I lowered my gaze.
Of course he wasn't the same anymore.
The young pup from before.
After making me angry, he would secretly tuck sweet dried meats into my storage chest.
Every year on his birth moon, he would wish aloud to grow strong enough to claim me as his mate.
And at his eighteenth coming-of-age ceremony, before a hall full of pack elders and allied wolves, he had kissed me—clumsy and reverent all at once.
…
I drew in a slow breath, forcing down the tight ache in my chest.
I didn't respond to Kael's words.
Instead, I turned to face Selene.
"Are you content to spend your life as a kept companion?"
"Once he tires of your scent, you'll have no choice but to crawl back to the Moonlit Den as a lounge dancer."
"The old patrons will fawn over fresher faces, and the new ones will sneer that you're past your prime. Do you really think the Den will still have a place for you then?"
Her face went pale.
Her nails dug into Kael's arm.
"Alpha Heir, I want… I want to stand beside you openly."
"Please?"
Her voice dripped soft as honey.
Kael swept her up into his arms.
"Ridiculous," he snapped.
As he strode toward the door, he tossed a glance over his shoulder. "If you want me to coax you, just say so."
"You're skilled enough with blades and silver-shot, but playing petty jealousy games like those omega companions of mine? You're nowhere close."
He still thought I was throwing a tantrum.
That I was competing for his attention like all those pretty omegas circling him.
I didn't know what to say.
I followed them.
All the way back to the Alpha Court.
Kael settled the woman in my chambers.
Her drooping expression lifted at once.
Kael pressed a kiss to the corner of her lips. "Happy now?"
She threw herself into his embrace. "Alpha Heir, you won't let her leave—does that mean she's still in your heart?"
My footsteps halted.
I heard Kael's low laugh. "Lyra has been at my side for seventeen years. Of course she holds a place in my heart."
"But that doesn't conflict with wanting you."
Then came the wet sounds of their mouths meeting.
Selene pushed him away with a breathless pout. "Then why put me in her den? Aren't you afraid your precious one will run off in a rage?"
"Run? Where could she possibly go?"
Kael's smile deepened.
"Her entire bloodline was slaughtered. She still needs the Alpha Court's resources to track down whoever ordered the purge of her den."
A dull pain spread through my chest.
Even though I had long since stopped expecting anything from Kael.
Those words still cut.
Selene's voice turned coy. "Back when the Alpha Heir announced his courtship claim, it shook every territory. You swore it would be one bond, one life, one mate."
"Turns out you didn't love her that much after all."
She paused, then added:
"But she's still your intended mate in name. Are you really going to let her run around with your sworn rival?"
Kael let out a soft scoff.
"Sworn rival?"
"Fenris Viperbane?"
His tone was dismissive.
"That useless wolf—why should I care about him?"
"He can't perform during rut. Barely counts as a proper Alpha. You could strip the most sought-after omega from the Moonlit Den and throw them naked in his bed, and he still couldn't touch them."
Kael paused, then continued. "Besides, I know my woman."
"Deep down, she's old-fashioned to the bone. She believes in the ancient ways—one mate, one bond, sealed for life. She gave her body to me, and she'd sooner die than let another male claim her."
"Whatever she's doing with Fenris Viperbane, it's just a show to provoke me."
My fingers tightened slowly around the door frame.
So he knew.
He knew how traditional I was at my core.
That's why he dared to trample over me like this.
Because he was certain.
I would never escape his grasp in this lifetime.
Selene pressed further. "But what if she truly falls for him?"
"The Serpent Circle sent word this morning—they've purchased the thousand-acre moonflower fields along the Silver Ridge, and cleared out the finest woven silks from the Crimson Loom. All of it sent to her under Fenris Viperbane's name."
"No she-wolf could resist that, could she?"
"Fall for him?" Kael let out a contemptuous snort. "She's nothing like you. She doesn't care for the pretty things other females covet."
