Chapter 50
Violet's POV:
I stood at the window as Daemon's blood-red eyes locked onto mine from three floors below. He didn't look away. Celeste was still talking beside him, completely unaware his attention had shifted.
I stepped back from the window, pulse hammering. Ember whimpered low in my chest. The mate bond throbbed with dull, persistent ache. My mother was still sleeping, monitors beeping steadily. I kissed her forehead and slipped out. I had arrangements to finalize.
The hospital corridor was quiet as I made my way to the nurses' station. Nurse Clara had just arrived—the professional nurse Evan had recommended.
I went over my mother's care requirements quickly. Nurse Clara made notes efficiently.
"I'll be here through the night," she assured me. "If anything changes, you'll be my first call."
Satisfied that my mother was in good hands, I left the hospital and drove straight to Pinewood, where I hired a private investigator to dig into Kayla's background in Riverside Pack.
---
By the time I left Sterling's office, evening had fully settled over the city. I stood on the sidewalk outside, watching my breath form small clouds in the cold air.
My phone rang. Evan's name flashed on the screen.
"Where are you?" His voice carried concern. "I just finished my last patient and thought I'd check on you."
"Main Street. Just finished some errands." I watched a couple stop to kiss under a streetlight, then looked away.
"I need to pick up Shadow from your place. The roads are getting bad—I'll swing by and get you first."
Ten minutes later, his black Audi pulled up to the curb. I climbed in gratefully, the heated seats a welcome relief from the biting cold.
"Seatbelt," Evan reminded me as he pulled back into traffic, driving carefully on the snow-slicked roads. "How's your mother?"
"Stable. The nurse you recommended arrived on time. Thank you for that." I watched the city lights blur past the window. "You said Mason's surgery is scheduled?"
"Yes. Day after tomorrow. I'll be performing it myself." He glanced at me briefly before returning his attention to the road. "He had been moved to a private suite on the cardiac floor. Better equipment, quieter environment. The prognosis is good—the procedure is routine for someone with his condition."
With Daemon's resources, moving Mason to a better room would have been effortless, I thought. Easier than having his future father-in-law and his soon-to-be-ex mother-in-law in adjacent rooms. Less awkward when his future luna and current luna keep running into each other in the corridors.
We drove in comfortable silence.
---
The estate loomed dark against the night sky when we pulled up. Daemon's SUV sat in the driveway—he was home. My stomach tightened, but I said nothing as Evan parked and we both got out.
Inside, the house was warm but silent. We made our way upstairs to the guest room where I'd been keeping Shadow. The hawk was alert on his perch, and the moment he saw Evan, he spread his wings and gave an excited screech.
Before Evan could even fully enter the room, Shadow had glided across and landed on his shoulder, rubbing his beak affectionately against Evan's cheek.
"Hey, buddy," Evan murmured, reaching up to stroke the hawk's chest feathers. "Miss me?"
Daemon appeared in the doorway, his blood-red eyes taking in the scene.
My heart jumped. I didn't want to deal with this. Not tonight.
"Evan." Daemon's voice was carefully neutral, but his jaw was tight. "I didn't realize you were here."
"Just picking up Shadow." Evan's tone was equally measured.
I didn't wait to hear more. I locked them outside the guest room. Let them talk.
Through the door, I could hear their muffled voices. I didn't strain to listen. Whatever they were discussing was between them.
I sat on the edge of the bed, exhausted. My phone buzzed.
A message from Sienna: "Kayla's about to take the bait! I found her weakness. Call you tomorrow with details."
I stared at the text, too drained to feel much of anything. Whatever Sienna had discovered would keep until morning.
Before I could set my phone down, it rang. An unfamiliar number.
"Hello?"
"Violet?" The voice was tentative, hopeful. "It's Dylan. I wasn't sure you'd actually pick up. I've been trying to work up the courage to call for the past few days."
Despite everything, I felt unexpected warmth spread through my chest. "Dylan. Hi."
"I know this is probably terrible timing, and you can absolutely say no, but I was wondering if you'd want to grab dinner sometime this week? Nothing fancy. There's this great restaurant in Crimson Peak that does amazing carbonara, and I just thought—well, I've been thinking about our conversation at the bar, and I'd really like to continue it."
The sensible part of my brain urged me to decline. But the exhausted part—the part so tired of being ignored and devalued—wanted nothing more than to say yes.
"I'd like that," I heard myself respond. "But I should warn you, my life is kind of a disaster right now. My mother's in the hospital, and there's family stuff I'm dealing with, so I might need to reschedule last minute."
