CHAPTER TWO

Chapter Two: The Mask Slips

"Lady Evangeline, how absolutely divine that you could grace us with your presence tonight."

I smiled at the Beta's wife like she had just offered me the moon instead of stale compliments wrapped in fake sincerity. "The pleasure is entirely mine, Luna Catherine. Your reputation for hosting exquisite gatherings has reached even the northern territories. Everyone speaks of your impeccable taste."

She preened visibly under the flattery, her diamond necklace catching the chandelier light as she gestured enthusiastically toward the ballroom. "You simply must try the champagne, my dear. It is imported directly from the finest French vineyards. No expense spared for tonight's celebration."

"How incredibly thoughtful." I accepted the crystal flute from a passing server, letting my fingers brush his wrist casually. He did not even notice the tiny listening device I slipped from his tray into my palm with practiced ease. "I do so love French bubbles. They have such delicate notes."

The Silvermoon Pack house had not changed much in ten long years. Same marble floors that could blind you with their polished shine, same golden fixtures that screamed old money and established power, same portraits of dead Alphas glowering judgmentally from the walls like they were still watching everyone who walked beneath them.

What had changed drastically was me.

Gone was the scrawny, frightened girl who once picked wildflowers in the garden and cried for her papa. In her place stood Lady Evangeline Northcrest, a vision in midnight blue silk with sapphires dripping strategically from her throat. My hair fell in perfect waves down my back, and my smile could convince saints to sin.

Nobody who looked at me saw the murderer's daughter.

They saw exactly what I wanted them to see—wealth, beauty, privilege, innocence.

"Lady Evangeline!" A young warrior approached with the kind of swaggering confidence that suggested he had consumed far too much of that expensive French champagne. "Marcus mentioned you are from the Northcrest territory. I have heard your pack produces the finest trackers in the entire continent. Is that true?"

My grip tightened involuntarily on the delicate flute. Marcus—not the dead heir whose body my father had supposedly desecrated, but his younger cousin who had inherited both the name and the insufferable arrogance. "We do pride ourselves on our hunting skills. My father was considered one of the best before he passed."

"How tragic. My condolences." He did not sound remotely sorry. "Perhaps you would honor me with a dance? I would love to hear more about the northern territories."

"But of course." I flashed him a smile that promised absolutely nothing. "Allow me to go powder my nose first. A lady must look her best."

The bathroom was mercifully empty when I slipped inside, all rose marble and gold fixtures that cost more than most packs spent in an entire year. I moved quickly into the far stall and pulled out the remaining listening devices from my clutch—tiny things, no bigger than buttons, specifically designed to pick up conversations through walls.

One went behind the toilet tank where no one would think to look. Another beneath the vanity sink. The third I saved carefully for somewhere more strategically interesting.

I was washing my hands with deliberate slowness when the door opened behind me. Through the mirror, I watched a group of well-dressed she-wolves enter, their voices carrying that particular high pitch of excited gossip.

"Did you see how Alpha Zephyr looked at her when she arrived?" The redhead adjusted her lipstick with the precision of a surgeon. "I genuinely thought he was going to shift right there in the middle of the ballroom. His eyes went completely gold."

"Who can blame him for staring?" Her brunette friend checked her teeth critically for lipstick stains. "She is absolutely gorgeous, and from excellent bloodlines too. The Northcrest pack has serious political influence in the north."

"Still, he seemed angry about something. More than usual, I mean."

"Zephyr always looks angry lately. It comes with the territory of being Alpha, I suppose. All that responsibility and pressure."

I patted my hands dry with a plush towel with deliberate slowness, letting them continue talking. Information always flowed more freely when people thought you were not actually listening.

"My mate says there has been unusual rogue activity near the southern borders," the redhead continued, lowering her voice conspiratorially. "Three scouts went missing last month. Just vanished without a trace."

"Probably just strays looking for easy prey. You know how rogues are."

"Or something worse." The redhead's voice dropped even lower. "Remember what happened with Alpha Marcus ten years ago? They never did find who really killed him. What if—"

The brunette's sharp, warning look cut her off immediately. "We do not talk about that. You know better. Alpha Darius forbade any discussion of that night."

They left in a flutter of expensive perfume and nervous energy. I waited exactly thirty seconds, then followed them out.

