Chapter 46

Isla POV

She leaned into me and for a second the bond tried to remember how it was earlier.

A tremor passed between us, half memory, half prayer.

Sadly, It wasn’t enough.

The ember sputtered back to a weak glow and left us both staring at the space between our chests like strangers.

“I don't want to be caught in the middle of something bad with the two of you.” She said. “Kieran's smart. He could just be doing this to get to you.”

Keiran’s games. Keiran’s sneaky movements.

My anger sharpened, protective and blade-like. “Well, he's got some nerves, walking around like he's untouchable.” I said. “I’ll find him.”

She looked up at me with the old, terrible mixture of gratitude and guilt. “Please don’t hurt him,” she whispered. “Please don’t—” Her plea stopped because she knew the cost of what she asked. She was asking me to be less of what my nature wanted.

I wanted to promise her that I wouldn't but even I knew I would be lying.

Kieran might be my blood but I was alpha.

He's a rogue who's far more trouble than his worth.

Outside, the night pressed against the windows, full of trees and Keiran and echoes.

Inside, we stood in our small square of light and neither of us could say yet whether the thing between us could be mended or whether we were watching the first careful steps of something unfixable.

I pulled her palm into mine, studying it intently like it held the answers to the universe. back into my palm and let it go. “Tomorrow,” I said. “Tomorrow, Kieran and I will have a chat.”

She didn’t answer, only let her forehead rest against my chest. My heart thudded once, heavy and human.

The bond replied with a faint, stubborn flutter—less than before—but it was there, a tiny, stubborn ember that I refused to let die. For now.

A part of me wanted it to happen but the other part strangely held on fiercely to it.

But the scrap had a voice that wouldn’t quiet. And Keiran’s echo hung like a question over everything.

It's hard to sleep at night.

Especially when your brain decides to take you on a tour of the past couple of days, relieving it over and over again.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Keiran’s face in the shadows of the garden, his voice echoing as it to taunt me…. “You felt it too.”

When exhaustion finally dragged me under, it wasn’t for long.

I might have gotten probably an hour or two of sleep.

Near dawn, I stirred and instinctively rolled toward the other side of the bed.

For a moment,I had forgotten that I wasn't sharing the bed alone.

With my eyes half closed, I reached for the bed only for my hand to meet cool sheets, smooth and untouched.

My eyes flew open fully.

I was right.

The bed was smooth and unruffled, showing no signs that someone has laid there.

Which means….Tristan hadn’t slept there at all.

The sight of it lodged like a stone in my chest. Whatever fragile shift I thought I had seen in him the other night…when for once, it seemed he might actually care even though it was about his brother trying to get his claws into me….was nothing.

He had chosen distance once again, leaving me alone in a bed that still smelled faintly of him, but offered none of his presence.

Flopping back to the bed, I exhaled roughly, staring at the time.

Not sure how long I lay there, looking vacantly at the ceiling but by the time the sun climbed higher, I had abandoned sleeping altogether.

The morning air in the courtyard was brisk, the kind that should have cleared my head.

Instead, every step I took only brought back memories of the previous nights.

Isn't it ironic?

That just a couple of days ago, I was worried about making the staff as well as Tristan's family to welcome me but now, my brain was occupied with much more serious problems.

Sighing, I stopped to pluck a flower off a tree only for my attention to be dragged to the left.

Two maids carrying baskets slowed their pace, whispering behind their hands as they stole looks at me.

I froze, narrowing my eyes in confusion.

What's going on?

Sadly, the maids weren't the only oneooking at me.

A stable boy halted mid-step, his eyes darting to me before he hurried off as though he’d been caught in a crime.

And by the well, a pair of kitchen girls leaned close, speaking too low to hear, but their laughter carried.

Their mocking looks and laughter cut deep.

I didn't even have to move closer to know that they were talking about me.

But why?

I clenched my jaw and kept walking, intent on letting what ever new scheme they had cooked up today to slide down my back.

After succsseful dinner, they should be thanking me not gossiping about me.

I was no stranger to being stared at, to being talked about but today… the weight of it pressed against me differently.

Maybe it was because I hadn’t slept.

Maybe it was because Keiran’s words had cracked something open inside me.

Or maybe it was because deep down, I could already sensed the storm that was coming.

Still, I lifted my chin and forced my steps to remain steady. They wanted me to falter under their taunting gaze and whispers. I will not give them the satisfaction.

I was halfway across the courtyard when the sound of approaching footsteps broke through the murmur of gossip.

I turned, startled, just as Darius strode in through the archway.

His broad frame cast a striking shadow against in the morning light, his face drawn taut with urgency.

He barely looked at the staff as he passed them, cutting though the air shifted with his presence. As expected, the staff parted ways to let him walk through.

My heart lurched.

Darius wasn’t the type to run or get ruffled unless it was important.

I froze on instinct, half-shielded by the shadow of a stone pillar, and that was when Tristan showed up.

He’d emerged from the far side of the courtyard, dressed in a different pair of clothes, his presence commanding even without uttering a word.

“Alpha,” Darius said, voice clipped as he bowed slightly in respect.

He didn’t even notice me lingering in the shadows, to occupied with whatever news he wanted to share “We’ve just had confirmation. Viviana has been seen.”

The name landed like a stone dropped into still water. My chest tightened painfully.

“Where?” Tristan’s voice was quiet, almost too calm, but there was an edge to it.

“The town square,” Darius replied. “Several witnesses. She was spotted in broad daylight. It’s no rumor this time.”

I gripped the cold stone of the pillar, my nails digging into it.

My ears roared as blood rusjed into it, drowning out the courtyard’s sudden hush.

Vivianna.