Lilith's POV
I really, really didn't want to go with him.
Marius's gaze, though superficially gentlemanly, always reminded me of a predator lurking in the shadows of a forest, waiting to pounce.
"Mother, I—" I tried to protest, hating the faint tremor of cowardice in my own voice. "I can find the lounge myself, or… or one of the servers could show me."
Before I could finish, my mother's gaze, sharper and colder than an ice blade, sliced into me, brooking no argument.
"Lilith, don't be difficult. Go with Marius."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Alpha Thomas, my stepfather.
His bushy eyebrows furrowed almost imperceptibly, and his lips parted as if to speak, but in the end, he remained silent, as always.
He never interfered in matters between mother and me, and for the first tim
