CassiusI blinked hard, my jaw tightening as I looked at Lorien. His eyes were wild, unrelenting, staring straight through me like I was a stranger, like every ounce of trust between us had shattered beyond recognition.“She’s here,” he said. His voice was quiet, restrained, but it held a blade beneath it—cutting, certain. “Behind the door to your left.”I glanced to the left, at the closed guestroom door in my quarters. “Lorien, there’s no one—”“I don’t want to argue with you, Cassius,” he interrupted. “Just open the damn door.”I opened my mouth to insist again, but something in the way he looked at me made me stop. I inhaled deeply, testing the air. Nothing. No scent of perfume. No trace of Isabella’s floral vanilla aura. But Lorien’s eyes burned with certainty, not desperation. Not delusion. He was sure.My legs moved before I could reason myself out of it. I walked slowly to the door and placed my hand on the knob. One turn. One pull.The door swung open.My breath caught.There
LorienI was on my knees, gagged, humiliated, and barely breathing.The room was cold, but the weight pressing down on my chest made it hard to notice anything else. My wrists were bound tightly behind me, the ropes digging into my skin. The metallic taste of the gag lingered in my mouth, sharp and unforgiving, and I could feel my pulse thudding in my throat.But none of that hurt as much as the silence coming from him.Cassius stood at the far end of the room, tall and proud in his Alpha stance, but he wouldn’t even look at me. His jaw was set, his arms crossed like some kind of statue built for judgment. And that silence — gods, that silence from my mate — was more painful than any chain or accusation.I had planned this. I had orchestrated every detail to finally reveal Isabella for what she truly was. But now, it had all turned to dust in my hands.My plan had collapsed, and I was the only one left to pay for it.The elders stood above me, voices sharp, cold, and full of venom."H
CassiusI tried to breathe.But I didn’t know how to do that anymore. Each inhale was jagged, like shards of glass slicing through my lungs. I had fought battles that had broken bones, torn through skin, and drenched entire hallways in blood—but none of them had ever made me feel like this. This suffocation. This chaos.Lorien.I couldn’t understand how he had been connected in all of this. My mind kept trying to retrace the steps that led here, but every time I reached for answers, the memories shattered into fog and fury.I needed answers.And I wasn’t going to find them standing outside like a lost child. My feet carried me back to the pack house, every step louder than the storm of thoughts crashing in my head. When I pushed open the heavy doors, I saw Julian waiting for me in the entryway.I didn’t feel better.Not by a long shot.His presence felt like a match hovering over dry leaves—dangerous, burning, unnecessary. But I kept walking anyway, forcing my body to move, forcing my
LorienThe next morning, I woke up with tension coiled around my spine like a predator waiting to strike. My thoughts were still a mess from the night before—Cassius’s touch, his words, the fear in his voice when he promised not to doubt me. I wanted to believe it. But I knew better than to expect the world to work the way I wanted.I dressed quickly and made my way to the abandoned building on the east side of the pack grounds, where I’d kept the man hidden. Abbot. That was his name—Abbot. I hadn't cared for it before. Names didn’t matter when people were confessing to sins soaked in blood.The door creaked open when I pushed it, dust curling through the air. He was sitting exactly where I left him, but his energy had shifted. He looked like he’d spent the night wrestling with ghosts.“You came back,” he muttered, eyes flickering up at me.I folded my arms across my chest. “Of course, I came back.”He stared at me for a long moment. “I don’t think I want to tell the Alpha anything an
Lorien I barely had time to breathe between the tears and his mouth on mine. Everything was raw—too raw. My hands had just sunk into Cassius’s hair, gripping tight like I was terrified he’d disappear again. I kissed him like he was the last breath I’d ever take. And I guess, in a way, he always felt like that to me—desperate, dangerous, and full of fire I could never put out.Then we heard them.The sound of little feet, pattering fast against the wooden floor.I froze.“Papa?” came Caius’s tiny voice from the doorway.I jerked back, cursing under my breath and wiping at my face quickly, but it was no use. My tears were still fresh and Cassius’s taste was still on my tongue.Caius tilted his head, squinting. “Why were you crying and kissing?”I groaned, dragging a hand down my face. “Caius, go to bed.”“But—”“Now.”He blinked, then let out a tiny huff before shuffling away in his footie pajamas, the way only a five-year-old who didn’t get the answer he wanted could. Cassius sighed b
CassiusJulian’s laughter echoed in my head long after he slapped my shoulder and strolled off like he hadn’t just stepped out of my mate’s bedroom.“Your Luna’s definitely calling you,” he said with a teasing glint in his eye as he walked away.I didn’t even get a chance to reply before I caught Isabella’s expression. She was staring directly at me. No—at Julian. Her eyes were on Julian like she had something to say, but as soon as he disappeared down the hallway, her face shifted.Gone was the surprise. In its place was a mask of gentle composure, serene and controlled. It was too smooth. Too practiced.“Cassius,” she said, her voice silk-soft as she walked toward me. I stood rooted where I was, trying to make sense of everything.She reached for me and kissed me.It wasn’t the kind of kiss that made your stomach flutter or your mind blur—it was the kind of kiss that made your skin crawl. She tasted artificial, too sweet, too polished, like gloss trying to cover rot. My stomach twis