CHAPTER 61: JEALOUSY JEALOUSY

FIA

I stood outside Cian’s chambers, my back pressed against the cold stone wall. Heat crawled up my neck and into my face until I thought my skin might catch fire. My hands shook at my sides. I couldn’t stop replaying what just happened. The frame falling from my fingers. The glass exploding across the floor. His face when he saw what I’d done.

’Why can’t you keep your fucking hands to yourself?’

My chest squeezed tight. I wrapped my arms around myself like that would somehow hold me together. It was just a picture frame. I hadn’t meant to snoop. I was just looking for something, anything, to distract myself from the memory of his arms around me. From the way my fingers had traced his lips while he slept.

The drawer had been open. Just a crack. The frame was sitting right there in plain view. I’d only wanted to see who was in the photo. That was all.

But the way he’d looked at me when he walked in. Like I’d destroyed something precious. Like I’d crossed a line I didn’t even know existed.

I pushed off the wall and started walking. My legs felt unsteady. The hallway seemed too long, the walls pressing in on all sides. I’d seen Cian cold before. I’d seen him dismissive and cutting and cruel in that quiet way he had. But this was different. This was raw fury. The kind that came from somewhere deep and painful.

He’d lost his cool completely. The first time I’d ever seen him truly rattled.

Something had happened with whoever was in that picture. You didn’t keep a photo hidden in a drawer and then explode like that unless it meant something. Unless it still hurt.

I reached my suite and pushed through the door. The familiar scent of lavender and clean linen wrapped around me. For a second I just stood there, trying to catch my breath.

"Luna Fia."

I jumped. Bo was standing by the window with a steamer in her hands, working on a dress. She set the steamer down and gave me a slight bow.

"How was your night?"

The question hit me like a punch. My mind flashed to waking up in Cian’s arms. To his hand on my waist. To the way his eyes had opened and locked with mine before everything fell apart.

"It was fine," I said. The lie tasted bitter on my tongue.

Bo’s face lit up. Her eyes went wide and a pleased smile spread across her lips. "So it happened. You and the Alpha did it."

"Goddess, no." The words burst out of me too fast. "That wasn’t what happened. We just spent the night together in the same bed. But nothing happened."

Bo’s smile didn’t fade. She looked almost proud, like I’d accomplished something important just by sleeping in the same room as my husband. It felt weird saying it. Calling Cian my husband. But that was what he was.

I turned my attention to the dress she’d been steaming. The fabric looked crisp now, all the wrinkles smoothed out. "Is something happening today?"

"Not really," Bo said. She picked up another dress from the pile beside her. "I noticed some of the clothes were wrinkled and I took it upon myself to do something about them. Who knows when you will need them?"

"Right."

I moved toward the bathroom. A shower sounded perfect right now. Hot water. Steam. Something to wash away the morning and the mess I’d made of everything.

"Want me to help you run the bath?" Bo dropped the steamer again, already heading toward the bathroom door.

"There’s no need for that."

My hand touched the doorknob. I stopped. The question burned in my throat. I shouldn’t ask. It wasn’t my business. But I couldn’t shake the image of that photo. The woman’s face. The way Cian had looked at her in the picture, like she was the center of his whole world. The way the woman has also looked at him.

"Can I ask you something?"

Bo turned back to me. "Of course. Anything."

I swallowed hard. "Was Alpha Cian ever in a relationship before marrying into Silver Creek?"

"Oh." Bo’s expression shifted. Something careful slid into her eyes. "Madeline."

My heart kicked against my ribs. "Who is Madeline?"

Bo glanced at the door then back at me. Her voice dropped lower. "We’re not really supposed to talk about her."

"Why?"

Bo set the steamer down completely now. She moved closer, her hands folding in front of her. "Madeline Blossom was a witch and a family friend of the Donlons since childhood. She was for a while the love of Alpha Cian’s life and best friends with Luna Elara Donlon, Alpha Cian’s cousin, before she mercilessly broke his heart."

The words hit me one after another. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe properly. A witch? The love of his life?

