Aria didn’t speak as she left the council chamber. The doors groaned closed behind her with a sound like stone grinding against stone—final, cold. The marble corridor outside was empty, quiet in a way that made her feel exposed, like the walls themselves were listening. Her footsteps echoed too loudly in her ears.
Zara appeared at the bottom of the staircase, her cloak clutched in one hand, the other arm braced against the bannister like she’d had to physically hold herself back from bursting in.
“They didn’t let you finish,” she said, breathless with restrained fury. “They shut you down before you could even—”
“It wouldn’t have mattered,” Aria murmured. Her voice came out dull, too thin, like it belonged to someone else.
“You held your ground.”
“No one was listening.”
Zara pressed her lips together but didn’t argue. She took Aria’s elbow gently, guiding her toward the estate’s east wing. “Come on. We’ll go through the garden hall. Fewer eyes.”
But as they turned the corner, Aria felt it—that pull. The subtle shift in air pressure, like something had walked across her grave. Her steps slowed.
A woman stood just ahead in the corridor, facing the tall arched windows that bathed the stone in golden morning light. She was cloaked in ivory, her frame tall and willowy, posture relaxed but deliberate. Her dark hair poured down her back in smooth waves, a single silver clasp catching the light like a blade.
The moment she turned, Aria knew.
Her breath hitched.
Zara’s fingers dug into her arm. “Is that—?”
“It’s her.”
Evelyn.
The name didn’t need saying. Kael had never shown Aria a photograph—none had survived the fire—but he’d spoken of her often enough, in whispers and memories half-buried beneath grief. The way Evelyn used to braid flowers into his hair when they were young. The scar on her wrist from a blood rite gone wrong. The way her voice could quiet his wolf faster than any command.
And now, here she stood, not a story or a shadow, but flesh and bone. Real. Composed. Devastating.
Evelyn turned fully to face them. Her gaze was cool but not hostile, assessing but not cruel. She took Aria in with a softness that felt more dangerous than any sneer.
“Luna Vale,” she said, and her voice was velvet—low, even, without fear. “I was hoping we’d meet soon.”
The formality of it made Aria’s skin crawl.
Zara took half a step forward, protective as ever. “Now’s not the time.”
Evelyn gave her a faint smile. “I only wished to thank her.”
Aria blinked. “For what?”
“For keeping him steady.”
There was no heat in her tone. Just… elegance. As if Aria had been a steward of something precious, something Evelyn had left behind and now returned to claim.
“I didn’t do it for you,” Aria said, sharper than intended.
Evelyn tilted her head. “Of course not. But the result is the same. You gave him peace.”
“Did I?” Aria asked. “He didn’t seem very at peace this morning.”
Before Evelyn could respond, footsteps echoed behind them.
The air shifted again.
Kael.
Aria didn’t have to look to know. Her bond—frayed as it was—still flickered with a pulse when he was near. It was faint now, like hearing a heartbeat through thick walls, but it still stirred. Still betrayed her.
Kael walked into view slowly, deliberate as always. His dark hair was slightly disheveled, as though he’d run a hand through it a few too many times. His eyes locked first on Evelyn, then on Aria. But there was no emotion behind the look. Only calculation.
He stopped beside Evelyn and placed his hand on the small of her back. Familiar. Possessive. Instinctive.
Aria’s stomach twisted.
“You could’ve warned me,” she said quietly.
Kael’s brow furrowed. “About what?”
“She’s here. And apparently has full access to the estate.”
“I didn’t think it necessary to hide her.”
Zara scoffed. “But necessary to hide her from Aria.”
Kael’s gaze darkened. “This isn’t your concern.”
“It’s mine,” Aria cut in. “You’ve had her here for three days?”
“I needed time to… understand.”
“To replace me?”
“No,” he said, too quickly. Then, quieter, “To remember what I’d lost.”
Aria swallowed hard, throat burning.
Evelyn looked away as if sensing the weight of the exchange, though Aria wasn’t convinced it was guilt. She felt more like a queen giving space to a scorned courtier than someone intruding on a mate bond.
Kael stepped forward slightly. “Tomorrow, the Council will make their ruling. Let’s not do this now.”
“Then when?” Aria asked. “After you’ve paraded her through every hallway I bled to hold together?”
He flinched, just slightly.
“I didn’t ask for this,” he said.
“Neither did I.”
Silence.
Evelyn reached for Kael’s hand, a gentle brush of fingertips against his. He turned at her touch and walked away without another word.
With her.
Again.
Zara let out a low, feral breath. “I’ll kill him. I swear, I will—”
Aria didn’t speak.
Couldn’t.
She stood in the middle of the corridor, cloaked in light and betrayal, as her mate disappeared into the golden morning beside the woman he had always loved more.
And all she could think was:
They didn’t even look back.
