Chapter 102: Lie

Kaelen's POV

Vespera.

No knock. No warning. Just walking into my office like she had every right.

Ever since Seraphine moved out, she'd been coming around more and more frequently, like she was trying to reclaim her territory and take back everything she'd lost.

Her red hair caught the lamplight from my desk. Loose waves falling over her shoulders, gleaming like copper in the dim glow. Those blue eyes—usually so calm and controlled—locked onto my throat immediately.

To the unbuttoned collar. To the dark bruise blooming along my neck where Seraphine's mouth had been. A fresh love bite, still red at the edges.

I watched her face change. The delicate spray of freckles across her nose stood out sharper as her skin went pale. Her nostrils flared as she caught the scent.

Seraphine's scent. River water and rage and unfinished desire.

Vespera's hands clenched at her sides. Her knuckles went bone white. The tendons in her wrists stood out like cords.

But she smiled. That practiced, perfect smile she'd perfected over years.

"Well..." Her voice was carefully neutral. "You look exhausted, darling."

Her gaze traveled down slowly. Taking inventory. The scratch marks on my collarbone. The bite on my shoulder. The evidence of everything that had happened tonight.

"Rough night?" She asked, voice measured.

I should have buttoned my shirt. Should have hidden the marks.

But I didn't.

Let her see.

Vespera moved closer. Her steps measured. Deliberate. The silk of her nightgown whispered against her legs with each movement—swish, swish, swish.

I remembered the first time the council had brought her to me. Three months after Isolde's death. The elders saying an Alpha couldn't rule without a companion. That the pack needed stability. Needed to see their leader wasn't alone.

I'd refused at first. But the pressure had been relentless.

So I'd accepted Vespera. Not as a mate. Never as a mate. Just as... an arrangement. Something to satisfy the council's demands and my body's needs.

No emotions. No promises. Just physical release when the loneliness got too heavy.

She'd understood the terms. Had agreed to them.

Or so I'd thought.

Her fingers landed on my shoulders now, starting to massage. Long, pale fingers pressing into the tight muscles. She knew exactly where to touch. Years of practice.

"Mmm... you're so tense, darling." That familiar tone. Her breath warm against my ear. "Up all night working? Let me help you... relax."

Her hands trailed down. Over my shoulders. Down my chest. Fingers splaying wide as they moved—slowly, deliberately.

Deliberately touching the marks Seraphine had left.

My jaw clenched. "Vespera—"

"Shh..." Her voice dropped lower, almost a purr. "I know you've been stressed. Damien's wolf. Pack threats. Everything with... her."

She said the last word carefully. No venom. Just acknowledgment.

Her nails dragged lightly across my chest—scratch, scratch—sending involuntary shivers through me.

"There's a gathering at Molly's place tonight," she breathed against my ear. Her lips almost brushing the shell of it. "Just like old times. Remember? When it was just us... no complications..."

Her hands slid lower. One palm flat against my stomach. The other tracing the edge of my collar where Seraphine's bite mark showed.

"Come with me..." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Let me remind you how good we were together..."

My body remembered. The familiar weight of her against me. The practiced movements. The easy pleasure that required no thought, no emotion, no commitment.

Years of habit pulling me toward acceptance.

The heat spread through my chest. My breathing quickened slightly. Her scent wrapped around me—familiar, safe, uncomplicated.

But Seraphine's voice cut through the haze.

"If you don't completely sever your relationship with her, I will never mate with you."

The words hit like ice water.

"I can't guarantee I won't fall in love with another man before you decide to give her up."

The image flashed in my mind. Seraphine pressed against that boy at the Moon Festival. Her body moving against his. That deliberate intimacy.

The jealousy that ripped through me was so intense my hands shook.

No. Fuck no.

I'd already made my choice. By that river. In those freezing waters.

I chose her.

I stood up so fast my chair crashed backward.

Vespera's hands fell away. She stumbled back a step, blue eyes wide with surprise.

"No."

The word came out flat. Final.

She blinked. Red hair swaying as she tilted her head. "What?"

"I'm not going to Molly's tonight. Not ever again."

Vespera's perfect mask cracked. Her mouth opened slightly. "Honey, we've been going to these gatherings for years—"

"Things are different now."

"Different?" Her voice rose. Color flooded back into her cheeks, spots of red standing out against the freckles. "Because of that Silverwood bitch? Because of some Omega who thinks she can—"

"Get out."

The command hit the air like a whip.

Vespera froze. Her chest heaved. Her hands trembled at her sides before she clenched them into fists again. Her face flushed deeper—rage and humiliation bleeding together.

Her lips parted. Closed. Parted again like she wanted to say something but couldn't find the words.

The silence stretched. Heavy. Dangerous.

Then her expression twisted. The careful mask shattering completely.

"You're choosing her?" The words came out strangled. "That refugee? That... that nobody who showed up with nothing?"

Her voice climbed higher. Sharper. "I've been here for years, Kaelen. Years. I've given you everything you needed. No demands. No complications. And you're throwing it all away for some girl you barely know?"

"I said get out."

"No." She took a step forward. Then another. Her blue eyes blazing with fury. "You don't get to just dismiss me. Not after everything—"

"Vespera—"

"I've been your side for eight years, but she? Only two months, right? Why, Kaelen? When you couldn't sleep. When the weight of leading this pack alone was crushing you." Her voice cracked. "I gave you what you needed. What she refuses to give you."

Her hands clenched and unclenched. "And now you're going to throw me aside? For what? For someone who won't even accompany you at night? Who causes deaths for pack and gives you nothing?"

The rage in her voice was raw. Real. Months of resentment finally breaking free.

But then I watched something shift in her face.

She took a breath. Then another.

Her hands slowly uncurled. Her shoulders dropped. The fury drained away, replaced by something colder. More calculated.

"I understand," she said quietly. Too quietly. "I apologize for... overstepping."

The change was too fast. Too complete.

She turned toward the door. Her movements graceful again. Composed.

Then she paused with her hand on the doorknob. Delicate fingers wrapping around the brass handle.

"You know..." she said casually, glancing back over her shoulder. "There's something you should know about your cherished mate."