Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Cassian,
“Insanity?” She repeated the word like it was a curse rotting in her mouth. Her tone sharpened as she looked straight into my eyes with disbelief, her pupils tightening as if her body could not catch up with the shock. Carolyn stared at me like she genuinely could not accept that I had pulled away from her and labeled her actions as insane. Her lips parted, then pressed tightly together, her breath beginning to quicken in short bursts. I could see her throat bob as she swallowed, the tension trembling along her neck.
The disappointment shining in her eyes was not the soft kind someone carried when they felt misunderstood. It was the enraged, fragile, frantic kind that made her eyebrows twitch upward in disbelief. Her fingers curled inwards, nails digging into her own palm. It was the kind of look someone wore when they were seconds away from challenging everything I said, every boundary I reminded her of.
“You didn’t have to talk to me like that,” she muttered finally. Her voice trembled, but it was not sadness. Not remorse. It was anger locked under desperation. Her bottom lip quivered, and the muscles in her jaw kept tightening and relaxing like she was trying not to shout. “I didn’t do anything wrong p>
“You kissed me,” I said sharply. My voice cut through the air without giving her space to twist the truth. “Without asking p>
Her shoulders jerked upward defensively. “It was just a kiss on the cheek,” she argued quickly, almost tripping over her own words. “People greet each other like that all the time.” She tried to reason it away, even while her eyes darted aside for a split second, exposing the guilt she refused to admit. She had already exposed her intentions earlier, whether she liked it or not.
“You timed it with your scent.” My voice carried more weight now. “You certainly knew how disrespectful that is for married wolf p>
any
Her eyes widened again, barely for half a second, but it was enough. She hadn’t expected me to call out the deliberate detail. Her throat tightened visibly.
“I did not p>
“Don’t lie to me,” I cut in, my voice lowering into the tone I only used when I had reached my limit. I leaned forward slightly, watching the way she shrank back. “I know exactly what manipulated scent feels like. You tried to test if I would respond. And what is the point of denying it when you just said you did it for a temporary role? Enough with this p>
She froze. Her chest stopped rising for a full moment before her jaw tightened. I could see the muscle clenching under her skin.
“So what if I did?” she snapped. Her voice cracked as she spoke. “You respond to her. You soften for her. I watched you sit beside her in the hospital bed.” Her eyes were glossy now, but it wasn’t from emotion—it was from frustration. “You never do that for me. You never even look at me the same way p>
She shrieked the last part, her voice rising into a high, shaking pitch that made the room feel too small. The same conversation again, the same unreasonable cycle I still could not understand. Why keep returning to it?
The boundaries had always been laid out on the table-clean, clear, strict. The day she refused to be my Luna,
Elle was the one who stepped forward because she believed she could handle the role. And that was the day I closed that door. Carolyn was never on my list of lovers, and she knew that. Two years ago, I even asked her again if she was willing to act as temporary Luna until Elle returned. She had rejected the idea so firmly that her refusal had echoed in my mind.
She didn’t want to be tied to anyone, even if it was temporary.
So what now?
“That is not your business,” I snapped.
“It should be!” she insisted, her voice rising like she had been waiting years to shout the words. Her hands I your shook violently as she pointed toward her own chest. “I stayed with you when everyone left. I know routines. I know your temper. I know how to take care of you.” Her breaths came out in harsh, broken exhales. “I could’ve been useful to you if you just gave me a chance p>
“The position you want is not available,” I said flatly. My shoulders stiffened as I met her gaze head-on. “You let it go. So you shouldn’t be greedy for it now p>
She let out a shaky breath, shoulders trembling as she tried to steady herself. She inhaled deeply, probably forcing her lungs to behave so she would not collapse under the weight of rejection.
“I am not asking for much,” she whispered. Her voice cracked again, softer this time. Her eyes lowered, then lifted to mine with a strange blend of hope and despair. “Just until my sister comes back. I am not trying to replace her permanently.” She stepped closer, her fingers twitching like she couldn’t decide whether to reach for me or not. “I only want to stand beside you for a short time. It hurts, Cassian p>
She finally gripped my shirt, holding onto the fabric like it was the last piece of ground she could stand on.
“It hurts to see you being so close to another woman instead of my sister or me,” she confessed, her eyes flooding with frustration and jealousy. “Now I realized that it would be better to have me as your Luna than another woman. I want to rethink our relationship. I want us to try to fix things. So p>
“And what happens after that?” I asked, cutting off her fantasy before she could finish shaping it. “You step aside gracefully? You expect me to believe that?” My voice dripped sarcasm. “You are impossible p>
“I would!” she insisted immediately. Too quick. Too eager. Too revealing. Her eyes glimmered with desperation as she leaned in. “You think I’m trying to trap you. I’m not. I just wanted to finally be seen for
once p>
I took a slow breath, watching her carefully. Her desperation clung to her like a second skin, trembling across every movement she made. The air around her felt unstable, heavy with emotions she didn’t know how to control. Maybe she was turning into someone unrecognizable, Maybe jealousy was eating her alive from the inside. She could not stand watching Roana step into her sister’s place.
And now she wanted to throw herself into that same space as a placeholder.
But it was too late. When I had a crush on her, she rejected me. When I needed her-not as a lover, but as a partner to help hold the pack together until Elle returned-she refused with the same passion. Now that I had someone better, suddenly she wanted to try?
What was this? A game she abandoned earlier but now wanted another round of?
“You are seen,” I said. “But not the way you want. You are my family. That is the best way to be seen. So stay in that lane. Don’t bother daydreaming something else p>
My words were crystal clear. I never played with emotions, nor did I let emotions play with me. Facts were facts, and rules were rules.
Her expression twisted with rage, her nostrils flaring as her pupils thinned. I had only seen this look once- when Elle was kidnapped.
“You prefer her,” Carolyn whispered. “The outsider. The one who barely knows this place. The one who doesn’t even treat you as King.” Her voice vibrated with pure venom. “And now suddenly she becomes the love of your life and your Queen? Do you want me to believe that? What about Elle then? What will happen to her? My sister. Your fiancée p>
The question made me pause. I had no intention of abandoning Elle. That truth sat firm in my chest. Roana and I had a clear future, and she knew that, which was why she kept her distance.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said. “You should concentrate on yourself instead of that p>
“I know enough,” she hissed. Her lips curled in disgust. “Enough to see you falling for her. Enough to see you trying to replace my sister and shower her with love.” Her eyes darkened. “You are forgetting my sister, Cass. You are betraying her love. She is waiting for you in that cruel place. And here you are, acting like some lover boy with your new Luna. Wow. Lycan King p>
She spat the last words p>
My patience burned down to ash.
“You don’t get to talk about her this way,” I said, each word clipped. “Elle has always been my priority. But Roana is my responsibility, my duty to protect.” I took a step closer, forcing her to finally back up. “Right now, you are saying all of this because you are jealous. Listen, Carolyn, stop going after her. You even lied about her yesterday. And it wasn’t appreciated p>
I looked straight into her eyes and spoke clearly.
“Elle will be free soon. I promise that. But if you keep getting in my way with these notorious actions, I will not go easy on you. Just because you are my family does not mean I will accept your reckless attitude toward my Luna Queen p>
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