The ballroom thrummed with music and laughter, couples spinning gracefully across the dance floor like they did not have a single care in the world. I weaved through the crowd smoothly, studying faces, memorizing conversations, noting which warriors carried concealed weapons and which emergency exits remained unguarded.

The third listening device found its home beneath the head table, stuck to the underside with practiced ease while I pretended to admire the elaborate floral arrangements.

"Magnificent roses," I murmured to no one in particular, running my fingers along the table edge.

"They should be magnificent. They cost enough."

The voice stopped me cold, sending ice racing down my spine.

I straightened slowly, my carefully constructed mask of polite interest never slipping for even a second, and turned to face the man who had haunted my dreams for ten long years.

Zephyr.

Except he was not the boy I once knew. That child who had shared secrets and honey cakes and promises by the lake had been completely carved away, replaced by six feet of pure Alpha dominance wrapped in an expensive suit.

His dark hair was longer now, pushed back from a face that could cut glass with its sharp angles. His shoulders strained against his perfectly tailored suit, and when he moved, it was with the fluid grace of a predator who had never once had to question his place at the top of the food chain.

But his eyes—those dark, unforgiving eyes that I remembered from my nightmares—those had not changed at all.

"Alpha Zephyr." I inclined my head just enough to show appropriate respect without surrendering my dignity. "What an honor to finally meet you. I have heard such remarkable things about your leadership of Silvermoon."

He stepped closer, close enough that I caught his scent—pine and winter storms and something purely masculine that made my traitorous body respond in ways I would rather not examine or acknowledge.

"Have you now?" His voice was whiskey rough, designed to make women forget their own names. "And what might those things be, Lady Evangeline, was it?"

"Indeed." I met his intense stare without flinching or looking away. "They say you have transformed Silvermoon into the most prosperous pack in the entire region. Quite impressive for someone so young."

"Flattery?" One dark eyebrow arched skeptically. "How refreshing. Most people are too terrified to compliment me directly to my face."

"Well, I am not most people now, am I?"

"No." He began circling me slowly, like he was examining a particularly interesting specimen under glass. "You most certainly are not."

The space between us crackled with dangerous tension. Every instinct I possessed screamed at me to run, to put distance between myself and this dangerous man who could unravel all my carefully laid plans with a single word.

Instead, I held my ground and smiled sweetly.

"You know," he said conversationally, stopping beside me, "there is something strangely familiar about you. Something that tickles the back of my memory."

My heart rate spiked but I kept my voice light. "I have one of those faces, I am afraid. People often think they have met me before."

"Mmm." He stopped directly in front of me, close enough that I had to tilt my head back to maintain eye contact. "But it is not your face that is familiar, is it? It is your scent."

My heart hammered violently against my ribs, but my voice remained steady. "My perfume? It is a custom blend from Paris. Perhaps you have encountered it before?"

"Perhaps." His smile was all sharp teeth and absolutely no warmth. "Or perhaps I am remembering something else entirely. Something much older."

The music swelled around us, couples laughing and spinning, completely oblivious to the deadly game playing out in their midst. I took a delicate sip of champagne, buying myself precious time to think.

"You are quite the mystery yourself, Alpha. All that brooding intensity and dark looks. I imagine the ladies find it quite irresistible."

"Some do." His gaze raked down my body with insulting slowness, assessing.

I took a deep breath and stepped back deliberately, creating space. "Well! I owe a certain gentleman a dance. Now if you will excuse me—"

He leaned down until his breath ghosted across my ear, making me freeze. "I was almost convinced it was not you," he murmured, so softly that only supernatural hearing could catch it. "The resemblance is remarkable, but surely fate would not be so poetic."

My blood turned to ice in my veins, but I forced myself to look confused rather than terrified. "I am sorry? I do not understand what you mean."

"But then again." He pulled back slightly, studying my face with predatory focus. "I could smell your traitorous stench from a mile away. That scent never changes, no matter how much perfume you drown yourself in."

The champagne flute slipped from my suddenly numb fingers. It hit the marble floor with a crystal crash that seemed to echo through the entire ballroom.

In the sudden silence that followed, his voice carried like a death sentence.

"Hello, Seraphine. Here to finish what your father started?"