CHAPTER 6: A TRAGIC ENDING

CYRA

~MOMENTS EARLIER~

I stumbled after Katarina despite her refusal to be followed. Who did the Omega thing she was? I was going to enter that suite whether she wanted me to or not.

I had to see it with my own eyes. I wanted to know if Greyson had made a fool of me. But I slowed when I noticed her aunt cut in front of me, skirts swishing purposefully as she followed Katarina down the corridor.

I instinctively stood back, feeling a sickening sensation curl in my stomach as I watched Katarina's shoulders cave and collapse into her aunt's arms.

My stomach churned with dread as it settled heavily, confirming the fear I had been trying to suppress. I'd seen Alexander leave Greyson's suite earlier, too quickly to have completed his task. And I expected him to return at some point, but he never did.

He remained laughing, drinking, and enjoying the ceremony when he was supposed to be inside Greyson's suite, making a child... my child.

The sheet was then brought out, clearly stained. And the image burned behind my eyes, confusion mixing with panic as my thoughts raced so fast I couldn't catch them.

What had happened inside that room? Had Greyson betrayed me? Had he betrayed our bond in the same way that his wretched father did by forcing him to marry that skank to wash his guilt?

I barely realized I was at the door until my hand pushed it open and I stumbled inside. Katarina jerked, scrambling to her feet with tears streaming down her cheeks, and her aunt turned just as sharply in response to my intrusion.

It was obvious that I had walked in on a confession. But what had she confessed? Had Greyson been too big for her? Had he been rough?

My heart raced faster, and I felt dizzy as I forced myself to straighten up and pull myself together in front of Katarina's stern gaze. I swallowed and took a deep breath before my words tumbled out hurriedly. I told her I had just come to check on her, the word “Luna" burning on my tongue.

“I'm fine." Katarina's voice was sharp and flat, and her gaze burned straight through me. I couldn't look away, even if I wanted to. As my future Luna, I wasn't supposed to meet her gaze like this. But the hatred was overwhelming. It rose hot and choked my chest, and I couldn't pretend any longer.

I kept staring at her, her nostrils flaring, until she spoke again, colder this time. “You can go."

The word cut through me, and my breath caught at her tone, something ugly and feral bursting free inside my chest. She would pay for this—for treating me like filth, when she was the one who didn't belong here.

This was my home, my throne, and Greyson was my mate. My wolf growled beneath my skin, both of us perfectly aligned. I turned without saying anything else, pushing away from the door with more force than was necessary.

I was not going to go back to playing the perfect Luna's spear until Greyson explained what was going on.

The hall's noise seemed muffled as I stumbled forward, my eyes darting as they searched. Servants moved quickly, the air heavy with aftermath and conversation, but Greyson was still nowhere to be seen.

He hadn't returned yet, and I remembered seeing him slip out the back door earlier. The heat flared through me again, and I turned to take long strides toward the back of the hall. I wondered whether he was there or had gone to the packing house. He was going to confront me.

Now

*****

ALEXANDER

Grey said Katarina agreed to everything, and I breathed a sigh of relief as I mentioned how she had freaked out. “I thought she might have changed her mind. And you had forgotten to tell me."

“No; she didn't change her mind. She just didn't know it would happen on the first night." I listened as my brother explained that Katarina thought the first night would be just the two of them, and that maybe the next night, she'd do what she needed to.

“Oh," I said quietly, my understanding falling into place. “That's understandable," I said as Greyson exhaled and rubbed the back of his neck. “I'm sorry I put you in that position. I should have communicated more clearly with her."

"It's fine," I replied. "Awkward, yes. But it's fine." I knew this wasn't easy for him or her, and I didn't want to make it any harder.

“I'll let you know when we can go ahead with our agreement. I want to make her feel at home first." Grey added, and he didn't need to say anything else. I raised my glass to him, and he clinked his glass against mine. We both drank before I spoke again, telling him how proud I was of him, and he smirked, as he always did when I tried to be serious with him. “You've said that."

"And I'll keep saying it," I said, and we both laughed before a voice spoke beside us.

"I'm sorry for interrupting."

We both turned, and Cyra stood there, eyes carefully lowered as she apologized again and asked if she could speak with Grey. She said it was about Katarina.

“Of course," I replied, already stepping back. “I will catch up with you later." My brother nodded, and I noticed how the Luna's spear couldn't look my way.

She always avoided my gaze, even though I wasn't the future Alpha and tradition allowed her to look at me. And this inability bothered me every time.

Cyra and Greyson had once loved each other. They even marked each other after Katarina's sister passed away. She had been the one intended to marry Greyson. And my brother had thought her death released Father from his oath, but he soon discovered that it did not, and in a fit of rebellion, he marked Cyra.

He'd always loved her. Even though she was not his fated mate. When our father found out, he lost it and forced them to reject each other.

Cyra then left the pack and disappeared for a while. When she returned, she was ready to move on, resume her duties as if nothing had happened, and that was the part that bothered me.

I could understand her returning home because her father was still here. But I could never understand being okay with being Grey's friend as if nothing had happened between them, especially since she always gave me the impression that she was the one who held on to my brother.

Cyra was five years older than my brother and always had this power-hungry aura to her.

People could accept loss and move on, but something about how easily she stepped back into place bothered me. It was uncharacteristic of her, and then I learned she had taken on the role of Luna's spear.

How does someone become the right hand of the woman who took the man they once loved?

I had confronted her about it once, and she looked me in the eyes for that brief moment, saying she had accepted her loss. She said she understood what Greyson meant to this pack, acknowledged his responsibility, and admitted that she should never have fallen for him in the first place.

I never believed that. But it was none of my business. So I pushed the thought aside, finished the rest of my drink, and returned inside to join the festivities.

I only hoped my brother knew what he was doing by letting her be so close to him and his wife after their tragic ending.