Chapter 18
Violets' POV:
It was a nondescript black sedan, completely unlike the imposing, custom-built off-road vehicle Daemon usually commanded, chosen specifically to blend into the darkness. I know he wasn't here to be seen; he was here to hunt.
I watched from across the street as he adjusted the rearview mirror, his gaze fixed not on the road, but on the retreating figures of Zane and Celeste.
A complicated knot of emotions tightened in my chest as I looked back toward the path where Celeste had disappeared. She had looked exhausted earlier, her eyes darting nervously as she lied to Zane, carrying the weight of a secret too heavy for a twenty-year-old student.
For a moment, I felt a strange, cold pity for her. She was the "True Mate," yet she was being forced to navigate the suffocating attention of an Alpha who viewed "no" as a challenge rather than an answer. She loved Zane—that was obvious in the desperate way she clung to him—but she was trapped in the crosshairs of a predator.
I gripped the handlebars of my motorcycle until my knuckles turned white. With a final, disgusted glance at the idling sedan, I kicked my bike into gear and roared away.
The ride back to Blackwood Manor did little to quell the storm of frustration raging inside me. The image of Daemon lurking in the shadows, so focused on another woman that he didn't even notice his mate standing fifty feet away, burned in my mind. I needed to purge the toxicity from my system before it consumed me.
I bypassed the main house and headed straight for the training grounds. The sun was beginning to dip, casting long shadows across the track. I didn't bother stretching; I just ran. I pushed myself into a sprint along the edge of the dense forest, forcing my legs to move faster until my lungs burned. I ran twenty laps, punishing my body until the physical exhaustion overrode the emotional noise. By the time I collapsed against the rough bark of an ancient oak tree, my vision was blurring, but the suffocating weight in my chest had lightened.
My phone buzzed relentlessly in my pocket. I pulled it out to see a group video call request from my inner circle: Lily, Sienna, and Jade. I took a deep breath to compose myself and tapped answer.
"Finally!" Sienna’s face filled the screen, her makeup flawless. "We've been trying to reach you. Have you seen the internet?"
"I've been running," I rasped, wiping sweat from my forehead. "What happened? Did Daemon make the headlines again?"
"No, you did," Jade chimed in, her voice high with excitement. "Violet, look at the group chat."
I minimized the video feed and opened our messaging thread, which was flooded with links. I clicked the first video. It was shaky footage from the plaza, taken by a bystander yesterday. It showed me vaulting the barricade, grabbing the foreman, and unleashing the luna command to stop the lift just seconds before the beam buckled.
I scrolled down to the comments, bracing myself for the usual criticism. Instead, I found a wave of praise.
"I never realized the Luna had that kind of presence. Look at her eyes—pure steel."
"That’s not a trophy wife. That’s a leader."
"Why is everyone obsessed with Alpha Blackwood? His wife is the one with the actual backbone."
A warmth spread through my veins that had nothing to do with the run. For five years, the narrative had been about my inadequacy, but here, strangers were seeing me. Not the victim, but someone competent and decisive.
"You're trending in the city," Lily said softly. "Everyone is talking about how you handled the crisis."
"It feels... good," I admitted, a genuine smile breaking through my fatigue. The public validation acted like a balm over the raw wound Daemon had inflicted earlier. "I’m starving. Let’s go to The Obsidian. My treat."
The Obsidian was the city's premier dining spot, a place of dark velvet and exorbitant prices. I arrived just as a valet took my bike. As I approached the entrance, the glass doors slid open, revealing my father laughing with three of his key business partners.
"Violet!" His face lit up. He stepped forward, embracing me briefly. "We were just talking about you. Henderson here was saying the Goldcrest blood runs strong in you. That video is everywhere."
"Your quick thinking saved the Council a massive lawsuit, Luna Violet," Mr. Henderson added respectfully.
"I just did what was necessary," I said smoothly, falling into the role of the gracious daughter.
"See?" My father beamed. "That’s my girl."
A sleek sedan pulled up to the curb—my father’s car. But as the driver’s door opened, I frowned. My father had employed the same elderly driver, Thomas, for fifteen years. The person who stepped out now was a woman in her early forties, wearing a tailored suit. She moved with a fluid grace, rounding the car to open the rear door for my father.
"Thank you, Elena," my father said, his voice carrying a warmth and familiarity that went far beyond the professional distance usually kept between an Alpha and his staff.
I took a step forward, a question forming on my lips, eager to probe this sudden change.
"Violet! Over here!"
Sienna’s voice cut through the tension before I could speak, effectively ending the moment.
"Go on, enjoy your dinner," my father said, patting my cheek before sliding into the car.
Elena closed the door, and for a split second before she turned to the driver's seat, her eyes met mine. I stood frozen on the sidewalk as the car pulled away, a new knot of anxiety forming in my stomach, but my friends were already dragging me inside.
Dinner was a chaotic affair of champagne and gossip. Sienna, as usual, commanded attention. She enlisted us to take photos of her for Instagram, watching the likes roll in with a cynical smirk.
"Three hundred likes in two minutes," she said, tossing her phone onto the table. "Men are so predictable. It’s all biology and no brain. They smell pheromones, they want to mate. They call it 'pursuit,' but it’s just hormones screaming at them to breed."
She looked around the table, her expression hardening. "Searching for 'true love' is just a way to volunteer for suffering. I’d rather have fun and keep my heart intact."
"That’s cynical," Jade argued. "Look at Lily and Connor. They adore each other."
"Connor is a lower-ranked wolf," Sienna countered ruthlessly. "He treats Lily like a queen because he knows he married up. It’s safe. But real passion? That consumes you."
"A good partnership is about synergy," Lily insisted, her cheeks flushing. "You're supposed to be stronger together than you are apart."
Sienna swirled her wine, her gaze drifting toward me. "Stronger? Look at Violet. Did marriage add anything to her life, or did it just..."
Jade kicked Sienna under the table.
"It's okay," I said, my voice steady. "Sienna is right."
I spent years thinking if I just gave enough, the equation would balance out. I don't regret loving him. I was young. My only regret is that I didn't know when to stop.
Halfway through dessert, I excused myself to use the restroom. As I passed a private dining suite, the heavy mahogany door was slightly ajar, and a familiar voice drifted out.
Lucian Cross.
I froze, stepping into the shadow of a pillar.
"...so I asked him, are you serious about this college girl?" Lucian’s voice was slurred with alcohol.
My breath hitched. They were talking about Celeste.
A nasty laugh followed—Felix Hunt. "Who cares if he's serious? The girl is fresh meat. Did you see the little mate she has? That pathetic architectural student?"
"Zane," Lucian said.
"Yeah, Zane," Felix mocked. "Daemon is going to crush him. The kid thinks he has a chance. Someone needs to tell him that when an Alpha like Daemon Blackwood wants something, he takes it. The mate is just roadkill waiting to happen. Just let Daemon have his fun and move on."
Bile rose in my throat. Their arrogance was suffocating. This was the toxic brotherhood that reinforced Daemon’s worst impulses.
I was about to storm off when a third voice cut through the drunken banter. It was cool, sharp, and sober.
Evan Thorne.
"And what about Violet?" Evan asked. "She is the Luna. As long as that mark is on her neck, she demands our respect."