Chapter Seven

Selena's pov

In a few minutes I was sent out of the packhouse I occupied and given a small cabin close to the woods. 

cabin air was stale, smelling of dust and the lingering, suffocating scent of my own misery. 

I was staring at the wall, tracing the cracks in the wood, when the door groaned open without a knock. 

I didn't need to turn around to know who it was because the heavy, predatory thrum of his Alpha presence preceded him. 

Every time he walked into a room, the oxygen in the room immediately turned to something thin that made it difficult for people with a weaker wolf to breathe.

"You didn't answer my calls," Caden said. His voice came out low, sounding like a grating rumble that used to soothe me. Now, it just sounded like the grinding of metal on metal. He stepped further into the room, his eyes scanning the space with an arrogant possessiveness, as if he still owned the very air I inhaled.

"I was busy," I said in a flat voice. I didn't turn to face him because I didn't want to see that handsome, cruel mask of his that had occupied my every thought for three long years. I can't believe that I once loved him and I knew that turning back to look at his face would bring back painful memories.

"Busy with what? Sitting in the dark?" He let out a sharp, dismissive laugh and paced toward me. "Serena, look at me. This brooding is beneath you. It’s exactly the kind of behavior that made everything so difficult to handle back at the pack house."

I finally turned, making sure that my expression carefully and completely concealed every emotion I was feeling at that moment. 

"Difficult for whom, Caden? For you? Or for the girl who had to do your work while you were off playing hero?"

His jaw tightened, a muscle jumping in his cheek. He stepped into my personal space, his hands reaching out to grip my shoulders. His touch which was once the highlight of my existence suddenly began to feel like a branding iron. I didn't flinch, but my skin crawled. 

"I am trying to be reasonable," he snapped, his voice dropping into that tone he reserved for reprimanding subordinates. "Liliana is my fated mate and you know how rare and how sacred that is. My wolf wouldn't let me choose otherwise if he tried. You have to understand that this isn't a betrayal. It’s my destiny."

"Destiny," I echoed, the word sounding hollow. "You used that excuse a dozen times in the last hour. Do you ever get tired of saying it, or do you just find it easier to believe the lie?"

He ignored me, his gaze softening into something that was supposed to be pity but looked like contempt. "I need you to do one last thing for me, Serena. For the sake of the pack you claim to love. Liliana is young. She doesn't understand the nuance of the accounts, the council protocols, or the complex diplomacy involved in keeping the neighboring packs at peace. I need you to train her. Teach her how to be a Luna."

The request was so absurd. It wasn't just absurd, it was also so insulting, that for a split second, I almost laughed. He wanted me to groom his mistress to wear my skin, to take my seat at the head of the table, and use the very systems I had built to sustain the life he was so happily stealing from me.

"You want me to train her?" I asked, my voice dangerously quiet. "You want me to hand over the keys to the kingdom to the girl who stole my life?"

"I want you to be the bigger person," he countered, his tone hardening. "If you do this, if you handle this with grace, I will ensure your transition out of the pack is... comfortable. You won't leave with nothing".

I looked at him. I really looked at him, and realized he was entirely incapable of seeing me as a human being. To him I was just a tool, a utility, and now I was a legacy to be discarded. 

"Fine," I said, the word coming out sharp and hollow. "I’ll do it. I’ll teach her everything she needs to know about the pack."

His face lit up with a self-satisfied smirk. "I knew you’d come around. You always were the most reliable person I knew, Serena. That’s why this is for the best".

He leaned in as if to kiss my forehead, but I shifted away, my movements fluid and cold but he didn't seem to notice. He was too preoccupied with his own victory. He turned and walked out the door, whistling a tune that made my stomach churn.

I stood in the center of the room for a long time, the silence pressing in on me. 

I was dead inside. Every dream, every hope, every scrap of love I had nurtured for him had been burned away, leaving only ash. 

But in that ash, I had a plan that was beginning to take shape. If he really wanted me to train her, then it's best that I give her an education she would never be able to forget.

I walked toward the door, my mind already digging up pieces of information that I would need to ruin them both by the time I was done with them

A murmur of voices drifted through the thin wooden walls from the hallway. Belinda’s voice came out sharp, authoritative, and dripping with malice.

"I don't care how long it takes, just get it drafted," Belinda was saying, her tone impatient. "The moment the training is complete, I want her gone. If she resists, use the security detail. I want a formal banishment order on her desk by the end of the week. We cannot have a disgruntled, jilted woman hovering around the perimeter once Liliana is fully established. It’s a liability we simply cannot afford."