Ghost between us.

The war room smelled of smoke and steel. Shadows from the fire pit kept crawling across the maps spread over the table, twisting borders into shapes that looked more like scars than territory lines. Xavier stood still, hands locked behind his back, staring at the red-marked edge of the eastern border.

But he wasn’t seeing it. Not really.

The only thing he saw over and over was her face.

“Larissa.” The name slipped out of his mouth like a wound tearing open.

It was a whisper, a ghost, but it cut him deeper than any blade ever had.

He’d driven her away. He’d carved her out of his chest with his own hand. He had told himself it was the only way to keep her safe, the only way to make her run. But saying it hadn’t stopped the memory. It hadn’t stopped the bond from burning like fire in his veins every damn night.

And now, with rumors spreading like wildfire, her name haunted him more than war or duty ever could.

The door creaked open.

“Busy,” Xavier said without turning. His voice was low, rough.

A soft, almost mocking laugh floated through the air. “You always say that when you’re trying to hide from me.”

Selena.

Her presence hit the room before she fully stepped inside, all silk and venom. The scent of jasmine and roses followed her in, cloying, filling every corner until it almost smothered the smoke. She moved slowly, deliberately, like a predator circling prey.

“You’ve been dodging me,” she said. Her cloak slid off her shoulders, falling in a puddle of black velvet against the stone floor. Beneath it, her bodice clung like a promise he didn’t want. “Or maybe you’ve been hiding something.”

Xavier finally looked up, jaw tight. “I’ve been dealing with the council. Patrol shifts. War.”

“You think I don’t hear the whispers?” She tilted her head, stepping closer, her voice sharp as glass. “It’s not the borders they’re talking about, Xavier. It’s her.”

Selene smiled, slow and poisonous. “Larissa. The little ghost that doesn’t know when to stay buried.”

“Enough.” His voice cracked through the room like a whip.

But Selene only arched a brow, amused. “They say she’ll be back. That you’ll marry her. Is it true?”

Xavier’s throat burned. He didn’t move, didn’t blink. “Yes.”

The laugh that left her lips wasn’t really a laugh at all. It was bitter, broken, laced with years of waiting. “After everything? After she ran? After you rejected her? And me—I stayed. I fought by your side. I bled by your side. I burned for you when no one else dared to touch the fire.”

“This isn’t about crowns, Selene,” Xavier said quietly. “It’s about war. Survival.”

“No.” She stalked closer, each step deliberate. “This is about you choosing weakness over strength.”

She was in front of him now, close enough that her warmth pressed against his chest. Her hand slid slowly up his arm, over the hard lines of muscle. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten,” she whispered. “The nights when you called my name. The way you looked at me when the world outside was burning and I was the only thing holding you together. Don’t you dare lie and say I was just… part of a mission.”

Xavier’s breath came rough, uneven. He clenched his fists at his sides, fighting the pull.

“You were never mine,” he forced out. “Not really.”

Her eyes flared. She leaned closer, lips brushing his ear. “No, Xavier. I was yours. And you damn well knew it.”

For one burning second, he didn’t move. The fire roared inside him—rage, memory, lust tangled with grief. For one second, he gave in. Then he shoved her back, chest heaving.

“No.”

The word was a growl, sharp and final.

Selene stumbled, shock flashing across her face. Then anger. “You didn’t say no before,” she spat.

“It was a mistake.”

“A mistake you made more than once?” Her voice cracked like a whip.

Xavier turned away, shame twisting in his gut. He wanted to believe it had been only survival, distraction, anything but what it really was—weakness.

Selene’s voice dropped low, dangerous. “You’re going to throw me away for her? After all this time? After I kept your secrets, killed for you, carried your sins when no one else would?”

Xavier’s hands dug into the table, nails biting the wood. He couldn’t hold it anymore. His voice ripped out of him, raw, broken.

“She was my mate.”

The air went still.

Selene’s eyes narrowed, confusion flickering before fury replaced it.

“I felt it,” Xavier went on, words tumbling, jagged. “In my bones. In my damn soul. I knew from the moment I touched her that she was mine. But she was nineteen. Nineteen, Selene. Soft, hopeful, dreaming of forever. And I—” His voice cracked. He slammed a fist against the table. “I was a weapon. I was built for war. I didn’t know how to love someone soft.”

He dragged a hand over his face, breathing hard. “If I kept her close, they would’ve destroyed her. The council. The enemies at our gates. They would’ve torn her apart just to break me. I couldn’t risk it. So I did the only thing I could to make her run. I made her believe she wasn’t enough.”

Selene stared, silent, her mouth parting in disbelief.

“I rejected her,” Xavier said, voice a whisper now, shaking. “Not because she was weak. Because she was the one thing I couldn’t protect.”

The fire snapped and popped, filling the silence.

“She was my peace,” he murmured. “And I turned her into my wound.”

Selene’s eyes hardened. “And now? After years, after everything, you just bring her back?”

“I never stopped wanting her.” His gaze lifted, steady and cold now. “And I will have her. Not as a mate I cast aside. Not as someone fragile. As my equal. As my Luna. As the Alpha she was always meant to be.”

Selene’s laugh broke like glass. “They will never forgive you. The pack will never follow her. She ran, Xavier. She was weak.”

“She survived,” he snapped. His voice was ice, his eyes burning.

Selene moved in close again, fury twisting her features. “Bring her here and I swear she won’t last a moon.”

Xavier turned, meeting her stare dead-on, his jaw like stone. “Don’t threaten her. Don’t step over that line. You shared my bed, Selene, but you will never touch my soul.”

Her mask cracked, rage spilling through. “So she did? After all this time?”

“Yes,” Xavier said simply. “She did.”

The silence after that was deafening.

He started toward the door, each step heavy. His hand gripped the handle, but he paused, his voice low and harsh.

“For one second tonight, I almost gave in to you. That weakness disgusts me more than you ever could.”

Then he was gone, the door slamming behind him.

Selene stood in the firelight, trembling, her chest rising and falling with rage. Dignity was gone, burned away by jealousy and betrayal. She lifted her face toward the window, toward the pale light of the moon.

And whispered a vow sharp as a blade.

“She will not wear that crown. Not while I breathe.”