Tara’s POV
The palace halls had become a gauntlet of mockery. Every maid that curtsied, every guard that snapped to attention, seemed to look right through me, seeing the hollow shell of a woman who had been discarded by her own Alpha.
The rejection in his study, the indifference, the cold, vacant stare, had burned away the last of my patience. I was done being the patient, devoted wife. I was done waiting for him to notice that I was standing right in front of him.
I went straight to my mother’s chambers. I didn't knock; I simply pushed the heavy doors open, the sound echoing like a thunderclap in the room.
My mother was already waiting, standing by the window with a glass of wine, her gaze fixed on the darkening horizon. She didn't turn when I entered, but the tension in her shoulder
