Chapter 70

Chapter 70
Violet's POV:

Daemon's knocking grew louder. "Violet, I'm counting to ten. If you don't open this door, I'm getting someone to pick the lock."

I didn't want to see him. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Aurora's face from those photos. I saw the girl Daemon had actually loved. The girl whose death had made room for me.

"The code is 0703," I finally called out. "Your birthday."

The door beeped and opened.

I pulled the towel tighter. From the beginning to the end, I was the only idiot here. The door code was still his birthday. That fact made me feel pathetic.

Daemon appeared in the doorway. His red eyes found me on the floor by the coffee table. He looked at my towel, my swollen ankle, my bleeding knee. His pupils shrank.

Then he laughed. It wasn't a happy sound. "The code's still my birthday?"

My face burned. "I set it in college. Haven't changed it yet."

"Right." He moved toward me. "Let me help you up."

"I can do it myself." I tried to stand. The moment weight hit my right foot, pain exploded. My knee buckled.

I fell forward.

Daemon caught me and pulled me against his chest. He stumbled back and his foot hit the coffee table hard. He sucked in a breath.

"Are you okay?" The words came out before I could stop them.

He didn't answer. His arms locked around me. I could feel his heart pounding. His scent surrounded me—sandalwood and leather. It used to make me feel safe.

Now it just made me angry.

"Put me down."

He carried me to the bedroom and set me on the bed. I grabbed a pillow and pressed it to my chest. The towel had shifted. I wasn't wearing anything underneath.

Daemon stepped back. "You hurt both feet now. Great."

"I was fine until you showed up."

"You were on the floor screaming. That's not fine." He examined my ankle. "This is worse. You've been walking on it."

"What else was I supposed to do? Crawl?"

"You're supposed to rest it."

"Well, Evan's not here."

"Like fall in the shower?" He looked up at me.

"I slipped."

He made a sound that might have been a laugh. "Already limping on one side. Had to match the other?"

"Get out."

He didn't move.

I tried to pull my leg away. Pain shot through my knee. I gasped and fell back.

Daemon went to my closet. "You need clothes."

"I can dress myself."

"You can barely sit up." He found pajamas and underwear. His fingers hooked carefully under a pair of panties. His face was blank but his movements were stiff.

He set everything on the bed and turned his back. "Get dressed."

I pulled on the clothes under the blanket. My hands shook. Everything hurt.

"Done."

He turned around and checked. "Can you walk?"

"Not really."

"Then I'll carry you to the couch."

He lifted me before I could argue. I was pressed against his chest again. His heartbeat was steady. His scent was everywhere.

I looked away.

He set me on the couch and propped pillows under my ankle. Then he sat on the coffee table.

"I need to talk to you," he said. "About what my mother told you. About Aurora."

The name hit like a punch. I stared at the window. Sleet was falling.

"What's there to talk about?" My voice was flat. I thought about what Victoria had told me. Maybe his parents accepted Celeste so quickly because they'd already destroyed his first love. Maybe they didn't want to be that cruel twice. "Aurora was your true mate. You loved her. Your family forced you to marry me. She killed herself on our mating day."

Something dark moved in his eyes. "That's the simple version."

"How did you meet her?"

"Through a friend. At a party. We started seeing each other."

A friend. I'd ask Evan about that later.

"And Celeste?" I looked at him. "She looks like Aurora."

His jaw tightened. "Yes."

Of course. Celeste was a second chance. A ghost made flesh. And I was just the obstacle.

His phone rang. The screen said: Celeste.

"Answer it."

He stared at the phone.

"Answer it. She needs you."

He stood and answered. His voice changed. It became gentle. Concerned. Everything it never was with me. "What's wrong?"

I heard Celeste crying through the phone. Daemon's expression changed. It became focused and intense.

"I'm coming. I'll be there soon."

He hung up and looked at me.

"I have to go."

Of course. When Celeste needed him, nothing else mattered. Not me. Not my injuries. Not Aurora.

