Chapter 25

Cassian’s POV

It took me longer to process things in relative to the average wolf

Most times it took a stick of cigarette and a bottle of whiskey

And that? Was the comfort i was offering myself this night

The cigarette sat beautifully between my fingers

The smile curled in the air

It was bitter and familiar

An old friend that never gave up on me.

It coiled around my throat like it knew exactly what I didn’t want to say.

I leaned back in the chair by the window, a half-empty glass of whiskey in one hand, a cigar burning slowly in the other.

It was late already and everywhere was quiet

The windows now looked like mirrors, throwing my face back at me.

I looked like a man unraveling.

Tired. Mean. And a little lost.

Adeline’s voice was still a drumbeat in my skull, steady and cruel

“She’s not playing house, Cassian. She’s building one.”

“Don’t wait until she stops waiting for you.”

I hated how much that haunted me.

But what I hated more… was how real it had become.

Because people believed it now.

The lie. The arrangement. The illusion.

The guards nodded at her like she was one of us. The maids smiled like she belonged here.

An addition we didn’t know we needed.

The damn council had sent me two letters

Fucking two letters, asking when the official mating ceremony would be held.

I’d told them to shove it.

But deep down?

I knew what scared me.

They looked at her… at us… like we were whole.

Like this thing was real.

And maybe it was.

Maybe somewhere between the announcement, treaty ball and sisi, things had changed

Things had spiraled out of what I could control.

Maybe I’d stopped seeing her as a contract and started seeing her as something else.

And I didn’t know how to unsee it.

So I did what I always did when I didn’t know how to feel—

I summoned her.

Impromptu, without my prior warning and ofcourse without any explanation.

I just felt like I needed to get the message across to her

It didn’t matter how, asking as she got it.

It wasn’t much

Just five words that conveyed the urgency

Come to my study. Now.

She showed up twenty minutes later.

Barefoot. Of course.

Her hair was half-braided, like she hadn’t even bothered finishing it before she came.

And my eyes?

They traveled from her hair down to her body.

Her shirt was oversized, falling off one shoulder like it had no business being that soft. And yet, somehow, she still looked… steady.

Not angry. Not scared.

Just… prepared.

Like she already knew I was about to tear into her for something that had nothing to do with her.

“You called?” she asked, folding her arms.

I didn’t even glance at her. “Took your time.”

“I was putting sisi to sleep,” she replied flatly. “Forgive me for prioritizing her over your tantrum.”

I turned, slow. “Watch it.”

“Or what?” she bit out. “You’ll throw me in a cell again? Go ahead. But next time, try to do it after I’ve read sisi’s bedtime stories.”

That landed.

Harder than I expected.

I walked over to the fireplace, drink still in hand, pretending the flames needed watching. “I hope you haven’t been spreading extra rumors.”

Her brows creased. “Rumors?”

“You know,” I shrugged asually, taking a long sip. “Mating ceremony. Love story. Fairy tale bullshit.”

She blinked, caught off guard. “You think I’m the one selling fairy tales?”

“I just find it interesting,” I went on, “how eager people are to believe this is real. Almost like someone’s been encouraging it.”

She gave a dry laugh. “You’re exhausting.”

“Excuse me?”

“You really think I’ve got time to gossip about your made-up feelings when I’m busy trying to raise a child you keep emotionally abandoning?”

“Careful, Selena.”

“No. You be careful,” she snapped. “Because I’ve been selling your story since day one. I’ve smiled, I’ve posed, I’ve kissed your damn cheek in public—and now that people believe it, suddenly I’m the problem?”

“You’re too comfortable,” I added sharply.

I’ve never had someone retort or question my words.

It seemed like a major slap across my face

Like a prick on my ego

But I had to pretend like it barely affected me

I couldn’t give her the satisfaction of getting a reaction from me.

Not this time

It was bad enough that I stayed up this late thinking about her.

“You walk around this place like it’s yours.”

She took a step forward. “And whose fault is that?”

I said nothing.

“You introduced me in front of the council,” she hissed. “You told the world I was your mate. You made me look like the moon chose me for you. And now you want to punish me because people actually bought it?”

I turned back to face her. “You knew what this was.”

“Yeah?” Her voice cracked. “Did you?”

We stood there, none of us threatening to say a word

Well, I was just waiting patiently for her to break it

Cause I knew she would

She couldn’t shut her mouth for a second

Then she cleared her throat, “You think this is easy for me? Walking these halls knowing I’ll never be enough for you?”

I hated how soft her voice sounded now

Like I was dumb for pushing the blame to her

I opened my mouth. Nothing came out.

She scoffed. “Every time I make Sisi laugh, you glare at me like I’ve stolen something. Every time she calls me Mummy, I see it in your face, a sign of guilt and rage.”

“I didn’t say that” I said.

“No,” she whispered. “But you didn’t deny it either.”

She took a step closer, she was looking me in the eye.

Something no kne

Well asides Conrad could pull off

“You’re not angry at me, Cassian. You’re angry that I fit.”

I swallowed the thick bile that had formed in my throat .

“You’re angry that she reaches for me first,” she continued, offering me that psychopath smile of hers. “That I make her feel safe. That she’s healing, and you’re not the one doing it.”

“Shut up.”

“You can’t control it, can you?” she went on. “So you lash out. You drink. You smoke. You summon me in the middle of the night just to remind yourself that you’re still in charge.”

“I said shut up.”

“You hate that I matter.”

“ENOUGH!” I roared.

The glass in my hand shattered against the fireplace stone.

Everything in the room paused.

The air. The fire. Her breath.

Everything froze.

Then I heard it again

Her annoying voice

Adding to my anger

“If you want to live long enough to walk your daughter down the aisle someday,” she said, “you might want to stop trying to drink yourself into an early grave.”

I said nothing.

Couldn’t.

She turned for the door.

Paused.

“And one more thing,” she continued , not even looking at me. “I was getting my beauty sleep, so maybe an earlier meeting would be preferable ”

Then—

SLAM.

The door sounds more like thunder when she shut it

And I stood there, with my hands shaking, heart hammering, alone again.

Like I’d built it that way.

I stared at the broken glass. The empty space where she’d stood.

And finally let the truth settle in my chest.

I wasn’t afraid of her leaving.

I was afraid that when she did…

She might never look back.

I was afraid at the confusion that was bubbling in my chest

And God did I hate it

The ability to not control