LOGINMarcelo didn't answer immediately.He simply looked at me.The silence stretched between us, long enough that I could almost hear the ticking of the clock hanging against the far wall. His fingers remained loosely intertwined atop the polished table, his posture deceptively relaxed despite the subtle rigidity I had noticed the moment he entered the room.He was thinking and choosing his next move. Just like he always did.Then, slowly, the corner of his mouth lifted. It wasn't genuine.It never was.It was the same smile he had worn countless times during political gatherings and trade negotiations throughout our marriage. The kind carefully crafted to appear approachable while revealing absolutely nothing underneath."I suppose..." he began at last, breaking the silence with a quiet chuckle, "...this negotiation is already proving rather different from our previous one."The memory surfaced before I could stop it. This very room. The same polished table. The same morning light pourin
Marcelo eventually recovered enough to sit down. It wasn't comfortably and entirely, but enough to arrange himself into the practiced posture of a man in control of the situation, even as the confusion from a moment ago continued its quiet work behind his eyes.He glanced once more toward Father before finally settling into the chair across from me, the look lasting precisely a half second too long before he caught himself and looked away. Seraphine followed shortly afterward, smoothing her skirts as she sat with the kind of fluid, unhurried grace that spoke of long practice. The doors closed behind them with a soft, definitive sound.And just like that, the negotiation began. For a few moments, nobody spoke. The silence stretched, and the kind that both sides allowed to exist because breaking it first meant conceding something, even if no one outside this room could have named exactly what. Sunlight continued its slow movements across the mahogany table. Somewhere below, the trad
The negotiation chamber inside the Caelthorn Trade House was unusually quiet.Morning sunlight filtered through the tall windows overlooking the city, falling in long, clean lines across the polished mahogany table occupying the center of the room. Documents had already been arranged neatly before me. Every report relevant to the failed negotiation, every contract, every figure that told the story of exactly how thoroughly House of Valmere had overplayed its hand. Tea had been prepared. Everything was in its place.Everything was ready.All that remained was for the lord of the House of Valmere to arrive.My fingers tapped lightly against the armrest of my chair before I stilled them purposely. Outside the chamber, the Trade House continued operating with its usual morning rhythm. Employees walked the corridors carrying ledgers and correspondence. Merchants discussed shipments in the rooms below. Servants moved in and out of offices with the unhurried efficiency of people who had no r
I found myself smiling again before I'd even decided to.Then, my gaze dropped to the bouquet still carefully preserved in his hand, trapped somewhat awkwardly between our bodies, where he'd managed to keep it from being destroyed during my rather enthusiastic arrival.My eyes lit up immediately. "Those are for me?"Lucretius looked almost offended. Deeply, personally offended, as though the question itself were an affront to his character. "No."I blinked.He shifted the bouquet with great solemnity, holding it fractionally closer to his chest and away from me. "They're for Enoch."A long-suffering snort sounded from somewhere behind him, near the door, where Enoch had apparently been standing in silence this entire time, witnessing everything."Don't involve me in this."I immediately burst out laughing, the sound filling the entrance hall, and felt Lucretius's arms tighten slightly around me in response. It was the involuntary, instinctive kind of tightening, the kind that happened
By the time the sun began its slow descent beyond the city, painting the sky in amber and fading gold, I had already brought several documents back from the Trade House.The study room inside the Caelthorn residence looked exactly as it always did whenever I worked from home. Ledgers stacked at the left corner of the desk, precisely where I always kept them. Contracts arranged by date, oldest to newest, the way my father had taught me before I was old enough to understand what half of them said. Merchant reports. Shipping manifests. Correspondence that had been waiting patiently for my attention since morning.Several stacks of paperwork occupied the desk before me.Normally, I would have finished half of it by now.Instead, I found myself staring at the same report for far too long, my eyes skimming the opening paragraph and then sliding off the page entirely, drifting somewhere between the words and nowhere in particular.I returned to the beginning.Again.A quiet sigh escaped me.
After a while, I lowered my cup. "Father.""Hm?"I hesitated, turning the words over once more before letting them out. Then smiled. "I've been practicing."That immediately gained his attention. He set his own cup down, the easy fondness from a moment ago sharpening into something far more alert."The portal."His eyes widened slightly. "The celestial portal?"I nodded, and excitement fluttered inside me, the kind I hadn't let myself fully feel until I said it aloud. "Rachelle already taught me the fundamentals."Father stared.For a long moment, he didn't say anything at all. Then, something vulnerable crossed his face. Stripped entirely of the composure he usually wore so effortlessly, the kind of expression I imagined he rarely allowed anyone to see, perhaps not even himself, in quiet moments alone.For the first time since our reunion, I saw just how much he missed Her.The Moon Goddess.His mate. His wife. My mother. The woman he'd waited centuries to see again, across more life
There were things I had been questioning myself lately. It was how my body was able to allow this man to touch me sensually. Not only that, I had let him own and brand me, and even my wolf was trusting him more than she trusted our former mate.I still remember that time when Redmund had attempted
When Lucretius brought us to his private chamber, I was starting to feel my eyes getting heavier, my head already leaning on his shoulder. As soon as he gently lay me down on his bed, I struggled to fight off the drowsiness threatening to take over.His faint scent of sandalwood and smoke lingered
"My, my, the newlywed lovebirds have finally shown themselves."That was Romina's statement as soon as Lucretius and I showed up in the dining hall with our hands intertwined. This wasn't my idea, but Lucretius's. It was right after the maids had finished their business with me that he demanded I s
When the dinner was over and the servants cleared the last of the plates, Romina was still giggling over Lucretius's shameless remarks to me until my face had gone red before she and Lorenzo had finally excused themselves for the night. Then, Redmund and Lilith followed soon after.The stiff smile







