Affair With The Enemy

~Seris

The words hung in the air like a death sentence, my stomach lurching so hard that bile sprang up my throat.

​Sylus went utterly and terrifyingly still.

​I watched his countenance shift, but it didn't give way to horror. The grief, the shock—all of it was locked away behind a wall of ice. His eyes hardened, his jaw setting. He became the Alpha in an instant.

​"Secure all exits," he barked. "No one leaves the grounds. I want every guest accounted for and every guard on high alert." His words were low and clipped. "Sweep the perimeter. Find the shooter."

​The guards scattered, but one hesitated. His eyes flicked to me, full of suspicion.

​"Mistress Seris." His tone was carefully neutral, but his eyes narrowed. "Where were you during the attack?"

​My throat tightened, the cloying, foreign scent still burning my lungs. "I was—"

​Sylus stepped between us, blocking the guard's view of me entirely.

​"This is no time for questioning," he said, his voice sharp. "My father is dead. The assassin is still out there." His eyes bored into the guard. "Do your job. Find him."

​The guard stuttered, bowing quickly. "Yes, Alpha. My apologies."

​"Go."

​The guard fled.

​Sylus turned to another guard running by, his expression carved from stone. "Escort my wife to our chambers. Lock the door. Post two guards outside. No one enters without my direct order."

​"Yes, Alpha."

​He still hadn't looked at me.

​"Sylus—" I reached for him.

​"Go, Seris." His tone was flat. "There may still be danger."

​The guard stepped forward, waiting. I swallowed the lump in my throat and let myself be led away to the room.

​The chaos continued in the background; I could hear orders and the panicked clamor of our attendees. This was a disaster. For a year, there had been no incidents, and now—my father-in-law was dead.

​Sorrow coiled in my gut. He had not been the kindest, but we had grown into a neutral relationship. I knew Sylus would shut everyone out even more now, never showing sadness. My husband would not shed a single tear.

​And without a doubt, I knew the Darkpine pack was behind it. This was revenge.

​“We are here, mistress.” The guard opened the door, ripping me out of my spiraling thoughts.

​I stepped inside and waited to hear the click of the lock before I peeled off my clothes. The odd scent clung to the fabric, making my stomach churn with discomfort. I raced to the toilet and retched. All the nerves and anxiety of the night’s events twisted my insides into knots. I jumped into the shower afterward, but it did not put a dent in the dreariness.

​When I was done, I slumped against the bathroom wall, panting and still nauseous.

​“Something is wrong,” Xena whimpered.

​“Everything is wrong,” I whispered. I could not claw away the look on Sylus’s face when he’d inhaled that scent—the cold darkness that brewed behind his eyes when he held me.

​My skin itched with unease, my nausea amplifying until an echo of a second heartbeat made me stop. I went rigid before quickly rising and retrieving a pregnancy test.

​Following the instructions for the fourth time in my marriage with shaking hands, I set the test on the counter. Two minutes. The longest two minutes of my life.

​I had grown accustomed to disappointment, so when the second line appeared, I actually screamed.

​After a year of cold matrimony, I was carrying Sylus’s child. Light peeked through the heavy despair of the night.

​The creaking of the door snapped me back to reality. Sylus’s scent wafted in, and I raced out of the bathroom to meet him, to tell him—

​His eyes cut to mine like a heat-seeking laser, his hazel eyes glowing a subtle amber as the coppery scent of blood stirred in the air. He spoke before I could.

​“It was Darkpine,” he said, the words dropping like a bomb. “But it was Stefan Salvatore.”

​My eyes widened at the mention of Alpha Thorne's heir. “What?”

​His features hardened further. “The CCTV caught him just as he escaped.”

​I blinked, my pulse racing at the news, but beneath that was a lurking dread as Sylus’s gaze pierced me. The silence drew on for too long, his eyes raking over me with an intensity that made my skin prickle.

​"How can I help?" I asked, taking a tentative step forward.

​His nostrils flared. I froze mid-step, then took one back.

