Chapter 101 What She Took
Liora stood just beyond the silver bars, poised and untouchable. The dim light caught the sharp angles of her face, her expression calm but edged with something colder. Her posture was perfect, shoulders back, chin lifted, every inch of her radiating control. But her eyes gave her away something dark, intent, and burning with a quiet triumph.
Well,” she said lightly, tilting her head as she looked me over. “This is… a little sad, don’t you think?”
I didn’t move. Didn’t give her the reaction she wanted. “What do you want, Liora?” I asked flatly.
She stepped closer, fingers brushing lightly against one of the silver bars like she was admiring it. “You know,” she said, almost thoughtfully, “there was a time I wanted to be you.”
That made me blink.
I frowned. “What?”
Her gaze flicked back to mine, something almost nostalgic passing through her expression.
“You were everything,” she continued. “Strong. Fast. Respected. The Beta’s daughter. The warrior every girl wanted to be and every male wanted to impress.”
Her lips curved.
“I used to watch you train,” she admitted. “The way you moved. The way no one could touch you.”
I shifted slightly, my guard rising. “Get to the point,” I said.
Her smile sharpened. “And now look at you now,” she said softly.
The words landed like a blade.
I held her gaze, unflinching.
“A prisoner,” she continued, her voice lowering. “Locked in a cage like you’re something dangerous. Something… pathetic.”
My jaw tightened.
“Careful,” I growled out.
She laughed. A soft, amused sound. “You think that scares me?” she asked.
“No,” I said. “But you should be."
For a second, something flickered in her eyes.Then it was gone. Replaced with something colder. “I warned you,” she said.
My brows furrowed. “About what?”
“About him,” she snapped, her tone shifting, sharper now. “About staying away from Kier.”
My stomach tightened. “That wasn’t your call to make,” I shot back.
Her eyes flashed. I stared at her. Really looked at her now. At the tension in her shoulders. The way her hands curled slightly at her sides. “You’re jealous,” I realized.
Her expression twisted, just for a second. “Don’t flatter yourself,” she snapped.
“You wanted him,” I continued, my voice calm despite the way my pulse started to pick up. “And you thought if I was gone long enough, he’d forget about me.”
Her jaw clenched. “I didn’t think,” she said slowly, “I knew.”
I shook my head slightly. “You don’t know Kier.”
Her laugh was sharp this time. “No,” she said. “You don’t, because you left.”
Silence stretched between us.
“You left,” she repeated, stepping closer. “And you didn’t just leave, you walked away like it didn’t matter.”
My jaw tightened.
“You don’t know why I left.”
“I know you abandoned us,” she shot back.
Silence fell heavy between us.
Her chest rose and fell like she was holding something back. “When you left,” she continued, quieter now but more intense, “someone had to pick up the pieces.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Everything fell apart,” she said. “The pack had no future Luna. The council started questioning leadership, questioning structure, questioning him.”
My stomach dropped. “Kier.”
“Yes, Kier,” she snapped. “Your Kier. Your Alpha.”
I shook my head. “He didn’t need someone to replace me.”
“No,” she said, voice cutting. “But the pack did.”
That landed harder than I expected.
She stepped closer again, her eyes burning now. “I stayed,” she said. “I trained harder. I worked harder. I stood where you should’ve been standing.”
My chest tightened.
“I proved myself,” she continued. “Day after day. Year after year.”
Her voice dropped. “I became what the pack needed.”
Silence stretched.
“You tried to become… me?” I asked quietly.
Her jaw clenched.
“I became better,” she said.
"Kier, would never choose you. You could never be me."
“I rejected Jaxon for him,” she blurted out.
The words slammed into me hard. My breath caught.“What, Jaxon is your mate?” I asked, disbelief lacing every word.
Her lips curved.
“Technically,” she said with a small shrug. “Since he hasn’t exactly accepted it.”
My stomach twisted.
“That’s...” I shook my head. “That’s not how that works.”
She tilted her head.
“Isn’t it?”
“No,” I snapped. “It’s not something you just throw away because you decided you wanted someone else.”
Her eyes darkened.
“You don’t get to lecture me about choice,” she said.
I stilled.
Because that hit somewhere deeper than I expected.
She leaned in slightly, lowering her voice. “Besides,” she added, a small smirk playing at her lips, “Jaxon still has his uses.”
My brows pulled together. "What does that mean?”
She didn’t answer or elaborate. Just let the words hang there.
Then she straightened, brushing an invisible piece of dust off her sleeve.
“But it doesn’t matter,” she said lightly. “None of that matters anymore.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What are you talking about?”
Her gaze locked onto mine and there it was again. That certainty and confidence. Like she already knew how this would end. “Kier and I are finally going to be together,” she said.
My chest tightened.
“No,” I said immediately. “We’re not doing this. I’m his mate.”
Her smile didn’t falter.
“Are you?” she asked softly.
I stepped closer to the bars despite myself.
“Yes.”
She studied me for a second.
Then she dropped it like a bomb. “I’m carrying the heir to this pack.”
The world tilted.
“What?”
Her eyes gleamed.
“I know you felt it,” she continued, her voice dropping lower, more intimate. “What happened between us.”
My stomach dropped.
The night he was with her. I had felt it every second of it.
“You don’t—” My voice faltered.
She leaned in closer.
“We created life,” she said softly.
The words echoed over and over and over.
My chest tightened painfully.
“You’re lying,” I said, but it didn’t sound as strong as I wanted it to.
Her smile widened. “Am I?”
The silence was heavy and suffocating.
“You wouldn’t want to take a father from his child,” she continued, almost gently now. “Would you?”
My wolf stirred weakly, agitated.
Confused.
I swallowed hard, my chest tightening.
“If you cared about him,” Liora said softly, “you’d step aside.”
My hands clenched at my sides.
My mind racing.
My heart pulling in two different directions.
Kier.
The man I loved.
The man who was mine.
And a child.
His child.
The future of the pack.
“I…” My voice cracked.
I didn’t know what to say.
Didn’t know what to think.
Didn’t know what the right choice was.
Liora watched me break.
And smiled.
Then she stepped back.
“Think about it,” she said lightly.
Before turning.
And walking away.
Leaving me standing there.
Alone.
With nothing but the echo of her words.
And the impossible choice forming in my chest.