Chapter 2

Then the link opened. My father, reaching for me.

"Aurora. In three days I'll come for you myself. Everything you've suffered these years, I'll make him pay it back a thousand times over."

Listening to him, something warm rose in my chest, and my eyes stung. That kind of love, I'd never known it before. So this was what it felt like, to have someone in your corner.

Before I could answer, the door swung open from the outside, and the link cut off.

Damien crossed the room in a few strides, pushed me down onto the bed, caught my chin, and forced me to look at him.

"Why didn't you make a scene back there?"

I turned my face away. I didn't want to look at it anymore.

My voice came out flat. "Nothing to make a scene over. You're the one who said a Luna should think about the bigger picture. I didn't want to make things hard for you."

I let a beat pass. "Besides, I gave her the ring and the necklace. Isn't that what you wanted?"

His eyes darkened. Then he settled over me, stroking my hair, gentle, his voice dropping low. "I'm sorry I put you through that. Serena's brother died fighting for the pack. The only reason I look after her is because I gave him my word. I have to."

"Behave yourself, and the title of Luna is yours forever. No one will ever touch your place."

His version of devotion scraped through me like nails on glass.

From where I lay, I could see the smudge of lipstick he'd missed on his collar. The exact shade Serena always wore.

This was him all over: hurt me, then bury me in hollow promises, as if that alone should have me on my knees with gratitude.

His phone rang. I knew that ringtone. It was the one he'd set just for Serena.

His arm let go of me in an instant. He took the call.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm on my way."

A few clipped words, and then he looked at me with that pained expression, the one I'd already learned to read.

"It's fine. Go be with Serena. She's an Omega. She needs looking after more than I do."

He hadn't expected me to be so reasonable. He should have been pleased. Instead, something he couldn't name twisted in his chest.

"I'll be back as soon as I can."

He was almost at the door when something stopped him.

"Tomorrow I'm taking Serena to an event, and she's got nothing to wear. There's that Sea of Stars gown in your closet. I'll have the staff take it in to her size."

I went still, staring at him.

That wasn't just a gown. It was the graduation piece I'd spent three months designing in college, the thing I was proudest of in the world.

Our first year together, on my birthday, Damien had taken my sketches and had them made into a real gown, fitted to me.

The nine hundred and ninety-nine diamonds across it were rare stones he'd hunted down from every corner he'd campaigned through. I treated that dress like a treasure.

I wore it once a year, for the pack's celebration, and never otherwise.

He knew exactly what it meant to me. And he was handing it to Serena anyway.

Giving away something I'd poured my heart into felt like watching my own chest bleed.

But Damien had no intention of asking. He was simply informing me.

Something in me went cold for good. I nodded, slow. "Fine. I understand."

Satisfied, he finally left.

When the footsteps downstairs had faded, I reached for the link again. "Okay. I'll be waiting for you to take me home."