21 Two Months Later
Mara
Ever since the library incident with Darian, Lucian had changed.
He was still polite-pleasant, even. Bought me everything he thought I needed without being asked. But the distance
between us was obvious.
Unspoken, cold, and deliberate. He came home late now, slipping in during the early hours, quiet as a ghost. I didn’t ask
where he went. I already knew.
The library incident had changed him. I’d seen it coming. Tina got more of him than I ever would.
As for me, my heat never came.
I counted that as a blessing.
I threw myself into combat training, mostly to keep my head above water. Darian and Rowan trained with me.
I kept things professional, always making sure Rowan was there, like a buffer. Darian still tried to catch me alone, always
hoping for a crack in the wall I’d built. I didn’t give him one.
I wanted to be his friend again. God, I missed that. But the lines were too blurred now. Too much had been said. And though I still felt the flicker of a crush I hadn’t fully buried, I was Lucian’s wife. That had to mean something, even if we
were just strangers under the same roof.
Martha made sure I never forgot where I stood.
She ramped up her campaign against me, starting with breakfast. Now that the nonexistent honeymoon phase was over, I was expected to join the family each morning. But every breakfast was a war zone-Martha throwing subtle jabs, dressed up as etiquette corrections and backhanded concern..
Every time Darian or Lucian spoke up to defend me, it only made it worse.
Eventually, I stopped showing up. It had been a month since I sat at that table. No one said anything. The silence was its
own kind of punishment.
Lucian banned me from the right wing. Said it was for peace. I obeyed, even though I saw the irony-/ had rules, while he spent his nights in someone else’s bed, living freely. What a bloody hypocrite.
He’d set up a gym for me in our wing, a decent one, too. Probably to ease his guilt. It didn’t matter. I kept to myself.
Reading was my only escape.
The public library became my second home. It wasn’t much-dusty shelves, old pages, a constant hum of silence-but it was free, and it wasn’t here. I considered buying books, but why spend money when I could borrow freedom for free?
This life was hell.
But I was surviving.
Just barely.
I woke up and was surprised to find Lucian still home.
That alone was strange enough.
I didn’t ask where he’d been or why he’d decided to stay. I just got up, went to the bathroom, and started my usual routine. Combat training was at ten, library by four. That was how I survived-by planning, staying busy, keeping my emotions on a
1/2
21 Two Months Later
leash.
I came back into the room and curled up on the edge of the bed. I was tired. Not from sleep. From everything.
+8 Points 5
“We have to go to the right wing for breakfast, Mara,” Lucian said from across the room. “My father’s starting to complain.”
I didn’t even look at him.
“It doesn’t matter if I show up or not. Spare me the torture of dealing with your mother and your brother.”
He was quiet. I thought maybe he’d drop it.
Then he said, flat and certain, “Sneaking around with Darian ends after breakfast.”
I turned my head slowly to look at him.
“You still think something’s going on between us?” I asked, my voice sharp with disbelief.
“He’s your friend,” Lucian said. “You train with him. Talk to him. Laugh with him.”
I sat up. “Lucian, I’m not involved with Darian. I work with him. I’m his Gamma. You think I should avoid him completely
because of your insecurity?”
He didn’t respond.
“Besides,” I added bitterly, “you have no right to care. Your life didn’t get flipped upside down like mine. You still have your freedom. You still get to see Tina every night.”
That hit. I saw it. But he didn’t flinch.
“I have a problem with you being involved with my brother, Mara.”
I laughed under my breath. Exhausted.
“Then annul the damn marriage. Go find peace. There’s nothing between us anyway.”
He smiled. Not kindly. “Get dressed for breakfast. Tiffany’s moved in with Darian. We’re all expected to show face.”
That stopped me.
I hadn’t expected her to come-not after all this time. Not after the silence. My heart sank before I could stop it.
Lucian saw it.
“I can’t believe you,” he said. “You’re still in love with that douchebag.”
His voice was sharp, but underneath it-hurt. Raw hurt.
And I was too stunned to respond. Because I wasn’t in love with Darian.
But maybe a part of me still mourned the boy I thought he was. And Lucian mistook that sadness for love.
He always did assume the worst.
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