"Why did she break his heart?"

Bo’s mouth pressed into a thin line. "The Blossoms are traditionalists and power hungry. They didn’t want Madeline for Cian. Interspecies relationships are still sensitive among many. And then there was the matter of the pack." She paused. Her eyes searched my face. "It was sort of clear then that Alpha Cian wouldn’t be the one to get the power of the pack. Madeline’s family wanted more for her. They wanted power and influence. Cian couldn’t give them that."

My stomach twisted. I thought about the way he’d held that broken frame. The blood on his hand. The look in his eyes like something inside him had shattered along with the glass.

But Cian was Alpha of Skollrend. He has a reputation too. They had been wrong. Or was that him proving a point?

"Did something happen, Luna Fia?" Bo’s words broke my train of thoughts.

The question came soft and she really did look concerned. I looked at Bo and saw the worry lines etched across her features.

"I accidentally broke a frame with her picture," I said. My voice cracked as I continued. "And he went berserk."

Bo gasped. She closed the distance between us in three quick steps and took my hand in both of hers. Her skin felt warm against mine. "I’m so sorry. Are you willing to talk about it?"

Something inside me crumbled. Bo’s kindness, her concern, the way she held my hand like she actually cared. It was so different from everything else in this place. Most of the people here at Skollrend had treated me like an obligation, a burden or a political tool. But Bo looked at me like I mattered.

My throat tightened. Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes and I blinked hard to keep them from falling.

"Yeah," I whispered.

Bo guided me to the bed. We sat down side by side. She kept holding my hand. I stared down at our joined fingers and tried to find the words.

"I didn’t mean to touch it," I started. "The drawer was open. Just a little. I saw the frame and I was curious. I picked it up to look at the photo." I swallowed. "Then he walked in. He saw me holding it and he just exploded. I’ve never seen him like that before. Even when he was mean and he told me to get out."

Bo squeezed my hand. "He’s very protective of anything to do with Madeline. Most people in the pack know not to even mention something that reminds him of her. He keeps that part of his life locked away."

"But why keep the photo if it hurts so much?"

"Because he loved her," Bo said simply. "Maybe he still does. And sometimes people hold onto pain because letting go feels like losing the person all over again."

I thought about the way Cian had looked in that picture. He had been young. He had been happy. Like he hadn’t learned yet how to build walls around himself. Madeline had been beautiful. With hair like spin cold and bright cornflower blue eyes. Her smile too... That smile that looked genuine and warm.

But she’d also broken his heart and left him in the dust because he hadn’t been powerful enough. Because her family wanted more.

"I should apologize," I said.

Bo shook her head. "Give him time. He needs space when it comes to Madeline. Pushing him right now will only make things worse."

I nodded even though every part of me wanted to fix this. To take back what I’d done. To somehow undo the damage.

Bo stood and smoothed down her dress. "Why don’t you take that shower? I’ll make you some tea for when you’re done."

"Thank you," I said. The words felt too small for what she’d given me. For the comfort of having someone in my corner who didn’t treat me like garbage.

She smiled and squeezed my shoulder before heading toward the small kitchen area in my suite.

I walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind me. My reflection stared back at me from the mirror. Red eyes. Flushed cheeks. Hair still messy from sleep.

I looked like someone who’d had the worst morning of their life.

The love of his life...

That phrase kept echoing in my head. Cian had loved someone once. Really loved them. And she’d destroyed him.

No wonder he kept everyone at a distance now. No wonder he looked at me like I was just another burden he had to carry.

I turned the tap and let the tub fill, the water rushing out in a steady stream. Steam curled up and warmed the small room. I slipped out of my nightgown and lowered myself into the bath, the heat wrapping around me the moment my skin touched the water. I closed my eyes and let it rise against me, hoping it would quiet the noise in my head.

But no matter how hard I tried, I could not push Madeline Blossom out of my mind. Her name kept circling back, tugging at something I was not ready to look at.

Maybe it was not confusion at all. Maybe I understood this tight pull in my stomach more than I wanted to admit. I just did not want to face what it meant.