Chapter 19
Violet's POV:
I stood frozen in the hallway shadows. A sharp pang of guilt twisted in my chest for shattering his expensive crystal sculpture into a thousand glittering shards.
But then Daemon’s voice sliced through the moment, low and dripping with lazy amusement.
"Serious?" The word ended in a scoff. "Lucian, you’re overthinking it. I enjoy the moment. But being serious about a woman? Why would I burden myself with that kind of weight when I can just enjoy the ride? They are a garnish. You don't make a meal out of the parsley."
Felix and Lucian erupted into laughter—a harsh, sycophantic sound.
A sudden, sharp pressure in my bladder seized me, an urgency so intense it nearly doubled me over. I couldn't stand here eavesdropping when I needed the restroom immediately.
I turned on my heel, abandoning the door, and hurried down the corridor.
Inside the stall, I relieved myself quickly. But as I wiped, the white tissue came away stained with bright red. My cycle had arrived, days early.
I stared at the evidence, waiting for the familiar, crippling agony. For five years, this had meant bedrest and cramps that felt like barbed wire.
But today... nothing.
I pressed a hand to my lower abdomen. There was no pain. Just a clean, rhythmic ache. The high-intensity training and the raw meat diet I had adopted for Ember were working. My wolf was healing, knitting my biological rhythms back together.
I washed my hands, feeling a strange, lighthearted satisfaction. Daemon hadn't given me a shred of face in front of his friends just now. Fine. If he wasn't going to give me face, I certainly wasn't going to give him any.
I applied a fresh coat of blood-red lipstick, snapping the cap shut with a sharp click.
I walked back to their private dining suite. I shoved the heavy door open hard enough to make it bounce, then immediately let my body go limp.
I stumbled forward, letting out a soft, startled cry as I collided with the doorframe.
The conversation inside died. Lucian and Felix froze with their drinks halfway to their mouths. Evan looked up from his phone, alarmed. And in the center, Daemon sat with an unlit cigar, his silver eyes cold and assessing.
"Oh god..." I blinked rapidly, feigning disorientation. "I’m so sorry... I felt so dizzy. I just wanted to lean against the wall... I didn't realize the door wasn't latched."
I drifted past Daemon and collapsed onto the armrest of Evan’s sofa. I let my shoulder press intimately against Evan’s, my hair cascading over his sleeve.
"Dr. Thorne..." I said, my voice dripping with a sugary, cloying sweetness. "Since we ran into each other, could you do me a favor? I’ve been feeling terrible. You’re the best doctor in the pack... surely you can tell me what’s wrong?"
Evan stiffened, pulling back slightly. "Luna...I am off duty. Please come to the clinic tomorrow."
"Tomorrow is too late," I complained. I reached out and captured Evan’s hand. "I hurt now."
I dragged his resistant hand toward my lower back, pressing his fingertips firmly against the curve of my spine, just above my hip. I tilted my head back, exposing my neck, and finally let my eyes drift toward Daemon. I held his gaze, challenging him.
"Right here," I whispered, the words heavy with double meaning. "It’s been so sore lately. An ache that just won't go away. And my stomach..." I guided Evan’s trembling hand around to my flat abdomen. "It feels so full, so tight. It’s like there’s this pressure building up inside me that I just can’t... release."
The sexual innuendo hung in the air, thick and suffocating. Evan looked like he was holding a live grenade. He ripped his hand away, his face pale as he looked at Daemon.
"Get. Out."
The command wasn't shouted, but it vibrated with the undeniable power of the Alpha Command. Daemon didn't move, but his pupils had contracted into pinpricks, the irises bleeding into a terrifying, luminous red.
Lucian and Felix scrambled to their feet, their intoxication vanishing instantly. Evan cast one last, worried glance at me, but the biological imperative to obey was absolute. He bowed his head and followed the others.
The heavy door clicked shut, sealing us in.
