“Mother, what are you really doing?” Lila asked, her tone sharp with suspicion. She leaned back in the velvet chair, picking at her nails. “If you didn’t have a plan, then why insist Luna Selene and Alpha Gary spend the night? You could have just let them go.”
Antoinette didn’t look at her daughter at first. She stood by the tall window, hands clasped in front of her, her eyes on the courtyard below. “I don’t even know why,” she admitted softly, though her voice carried a certain edge. “But I believe the longer they stay, the closer we’ll get to the truth. Secrets have a way of slipping out when people are kept too close.”
Lila rolled her eyes and huffed. “You can’t keep them here forever, Mother. They’ll notice something is off.”
“I know,” Antoinette snapped, finally turning. “Having t
