Chapter 2

That night, I held on to Silas and slept against him until morning.

I could feel it clearly. His body stayed rigid the entire time.

When I woke the next day, he was gone.

Alpha Lucian stood in front of me in a crisp suit, smiling.

"Get up. We're going to the Alpha King's birthday banquet today."

I stretched and complained sweetly, "Honey, your body was so hard. It dug into me and made my back sore."

The smile dropped off Lucian's face.

On the way to the estate, Lucian stayed silent, cold coming off him in waves.

But the second we stepped into the great hall, he curled an arm around my waist like a devoted husband and offered his respects to the old wolf king.

"Honored Alpha King. Happy birthday, and may your strength never fade."

The Alpha King was fond of me. He had me sit beside him and we talked about all sorts of things.

The banquet was crowded, and I saw plenty of familiar faces.

Not only Silas, who had shared my bed the night before, but also Thea, the woman Lucian actually wanted.

Thea stared at me, daring me, her face full of contempt and mockery.

I kept up the blind act and ignored her.

Halfway through the banquet, I came out of the bathroom.

I had just reached the fireplace to dry a damp sleeve.

That was when I saw Thea coming at me, all swagger.

As I passed her, she emptied her whole glass of red wine down my front.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry. My hand slipped."

Calmly, I pulled the poker out of the fireplace and laid it across Thea's face. The red-hot iron hit raw skin with a hiss.

Thea screamed and came apart.

"Leona, what are you doing!"

I apologized half a beat too late.

"I'm sorry, I'm blind. I thought this was my cane. Did I hit you?"

Thea was covered in ash, her white gown scorched black, the skin of her face cooked and shapeless.

She raised a hand to strike me.

I lifted the poker again and jabbed it at her.

"Stop!"

Two different voices rang out behind me.

Lucian and Silas came striding toward me with a crowd of pack servants behind them.

Thea threw herself into Lucian's arms, sobbing, "Lucian, Leona just hit me with a fire poker. Look at what she did to my face. You have to make her pay!"

Lucian's voice was ice. "Leona, apologize!"

I acted as if I couldn't see and stumbled into Silas's chest.

"Honey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to! I can't see anything. Please forgive me..."

Lucian stood there, his face awful.

Silas patted my back gently. "Don't be scared. I'm not angry."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Lucian's face go darker still.

That felt good. I sniffled and drew little circles on Silas's chest with one finger.

"Honey, I feel terrible. I'm soaked through and it's awful. Will you help me wash up? A full-body massage would be even better..."

Behind me, Silas's hand went still on my back.

"Mm, of course I will... You're my Luna. Whatever you want."

"Butler!" Displeasure and something vicious flashed at the corner of Lucian's eye, and he cut us off, his voice sharp. "Take the Luna to bathe!"