Chapter 3

Early the next morning, my brother Leon sent over several crates of jewelry, antiques, and property deeds to console me, his newly widowed sister.

Viola Ashcroft, the Luna Queen, sent gifts soon after.

Every one of hers came in pairs.

Matching watches, matching wine glasses, and a pair of cashmere pillows embroidered with Derek's name and mine.

The text in front of me started scrolling again.

[The heroine sent all this to twist the knife! She wants to see if the side character has really let the hero go!]

[What, taking Kane wasn't clear enough?]

[The point is those pillows were on the Luna Queen's bed last night, and they still carried a trace of Derek's cedar scent.]

[Not just that. The heroine's scent has already changed. She is carrying the hero's pup!]

Ugh...

I yanked my hand away from the pillow and wiped it on my skirt.

What kind of kink do these two have?

They had an affair, then mailed me the evidence so I could smell it?

So they wanted to provoke me. Fine.

Viola's personal assistant watched me, waiting for me to crack.

"Miss Selena, the Luna Queen hopes these gifts will remind you of the happy times you shared with Alpha Derek."

I wasn't about to give her the satisfaction. I smiled back.

"How thoughtful of her. I was worried Kane and I didn't have any matching things yet. Everything here comes in pairs, exactly enough for us."

The assistant's smile froze.

The pack members around us went quiet, and a few had to bite back laughs.

Before long, they scattered to spread the news.

Gossip that explosive? Who could resist?

I was heading back to my room to catch up on sleep when I passed the storehouse and caught a familiar cedar scent.

Oh.

So my dearly departed mate had chosen today to haunt the place?

Then I'd better find out what the two of them were up to.

I pulled up the storeroom's security feed and watched over a glass of red wine.

Derek looked bad enough to have actually died once.

Hester kept her voice down. "Selena couldn't take her eyes off Kane last night. She doesn't care whether you live or die!"

Derek clenched his jaw. "She chased me for eight years. She swore in front of the Moon Goddess that she would only ever choose me. How could she take Kane?"

Then he turned to go out and find me.

Hester grabbed him.

"Are you insane? If you show yourself to her now, Leon will find out everything: that you faked your death to escape the marriage, your affair with Viola, all of it! Just wait a little longer!"

Tsk. If you knew enough to be scared, maybe you should lower your voice.

But Derek was stuck on something else.

"I told you to grab any low-ranking rogue to humiliate her. Why of all wolves did you put Kane in her room?"

Hester was quiet for a moment.

"You think I wanted to? Kane asked for her by name."

Derek's fists clenched.

Hester hurried to restrain him. "You never liked Selena anyway. Why should it matter who she ends up with? What matters now is the child Viola is carrying. Once everyone accepts it as Leon's heir, the moment Leon dies..."

After a while, Derek muttered, "I understand."

Hester patted his shoulder.

"There now. I know you can't let this go. Don't worry. I have plenty of ways to make her suffer."

Being the side character was hard. Everyone wanted a turn at torturing me.

That afternoon.

Sure enough, Hester came sniveling to find me.

"I dreamed of Derek last night. He said he never sealed the mating bond with you, so his soul can't return to the Moon Goddess."

She dabbed at her eyes. "By Moonfall Bridge tradition, you should keep vigil for him at the Temple of the Moon Goddess for seven nights, then offer your blood in sacrifice. Only then can he rest."

Uh.

I opened my mouth, then thought better of it.

If I really sent him on his way, she'd be the first to object.

When I said nothing, Hester's face hardened.

"Keeping vigil for a dead mate is the duty of every member of this pack. Being the Alpha King's sister does not entitle you to trample our traditions!

"Since you won't go on your own, you can start by kneeling at—"

She never finished. A hand struck the back of her neck.

Hester's eyes rolled back, and she crumpled to the floor.

A masked woman in black stood behind her. Her name was Wren Caldwell, my personal guard, and her uniform blocked every trace of her scent.

"The Master wants you."

Tsk. No more time to play along with Hester.

I had a report to give.

That's right.

I wasn't the real Selena Windsor.

My real name was Ella Reed. I was just an ordinary she-wolf who had grown up in a rogue settlement.

When I was thirteen, the Master's people found me and trained me to be his double.

The Master had been sent away as a child to recover at a manor far from the royal city, so no one had ever seen his face.

From the day I returned to the royal court, I had been Selena Windsor in every way that mattered.

Only I knew I was merely the spy the Master had planted at Leon's side.

Nothing like a royal power struggle.