Chapter 74
Violet's POV:
The garden erupted in cheers and applause as Sienna and Lucian finally broke apart, both of them breathless and laughing. Felix let out a wolf whistle that made several neighbors lean out their windows, while Lily wiped at her eyes, not even trying to hide her tears.
I clapped along with everyone else, genuine warmth flooding my chest as I watched my best friend glow with happiness. My gaze drifted almost involuntarily to where Daemon stood near the garden's edge, half-hidden in shadows. He'd helped orchestrate this entire proposal, had arranged the drones and the spectacle that brought Sienna to tears, yet he'd never once done anything remotely similar for me. Aurora had gotten his promises wrapped in forever. Celeste was getting his attention and care. But me? I'd gotten duty and obligation, the cold structure of a political alliance I'd begged for like a fool.
As if sensing my stare, Daemon's eyes lifted suddenly and caught mine across the garden. For a heartbeat, something flickered in his expression, too quick for me to name before I jerked my gaze away, heat crawling up my neck at being caught watching him. I forced myself to refocus on Sienna, on the way she laughed and cried at the same time as Lucian carefully wiped tears from her cheeks with his thumbs.
Jade materialized at my elbow with a fresh glass of champagne, replacing my untouched one with practiced ease.
"You okay?" she asked quietly, her voice pitched low enough that only I could hear it beneath the general noise of celebration.
"Why wouldn't I be?" I deflected, taking a drink this time because it gave me something to do with my hands. "I'm happy for her."
"That's not what I asked." Jade's amber eyes were too knowing, seeing past my careful facade to the complicated tangle of emotions underneath. Joy for my friend twisted up with the bitter knowledge of my own failure.
I was saved from having to answer by Evan's sudden appearance, his expression tight with something that looked like suppressed anger.
"We need to talk," he said, his tone leaving no room for argument even as he kept his voice carefully neutral. "Now."
Lily caught my eye and gave me a small, understanding nod before deliberately turning away to engage Felix in conversation. I followed Evan toward the edge of the garden where the drone lights didn't quite reach, away from the celebrating crowd.
"Why the hell didn't you tell me you were leaving Frost Pack?" The question came out low and harsh, his control visibly fraying at the edges.
Guilt twisted sharply in my chest. "I just wanted to make leaving easier. For everyone. And I'm sorry about not responding to your messages and calls. That was wrong of me."
I tried to pivot, to redirect this conversation away from the minefield of his hurt feelings and my complicated guilt. "Celeste is at Silver Ridge now too. Daemon arranged it. You always had feelings for her, didn't you? This might be your chance, except—" I hesitated, knowing I was being cruel but unable to stop myself. "You need to understand that you're not going to win against Daemon. Not now that he's free. He can pursue her openly now, give her everything she wants."
The words hung between us, brutal in their honesty, and I watched Evan's face go carefully blank in the way that meant I'd hit a nerve he didn't want to acknowledge.
Before he could respond, I caught sight of Daemon's imposing frame moving toward us through the small crowd, his blood-red eyes fixed on our conversation with an intensity that made my stomach tighten. I cut Evan off quickly, forcing brightness into my voice. "It's getting cold out here. We should head upstairs."
I turned away without waiting for his response, calling out to the others with a cheerfulness I didn't quite feel. "Everyone up to my place! I've got champagne and we can actually sit down instead of freezing in the garden."
The next hour passed quickly as I watched Sienna and Lucian announce their plans to return to Frost Pack the next day to formally notify their families and begin preparations for an official bonding ceremony. Sienna, who'd spent years running from any hint of permanent attachment, had ended up accidentally pregnant and now looked more settled and content than I'd ever seen her, ready to embrace the very bonds she'd once mocked while the formerly wild Lucian seemed just as eager to claim his place beside her.
"We should do dinner tonight," Felix suggested, his easy grin infectious as he raised his glass in a toast. "Celebrate properly before these two disappear into Pack politics and baby preparations."
