CHAPTER 15
1029 Words
EMBER’S POV
The room still smelled faintly of blood.
Even after the maids had cleaned it.
Even after the sheets had been changed and the windows left open long enough for the air to move through.
It lingered.
A reminder.
I stood by the mirror, adjusting the sleeve of my gown slowly, carefully, as if nothing had changed.
As if everything was still under control.
My reflection stared back at me—composed, steady. There was no trace of the panic from earlier. No sign of weakness.
There couldn’t be.
Not now.
A soft knock came at the door.
I didn’t turn.
“Come in.”
The door creaked open, and one of the maids stepped in quietly, her head slightly bowed.
“My lady… the Alpha has not returned.”
I paused, my fingers stilling against the fabric.
“Not returned?” I repeated.
“Yes. He left the grounds not long after… after the incident.”
Of course he did.
I turned slightly, just enough to catch her reflection in the mirror.
“And no one thought to inform me earlier?”
Her head lowered further. “We assumed—”
“You assumed wrong.”
She flinched.
I let the silence stretch just long enough before I sighed and waved a hand dismissively.
“Leave.”
She didn’t hesitate. The door closed softly behind her.
So.
He had gone after her.
I should have expected that.
Still, there was something irritating about how quickly he moved. How easily his attention shifted.
How predictable he had become.
I walked toward the window, my steps slow, measured.
The grounds were quiet. Too quiet. The kind of quiet that followed disruption, when everyone was waiting for something else to happen.
They wouldn’t have to wait long.
My hand moved instinctively to my stomach.
The gesture came naturally now.
Protective.
Convincing.
I let out a slow breath.
“That should have been enough,” I murmured to myself.
The lie. The child. The performance.
It should have secured everything.
And for a while, it had.
Until she came.
Mia.
My jaw tightened slightly at the thought of her.
She had ruined the balance of things without even trying. Walked into the pack like she didn’t belong there—and yet somehow managed to take space that wasn’t hers.
Xavier’s attention.
His time.
His patience.
Things he had never given so freely before.
I turned away from the window, my expression hardening.
“She doesn’t even understand what she is,” I muttered.
And that was the most frustrating part.
If she had been aware—if she had been calculated, intentional—it would have been easier to deal with.
But she wasn’t.
She was unpredictable.
And that made her dangerous.
A soft sound came from behind the bookshelf.
Barely noticeable.
Unless you were listening for it.
I didn’t react immediately.
Instead, I walked calmly to the table, pouring myself a glass of water as if nothing had happened.
“You took your time,” I said quietly.
The panel behind the shelf shifted.
A figure stepped out from the hidden passage, closing it behind him.
“Things had to be done carefully,” he replied.
Julio.
I didn’t turn to face him right away. I took a slow sip of water before setting the glass down.
“And?” I asked.
“She’s where she’s supposed to be.”
Relief didn’t show on my face.
It never did.
“Good.”
He stepped closer, his presence filling the space behind me.
“You didn’t tell me she would be difficult,” he added.
I let out a short, humorless breath.
“I didn’t expect her to be.”
“That’s not true.”
That made me pause.
Slowly, I turned to look at him.
His gaze was steady. Knowing.
Annoyingly so.
“You’ve been watching her,” he continued. “You knew something was off.”
“I knew she was a problem,” I corrected.
“That’s not the same thing.”
Silence stretched between us.
I looked away first.
“Is it done?” I asked.
“For now.”
My brows furrowed slightly. “For now?”
He hesitated.
Just briefly.
But I noticed.
“The one handling her… he’s interested,” Julio said carefully.
My expression stilled.
“Interested?”
“Yes.”
“In what way?”
Julio exhaled.
“Not just as leverage.”
Something cold settled in my chest.
That hadn’t been part of the plan.
“She’s not supposed to matter,” I said, more to myself than to him.
“She does now.”
I turned away sharply, pacing a few steps before stopping.
“That changes things.”
“It complicates things,” he corrected.
My mind started moving faster.
Adjusting.
Reworking.
Plans didn’t fail.
They adapted.
“Xavier has already gone after her,” I said.
“I know.”
“He’ll find her.”
“Eventually.”
I stopped pacing.
“Then we make sure it’s too late by the time he does.”
Julio didn’t respond immediately.
When I turned to look at him again, his expression had shifted.
Less certain.
“You’re playing a dangerous game,” he said.
“I don’t have a choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
I held his gaze.
“No,” I said quietly. “Not when it comes to him.”
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then I straightened slightly, forcing calm back into my posture.
“This was necessary,” I added. “She needed to be removed.”
“And after that?”
I didn’t answer right away.
Because the truth was—
I hadn’t decided yet.
My hand moved back to my stomach, the gesture automatic.
Reassuring.
Convincing.
“After that,” I said slowly, “we deal with whatever is left.”
Julio watched me for a long moment, like he was trying to understand something I wasn’t saying.
Then he nodded once.
“Be careful,” he said.
I didn’t respond.
Because careful had never been enough.
And now—
It was already too late to turn back.
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