! And you think you can walk around carrying another Alpha's scent like that?"
Without warning, he dipped his head, clearly intending to overwrite Damon's scent with his own.
The way he moved made my stomach churn.
Somewhere, strength surged through me. I lifted my knee and drove it straight into his abdomen without holding back.
A low, hurt sound came from Kael, and his grip eased instantly.
Using that opening, I stepped back quickly, widening the space between us.
"Alpha, try showing some dignity." With steady hands, I adjusted my disheveled collar, my gaze turning cold. "I already gave back your Luna ring. I signed the Rejection. The second you chose Aria, whatever we had ended. And one more thing."
I tilted my head toward the hall not far from us. "Your companion is watching."
Caught off guard, Kael stiffened and turned to look.
At the far end of the hallway, Aria stood there.
Dressed in a pristine white lace gown, she held a champagne glass, looking almost unreal, like something too perfect to belong in this world.
Yet the expression on her face now was anything but graceful.
Shock flickered across her face, mixed with a trace of panic she couldn't quite hide.
The moment Kael's attention landed on her, she shifted instantly, putting on a different expression as she lifted her skirt and hurried over.
"Kael?" she called softly, slipping her arm around his and pressing close to him like she was staking her claim.
After that, she tilted her head toward me, those wide, glistening eyes fixed in place.
"Selena?" She brought a hand to her lips, letting out a dramatic gasp. "Oh my God, it's really you! What are you wearing?"
Her eyes moved slowly over my bare shoulders and exposed legs, the disdain in her gaze impossible to miss. "Back then, you barely even spoke above a whisper, and you always dressed so modestly. How did you end up like this after only a few days away?"
