I made her feel worthless. Told her she wasn’t enough. Pushed her into the arms of a man who was able to manipulate her because of my actions.
And now, she’d rather break our bond—something that should be impossible—than be stuck with me.
The sun beats down on my shoulders as I finally stand, my legs unsteady. Around me, the training grounds are empty. My soldiers are long gone, probably spreading gossip about their commander being dressed down by a diminutive healer.
I should care about that. About my reputation, about maintaining authority.
But all I can think about is the look in Selene’s eyes as she begged for a way out.
A way out of me.
Chapter Eight
Selene
I lie in bed,staring at the ceiling, my body still aching in places I didn’t know could ache. The mate mark on my neck throbs with a dull heat, a constant reminder of what happened last night. What I let happen.
What I made happen by marking him first.
The memory has come back—my wolf surging forward, my teeth sinking into Seth with desperate possession. The taste of him, the way the bond had blazed to life between us. I had already claimed him before he claimed me.
I turn onto my side, curling into a ball as tears burn behind my eyes. My mind keeps circling back to the same questions, the same impossibilities. Why did I sleepwalk? Why did the mate bond with Seth suddenly roar back to life when it had been silent for two weeks?
And why couldn’t I control myself once the wine touched my lips?
My body was on fire after that. Not the pleasant warmth of arousal, but something desperate, consuming, like every nerve ending was screaming for his touch. I clawed at him, begged him,moved against him with a hunger that felt foreign and overwhelming.
That wasn’t me. That couldn’t have been me.
But deep down, in a place I don’t want to examine too closely, I know something. Something that squeezes my lungs tight.
Whatever I felt with Zane—that pull, the certainty that he was my fated mate—it never felt like that. It was pleasant, comfortable, safe. Like slipping into warm water. But with Seth? Even through the haze of whatever was in that wine, the bond felt like lightning. Like coming home and burning alive all at once.
I squeeze my eyes shut, pressing my face into the pillow. I don’t want to think about it. Don’t want to acknowledge that some part of me—my wolf, maybe—had known all along that Zane wasn’t real.
But I’d focused on him anyway. Because he was everything I wanted in a mate. Kind. Attentive. He looked at me like I mattered, like I was precious.
The tears start to run now, hot against my cheeks. How did everything get so twisted? How did I end up bound to someone who never wanted me in the first place?
A knock sounds at my door.
I don’t move. I don’t want to answer. I can’t face anyone right now—not Astra, not Daciana, and especially not Seth if he has come back here to…to what? Apologize? Explain? Tell me again how I’m too weak for his stupid family?
The knock comes again, harder this time.
“Selene!” a woman calls through the door. Not Astra with her familiar warmth or Daciana with her soldier’s bark. Someone else entirely. “Selene Thorne, open this door!”
The use of my full name makes me freeze. The authority in that voice—commanding but not harsh—has me sitting up despite myself.
I slide out of bed, wincing as my thighs protest and a deep ache throbs between my legs. My feet have healed completely—my shifter healing took care of the cuts from the woods last night—but the rest of my body tells a different story. Every step reminds me of what Seth did to me. What we didto each other.
The memory sends warmth crawling up my neck as I pad to the door and crack it open, trying to ignore the persistent soreness.
Four women stand in the hallway.
I have to tilt my head back to look at them properly. They’re all tall—easily a head taller than me—with the kind of presence that makes the air feel heavier. Strong builds, confident postures, expensive clothes that speak of nobility and wealth. Two have the same dark hair and keen, green eyes as Seth. The other two have different coloring but carry themselves with the same intimidating grace.
Dread settles heavily in my gut.
