h4Chapter 83: Chapter 83: HEARTLESS WOMAN/h4

    strongMAEVE/strongstrong’S POV/strong

    Have you ever made a decision so disastrous, its consequences kept you up at night?

    The rumor was supposed to be a little fire—just a spark of poison in the waters to move Devon’s ns forward.

    However, I underestimated the vicious wolves of Ash Creek and their hunger for trouble.

    It ate through Ash Creek like a virus. A starving beast. Fast, ugly, all teeth.

    I told myself it would be a nudge, not a wildfire. Just a whisper to keep the royals busy and buy me time while I did what I needed to do in my search for the ck Book.

    Instead, it spread through every mouth. Some exaggerated into versions I’d never concocted—some insensitive enough to swear the Alpha killed his own father so he could sit on the throne and unleash his beast.

    Some imed Ivan had hit them once when he was enraged, and others swore that was why I left years ago—because he had struck me when he turned into a monster until I almost lost the baby and my life.

    Of course, those were all lies—lies!

    Because Ivan, for all his evils, had neverid a finger on me. Except when he was being a Neanderthal and had me pinned to the wall.

    But I couldn’t insert myself into the insidious conversations—the maids hushed when I came too close, and there was never the room to correct things.

    Sometimes I caught my own reflection in a window while going to attend to my daily duties and barely recognized the woman staring back: her brown eyes hardened to a darker shade, her jaw tightened, and lines sat heavy beneath her once-beautiful eyes.

    I looked soulless—heartless—even while I held my head high.

    Was this who I wanted to be? Was this what I wanted, or what Devon wanted? Was it the right call?

    I kept asking myself that in the quiet parts of the day. And most times, it didn’t matter what answer I gave—I still got that same sick little twist in my stomach.

    For thest few days, Ivan had been avoiding me—and that affected me more than I’d ever admit out loud.

    Thest time he came over was when he was taking Asha fishing. After that, it was almost like neither of us existed to him.

    I shouldn’t have cared. It was what I wanted—his absence. But it dug deeper at me than I anticipated.

    Had he figured out I had started the rumors? How had the Council trial gone? Was hemitting to Serena fully now? Did he no longer care about Asha?

    In the hallways, hepletely ignored me—walking past as though I was only a breeze that blew against him. Not even meeting my eyes. Hallway after hallway, even in the rare asion we walked into the dining hall at the same time.

    Of course, I never acted like it affected me. The woman I was bing had mastered the deadly art of indifference, worn fiercely with a steel armor of emotionlessness.

    At least outwardly.

    But internally, I kept repeating the same stupid words to myself—distance was easier. Distance was safe. Distance meant I got to keep my mind sane without my wolf ripping herself apart for him.

    But right now, it didn’t feel much different, given how something in me wed for him.

    But then, I knew it came from a part of me that desperately needed a reality check.

    The night he hade to invite Asha fishing, there had been another woman’s scent on him—definitely not Serena’s. It was someone else. A different woman.

    My heart had twisted painfully. I hadn’t meant to breathe it in, but it hit my nose anyway and sank right into my chest with a strange sensation.

    I thought back to Lydia and the poisonous words she had whispered in my ears about Ivan’s other women.

    Was he seeing other women truly? Fucking them? Had he seen one that night before he had the guts to show up at my door?

    I hated it—Goddess, I hated it—but an ugly thing rose so hot in me. Jealousy. Irritation. I almostughed at myself. Ridiculous.

    I was currently mated to Devon, Alpha of Darkwind, yet I still cared if my ex-husband was a phnderer or not.

    And so, I told myself, he could bed the entire pack and it wouldn’t touch me.

    But Goddess knows that when he asked to take Asha fishing—

    The anger that rose in me was quick and petty, the kind you swallow because you know it looks bad on your face. I almost said no. I almost chained my son to my side just to spite him.

    But I didn’t—Asha wanted it badly. I watched them leave, and I spent the entire day counting every second until they returned.

    When Asha came back, he had that glow—wind-tangled hair, cheeks warm, stories tumbling out of him so fast he tripped over the words.

    "Ivan said—Ivan showed—Ivan did—"

    For two days straight, it was Ivan, like a bad song stuck constantly on his mind, and I felt that ugly little pinch of envy again.

    My son is allowed to be happy. He is allowed to love whoever shows up for him. I knew that. But Goddess, I didn’t want him getting attached to Ivan!

    I didn’t know how Ivan was doing it—or what he was even doing. ying hero? ying father? ying me?

    Asha was usually much more reserved, and even though he grew up around Devon, it had taken time before he developed a bond with him. Yet... I couldn’t understand.

    How was it so easy for Ivan? Was this a ploy to take Asha away from me? All because he was that desperate to have an heir to secure his precious throne?

    I’d heard the news of his Council trials—it was a hushed buzz only within the noble ranks, and one I’d gotten wind of from sticking my ear against the wrong doors.

    And when the Council had secretly dug deeper into the source of the rumors and found Nina at the bottom of it, Nina had taken my hands and told me to trust her.