"Go. She needs you more than I do."

Something flickered across his face. "I'll send Evan to help with your injuries."

I turned to the window. The sleet was turning to snow.

"Just go, Daemon."

The door opened and closed. I was alone.

The mate bond ached in my chest. He'd left me again. Chosen someone else again. But I understood now. I'd never really had him. From the beginning, I'd been the obligation. The sacrifice. The person who killed his chance at happiness.

My phone buzzed. Evan: "Daemon said you're hurt. I'll be there in twenty minutes."

---

A knock woke me up. The apartment was dark except for the kitchen light. Snow was falling hard outside.

"It's open. Code is 0703."

The door beeped. Footsteps crossed the floor. Evan appeared in the doorway. His coat was covered in snow. His blonde hair was damp.

"How bad is it?" He took off his coat.

"Both feet now. I slipped in the shower."

He knelt by the couch. "May I?"

I nodded. He examined my ankle, then my knee. His touch was gentle.

"You need ice. And you shouldn't be alone."

"I'm fine."

"You're not." He went to the kitchen. I heard him getting ice. He came back with two ice packs wrapped in towels. He put one on my ankle and one on my knee. "Hold this."

The cold helped. Everything felt less overwhelming.

Evan sat in the armchair. "You want to tell me what's really going on?"

I adjusted the ice pack on my knee. "I'm just tired. Tired of everything."

He watched me for a moment. Then he stood. "When's the last time you ate?"

"This morning, I think."

"That's not good enough." He went to my kitchen and started opening cabinets. "You have anything here besides coffee?"

"There's instant ramen in the pantry. And some frozen dumplings in the fridge."

He made a disapproving sound but started pulling things out. "This'll work."

I watched him fill a pot with water and set it on the stove. He'd changed out of his usual formal clothes. The gray hoodie made him look younger. More approachable.

"Your eagle," I said. "Shadow. Who's taking care of him while you're here?"

"My parents." He glanced over his shoulder. "They like having him around. Gives them something to fuss over."

Outside, the sleet turned to snow. Fat flakes fell past the window. The apartment felt warmer with Evan moving around the kitchen. With the smell of cooking food filling the space.

Twenty minutes later, he brought two steaming bowls to the coffee table. Simple hot pot with vegetables and noodles.

"This is really good," I said after the first bite.

"My mom's recipe." He settled on the floor across from me with his own bowl. "She made it for me during med school. Said hot food fixes everything."

I smiled despite myself. "Your mom sounds wise."

"She is." He ate quietly for a moment.

The hot pot warmed me from the inside. For the first time in days, I could breathe. We ate in comfortable silence. The snow fell heavier outside.

Then I set down my spoon. "Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"Daemon said he met Aurora through a friend. At a party." I looked at him carefully. "Is it true?"

Pain crossed his face. He let out a breath that sounded like defeat. "Yes. I'm that friend."

My chest tightened. "You introduced them."

"I did." He ran a hand through his hair. "Aurora was my classmate. Pre-med program. She was brilliant. Always at the top."

He paused. "She had feelings for me. Asked me out multiple times. I wasn't interested. I was focused on school. I thought I was clear about that."

"But she didn't give up."

"No. There was this party after third-year finals. Aurora was there. I brought Daemon. He'd just finished some brutal pack business. I introduced them casually. Just 'Aurora, this is my friend Daemon.'"

He stopped. I could see guilt all over his face.

"By the end of the night, they were in a corner talking about everything. Within a week, they were seeing each other. Within a month, they were in love."

"Did that bother you?"

"At first, no. I was relieved. I thought she'd moved on. Found someone who could give her what she wanted." His face darkened. "But then I noticed things. The way she looked at me when she was with Daemon. Like she was checking if I was watching. The way she'd mention their dates in front of me. It felt like she was performing. Staging a show."

"Trying to make you jealous."

