Damian POV:
The mud was cold. I couldn't move until the Royal convoy disappeared.
I collapsed forward, gasping. My wolf was whimpering, terrified.
'Princess.'
"Damian?"
Hadley hopped toward me with an umbrella. 'Annoyed, not concerned.'
"Who was that? Why did you kneel?"
I stared at her.
"That was the Lycan King," I rasped. "And Ariana... she left with him."
"Good riddance," Hadley scoffed. "Come inside. Let's finish that wine."
She touched my arm.
'A sharp, pungent scent hit my nose.'
Usually, Hadley smelled like vanilla and roses.
But the rain had washed away her perfume.
Now, underneath, I smelled... nothing. 'Sweat and chemical hairspray.'
No pheromones. No Mate spark.
"Your scent," I muttered. "It's gone."
"It's the rain!" Hadley snapped, nervously reapplying spray from a bottle in her pocket. "There. Better?"
'The vanilla smell returned, cloying and fake.'
I walked past her into the house.
Silent.
"Martha! James!"
No answer.
Kitchen empty.
On the counter, a stack of uniforms.
A note: 'We resign. We serve the Princess.'
I walked to Ariana's room. The closet under the stairs.
Bare. Just trash bags Cecil had left.
I kicked a bag. Trash spilled.
'Something glittered.'
A silver locket. Tarnished.
I opened it. Inside, a water-damaged photo of me in a wheelchair.
On the back: 'I will walk for you until you can run again.'
My chest tightened. 'The Mate Bond screamed.'
"Hadley," I said slowly as she followed me in. "Show me your wolf."
Hadley froze. "What?"
"Shift. Now."
"I... I can't. My ankle..."
"Shift!" I roared.
She flinched.
"I... I'm just too traumatized!" she cried, fake tears falling. "My doctor said the stress blocked my wolf!"
'A lie.' My wolf sensed it instantly.
I had made a mistake. A catastrophic mistake.
