Brax POV
Brax watched Veronica walk away with a twist in his gut.
Shit. He could’ve handled that better.
And he would have—if the damn Council hadn’t been breathing down his neck all morning.
They were coming tomorrow. Not to help. Not to offer support. No, they were coming to “assess” his mate.
His fated mate.
The way they said it, with all that fake concern, made it sound like he was the one lying. Like he’d fabricated the bond just to get out of his commitment to Talia.
He wasn’t lying. But he also knew exactly what they were planning.
They’d zoom in on Veronica—on everything she did, said, or didn’t say—and tally up all the reasons why she couldn’t be Luna. Her attitude. Her childish tantrums. Hell, even her cat.
It didn’t matter that she was only twenty-five. Or that she hadn
