Chapter 234
Elowen's POV
The front door slammed open with enough force to rattle the windows.
My heart leaped into my throat as Ronan and I both spun toward the sound. For a split second, hope surged through me—maybe it was Casper and Cassian, finally coming back to me.
But the footsteps that echoed through the hallway were wrong. Too light. Too quick.
Cindy appeared in the kitchen doorway.
My best friend. The girl who'd stood by me through everything. The one person besides my mates I thought I could always count on.
Except the way she looked at me now—God, it made my stomach drop.
Her expression was completely blank. Not angry, not sad, not concerned. Just... empty. Like I was a stranger she'd passed on the street.
"Cindy?" My voice came out smaller than I intended. "What's wrong? Is someone hurt?"
She didn't answer. Didn't even acknowledge I'd spoken.
Instead, she turned to Ronan, her blue eyes cold as ice. "She's your sister. You can tell her."
The words hit me like a slap.
She's your sister.
Not "your friend." Not "Elowen." Just... a responsibility to be passed off.
"Cindy, what the hell—" I started.
"I'm not doing this." She cut me off, her voice flat and final. "I'm not getting involved in whatever drama you three have going on now."
Whatever drama you three have going on.
My hands started shaking. "What are you talking about? Cindy, please—"
"Ask your brother." She turned on her heel. "Or better yet, go find your mates. I'm sure they're very... busy."
The way she said that last word. The bitter twist to her mouth.
Something was very, very wrong.
Juno? I reached for my wolf, desperate for her strength.
Something's happened, she growled back, hackles raised. I can feel it through the bond. Pain. Guilt. They're—
She cut off abruptly, and that silence terrified me more than anything.
"Ronan." I grabbed his arm, forcing him to look at me. "What is she talking about? Where are Casper and Cassian?"
His face had gone pale. "Elowen, listen—"
"No!" I yanked my hand back. "No more lies. No more protecting me. Tell me what the fuck is going on!"
But he just stood there, conflict written all over his face, and I realized he wasn't going to tell me.
None of them were going to tell me.
Fine.
I'd find out myself.
I pushed past Ronan, ignoring his protests as I stormed out of the kitchen. My bare feet slapped against the cold marble floors, but I barely felt it. All I could focus on was the growing knot of dread in my stomach and the distant, muffled sensation of the mate bond.
They were here. In the packhouse. I could feel them, even if the connection was somehow... dampened.
Where are you? I sent through the bond, practically screaming it into the void. Casper? Cassian?
Nothing. Just that terrible, hollow silence.
I rounded the corner toward the main staircase and nearly collided with Luna Ella.
"Elowen." She reached out to steady me, her lavender and rain scent washing over me. "Sweetheart, you should go back to your room. Rest. You need to think about the baby—"
"Don't." The word came out as a snarl. "Don't you dare tell me what I need right now."
Her eyes widened. "I'm just trying to—"
"Everyone is trying to protect me. Everyone is trying to manage me." I stepped back, my voice rising. "But no one will tell me the truth! My best friend just looked at me like I was nothing. My mates are hiding from me. And you—" I laughed, the sound bitter and broken. "You want me to go rest?"
"Elowen, please—"
I shoved past her. Not hard enough to hurt, but enough to make my point clear.
I was done being handled.
My feet carried me up the stairs, two at a time. The bond pulled me forward, stronger now. Closer. They were on the second floor, in—
Cassian's room.
I didn't knock.
I didn't announce myself.
I just grabbed the handle and pushed the door open, my heart pounding so hard I thought it might burst through my ribs.
And then I saw it.
The room was dimly lit, just the bedside lamp casting a warm glow over—
Over the bed.
Over the naked girl sprawled across the sheets.
Over Casper's bare back as he lay there, his red-brown hair messy against the pillow.
Over Cassian, sitting in the armchair by the window, a book in his lap like this was completely fucking normal.
Time seemed to stop.
I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. Couldn't process what I was seeing.
"What..." The word came out strangled. "What is this?"
Cassian looked up from his book, his ice-blue eyes meeting mine. And I saw it—the flash of guilt. The pain.
But he didn't move. Didn't jump up to explain.
He just... sat there.
"Babe, I can explain—" Casper started, rolling over.
And that's when I saw her face.
Sarah.
Sarah fucking Mitchell.
The girl who'd tormented me. Who'd drugged me. Who'd tried to destroy me in every possible way.
Sarah was naked in my mates' bed.
"No." The word came out as a whisper. Then louder. "No, no, no—"
"Elowen, wait—" Cassian stood, the book falling from his lap.
"Don't!" I held up my hand, taking a step back. "Don't you fucking dare."
Sarah stirred, her eyes fluttering open. When she saw me, a slow, satisfied smile spread across her face.
"Oh." She stretched languidly, making absolutely no effort to cover herself. "Hey, Elowen. This is awkward."
The casual cruelty in her voice. The smugness.
It broke something inside me.
"How long?" I looked at Casper, at Cassian. "How long have you been—"
"It's not what it looks like," Casper said quickly, sitting up. The sheet fell to his waist, and I could see the marks on his chest. Scratches. Bites.
Not what it looks like.
"Really?" My voice cracked. "Because it looks like you're in bed with another woman. It looks like—"
"We love you," Cassian interrupted, moving toward me. "Elowen, we love you. Only you."
I laughed. Actually laughed. The sound was hysterical, broken.
"You love me?" I gestured wildly at the bed. "This is love?"
"She doesn't understand," Sarah purred, sitting up and making a show of pulling the sheet around her breasts. "Poor thing. She really thought she could keep you both."
"Shut up," Casper snarled at her, but it was too late.
The words had hit their mark.
She really thought she could keep you both.
Tears burned my eyes. "I thought... I thought you chose me. I thought the mate bond—"
"Elowen—" Cassian took another step forward.
"Don't touch me!" I backed into the doorframe. "Don't you dare fucking touch me right now."
My hands moved instinctively to my stomach, protective. The twins. Our babies.
God, our babies.
"This is a mistake," Casper said, his amber eyes desperate. "A huge mistake. We didn't mean—"
"A mistake?" I repeated. "You accidentally ended up in bed with her?"
Sarah laughed, the sound like nails on a chalkboard. "Oh, sweetie. There was nothing accidental about it."
Casper's face went white. "Sarah, shut the fuck up—"
"Why?" She looked at him with false innocence. "She deserves to know the truth, doesn't she? That we're—"
"Don't," Cassian's voice was lethal. "Don't say it."
But Sarah's smile only widened. She looked at me, her green eyes glittering with triumph.
"We're mates," she said simply. "True mates. All three of us."