C5

Rosamund Ashby POV

His warm breath brushed against my neck as we stood beside the heavy steel frame of his armored transport. The closeness sent an unwelcome rush of heat through my wolf. I narrowed my eyes and forced myself to remain still.

“Aren’t you worried your precious little Carys will start crying if you keep her waiting?”

Stellan’s arrogant smirk vanished, and his golden eyes flashed. “Rosamund, watch your tongue!”

My chest tightened as a cold weight settled in my stomach. He truly cared about Carys. If his heart belonged to another woman, why was he still playing these possessive games with me?

The warmth faded from my eyes, replaced by a cold, guarded stare. Being his Luna left me feeling exposed and vulnerable, but my proud wolf refused to back down.

“What?” I sneered. “Can’t she satisfy you?”

Stellan released my waist and stepped back with a harsh scoff. “She’s nothing like you. Don’t compare her to a woman who flaunts herself.”

I stared at him, my jaw clenched. I wasn’t allowed to cross blades with a sparring partner in the arena, yet he could openly feed Carys and hold her in front of the entire territory?

“Did you hear a word I said?” Stellan demanded, his towering frame casting a shadow over me.

Before I could answer, the communicator inside his coat began buzzing with an urgent pack alert. He ignored the first notification, but a second followed almost immediately.

I looked at him with cold indifference. “Don’t worry, Alpha. I won’t break any rules before the council formally ends our mate bond. But I will fight for every right a Luna is entitled to under pack law.”

If an Alpha betrayed his mate for another woman, the wronged Luna was entitled to a substantial share of the family’s assets. Before Carys came along, I had intended to walk away quietly. Now, if I couldn’t keep the man, I would make sure I got my fair share of his territory and wealth.

Stellan studied me, his brow furrowing. “Stop talking nonsense. No one has threatened your position. Know your place.”

He turned and strode toward the council gates without another word.

I leaned against the stone wall, breathing hard as the adrenaline drained from my body. I fought back the emotional collapse threatening to overwhelm me, forcing my wolf to remain silent.

That weekend, I went to the Ashby household for the mandatory family meal. The moment I stepped through the heavy wooden archway alone, Rowena Ashby’s face twisted into a bitter scowl.

“Why are you here without the Alpha?” Rowena demanded.

“He was held up by pack business,” I replied flatly.

“Don’t lie to me!” she snapped, narrowing her eyes. “Did you pick a fight with Stellan?”

I said nothing, my jaw tightening.

Taking my silence as confirmation, Rowena stepped forward and grabbed my ear, yanking it hard. “You stupid girl! Without the Valecrest family’s support, our household will starve! Neither Calder nor your stepfather will give you a single piece of meat!”

I winced and slapped her hand away. “I don’t need your scraps! I’d rather starve in the wild than beg this household for a single copper!”

“You’d better remember that!” Rowena sneered, brushing off her tunic. “We didn’t set a place for you today. If Stellan isn’t coming to our table, you can leave!”

I bit the inside of my lip until I tasted blood and swallowed the insult. She was my mother, after all.

Just as I turned to leave, a deep, mocking voice echoed through the stone entryway.

“So the Ashbys don’t even prepare a meal for the Alpha and his Luna? How interesting.”

I turned and met Stellan’s amused gaze.

“The snow was heavy on the mountain pass, so I was delayed, Rosamund,” he said smoothly as he stepped inside. He slipped an arm around my waist and pulled me firmly against his chest. “Since there’s no feast waiting for us here, I’ll take my Luna out for a proper meal.”

I felt a sharp pinch at my waist. The bastard had dug his fingers into my side beneath my leather dress, silently warning me to play along.

I leaned against his broad chest and slipped my hand around his torso, digging my nails into his ribs.

“Wonderful. I’m in the mood for roasted wild boar tonight. Let’s go.”

Stellan’s lips curved into a dark smile. “Whatever my Luna wants.”

Before we could head toward the courtyard, light footsteps pattered down the stone stairs. Blythe Ashen hurried toward us, her voice sickly sweet.

“Stellan! You actually came!”

Blythe was my sister-in-law, someone Rowena was always showing off. She wore an elaborate pink fur cloak, and her face was so heavily made up that she looked ready to attend a royal pack summit. She gazed at the Alpha with undisguised longing.

Stellan raised an eyebrow. “Blythe. You’re dressed up today.”

Blythe blushed and gave him a shy smile. “Thank you, Alpha.”

I caught the sideways glance Stellan shot me, his expression deliberately provocative. I scoffed inwardly at his childish behavior.

Blythe stepped forward eagerly, her voice turning pleading. “Rosamund, could I borrow your carriage for the next few moons?” She lowered her eyes, sneaking another glance at Stellan. “I’ve just been appointed a Pack Administration Scribe, and I need reliable transport to the main territory. Mother said she’d buy me one, but that would be a waste of pack resources. We’re family, after all. What’s yours should be ours, right?”