​"The funeral and my coronation will be in a fortnight." His voice was even—far too even for what had just happened. "Prepare for that." There was a hardness to his tone that chilled me to the bone.

​Suddenly, he closed the distance between us, his presence caging me against the bathroom doorframe. My breath hitched as he loomed over me, his chest rising and falling hard as if he'd run a mile.

​Then his mouth claimed mine in a heartbeat.

​I gasped against his lips, shock rippling through me as my hands found his chest, unsure whether to push or pull. His tongue swept past my parted lips, tasting, devouring. Heat bloomed low in my belly despite the chaos, despite everything.

​This was the first time. The first time he'd kissed me without a blindfold. The first time I could see his face as he took me apart. My hands fisted in his shirt as I kissed him back, desperate and confused and aching all at once.

​Then he pulled away sharply, leaving me gasping. His eyes glowed a wild, striking amber. "Sleep off the night," he ordered, his voice hoarse.

​Then he turned and left without another word. The door clicked shut behind him.

​I stood there, panting, my lips still tingling from the kiss. My hand moved instinctively to my stomach, fingers trembling. I never got to tell him about our baby.

​The moon hung low in the sky as the pack elder's voice carried over the assembled wolves.

​"We gather to honor Alpha Zander Hawkins, protector of Howlridge, father, leader, warrior."

​I stood at the edge of the crowd, Lily silent beside me. Wolves wept openly. Others stared at the pyre with hard, grieving eyes. I kept my hand pressed against my stomach, hidden beneath my black dress.

​It had been two weeks since that night—since Sylus kissed me without a blindfold and walked away. He never came back to our chambers. He slept in his office and ate with the council, throwing himself into the investigation and coronation preparations with a single-minded intensity that left no room for me.

​I'd gone to his office three times. Each time, guards turned me away with cruel eyes and excuses about meetings and security briefings.

​My nausea had worsened. Lily noticed, of course, her sharp eyes catching me doubled over the toilet more than once.

​"Tell him," she'd urged yesterday.

​But how do I tell a man who won't even look at me?

​The elder's voice rose. "Alpha Zander led us through war. He protected us through famine. He—" His voice cracked. "—would want us to celebrate his victories and not mourn his demise."

​My eyes drifted to where Sylus was seated at the high table. My heart skipped when our eyes locked. He had already been looking at me.

​"So we will showcase glimpses of the Alpha's life," the elder announced, gesturing toward a screen being erected near the pyre.

​The crowd murmured approval, but I wasn't looking at the screen. I was looking at Sylus. His eyes held mine across the distance, their hazel depths unreadable. For a heartbeat, I thought I saw painful longing flicker there.

​Then the screen flickered to life.

​Images flashed. Zander as a young wolf. Zander with his mate. Zander leading hunts. Wolves around me smiled through tears. I kept my gaze on Sylus, willing him to see me.

​I'm carrying your child, I thought desperately. Please just look at me long enough for me to tell you.

​Suddenly, horrified gasps erupted around me. Lily's hand gripped my arm like a vise.

​"Seris—"

​I tore my gaze from Sylus and looked at the screen. My world tilted sideways when I saw myself in the gown from the gala, standing on a balcony.

​My lips were locked with a man who wasn't my husband.

​My mouth was on his. His hands were in my hair. The image was crystal clear under the moonlight.

​"No," I breathed.

​Another image. A different angle. My face was turned toward the camera, unmistakable. The man's face was clear, too.

​Stefan Salvatore. Alpha Thorne's heir.

“What is the meaning of this?” my uncle bellowed, rising from his seat. “Who is behind this?”

My world was swimming, my skin crawling from the stares of the pack. All of them sprang from their seats for a better look. A horrified gasp rippled through the crowd.

Lily was the only one who held me steady while my thoughts whirled, the false images filling my vision. Stefan Salvatore’s hands tangled through my black hair; my violet eyes were darkened with lust as I looked the enemy in the eye before the next image took over the screen with our lips colliding.