My father’s funeral had beena small, private ceremony with only park members present. No representatives from other territories. Certainly no estranged mates
The rain had been relentless, soaking through my black dress as we lowered his body into the earth.
accusation in my tone, just
“Would it Isave mattered?” I ask softly, the question slipping out before I can stop it. There’s genuine curiosity. Would Raiden have set aside our bitter stalemate to stand beside me as I leuried the man who had betrayed us both in different ways!
The conference room feels staklenly smaller, the expansive windows showcasing the mountain range beyond doing nothing to alleviate the claustrophobic tension between us. Haiden’s face, usually so carefully controlled, shifts almost imperceptibly. Something flickers in his eyes–regret, perhaps.
Or simply calculation
The silence that follows is heavy, stretching between us like a chasm. Outside, an eagle soars past the window, free and unencumbered by the complexities of emotion
For a moment, Denvy it with a fierceness that aches.
Raiden sets down the folder he’d been holding, his movements measured and precise.
The late afternoon sun catches on his silver ring–the one that matches mine, though I’d stopped wearing its partner months ago. The mate bond pulses weakly between us, a shadow of what it once was.
“T’d like to think so,” he says finally, his voice quieter now. There’s a roughness to it that I haven’t heard in a long time. “Despite everything”
Those two words hang in the air.
Despite everything
Despite the lies, the political nuaneuvering, the public humiliation, the private betrayals.
Despite the way we’ve torn each other apart in council meetings and territorial disputes.
Despite how I still wake reaching for him in the night only to find cold sheets and the hollow echo of what we once shared.
I swallow hard against the sudden tightness in my throat. His unexpected vulnerability makes it difficult to maintain the protective shell I’ve built around myself.
For a dangerous moment, I almost reach across the table toward him, an instinct my body hasn’t unlearned despite all the reasons my mind knows better.
Instead, I curl my fingers around the edge of my chair and nod once, accepting his words without committing to believe them. Some bridges, once burned, leave only smoke and ash–no matter how much we might wish to cross them again.
Something in his tone–raw, unguarded–makes my defenses falter. I search has face, trying to find the lie, the indifference I’ve grown so accustomed to seeing there. But instead, I see something else. Regret.
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51%蠃
Chapter 53
The realization unsettles me.
For years, I’ve told myself that Raiden doesn’t care. That he never cared. But now, standing here in this room where so much of our history was written. I find myself questioning everything.
“I called you seventeen times that night,” I say, my voice trembling despite my best efforts to keep it steady. “Seventeen. And you ignored every single one.”
He looks away, his jaw tightening. “I didn’t know,” he says, his words clipped but sincere. “Lila.. she told me not to answer. She said you were “He cuts himself off, shaking his head. “It doesn’t matter what she said. I should have
The door swings open before he can finish, and the moment shatters like glass
“Darling.” Lila’s voice cuts through the room, light and musical, but her smile falters when she sees me. Her sharp blue eyes flick between us, narrowing slightly as she takes in the scene. “We’re late for dinner”
She crosses the room with easy confidence, her heels clicking against the floor. Her hand lands on Raiden’s arm in a possessive gesture that makes my stomach churn.
Raiden stiffens under her touch, his expression hardening as he slips back into the mask he always wears around her. The openness I saw just moments ago is gone, replaced by the cold, distant Alpha I’ve come to know all too well
“Right,” he says, his voice flat. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
Lila doesn’t move. Her gaze lingers on me, her smile sharp and insincere. “You’re still here, Siena?” she asks, her tone dripping with condescension.
I force a smile, even as the familiar pain resurges, clawing at my chest. “Don’t worry, Lila,” I say coolly. “I was just leaving
I push past her, my pulse pounding in my ears as I walk toward the door.
“Siena,” Raiden’s voice stops me just as I reach the threshold.
I turn back, my hand on the doorframe. He’s watching me, his expression unreadable, but there’s something in his eyes that makes my breath catch. Regret, maybe. Or guilt.
Or something else entirely.
“Goodnight,” he says finally, his voice barely above a whisper.
I nod once, then step into the hallway, the door clicking shut behind me.
The walk back to my quarters feels longer than it should. Each step echoes in the empty corridor, the sound amplified by the silence around me. My mind is a storm of emotions–anger, sadness, confusion, and something else I don’t want to
For a moment, back in that office, it felt like Raiden and I were on the verge of something. A truce, maybe. Or an understanding
But then Lila walked in, and it was like watching a door slam shut.
I don’t know why I let it bother me. This is how it’s always been. Raiden chooses her. Every time, without fail, he chooses
her.
And yet, the memory of his apology lingers, a faint whisper in the back of my mind. I wasn’t aware of your father’s passing I’m sorry
I want to believe him. I want to believe that he means it, that there’s still a part of him that cares.
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Chapter 53
But after everything we’ve been through, after years of rejection and indifference, I don’t know if I can.
When I reach my quarters, I close the door behind me and lean against it, my eyes slipping shut as I exhale slowly.
This challenge–it’s going to be hell. Pretending to be united with Raiden, pretending like we’re a team when we’re anything but.. I don’t know if I can do it.
But I’ll have to.
Because no matter how much it hurts, no matter how many pieces of my heart I have to gather along the way. I won’t let Windhowl down.
They deserve better.
And so do I