Daemon moved like a striking viper. He crossed the room in a blur, seizing my wrist and jerking me up from the sofa. He slammed me into his hard chest, his other hand clamping onto my waist with bruising force.
"Your back hurts?" Daemon lowered his head, his hot breath smelling of tobacco and fury. "You throw yourself at my Beta? Rubbing yourself against him like a bitch in heat? Violet, when did you become so cheap?"
The grip on my wrist was agonizing, bringing tears to my eyes, but I didn't cower. I leaned into him, pressing my body flush against his.
"It hurts terribly," I whispered, letting a broken, mocking sob escape. I let my free hand snake up his thigh, my fingers tracing the tense muscle of his quadriceps, drifting dangerously inward. "Since you’re never around to help, I thought maybe a doctor could prescribe something for the... congestion."
I looked up, meeting his enraged crimson stare. "Unless... you want to treat me yourself, Alpha?"
"You have no shame," Daemon roared. He released me as if I burned him, shoving me backward.
I stumbled onto the plush velvet sofa. When I looked up, sweeping my hair aside, Daemon was already at the door, his chest heaving. He looked at me with a mixture of loathing and confused arousal.
"Disgusting," he spat, and stormed out.
Later that night, the door to the guest room opened without a knock.
"We need to add a condition to this... 'open mating' you proposed," he said, his voice devoid of the heat from earlier. "In addition to keeping it off social media and hiding it from our parents, there is now a third rule."
He leaned against the doorframe, his expression hard. "You are absolutely forbidden from laying a hand on my friends."
It was obvious why he was doing this. He wanted to ensure I didn't cause any drama or distractions while he went out to pursue Celeste.
"If I am such a liability," I asked, "why not just perform the Rejection Ceremony?"
"There is no logical reason to dissolve a strategic alliance," he said flatly. "Goodnight, Violet."
He closed the door. He didn't return to the manor for two weeks.
With Daemon gone, the manor became quiet. I didn't waste time pining.
I woke with the sun. I spent my mornings alone on the training grounds, pushing my body until my muscles screamed and Ember howled in approval. I ran until my lungs burned, rebuilding the strength I had let atrophy for years.
In the afternoons, I retreated to the library, dusting off my old passion for Event Management. I started taking on small freelance projects, just simple planning gigs I found online, enough to keep my mind sharp and my skills relevant.
My evenings were for my friends. I was healing. I was becoming dangerous.
It was a Tuesday morning when the silence broke. I was returning from a run, cooling down in the rear gardens, when I heard a hushed, frantic voice coming from the servant’s patio.
It was Ruby.
"Celeste, baby, please calm down," Ruby was whispering into her phone, her back turned to me. "You two just need to communicate properly... No, don't say that. It can't be that bad. Zane loves you. You know that."
Daemon must have put in considerable effort over the last two weeks. How else could such a loving couple reach a breaking point so quickly?
Good, I thought. I hoped he would succeed soon. The faster he secured her, the sooner he would come to me demanding a Rejection Ceremony. And I would be more than happy to say yes.
"I have to go, Mom is working," Ruby said, her voice trembling. She hung up and turned, jumping when she saw me. "Luna! I... I’m so sorry."
"It’s fine, Ruby," I said, stepping out of the shadows. I pitched my voice to be warm. "Is everything alright?"
Ruby bit her lip, tears welling. "It’s my daughter. She’s... having a hard time."
"I was just heading into town," I lied smoothly. "Why don't I drive you? You can drop by and see her."
Twenty minutes later, I was driving my bike toward the university district. I probed Ruby gently during the drive, trying to gauge the situation, but she was also clueless about the specific reason for their fight.
We reached the dorms, but after Ruby hurried inside, I didn't turn back immediately. I circled the perimeter of the campus park, driving slowly along the tree-lined streets that bordered the university grounds.
Then I saw him.
Zane Carter, curled up on a rusted bench near the treeline alone, his head buried in his hands. His shoulders shook with silent sobs.