Chapter 08

IRIS POV:

I couldn't explain what just happened. I was literally confused.

I waited until he turned left.

I pushed the door open and stepped back inside the room. I walked straight to the massive closet. The lights turned on automatically when I got close. Rows and rows of clothes hung perfectly straight. Suits, shirts, pants, all dark colors, all expensive-looking. Everything smelled clean, like him.

There were no women’s clothes there. Nothing soft or flowery. Just his things.

I didn’t want to wear a dress again. Not tonight. Not after everything.

My fingers brushed over a white button-up shirt. It was big. Crisp. The kind he probably wore under those white suits. The fabric felt smooth and cool against my skin. I pulled it off the hanger.

Next to it were black sweatpants. Soft cotton. No drawstring, just elastic at the waist. Simple. They looked huge on the hanger, but I didn’t care.

I dropped the towel. It hit the floor with a soft sound.

I slipped the white shirt on first.

The sleeves were way too long. They covered my hands completely. The hem fell past my thighs, almost to my knees. It smelled like him.

“I love it!” my wolf yelped.

“So you suddenly love the clothes of someone we just met a few hours ago?” I teased her.

“There’s something about him that I love. I really wish you didn’t push him away. By the way, our mate hasn’t marked us yet,” my wolf admitted.

I rolled the sleeves up a few times until they sat at my elbows.

Then I put on the sweatpants. I had to pull the waist tight and fold it over once so they wouldn’t fall. They bunched at my ankles, but they felt safe. Loose. Covered.

I looked at myself in the full-length mirror that had a golden frame on the closet door.

The shirt hung off me like a dress. The collar was open, showing a little skin at my neck and collarbone. My wet hair stuck to my shoulders in dark waves.

I looked small in his clothes.

My stomach twisted. Part of me wanted to run again. Part of me wanted to stay right there and wait for him to come back.

I took a deep breath.

Whatever happened next, at least I wasn’t in that wedding gown anymore.

I wasn’t anyone’s Luna tonight.

Not Nicholas’s.

Not yet anyone else’s.

I walked out of the room, following the hallways. I traced my steps back to the curving staircase he had led me up before.

When I reached the main lounge with the high ceilings, marble floors, and crystal lights that looked like falling stars, I saw him standing there. He was discussing something with a man.

It seemed he noticed me the instant I came down the stairs.

He turned slowly, scanning my body.

“Out of the hundreds of women’s clothes in that closet… you chose mine.” His mouth curved slightly into a smirk.

I held his gaze. “Women’s clothes? All I saw were men’s.”

The man beside him stiffened almost immediately. Surprise flickered across his face at the way I answered Aurelian directly.

Aurelian’s expression didn’t change much.

“Sir, if I may…” the man began carefully.

Aurelian turned his head slowly toward him.

“Miss Fiona’s wardrobe was removed many years ago after the night you gave the order,” he continued, lowering his gaze.

Silence followed.

Aurelian didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t need to. His eyes settled on the man. It was the kind of look that made explanations irrelevant.

“And did I give you permission to speak, Fredrick?”

His voice wasn’t loud. It was dangerous.

Fredrick swallowed. I could see the tension ripple through him. His shoulders locked, and his fingers twitched at his sides.

“My apologies, sir.”

“Leave us,” Aurelian commanded.

“Yes, sir.”

He inclined his head and walked away, trying to look composed, though the speed of his retreat betrayed him. Had I not been standing there, he would have fled.

I believe, for some reason, he didn’t want that name mentioned at all. Or maybe he didn’t want me hearing that name at all.

And who is Fiona?