Lucian had offered to become Evelyn’s Alpha.
Celeste received the report while a maid fastened pearls at the back of her throat.
“He touched the Ravencrest standard,” Lord Arden’s secretary said. “Then he told General Vesper to return it before his people.”
The maid’s fingers stopped.
Celeste met her eyes in the mirror.
“Continue.”
The girl finished the clasp and stepped away.
Celeste waited until the door closed before turning toward the secretary.
“What were his exact words?”
The man hesitated.
She did not repeat the question.
“Return it to me before my people, and I will be your Alpha,” he said. “Give it to Albert, and you will be only his general.”
Only his general.
The insult should have diminished Evelyn.
Instead, it exposed the problem.
Lucian Ravencrest would refuse