"My treat," Lucian added quickly, his arm tightening around Sienna's waist. "I owe Daemon anyway for helping arrange the drone proposal. If he hadn't made those calls, I'd probably still be trying to track down Wildcat while she ignored my existence."
Sienna's eyes found mine across the room, something complicated passing through her expression that I understood without words. Daemon knew how to orchestrate romance for his friends, knew how to create moments that mattered and gestures that would be remembered, but he'd never once done anything remotely similar for me in five years of marriage.
I drew in a careful breath, forcing my expression to remain neutral and pleasant. I was going to be living in Silver Ridge permanently now, working in the same social and professional circles as Daemon and whatever future he built with Celeste. I needed to get used to seeing them together, to watching him be present and attentive with her in ways he'd never been with me.
"Sounds good," I heard myself say, the words coming out steadier than I felt. "Where are we going?"
The restaurant Lucian chose was predictably upscale, the kind of place where the waitstaff moved like shadows and the prices weren't listed on the menu because if you had to ask, you couldn't afford to be there. We split into two cars for the drive, and I volunteered to take Lily, Felix, and Evan in mine, grateful for any excuse to avoid being trapped in a vehicle with Daemon's overwhelming presence.
Lily had decided to extend her stay in Silver Ridge for a few more days rather than flying back with Sienna tomorrow, claiming she wanted to make sure I was "properly settled" in my new apartment, though I suspected it had more to do with giving me emotional support through what everyone seemed to recognize as a difficult transition period that I was determinedly pretending didn't bother me at all.
We'd barely settled into our private dining room, the space elegant with dark wood paneling and soft lighting that caught on crystal glasses, when Daemon's phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen, his expression shifting as he stood abruptly and murmured something to Lucian before striding out without a word to the rest of us.
The silence that followed his exit felt heavy. Sienna's jaw clenched, her eyes going hard as she stared at the door he'd just walked through. "Celeste, I'm guessing," she said flatly, her voice carrying an edge that made several people shift uncomfortably. "Of course."
Lucian reached for her hand, but she pulled away slightly, her body language rigid. "Sienna—"
"Don't." She cut him off, though her voice had lost some of its sharpness. "I'm not starting a fight. I just think it's funny how some people get emergency response times while others got five years of being an afterthought." Her eyes flicked to me briefly, something like protective anger flashing there. "That's all."
The server appeared then to take our orders, the interruption giving everyone a chance to resettle as Sienna visibly worked to control whatever emotional storm had seized her.
We'd just finished ordering when Daemon returned, but he wasn't alone. The man who followed him into the private room was unfamiliar, tall and lean with dark hair and sharp features that suggested mixed heritage.
"Everyone," Daemon said, "this is Kael Thorne. Old friend from back home."
The name triggered a memory. Kael was the son of Daemon's grandfather's former Beta.
Kael's gaze swept the room, his expression friendly and open in a way that suggested he was genuinely happy to be here, and when his eyes landed on me, his smile widened. "You must be Violet. I've heard so much about you over the years. Daemon's mate, right? It's great to finally meet you in person."
The words fell into sudden, excruciating silence as every person in the room seemed to freeze. Kael's smile faltered as he registered the reactions around him, confusion flickering across his features.
"We completed the rejection ceremony two weeks ago," Daemon said, his voice utterly devoid of inflection as he delivered the correction that felt like a knife between my ribs even though I'd been the one to push for exactly this outcome. "She's not my mate anymore."
"Oh." Kael's face flooded with color, genuine distress replacing his earlier warmth. "Shit. I'm sorry. I didn't know. I've been in Shadowmoon territory for the past fifteen years, and communication has been spotty at best. I had no idea you two had split."
"It's fine," I managed, the lie tasting bitter. "You couldn't have known."
Kael slid into the empty seat across from me, still looking mortified, and I caught Evan watching the exchange with an expression I couldn't quite read. Lily's hand found mine under the table, her fingers squeezing gently in silent support that I appreciated even as I couldn't quite bring myself to return the pressure.
