CHAPTER 6

DRAKE POV

The moment Lucas called my name, I turned—and my breath hitched.

Lillian stood beside Salome, her dark eyes wide, lips slightly parted, her complexion pale. The conference hall lights caught the gold flecks in her eyes, making them glow bright like embers. She looked….stunning, beautiful.

My wolf, Kael, stirred restlessly in my chest, a low growl rumbling through me. She was here. Lillian was here.

But before I could take a step towards her, she appeared.

Sharon.

Her sickly sweet perfume invaded my senses as she draped herself over my arm, her long nails digging into my biceps like claws.

“Drake, darling,” she purred, her voice laced with venom. “You didn’t tell me ‘Lily’ would be here.”

Lillian flinched at the sound of her name, for it sounded as poison.

“Drop it Sharon,” I snarled, my gaze never leaving Lillian.

Lucas stepped forward, his usual easygoing demeanor gone. “Yeah, drop it,” he echoed, his voice loud and sharp. “You are embarrassing yourself.”

Sharon’s lips curled into a sneer. “Oh please. Since when do you defend trash, Lucas?”

Lucas’s eyes darkened. “Since she became my mate’s friend.”

The air thickened.

Then Sharon laughed…a shrill, mocking sound. “Oh this is rich.” She turned to Lillian, her voice dripping with malice. “Tell me, Lily, do you still remember that pathetic love letter you wrote? Or you erased it from your mind out of shame. But don’t you worry darling, some of us here, have a retentive memory.”

My blood turned to ice.

The letter.

The one I had destroyed.

Lillian’s face paled, but she held her ground. “I was sixteen,” she said, her voice steady despite her hands trembling. “It was a mistake. But you? You are still the same vindictive cruel bitch you were back then.”

Sharon’s eyes flashed angrily. “You ungrateful little—”

Then, like a flash of lightning, the atmosphere shifted and I saw Lillian froze with her eyes glazed, staring at the entrance, unblinking.

Andre strode into the hall, his usual playful smirk absent. His amber eyes locked onto Lillian….and froze.

A low, possessive growl tore from his throat.

Mate.

The word echoed in my skill like a gunshot.

Sharon’s champagne glass shattered on the floor. “Oh Moon Goddess,” she breathed, her voice laced with horror. “You have got to be kidding me.”

Kael snarled inside me, my vision tinting red. No! No, this wasn’t happening.

Andre took a step forward, his gaze never leaving Lillian. “Lillian Stewart?” His voice was rough, disbelieving.

Lillian’s breath hitched. Her pale face white as sheet.

Sharon let out a sharp laugh and snarled, “This is disgusting. First, you chase Drake, now you are after his Beta? Do you have any self respect you shameless—”

Andre’s growl deepened and his eyes turned to slits instantly. “One more word, Sharon.”

She scoffed. “You think a mate bond changes anything? Andre, you are the Beta. You will never choose her over your Alpha.”

My jaw clenched.

“Enough!” I barked. My Alpha command rolled through the hall like thunder, silencing everyone. “Lillian leaves. Alone.”

Andre’s head snapped towards me. “What?”

“That is an order, Beta.”

The tension was suffocating. Thick enough for a blade to slice through.

Andre’s fists clenched, but he stepped back, his wolf conflicting his loyalty.

Sharon smirked as Lillian stumbled away, her face unreadable.

Then—

“Actually…” Salome’s voice cut through the silence. She held up her phone, the screen displaying a breaking news alert….

LUXEMBOURG PACK SCANDAL: SECRET LOVE LETTER LEAKED’

My stomach dropped.

Sharon’s face drained of color as she stared transfixed at the screen.

“Funny,” Salome mused, tapping the screen constantly. “Seems like someone just published Lillian’s old letter to you Drake. I wonder who could have done that.”

My blood boiled and I turned to Sharon and asked with my voice deadly calm. “You leaked it? You leaked Lillian’s letter?”

She stiffened and spluttered. “I—”

“Answer me!”

Her lips trembled and her eyes bulged with fear. “I saved it! You tore it up, but I pieced it back together—for you!”

Disgust coiled in my gut and I snarled, “You had no right!”

Sharon’s eyes flashed with defiance as she screamed, “And you had no right to hide it! The pack deserves to know what kind of snake she is!”

Before I could respond, Lucas cut in. “You are delusional, Sharon. That letter was private.”

She scoffed and said dismissively, “nothing is private when it comes to her.”

A sharp pain sliced through my chest as I looked around the hall.

Lillian was gone.

I had not even noticed her slip away.

The realization hit me like a punch to the gut.

Realizing my distraction, Sharon stormed out, leaving the hall in stunned silence.

Andre exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair and muttered, “Fuck.”

I turned to look at him, my expression blank, but my insides, chaotic. Then I asked calmly, “what are you going to do about her?”

His jaw tightened and he shrugged. “I don’t know yet. But I am not rejecting her.”

A muscle in my cheek twitched as my heart dropped. “Why not?”

Andre’s gaze met mine, challenging…then he asked plainly, “do you have any feelings for her Drake?”

I barked out a laugh instantly and said, “No.”

‘Liar.’ Kael snarled inside me, clawing at my ribs.

Salome crossed her arms and asked indignantly, “Then why do you care?”

I clenched my fists. “Because she is trouble.”

Lucas raised a brow and asked incredulously, “Or maybe you don’t like the idea of Andre having what you threw away.”

My teeth ground together, send friction to my brain.

Then Salome’s voice cut through the tension. “Wait….what was Lillian trying to hide? Who is she really?”

The question hung in the air like a blade.

Because whatever the truth was—I didn’t want it out.

And that terrified me more than anything.