Chapter 31

Selena’s POV

The sun hadn’t fully risen.

And I swlena?

I had barely slept

I felt too conscious of my breathing and sleeping position

What made it worse was that thins wasn’t exactly the first time I was spending the night in his room

But this was the first time sisi had volunteered to leave the room

This was the first time we had fun together

This was the first time I saw beyond alpha Cassian storm

This was the first time I met cass.

Amd boyyy, wS i scared to mess things up.

I peeked for the fortieth time

I was peekin to check if he was still up

His breathing was even

Like he had mastered it

Were those the kind of the things I would learn if I continued my Luna lessons?

I had dropped out of those since the oast week.

For a moment, everything was still—like the world was holding its breath.

And maybe… so was I.

I sat up in bed

Sorry, on the sofa.

, the sheets slipping to my waist as I looked around the room. Cassian was still asleep.

. Her chest rose and fell in soft, even breaths.

Last night had been… strange.

Strange in the way that made my chest ache when I thought about it. Soft. Real. Surreal.

We’d laughed.

God, we had actually laughed.

At one point during the picnic, Cassian had wiped a smudge of jam from the corner of Sisi’s mouth, and she’d grabbed his hand and told him he looked less grumpy today. And he’d smiled.

Not his usual sharp-edged smirk. But something quieter. Something less rehearsed.

And when I caught him glancing at me, he didn’t look away.

He just held my gaze.

Something about it had settled under my skin and refused to leave.

And now, in the stillness of morning, I couldn’t sleep anymore.

Not when there was something inside me stirring. A need to try. To keep trying.

Family time, Sisi had called it.

And maybe it didn’t have to be just a single day.

Maybe—maybe we could stretch it. Build something out of it. If not for us, then for her.

I slipped out of bed carefully, making sure that I didn’t wake cassian up.

Cassian shifted a little but didn’t wake. His hair had fallen across his brow, a soft mess instead of its usual combed perfection.

He looked… young like this.

Less like the brooding Alpha and more like the boy Sisi had drawn with big eyes and flowers in his hair.

I padded out quietly, my bare feet barely making a sound against the cold floors.

one my way out, I walked Past sisi’s room and decided to check up on her, pressing a kiss to Sisi’s forehead and pulling the covers back over her shoulder.

In the kitchen, the staff hadn’t yet arrived in full.

A few maids blinked at me in surprise as I tugged on an apron and rolled up my sleeves.

“Miss Selena? Should we prepare—”

“No, it’s okay,” I offered a smile “I want to cook.”

They exchanged glances, but stepped aside.

I wasn’t the best cook

But Eleanor like my dishes

And sisi? She had bever for once complained

And i had taken it upon myself to perfect her pancakes even further with each meal thst i prepared.

As the scent of warm batter filled the room, I felt a strange sort of lightness rise in my chest.

This felt normal.

This felt… good.

**

Sisi wasn’t in her room when I went back and I figured out just where she was.

I dragged my legs beck to cassians room and sure as hell, sisi was there, nestled in his chest.

, I set the tray on the side table and placed Sisi’s favorite cup beside her plate. She was just starting to stir, her nose scrunching at the smell.

Cassian was still asleep.

I hesitated, then moved to the wardrobe and pulled open one of the drawers I hadn’t dared touch before.

His clothes were arranged in neat rows—black, grey, dark green. Predictable. But not cold. Not sterile. Just… him.

I found a simple shirt and a pair of trousers and laid them across the armchair.

I told myself it wasn’t intimate.

I told myself it wasn’t a big deal.

I was just… making things easier for the morning.

That’s all.

When I turned around, Sisi was sitting up, rubbing her eyes. “Mommy?”

“Morning, love.” I walked over and brushed her curls back. “Hungry?”

Her eyes lit up when she saw the tray. “Pancakes!”

“And strawberries,” I added, placing the tray gently across her lap.

Cassian stirred behind her, groaning softly.

Sisi grinned over her shoulder. “Daddy! Mommy made pancakes!”

His voice came out rough with sleep. “Did she now?”

I glanced at him—and caught the faintest flicker of surprise in his eyes when he noticed the clothes I’d laid out.

He didn’t say anything.

But I could feel his eyes following my every move.

Later, after breakfast

after syrup-sticky fingers and giggles and Sisi declaring it the best meal “since forever”

I gently nudged her toward Cassian.

I had been planning it since forever

Well, technically since I got up by 5am

But still, since forever.

“You two should spend some time together,” I suggested while wiping her face clean. “I’ve got something to prepare.”

She tilted her head. “What is it?”

“A surprise.”

Her eyes widened. “Is it sparkly?”

“Maybe.”

Cassian raised an eyebrow.

I had expected him to argue

To question what rights i had

But instead I noticed his lips curled up, before he sharply turned them down

And that alone, warmed my heart.

“Are we supposed to compete with sparkles?”

I smiled faintly. “You’ll figure something out.”

I left them in the garden, Sisi already dragging him toward her favorite rock-painting spot.

***

I needed a distraction.

Well technically, I wanted ideas for another activity

And the palace library was as good a place as any.

I hadn’t spent much time there—not really.

Except the time I had come to look for books for sisi.

But it was vast and oddly comforting,

The books were arranged on dusty shelves

They seemed almost… forgotten

“Did the maids never come here?” I couldn’t help but ask myself.

I wandered through the shelves, running my fingers along cracked spines and old titles. Some books were handwritten, others thick and bound in leather.

It was quiet.

Too quiet.

I told myself I came here for Sisi. That I was planning ahead. That I wanted to learn the history of the packs, gather little stories to make her smile, tales to bring us closer.

But deep down, I knew the truth.

I was looking for pieces of him.

Cassian.