The conversation gradually resumed, people making valiant efforts to move past the uncomfortable moment as Kael explained his long absence from Frost Pack. He'd gone to Shadowmoon territory for what was supposed to be a temporary educational exchange program after high school graduation, planning to study their different approach to Pack management and Beta training, but he'd ended up staying, building a career and a life there that had kept him away for over a decade.
"I heard about your father," Daemon said quietly, something like genuine sympathy softening his usually harsh features. "Old Beta Thorne was a good man. I'm sorry we couldn't be there for the funeral."
Kael's expression went distant, grief flickering through his eyes. "He had lung cancer. It was aggressive, and by the time they caught it, there wasn't much they could do. He died last spring."
"If I'd known—" Evan started, his own distress evident in the tightness around his eyes. "I would have come back for the service."
"He wouldn't have wanted a big production," Kael said, though his voice had gone rough with emotion. "He always hated funerals, said they were too much noise for a man trying to find peace. We kept it small, just immediate family and a few close friends from Shadowmoon."
Daemon raised his glass, the gesture somehow managing to be both casual and weighted with significance. "To Old Beta Thorne. A good man and a better friend."
The toast rippled around the table, everyone lifting their glasses in solemn acknowledgment of a loss we were only just learning about.
The server arrived then with the first course, and I was grateful for the distraction as plates were distributed and conversation shifted to safer topics. But when they set the main course in front of me, grilled sea bass in a lemon butter sauce that would normally have made my mouth water, the smell hit me like a physical blow.
My stomach lurched violently, saliva flooding my mouth in warning as nausea crashed over me in a wave so intense I barely had time to press my napkin to my lips before pushing back from the table. I mumbled something about the restroom, not waiting for a response as I fled the private dining room on legs that felt unsteady beneath me.
I made it to the bathroom just in time, crashing through a stall door and dropping to my knees in front of the toilet as my stomach emptied itself with brutal efficiency. Everything I'd eaten earlier came up in painful heaves that left me gasping and shaking, the taste of bile burning my throat as tears streamed down my face from the physical violence of it.
When the worst of it passed, I slumped back against the stall wall, breathing carefully through my mouth as I waited to see if there was more coming. My whole body felt weak and wrung out, a cold sweat breaking out across my skin that made me shiver despite the bathroom's pleasant temperature.
This wasn't normal. I'd had mild stomach issues before, stress-induced nausea that came and went, but nothing like this sudden, overwhelming sickness. I pressed a shaking hand to my abdomen, my mind racing through possibilities I didn't want to acknowledge even as alarm bells started ringing louder in my head with each passing second.
My periods had never been regular, not since I was a teenager. The stress of being Luna, of constantly monitoring my body and behavior, of living in a state of perpetual tension, had wreaked havoc on my cycle to the point where I'd stopped tracking it years ago because the irregularity only added to my anxiety. So I hadn't thought anything of missing the last couple months, had assumed it was just my body continuing its pattern of unpredictability.
But now, standing on shaking legs and moving to the sink to rinse my mouth and splash cold water on my face, I forced myself to think back to the last time Daemon and I had been together. I'd completely forgotten about taking emergency contraception.
My reflection stared back at me from the mirror, face pale and eyes too wide, lips pressed together so hard they'd gone white at the edges. No. This couldn't be happening. Not now, not when I'd finally gotten free, not when I was just starting to build something new.
But even as I tried to deny it, my mind was already cataloging symptoms I'd been ignoring. The exhaustion that seemed to follow me everywhere lately. The way certain smells had started bothering me more than usual. The tenderness in my breasts that I'd attributed to hormonal fluctuation. And now this violent nausea, so sudden and complete that it felt like my body was staging a revolt.
The bathroom door opened, making me jump, and Lily's worried face appeared in the mirror behind mine. "Violet? Sienna sent me to check on you."