MasukMelindana’s POVJulie was already in the wardrobe before I finished taking my bath.I came out with my hair wrapped and she was standing in front of the hanging dresses with her arms folded and her head tilted and her mouth doing the thing it did when she had already made a decision and was waiting for me to catch up to it.“The green one,” she said, without turning around.“I was also thinking the green one.”“I know.” She pulled it out and laid it across the bed and looked at me. “Where are we going.”I sat at the mirror and opened my makeup bag. “I’m going to the palace.”The room went quiet.“Alone,” I added.Julie stood with the dress across her arm and looked at my reflection and I looked back at hers and she pressed her lips together once and nodded slowly.“The King sent for you?,” she asked“Yes.”She set the dress down carefully. “Does Alpha Luca know.”“No.” I picked up my foundation brush. “And you should keep it that way, he doesn’t deserve to know.”She looked at me for
Melindana’s POVJulie was already in the wardrobe before I finished taking my bath.I came out with my hair wrapped and she was standing in front of the hanging dresses with her arms folded and her head tilted and her mouth doing the thing it did when she had already made a decision and was waiting for me to catch up to it.“The green one,” she said, without turning around.“I was also thinking the green one.”“I know.” She pulled it out and laid it across the bed and looked at me. “Where are we going.”I sat at the mirror and opened my makeup bag. “I’m going to the palace.”The room went quiet.“Alone,” I added.Julie stood with the dress across her arm and looked at my reflection and I looked back at hers and she pressed her lips together once and nodded slowly.“The King sent for you?,” she asked“Yes.”She set the dress down carefully. “Does Alpha Luca know.”“No.” I picked up my foundation brush. “And you should keep it that way, he doesn’t deserve to know.”She looked at me for
Melindana’s POVThe light in the sitting room was on when I pulled into the drive.I cut the engine and looked at it and picked up my bag and got out.Hailey was standing in the middle of the sitting room when I walked in, arms crossed, face carrying nothing soft on it. No pleasant smile. I set my bag down on the side table and looked at her.“Close the door,” she said.I was about to close it anyway, so I just did.“I’m going to say this once,” she started, her voice clipped and tight, “and I need you to actually listen because I am tired of dancing around it.” She dropped her arms. “I have been in this house longer than you think. I was working on Luca long before that anniversary night, long before you even knew my name, and everything that has happened since I walked through that door has gone exactly the way I planned it.”I looked at her in silence.“You think you’re winning something,” she continued, her voice rising slightly at the edges. “Walking around this house like you o
Aurelius’s Pov“Your Majesty.” Matthew’s voice again, tighter this time. “He says it’s urgent.”I looked at Mel standing at the window with her back slightly turned and her wrapped hand pressed against her stomach and I looked at the door and then I walked to it and pulled it open.Matthew straightened immediately.“Tell him to come back tomorrow,” I said.Matthew blinked once. “He was quite insistent, Your Majesty, he said…..”“Matthew.”“Yes.”“Tomorrow.”He nodded and turned and I pulled the door shut and turned back around.Mel had not moved from the window. She was looking out at whatever the grounds looked like at this hour with her shoulders straight and her wrapped hand still pressed to her stomach and her ginger hair falling forward slightly on one side.I stood there and looked at her and my wolf went quiet.Not the way I forced it quiet during the episodes, gripping windowsills and breathing through it. Just quiet. On its own. Like it had found what it had been looking for
Melindana’s POVHis nose was bleeding and he was looking at me like I was the only reason he was still standing.I moved toward him without thinking, crossed the room fast, and the low table sitting between us in the dark caught my shin so hard my whole leg buckled and I went sideways, my hand shooting out to catch myself on the decorative iron fixture mounted on the wall beside the door.The edge of it bit into my palm immediately.I hissed and pulled my hand back and looked at it, a clean cut running diagonal across the meat of my palm, blood already welling up thick and fast, and I pressed it into my chest instinctively and looked up at Aurelius.He had moved when I stumbled, crossed the distance between us in the time it took me to feel the pain, and he was right there, one hand on my arm steadying me, his face close, his eyes already dropping to my hand pressed against my chest.“Let me see it, Mel,” he said.“It’s fine, you’re the one bleeding, your nose…..”“Mel.” His voice cam
Melindana’s POVThe afternoon air hit my face the moment I pushed through the heavy doors and I kept walking, bag on my shoulder, heels steady on the stone steps so I didn't trip, the noise of the hall bleeding out behind me as people started filing out.I was three steps from the bottom when I heard him.“Bella.”I stopped at the bottom of the steps and turned around slowly.He was coming down the steps fast, jacket buttoned, jaw tight, and Hailey was right behind him, her face arranged back into something that almost looked calm if you didn’t know what it looked like when it wasn’t.Luca reached me and stopped close enough that he clearly intended the proximity to intimidate me.“How,” he said.“How what? I asked in genuine shock.”“Don’t start Bella.” His voice dropped. “The room was locked. I know it was locked. How did you get out?”I looked at him for a moment, then past him at Hailey, then back at him.“Get out of where, Luca?” I tilted my head slightly. “I was never locked in







