Auren POV
Watching Lorien walk away felt like ripping a piece out of me one of the hardest things I’d done since I became Alpha. I didn’t trust Riven with her, not for a heartbeat. Every time I caught him looking at her, something dark and hot lodged in my throat. I wanted to tear those looks from his face.
He was testing me, deliberately pressing at some line I hadn’t decided existed yet. If the queen hadn’t been staring at me like I was the one about to be hunted, I would have demanded to go with them just to keep Riven in check. Instead I stayed. Elara’s smirk as she watched Riven shepherd Lorien away said there was something she wasn’t telling us and the fact she seemed almost pleased made my skin cold. Either she had a plan I didn’t know about, or she wanted me alone for a reason I
