Chapter 56

SARA 

I followed them as far as the hallway, pretending to polish the mahogany doorframe while I strained to hear through the heavy wood of the study.

"Crescent Moon shadows are all over the border, Tristan!" Yvonne’s voice was a frantic staccato. "They aren't just scouts. These are elite trackers. Rune knows. I’m telling you, he knows she’s here."

"How?" Tristan roared. "The wreckage was perfect. Khalid’s work was flawless."

"Maybe someone talked," Yvonne spat. "Maybe your 'live-in maid' found a way to send a signal."

"Are you accusing me of being compromised?" Tristan’s voice dropped to a lethal register. "Or is this your way of covering up the fact that you were the one who led them back here?"

"I gave everything for this pack!" Yvonne’s voice broke into a cold, hysterical laugh. "I debased myself! And you turn it on me? You have been kissing and touching her ever since. You’re the one who can’t keep his hands off the prisoner!"

The door flew open. Tristan grabbed my arm and yanked me into the room. I stumbled, my kimono fluttering open at the thigh, exposing more than I intended.

"You want to see where my hands are, Yvonne?" Tristan growled. He didn't even look at me; he just gripped the back of my neck and crushed his mouth against mine. It wasn't a kiss; it was a weapon. He was using me to hurt her, turning my body into a tool for his spite.

I didn't freeze this time. The moment his lips met mine, the humiliation of the night before ignited into a sharp, white-hot spark of anger. I brought my hand up and delivered a slap that echoed like a gunshot in the small office.

Tristan’s head snapped to the side. He let go of me, his hand flying to his reddening cheek, shock written all over his face.

"I am not a prop for your domestic disputes," I hissed, my voice trembling with rage. "She is in love with you; that much is obvious. If both of you can't settle your issues like adults, leave me out of it," I warned in an icy tone that seemed to chill the very air.

Yvonne let out a sharp, mocking cackle. "Oh, that was beautiful. Even your slave thinks you’re pathetic, Tristan."

"Yvonne, I swear to the Goddess—"

Harlan burst in, looking grimmer than usual. "What in moon's name did I just step into?" Harlan asked, pausing as he recognized the thick tension in the room. "I hate to break up whatever is happening here, but there's a man named Khalid here to see both of you." Of course, Harlan had been in solitary confinement when Khalid first showed up, so the name held no weight for him.

He gave me a questioning look, asking silently what was going on, but I merely shrugged my shoulders. Then he motioned for a man to enter, and a figure I recognized from the last time—Khalid—stepped in. He looked absolutely terrified; his clothes were rumpled and his eyes darted around the room like a trapped bird's.

"He was trying to flee his territory," Harlan said, shoving Khalid forward.

Alpha Tristan was quiet for a long moment, his eyes narrowing. "Khalid, why are you trying to leave Crescent Moon?" He asked slowly, the threat looming beneath his words.

"Alpha," Khalid stammered, falling to his knees. "Alpha Rune... he knows."

"What are you talking about? What do you mean he knows?" Tristan snapped, finally losing his cool.

"I don't know how, but I returned to my house a few days ago and found him sitting there, cooking my food. He already knew the truth; he just wanted confirmation," a terrified Khalid said.

"Don't tell me you told him the truth?" Yvonne snapped at him. It suddenly looked like Khalid was a convenient target for her to vent her frustrations, given the room was already at a breaking point.

"Well, I told him I was contracted to do the job. The bottom line is that he knows she's alive." He pointed a trembling finger at me.

Tristan stepped toward Khalid as if he hadn't heard a word the man said, his rage finding a new target. He delivered a brutal backhand that sent the alchemist sprawling across the floor. "You let him in? You let that monster find the truth?"

"He already had it!" Khalid cried out, rubbing his bruised jaw. "He visited Silvermoon! He knows you're healthy! He's coming, Tristan!"

Tristan lunged again, but this time it wasn't about the treason. He grabbed Khalid by the collar, hauling him up. "And what about Yvonne? Did you have to make such a demand of her? To have carnal knowledge of her, you rabid dog? Did you have to put your filthy hands on my Right Hand?"

Khalid looked up, his expression shifting from terror to a strange, defiant confusion. He looked at Yvonne, who had gone deathly still and pale.

"Carnal knowledge?" Khalid scoffed, wiping blood from his lip. "You make it sound like a theft, Alpha. It was consensual. More than consensual. She's been back to see me three times since that 'sacrifice' she claimed to make. She seemed to enjoy the 'dog' quite a bit."

The silence that followed was so heavy it felt like the floor might collapse under the weight of the revelation.

Tristan’s grip on Khalid’s collar slackened. He turned slowly to look at Yvonne. I felt the air leave the room. Yvonne—the woman who had played the martyr, who had claimed she’d been forced to debase herself for the good of the pack—was staring at the floor, her face a mask of caught-out guilt.

It was an awkward, sickening revelation. Tristan looked like he was going to vomit. I, however, just felt a cold, quiet sense of vindication.

The silence was finally broken by Paige, who appeared in the doorway, her face as pale as a sheet.

"Alpha," she whispered, her voice trembling. "There is a woman named Carmen of the Crescent Moon at the front gate. She is demanding an immediate audience. She says... she’s not leaving until she sees the girl."