I stared at her in disbelief. I had earned that fine beast-drawn carriage through my victories in the arena before Stellan and I became mates. How dare she ask for it as if it already belonged to her?

Before I could refuse, Stellan spoke.

“Darling, let your sister use the carriage.”

I turned to him in shock. He had never interfered in the petty disputes of the Ashby household before. What was he up to now?

Blythe made no attempt to hide her greed. Her eyes lit up as she looked at Stellan.

“Thank you! You’re the best, Alpha!” She turned to me and held out her hand with a smug smile. “Give me the key.”

I glanced down at my satchel, tightening my grip on its leather strap. My wolf raged inside me, unwilling to surrender something I had worked so hard to earn.

Suddenly, Stellan leaned close to my ear, his deep voice brushing against my skin.

“I’ve just acquired a magnificent crimson mount from the southern territories. Its coat suits your fiery spirit perfectly.”

He rested a hand on my hip, making sure Rowena and Blythe could hear every word.

“Since you won’t need that old carriage anymore, let Blythe have it. And when you get tired of the crimson mount, you can choose any beast or vehicle from the Valecrest stables. Whenever you like.”

Rowena’s eyes widened at the mention of the Valecrest family’s wealth, while Blythe clenched her jaw, barely able to contain her envy.

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Stellan was insufferable. In just a few words, he had managed to humiliate both my mother and my sister-in-law.

I reached into my bag, pulled out the key, and tossed it carelessly at Blythe’s feet.

“If you want my leftovers that badly, take them.”

Blythe failed to catch the key. It clattered onto the stone floor.

“Stellan… I’d much rather have a crimson mount, too,” she whined, looking up at him with pleading eyes.

Stellan gave her a cold, insincere smile. “But you already have the carriage key. Changed your mind? Fine. I’ll have it returned to my stables.”

He bent as if to retrieve it, but Blythe scrambled to the floor and snatched it up.

“No! I want it!”

I let out a quiet scoff.

Rowena forced a stiff smile and bowed her head. “Alpha, please, come sit by the hearth. I’ll prepare a feast for you myself.”

“Don’t bother,” Stellan replied smoothly. His arm remained firmly around my waist as he turned me toward the exit. “I’m taking my mate somewhere else to eat.”

The moment we passed through the outer gates, I pulled free of his grip.

“I had no idea the Alpha was so generous to my family,” I said with a cold, mocking smile.

Stellan let his arm fall to his side. “Come with me to the northern outpost. I’ll give you the mount.”

“Fine.” I wasn’t about to turn down what he owed me after giving my carriage away.

Stellan drove his armored transport to a secluded estate in the outer territory—the very place we had lived during our first year together as mates.

Light flickered through the upper windows, showing that someone was living there.

I raised an eyebrow and shot him a sharp look. “Who’s living in our old home?”

After I had packed my belongings and moved out, he had moved someone else in. The thought made me sick. I refused to give the stone manor another glance and headed straight for the stables, where the sleek mount was waiting.

Stellan’s golden eyes followed the line of my legs, exposed through the high slit in my dark leather skirt.

“This beast is exceptional. I’m taking it,” I declared, unfastening the reins without waiting for his permission.

Stellan let out a low, exasperated laugh. He leaned against a wooden stable post, watching me as though he were waiting for something.

I pressed my lips together. I knew exactly what he wanted. No man would hand over a rare mount worth thousands of pack coins without expecting something in return. From where I stood, all I had to do was tilt my head and press my lips to his jaw.

Instead, I looked at him coldly.

“I don’t care which woman you bought this mount for before deciding to give it to me. You don’t get to play the hero now. So save your breath.”

Stellan straightened, his expression turning dangerously cold.

“Get out of my sight.”

I met his bitter gaze for a moment, then mounted the beast, dug my heels in, and rode out of the courtyard in a cloud of dust.

I didn’t care who he had bought the mount for. It belonged to me now.

As I rode along the outer boundary of Silvermere Territory, my communicator chimed in my pocket.

I brought the beast to a halt beside a red boundary stone and checked the screen.

[My stomach is killing me.]

The message was from Stellan.

Only then did I remember that neither of us had eaten since leaving the Ashby household. I was a trained warrior who could go without food for days, but Stellan suffered from severe stomach inflammation if he went too long without eating.

I gritted my teeth and typed a cold reply.

[Sorry, Alpha. I’ve already ridden too far into the wild to turn back.]

Stellan didn’t reply.

Eventually, I reached my modest, one-room lodge in the outer pack district—the sanctuary I had rented after leaving our former home. It was small, but it had everything I needed to feel safe and comfortable.

After soaking my aching muscles in a hot wooden tub, I leaned back against the rim and let the steam soothe my joints. Then I reached for a horn cup filled with dark, spiced berry wine and took a quiet sip.

My communicator suddenly vibrated on the stone ledge. I recognized the private crest of my bloodline, tapped the rune, and raised the device to my ear.

“Rosamund, I’ve sent the dossier on the woman you asked about directly to your secure line,” Calder Ashby said in his deep, steady voice.