Chapter 64
Violet's POV:
I stood at the edge of Riverside Plaza as the orchestra tuned their instruments, the sound cutting through the early spring air. The outdoor stage glowed under warm yellow lights, illuminating patches of melting snow that still clung to the square's corners. Students and residents wrapped in scarves filled the folding chairs, their breath forming small clouds in the cold.
Beck appeared beside me, holding two steaming cups. "Hot chocolate," he said, pressing one into my hands. "You look like you need it."
I took the cup gratefully, letting the warmth seep into my fingers. The orchestra began their first piece, something classical and sweeping that I didn't recognize.
But then I noticed her. A blonde girl moving through the crowd with a camera, pausing occasionally to take photos. Something about her face triggered recognition, and after a moment it clicked—she'd been at the bridal shop when I'd accompanied Lily to look at wedding dresses, one of Celeste's friends.
The girl—Riley, I remembered—turned and caught my gaze. Her expression shifted immediately, hostility flashing across her features so clearly that even from this distance I could read it. She raised her camera deliberately and took several photos of Beck and me standing together.
Deep in my consciousness, Ember stirred with a low growl. My wolf sensed the targeting, the challenge in that gesture.
"Someone you know?" Beck asked, following my line of sight.
"Not really," I said, taking a sip of hot chocolate.
The orchestra moved into their second piece, but I'd lost focus. My phone vibrated in my coat pocket. Daemon's name appeared on the screen, and my stomach tightened reflexively. I hesitated for three long seconds before answering.
"Hello?"
But it wasn't Daemon's voice that came through the line. It was Celeste's, weak and strained. "Violet... can you please tell Daemon to go home?"
I went still, my grip tightening on the phone. "What?"
"I know you hate me," Celeste said, her voice breaking slightly. "But he's been at the hospital for days taking care of me, and he hasn't even gone to work. You need to call him back, Violet. He can't keep putting everything aside like this. He has responsibilities..."
My jaw clenched. "You're using his phone to call me. Is that supposed to make me listen? To prove how close you two are?"
"No, I just—" She made a sound that might have been a sob. "I just want him to go home to you. You're still his mate, you're still—"
"If you really cared about appearances," I cut her off coldly, "you wouldn't have let him follow you to the border. If you wanted to avoid rumors, you shouldn't have created such a dramatic scene. And now that the entire pack has seen that footage, now you want to play innocent?"
"And I filed for forced dissolution with the Council," I said simply. "So instead of worrying about what I think, maybe you should start figuring out how to convince the Blackwood family to accept a Luna candidate with no family background who the entire pack knows as 'the Alpha's mistress.'"
I ended the call before she could respond.
In my previous life, Celeste had never been exposed like this. Daemon had protected her carefully, kept their relationship mostly private. Victoria and Dominic had seen her as just an innocent girl their son was pursuing, which made accepting her later much easier.
But now everything was different. I'd built a relationship with Victoria, who'd already noticed Celeste's calculated moves, those carefully orchestrated "coincidences."
Celeste's path to becoming a Blackwood was now infinitely harder. The thought gave me a dark satisfaction that was immediately followed by a deeper emptiness.
"Violet?" Beck's voice pulled me back. "You okay?"
"Fine," I said, forcing a smile.
The orchestra finished their set, and the crowd began to disperse. Beck walked beside me toward the plaza exit.
We were almost at the edge of the square when someone slammed into my shoulder from the side. Hot chocolate splashed across my wine-red coat, the liquid seeping into the expensive cashmere.
I looked up to find Riley standing there, her expression twisted with deliberate malice.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," she said, her tone dripping with false sweetness. "Luna. Oh wait, you're not going to be Luna much longer, are you?"
I kept my expression neutral and tried to step around her, but she moved to block my path. Beck's hand came to my elbow protectively.
"You know Celeste almost died at that border, right?" Riley's voice rose, drawing attention from lingering crowd members. "All because you won't let go! She's been trying to stay away from Daemon, but he keeps pursuing her, and you just trap him with that mate bond!"
"That's enough," Beck said sharply. "You don't know—"
"I know exactly what's happening!" Riley's eyes stayed locked on mine. "Love doesn't work on a first-come-first-served basis. The one who isn't loved—they're the real problem! What gives you the right to use that mate bond to trap him?"
Something sharp twisted in my chest. Ember snarled in my consciousness, and I felt my canines start to extend.
Then, unexpectedly, I smiled. The expression made Riley take a small step back.
"You know what? You're absolutely right," I said lightly. "I've changed my mind. I'll withdraw my petition tomorrow. Let Daemon keep visiting her as a mated Alpha, and she can keep living with the 'mistress' label. Seems fitting."
"No! You have to set them free properly—"
"But didn't you just say love doesn't follow rules?" I tilted my head. "Then they can keep this relationship exactly as it is."
