Noth

#Finished

I can hear the whispers from the maids and see the nces from the guards. Heads always turn when she’s present, and my mother and younger sister adore her.

I do too.

It’s no secret I cherish Ka more bthan /blife itself. And the life I bhave/b.. it’s hers

I watch her select through the row of dresses I had brought in from the designer. My mother chuckles, pointing out one of them, and they both giggle like girls. Happy Carefree.

I wonder what life would have been like bif /bKa had been my mate instead. Peaceful, no doubt. Brighter.

bI /bturn to stare out the window beside me, eyes fixed on the gate of my pack. I don’t care about Zeph.

At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.

Yet here I am, wondering what’s keeping her sote. Has she gone to Apex’s bed again? Has she…

Damn.

1 clench my jaw at the thought.

I saw the way Apex looked at her. I felt the shift in him. He’s not just unsettling, he’s powerful in a way that could rival the Moon Goddess herself.

His beyes /bchanged color when he looked at her and I have felt my wolf stir, ready to lunge, ready to protect what is ours.

But I didn’t move.

Because Ka was there. And I’ve always wanted Ka. Zeph was just… a bondb. /bA twist in destiny. Nothing more.

Once I sever it, once I reject her, I can bfinally /bim Ka the way I’ve always intended. Make her my Luna.

I take a breath at that thought, just as the White Pack’s carriage stops in the bdark /bne outside.

“Tomorrow morning. Zephyr. Thank you so much for today,” I hear her best friend say. Zeph nods in response, smiling.

“Good night.”

A few minutester, after the carriage disappears into the distance, I see the pack gates open and Zeph walks in. She pauses at the entrance, blooking /bup toward me. Our eyes meet just briefly.

And for a moment, I can’t breatheb. /b

She stunned me yesterday. Her skills at the arena and her bwords/b.. the way she said she’d slit my throat… gods, I believed her. I want to dismiss it as a bluff, but I can’t. She’s not the kind to speak in anger without meaning it. She’s calm, quiet. But when she bbreaks/b… it means she’s done.

She asked for rejection, I’ve made preparations.

I watch her step into the house. The door creaks openb, /band then I hear it shut behind her. She walks past everyone without a nce and heads straight for her room.

Prostitute, Ka hisses.

Zeph ignores her.

She disappears into the corridor that leads to the private chambers, and something inside me snaps. bI /bclench my jaw, furious and frustrated band /bnot even sure why,

Chapter 14fne262 Th?s chapter is updated by find(?)ovel/fne262

I storm down the hall and push open her door without knocking.

She’s standing there, admiring an elegant new dress and a pair of fine shoes, clearly for the coronation tomorrow.

Jealousy ws through my chest, and I step closer.

“I see you’ve been shopping with the prince, all in the name of helping your friend, Zeph.b” /b

She doesn’t respond.

That silence, gods, it makes me boil.

I snatch the dress from her hands and fling it onto the bed. My re burns into her.

Tell me, Zeph. Did you cheat on me? Tell me right now if you’ve ever..”

“bYes/bb,/b”

The word slices through me like a de.

go bstill/b. Cold.

“What?”

Finished

“Apex,” she says, her voice calm, cruelly calmb. /b“He looked at me. And I liked it. Tonight, he stared at me from his tower… and I nearly lost my mind when he disappeared. If that counts bas /bcheating, then yes, I cheated. But let’s not pretend we’re saints. You’ve spent your whole life staring at Ka. And I lived with it.”

She steps closer, her voice harder nowb. /b

“So tell me, why can’t you survive one look bfrom /bApex?”

My heart twists in pain I didn’t expect. I grit my teeth, unable to speak, the expression on her face digging into something raw inside me.

I’ve lost her and she’s slipping away faster than I can catch her.

Maybe it’s better this way. Maybe it’s btime/b.

“Are you still a virgin? The question spills from my lips before I can stop it. I’ve never touched her. Never kissed her. I never

wanted her.

“Answer bme/b, Zeph. bHas /bhe touched you already?”

She says nothing.

The silence makes my stomach churn. I swallow a blump /bof frustration and rage.

“Maybe they’re right,” I say bitterly. “Maybe you are nothing but a slut.”

Her eyes bsh /bwith hurt, but I keep going,

“I’ve spoken to the elders. In three days, bunder /bthe full moon, we’ll say the words. bWe’ll /bbreak the bond.”

1 step back and turn for the door, but before leaving, I throw onest dagger.

“Ka’s staying in my chamber tonight. But you won’t mind bnow/b, will you? We’re nothing anymore.”

Im the door shut behind me.

bIn /bmy own chamber, I drop onto the bed and bury my face in my palms.

Once I let Zeph go, it’s done. No mate will be granted to me bagain/b. That’s the cost we Hue Pack members pay.

I groan softly and push myself upright, bmoving /bto the hidden corner of the room. There, behind a loose panel, I retrieve ba /b

Cheater 14

Finished

small chest.

Inside it lies half a hairpin.

Ka’s.

I was sixteen when rogues attacked during a festival. Fire was everywhere. People screamed and fled. I was trapped, bleeding, half–dead in a burning building.

A white wolf leaped through the mes and dragged me to safety. She bvanished /bbas /bquickly bas /bshe came, but in the rush, her hairpin had fallen off

I kept it close. Cherished it.

When I woke, Ka was there beside me. She bsaid /bshe’d saved me. And I believed her.

Ive loved her ever since.

I close the chest, sealing the memory away.

Maybe rejecting Zeph is the right thing after all. She’s a rogue. She has no name. Nothing like Ka. The bonly /bgood thing that ever came from our bond was the money she gave me to fund the pack. The money I never asked where it came from.

But I’ve tried.

Now it’s time we go our separate ways.

No regrets.

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