Chapter 30 Chapter 30

Chapter 30 Chapter 30
"Here," Caspian said, opening a door to a tastefully decorated guest room. "It's not much, but it's private."
The room was beautiful, all cream and gold, with a four-poster bed and windows overlooking the forest. "Not much", by Williams' standards was luxury by mine.
"Thank you," I said stiffly, crossing to the window without looking at him.
I felt him hovering in the doorway, the bond between us humming with his uncertainty. "Imogen..."
"Please just go," I whispered, wrapping my arms around myself. "I can't... I just need to be alone."
He hesitated, then nodded. "If you need anything..."
"I won't," I said, cutting him off more harshly than I intended.
The door closed softly behind him, and I was finally, blissfully alone. I sank onto the edge of the bed, my legs giving out as the adrenaline drained away. My head throbbed with exhaustion and the lingering effects of whatever the Goddess had done to me.
The Goddess. The memory of her presence inside me, ancient, powerful, utterly alien, made me shiver. She had claimed me as her chosen, whatever that meant. Had filled my head with fragments of knowledge I couldn't fully access. Had bound me to three boys who'd spent years making my life hell.
My phone chimed again from where Alpha Williams had set it on the bedside table. I looked at it, and it was regarding the pack meeting, and it said I wasn’t required due to medical requirements to rest.
I stared at the message, my exhaustion momentarily forgotten as indignation flared through me. "Medical requirements to rest." As if I were some invalid who couldn't make my own decisions about whether to attend a meeting about my own future.
I threw the phone onto the bed and paced to the window, pressing my forehead against the cool glass. Below, I could see pack members moving across the grounds, some casting curious glances toward the pack house. Word had spread quickly about what happened at the school, about the Goddess speaking through me. About Xavier Silverclaw's return.
My reflection stared back at me from the window, pale face, dark circles under my eyes, hair hanging limp around my shoulders. I barely recognised myself. How had everything changed so completely in just forty-eight hours?
Two days ago, I'd been invisible. The pack outcast. The girl whom everyone either ignored or tormented. Now I was... what? The Goddess's chosen? A magical freak? The mate of three Alpha heirs?
A soft knock at the door pulled me from my spiralling thoughts.
"Go away," I called, not bothering to ask who it was. Through the three bonds, I could sense it wasn't any of the Williams brothers. Small mercies.
"Imogen, it's Elise. I've brought you some fresh clothes and something to eat."
Alpha Williams' mate. I hesitated, then sighed. "Come in."
The door opened to reveal Elise Williams, elegant as always in her tailored slacks and silk blouse. She carried a tray of food in one hand and what looked like folded clothes in the other.
"Your grandmother thought you might be hungry," she said, setting the tray on the dresser. "And these should fit you better than borrowing from the boys."
I eyed the clothes, jeans, a soft sweater, and what looked like brand-new underwear still in packaging. "Thank you," I said stiffly, unused to this kind of attention from the Alpha's mate. In six years, we'd barely exchanged more than pleasantries at pack gatherings.
Elise studied me, her head tilted slightly. "May I sit?"
I shrugged, gesturing toward the armchair by the window. She settled into it gracefully, smoothing her slacks over her knees.
"I imagine you have questions," she said, her voice gentle in a way I'd never heard directed at me before.
I laughed bitterly. "Questions? I have nothing but questions. Like, why did my grandmother keep my family's history secret for six years? Or why the Goddess decided to use me as her personal mouthpiece. Or why I'm suddenly mated to three boys who've spent years making my life hell."
Elise didn't flinch at my harsh tone. "I can't answer all of those. But I might be able to help with some." She paused, considering her words carefully. "Starting with my stepsons."
That caught my attention, though I tried not to show it. "Your stepsons?"
"I married Richard when the boys were twelve," she explained. "Right around the time you came to our territory." Her eyes met mine, steady and unflinching. "I've watched them grow up. I've seen their mistakes. And I've seen how those mistakes have affected you."
I turned away, unable to bear the sympathy in her gaze. "Then you know why I can't just forgive and forget."
"I do." Her simple agreement surprised me. "What they did to you was cruel. Inexcusable, really, regardless of their age or confusion about their feelings."
I glanced back at her, searching for insincerity but finding none. "Then why are you here? Trying to convince me to give them a chance?"
Elise smiled sadly. "No. I'm here because I understand what it's like to suddenly find yourself at the centre of attention after years of being invisible. To have everyone looking at you, judging you, speculating about your every move."
That caught me off guard. Elise Williams had always seemed so polished, so perfectly at ease in her role as Alpha's mate. "You?"
She nodded. "I was a nobody when Richard chose me. A packless wolf with no connections, no status. The rumours about why he would choose someone like me..." She laughed softly, though there was no humour in it. "Let's just say I've received my share of texts like the ones you're getting now."
I sank onto the edge of the bed, suddenly too tired to remain standing. "How did you handle it?"