Something… anything… to understand the man behind the walls. The one who laughed softly when Sisi braided flowers into his hair. The one who kept his distance even when the silence between us crackled with something unspoken.

And the one whose eyes reminded me of a ghost I thought I’d buried.

I moved slowly, my fingers grazing book spines as I searched the archives. Some had titles in old dialects. Some had none at all. A few scrolls fell apart in my hands before I could even unroll them.

An hour passed. Maybe more.

I found a few promising volumes

But sadly they happened to be filled with pack myths, tales of the first Luna, one with a drawing that looked vaguely like Cassian’s armor. I set them aside.

Then I noticed the far shelf.

The locked case.

Not locked anymore.

Its glass door was cracked open, like someone had recently been there. I pulled it open carefully, the hinges squealing like they hadn’t moved in years. Inside were boxes. Some labeled. Most not.

Journals. Stacks of yellowing photographs. Bundles of letters tied in string.

I shouldn’t have touched them.

But my curiosity won.

I flipped through slowly, my pulse steady. Until it wasn’t.

A photo slipped out from the middle of one of the books—aged, edges curled. Two boys. Teenagers. One of them unmistakably Cassian, even younger than I’d ever seen him. His hair was longer. Smile wider. There was a freeness in his eyes he didn’t carry now.

And the other boy—

No.

My stomach dropped.

Zevran.

He looked the same as he had all those years ago. Same smirk. Same lazy posture. His arm was slung around Cassian’s shoulder, both of them mid-laugh.

I turned the photo over.

There, written in bold black marker, were five words:

Cassian & Zevran – Storm Brothers

My breath left me all at once.

Storm.

That word.

I’d heard it before—in Cassian’s surname.

But I hadn’t thought anything of it.

Not really.

Not until now.

Not until I was staring at the photo of the man who’d shattered me… and the man I was slowly starting to believe in.

Storm brothers.

They weren’t just friends.

They were blood.

I dropped to the floor, the photo still clutched in my hand.

The room blurred.

And for the first time in weeks

maybe longer

I broke.

I broke worse tye the night Cassian had called me a ploy

How had I been so stupid?

I saw the resemblance

It struck something in me

But I was oblivious to pay attention to it

Tears rolled down my cheeks as I curled into myself, sobs tearing their way through my throat like they’d been waiting for permission.

This couldn’t be real.

Fate… fate had a cruel sense of humor.

How had I not seen it?

The resemblance.

The storms in their eyes.

The way they both infuriated and disarmed me.

Cassian… was Zevran’s brother.

And I’d let myself care.

Had let myself start to hope.

Had let myself believe that maybe, this time, things would be different.

Was this punishment?

Was this the goddess’s idea of a joke?

I pressed my forehead to my knees and let the grief take me.

Let the ache pour through my chest like floodwater.

Because now… now I didn’t know how to breathe around the weight of betrayal I wasn’t even sure how to name.

Not yet.

Not until I saw him.

And asked him—

If he knew.

If this had all been some twisted game from the start.

The cold from the floor bled into my skin, but I didn’t move.

Couldn’t.

My sobs had quieted, but the ache hadn’t dulled. It just… settled. Into something heavier. Something slower. My chest felt too tight, like I was trying to breathe through soaked cloth.

Zevran.

His name was a wound I hadn’t picked at in months. Not since the palace. Not since the day he chose to tear me down in front of a crowd and leave me broken in the ruins of what we once were.

And now—

I was in his brother’s house.

Sleeping under his roof.

Raising his daughter .

My breath hitched again.

And he never told me.

Not once.

Why?

Why keep it a secret? Why let me walk blindly into this new chapter with no idea what came before?

I gripped the edge of the wooden shelf behind me, grounding myself.

The photo lay beside me now, face up again. Their smiles stared back at me. Zevran’s arm around Cassian’s shoulder. They looked happy.

Proud.

Like nothing could touch them.

A thousand questions ran through my mind.

Did Zevran know I was here?

Had he sent Cassian to find me?

Had this all been a plan?

No. Cassian had looked too confused. Too wary in the beginning. If anything, he’d spent weeks trying to keep me at arm’s length.

But that only made it worse.

Because if this wasn’t revenge… then what the hell was it?

I rubbed my palms over my face, wiping away the tears.

Tye saltiness was reacting on my skin and my chest?

Well it felt like it was cracking up

But I wanted answers

And only one man could give them.

I tried to stand up, but somehow

I stumbled and fall back on my knees befire finally giving way and lying on my back

The thought repeated itself in my brain.

Storm Brothers.

My ex.

The man I’d been slowly, stupidly starting to trust again.

All tangled up.

All connected.

I closed my eyes.

This was fate’s idea of a joke.

Wasn’t it?

A slow breath left my lungs.

The Moon Goddess had always been a little cruel.

I have heard harsh jokes being told about her

Mates

Second chances

Destiny

It was all just a fucked up twisted we .

And for a while

I was stupid eneough to convince myself that maybe

Just maybe

Cassian was different.

But now I couldn’t see him without seeing him.

Zevran.

The way he’d smiled when he lied to me. The way he held my hands and promised we’d always find each other. The way he betrayed me like I was nothing.

I shook my head.

No. Cassian wasn’t Zevran.

He didn’t smile easily.

He didn’t lie sweetly.

He didn’t make promises at all.

But maybe that was the danger.

Zevran made me fall in love with a dream.

Cassian was making me feel something real.

And now I didn’t know which one hurt more.

I laid back slowly, staring at the ceiling. My fingers gripped the photo one last time before I folded it and shoved it back into my pocket.

The ache was still there.

The confusion.

The anger.

But beneath it… something colder.

A single, bone-deep question I couldn’t ignore:

Who is Cassian Storm?

And what was he hiding now?