"That's completely fine. Whenever works for you. And Violet? I hope your mom's okay."
We talked for a few more minutes, his voice warm and genuinely interested in what I had to say. When we finally hung up, I found myself smiling.
My phone buzzed again immediately. Dylan: "Just wanted to say goodnight and that I'm looking forward to whenever we can grab that dinner. Sweet dreams, Violet."
The simple kindness made my throat tighten. Here was someone who barely knew me, showing more consideration than my own husband had in months.
I was still holding my phone, staring at Dylan's message with a complicated mix of emotions, when I heard footsteps in the hallway. They stopped outside my door.
A pause. Then the sound of a key turning in the lock.
I looked up sharply as the door swung open. Daemon stood in the doorway, his expression dark and dangerous.
"Who were you talking to?" His voice was deceptively quiet, but I could hear the edge beneath it.
"That's none of your business." I set my phone face-down on the bed.
"Like hell it's not." He stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. "I heard you laughing. Giggling like a teenager. Who. Was. It."
"A friend." I stood, squaring my shoulders. "Someone who actually treats me like I matter."
His eyes flashed red. "Show me your phone."
"No."
"Violet—"
"No, Daemon." I grabbed my phone and held it behind my back. "You don't get to demand access to my private conversations. Not when you spend every spare moment texting Celeste."
He didn't answer. Instead, his eyes dropped to my hand still clutched behind my back, and something predatory flickered across his face.
"Want it?" I held it up, a reckless challenge in my voice. "Come and get it."
The room wasn't large enough for a real chase, but I made it as difficult as possible—ducking under his arm, vaulting over the bed, using every bit of agility I'd regained through months of training. Daemon pursued with grim determination, his Alpha reflexes making him terrifyingly fast.
I almost made it to the bathroom. Almost.
His hand closed around my upper arm, yanking me back. I stumbled, and he used the momentum to spin me around and press me against the wall, one hand capturing both of my wrists and pinning them above my head. His other hand reached for the phone still clutched in my fingers.
"Let. Go," he growled.
I held on tighter, my amber eyes meeting his blood-red ones with pure defiance. Ember surged forward, lending me strength, and for a moment we grappled—his superior size and Alpha power against my desperate determination.
The phone slipped from my fingers.
Daemon caught it.
I was shaking now. "What am I to you, Daemon? Really? Your pursuer? Your fool? Your contract Luna? Your alliance tool? Or just a warm body when Celeste isn't available?"
He didn't answer. His silence was answer enough.
Something inside me snapped.
Ember surged forward with sudden, overwhelming force, flooding my system with wild, desperate strength. I jerked my knee up hard, aiming for his groin. Daemon twisted just in time, taking the hit on his thigh, but it made him loosen his grip enough for me to wrench free.
"You're so fucking selfish!" I screamed, amber eyes flashing silver as Ember took partial control. "You won't let me go, but you won't choose me either! You keep me trapped here while you court another woman, and you have the audacity to get jealous when someone else shows me basic human kindness!"
My nails had lengthened into claws. I swiped at him, not really trying to hurt him but needing to make him feel something, anything. Daemon blocked, his own eyes fully red now as Onyx rose to meet Ember's challenge.
"You don't know what you're talking about," he growled, but there was something desperate in his voice now.
"Don't I?" I was crying and didn't care. "I've loved you for ten years, Daemon. Ten years! Do you have any idea what that's like? Loving someone who looks through you like you're invisible? Who only remembers you exist when it's convenient?" My voice broke. "I gave you the best years of my life. My youth. My dreams. Everything I had to give. And it was never enough. I was never enough."
"Violet—"
"No!" Ember's strength made me reckless. I shoved him, hard enough that he actually stumbled back a step. "You don't get to 'Violet' me. Not anymore. I want the rejection ceremony. I want to cut this bond. I want to be free of you."
"You can't handle a rejection ceremony. The pain—"
"Will be nothing compared to what I feel every day watching you slip away toward someone else!" The words came out as a scream. "I don't care if it hurts! I don't care if it nearly kills me! At least it will be over! At least I'll be free!"
Daemon's face had gone pale beneath his tan. "You don't mean that."
"I've never meant anything more in my entire life." My hands were shaking, claws still extended.
The silence that fell was suffocating. Daemon stared at me like he was seeing a stranger, his chest heaving.
"Fine." The word came out quiet. "You want the rejection ceremony? I'll contact the Council tomorrow."
Then he turned and walked out, closing the door behind him.