Riley reached for me, but I caught her wrist and twisted. She stumbled backward and hit the ground hard.
Beck stepped between us. "Anyone who posts this will hear from my lawyer."
I looked down at Riley. "You want to know why Daemon went through with our ceremony? My family's power. Look up Wildfire Pack sometime. Get in my way again, and you'll understand what that means."
I turned and walked away, my heart pounding.
I spent that night staring at my ceiling, unable to sleep. Every time I closed my eyes I saw Daemon at Celeste's hospital bedside, saw Riley's self-righteous fury, saw the comments on that border video calling him a hero. By dawn I'd made my decision.
If I dissolved the bond properly through the Council, Daemon and Celeste would eventually be free to be together openly, accepted by the pack once the scandal died down. Everyone would move on, and I'd become a footnote in their love story.
But if I withdrew the petition... they'd stay trapped in this messy situation. Daemon would remain bound to me while pursuing Celeste. She'd continue living under the shadow of being "the other woman." No clean resolution, no fairytale ending. Just endless complications and whispered judgments.
The vindictive part of me loved that idea.
At nine AM, I walked into the Council offices and requested the withdrawal forms. The clerk looked at me with poorly concealed surprise. "Ma'am, if you withdraw now, you can't file again for three months. Are you certain—"
"I'm certain," I said, signing my name with deliberate strokes.
I'd just stepped outside the Council building, squinting in the bright morning sun, when my phone rang. Daemon's name appeared, and this time his voice came through the line—cold and laced with barely controlled fury.
"You filed for forced dissolution with the Council?"
"Yes," I said calmly, walking toward where I'd parked my car. "And I withdraw it."
"Violet." He sounded like he was speaking through clenched teeth. "What game are you playing?"
"I'm not playing anything," I said, reaching my car and leaning against it. "Celeste's friend just helped me see things more clearly. She said love doesn't work on a first-come-first-served basis, that the unloved person is the real third party. I thought about it, and she's right—if you don't love me, I should leave. But then I thought, why should I make things easy for you? So I withdrew the petition."
The silence stretched so long I almost thought he'd hung up. When he finally spoke, his voice had changed, become heavier. "Violet... about Mom finding Celeste. I looked into it. I know you didn't tell her. I was wrong to accuse you."
My heart constricted painfully. He'd spent these days at the hospital not just caring for Celeste but investigating that incident, and only now was he apologizing. The belated justice hurt worse than the original accusation.
"We need to talk," he continued. "Face to face. There are things we need to clear up."
"Tonight at six," I said flatly. "My apartment." I ended the call before he could respond.
That evening, I was expecting a food delivery when the doorbell rang. I opened it wearing comfortable home clothes—leggings and an oversized sweater—and froze when I saw Daemon standing in my doorway.
Before I could react, he stepped forward, forcing me backward into the apartment. The door clicked shut behind him with a sound of finality.
"Tell me why you filed for dissolution," he said without preamble, his blood-red eyes locked on mine.
I took a deliberate step back, maintaining distance. "Why don't you ask yourself why you haven't fought for what you want?"
His brow furrowed. "What are you talking about?"
"If you really love Celeste that much, why don't you fight your parents for her? You're the Alpha of Frost Pack, Daemon. They can't actually force you to stay bonded to someone you don't love." The words came out sharp. "Go tell them you want Celeste. Keep insisting until they give in. Get her pregnant if you have to. Problem solved, right?"
His jaw tightened, but he didn't respond.
Daemon stared at me for a long moment, his expression complicated and unreadable.
Then something in him seemed to snap. He moved forward suddenly, bracketing me against the wall with his arms on either side of my head, his face inches from mine.
"You want to talk about what's been happening?" His voice was low and dangerous. "Fine. Let's talk about you having fireworks with Evan at the hospital rooftop. About you going to see waterfalls and feed fish with Zane. About you attending outdoor concerts with Beck—"
"Are you jealous?" I asked.
He went completely still, his eyes boring into mine. His chest rose and fell with heavy breaths, but he said nothing. The silence stretched between us, loaded with things neither of us seemed able to articulate.
Finally, his voice came out rough and almost unwilling. "Yes. I'm fucking jealous. I think... I think I might actually like you."
The words hit me like a physical blow. I stared at him, certain I'd misheard. "What?"
"It's fucking ironic, isn't it?" A bitter laugh escaped him. "I planned to keep you trapped in this bond, lonely and waiting. And now I'm the one who's... who's started to feel something."
My eyes burned suddenly with tears I refused to shed. In ten years—ten fucking years—I'd never heard him say anything even close to this.
"I need time," I managed, my voice unsteady. "I need to think about what I actually want."
His gaze dropped to my face, taking in the redness around my eyes. Something in his expression softened fractionally.
"You should think about what you want too," I added quietly.
He stared at me for another moment, then nodded once and turned toward the door.