The silence in the ballroom was absolute, a vacuum created by the tension between the four people standing near the dais. Damien’s gaze was a frantic, unblinking map of shock, tracing the lines of Bella’s face, searching for a trace of the girl he had discarded—but finding only a woman he didn't recognize.
"Nothing to do with me?" Damien repeated, the words tasting like ash. He ignored Ethan entirely, his focus narrowing until the rest of the room blurred into static. "Look at them, Bella. Look at him."
Noah didn't retreat. He stood straight, his small hands clasped behind his back, mimicking the posture of the most powerful Alphas he’d ever met. He looked up at Damien with a dispassionate, chillingly calm expression that belonged to a man twice his age.
"Is there a reason you’re starin