"Maybe. Or trying to convince herself she'd moved on." He shook his head. "But somewhere along the way, it became real. They fell for each other. I could see it. Daemon's whole face changed when he looked at her. And Aurora stopped looking at me. She stopped performing."

I thought about that. About how things can start one way and become something else.

"What happened when Daemon's family found out?"

Evan's jaw tightened. "Dominic and Victoria tried to handle it quietly. They offered Aurora's family money to relocate. Tried to make it seem like an opportunity. But Aurora and Daemon were determined. They thought love would be enough."

He laughed bitterly. "Then Daemon's grandfather got involved. He decided the Wildfire alliance was more valuable than Daemon's happiness. He made it clear. If Daemon didn't go through with your mating ceremony, Aurora's entire family would be branded rogues. They'd lose everything."

My stomach turned. "So Daemon had to choose between Aurora and destroying her family."

"Yes. And Daemon tried to find a way out. He talked to every Council member. He even considered challenging his grandfather. But Aurora begged him not to. She said she'd rather lose him than watch him die."

"So he went through with our ceremony."

"Yes. That day, Aurora went to the river." Evan's voice was quiet. "I don't think she planned it. I think she went there to think. To process. But the grief overwhelmed her. The water was cold and fast. By the time anyone found her, it was too late."

I felt sick. "And Daemon?"

Evan's voice cracked. "Daemon came to me that night. After the ceremony. After they found her body. He showed up around one in the morning. He just sat on my couch and stared at nothing for hours. I'd never seen him like that. He didn't cry. Didn't rage. He just sat there."

"What did he say?"

"Nothing for hours. Then just before dawn, he said, 'I should have fought harder.' That was it. Then he left."

Tears burned my eyes. "Did you see him after?"

"Not for three days. He disappeared. Victoria and Dominic were frantic. But he came back eventually." Evan's face was hollow. "And when he did, he was different. The Daemon I knew was gone. He went through the motions. Played the Alpha heir. Played the husband. But the person inside was dead."

I wiped my eyes. "And I never knew. I spent five years trying to make him love me. Not understanding I was living with a ghost."

"You couldn't have known. Victoria and Dominic made sure no one talked about Aurora. They erased her from pack history."

"Then Celeste showed up. Looking exactly like her."

"Looking exactly like Aurora," Evan confirmed. "Same hair. Same eyes. Same everything. When I first saw Celeste, it was like seeing a ghost. I can't imagine what it was like for Daemon."

"It must have felt like a second chance. To save Aurora this time."

Evan didn't argue. We sat in silence. The snow fell outside.

"What are you going to do?" he asked finally.

I thought about Silver Ridge. About leaving at the end of the month. But I wasn't ready to tell him that yet. "I don't know. I just need time to think."

"That's fair." He ate quietly for a moment.

I studied his face. "You liked her too, didn't you? Maybe not at first. But eventually."

He was quiet for a long moment. "Maybe. A little. By the time I realized it, she was already Daemon's."

No wonder he and Daemon would fight so hard over Celeste. "And now Celeste looks exactly like her."

His expression closed off. "I told you. I'm not interested in Celeste."

"I didn't say you were." But I thought about it. About how he and Daemon would fight over Celeste later. How history would repeat itself. "I'm just saying... it must be complicated."

"Everything about this situation is complicated." He stood and collected our bowls. "But that's not your problem to solve."

He washed the dishes while I sat on the couch. My ankle still throbbed but the ice helped. The hot food helped more.

When he came back, he checked my injuries one more time. "Keep the ice on for another twenty minutes. Then elevate both feet when you sleep."

"I will."

"Violet, are you going to be okay? Really okay?"

I thought about that. About Aurora and Daemon and five years of trying to be enough. About Celeste and second chances and ghosts.

"I think so," I said finally. "I think... I finally understand now. Why he could never love me. Why I always felt like I was failing."

"You weren't failing."

"I know that now." I looked up at him. "Thank you. For telling me the truth. For explaining about Aurora. It helps to know the whole story. To understand what I was actually dealing with all these years."

I can finally let go.