22 Breakfast Scene
22 Breakfast Scene
+8 Points >
Mara
I got up without a word and went to dress.
It didn’t take long. I’d stopped caring about how I looked around this family weeks ago.
When I stepped out of the closet, Lucian was already by the door. He turned, voice calm but cold.
“After today, you won’t be welcome in the right wing anymore. Luna Martha doesn’t want the couple to be distracted. She feels you’re trying too hard to get her son’s attention.”
He said it like he was reading off a memo. Just a “heads up.” Nothing personal.
“Just letting you know so you’re not blindsided when she says it,” he added, then stepped out.
I followed him silently, bracing myself. Whatever this family had in store, I’d take it. One more performance. One more round of humiliation. Tiffany, after all, wouldn’t have to fight for a place at the Nighthorn table. Her parents had already paid for it.
Literally.
Halfway down the hall, my phone buzzed. A message. From Tina.
I didn’t need to open it to know what it was. She’d made a habit of sending me pictures-her and Lucian in bed, tangled together, smug smiles and silk sheets.
This one was worse. A video. They were laughing. She was straddling him. He was filming her, calling her beautiful.
I didn’t flinch. Not until Lucian said, “Let me see that.”
The video was playing out loud.
Wordlessly, I handed him the phone.
“Tell your mistress I got the message,” I said, stepping past him. “She doesn’t need to send me reminders of how you
spend your nights.”
I didn’t care if he saw the tears stinging my eyes. Not anymore.
Because what hurt wasn’t the video. It wasn’t even Tina. It was him-Lucian.
There was a moment once. On our wedding day. In his arms. Just one moment when I thought maybe, maybe he’d meet me halfway. But he left. That night, and every night since. And after the kiss with Darian, it got worse. Colder.
Now? I was done. I’d train. I’d serve. I’d fulfill whatever duty this marriage required of me. But my heart? That was mine
again.
“Mara. Mara-wait.”
Lucian caught up with me and grabbed my arm, gently.
“Why didn’t you tell me she was sending you this crap?” he asked, his voice edged with something close to panic.
I smiled. It wasn’t kind.
“Don’t tell me you didn’t know,” I said. “You told me Tina was your main person from the beginning. I don’t want to be here, Lucian. But I am. She has you. The least she can do is stop rubbing it in.”
His face fell. He looked stunned, like this was news to him. It wasn’t. He just didn’t want to hear it from me.
1/4
22 Breakfast Scene
“I’ll handle it,” he said quickly. “I promise. I-”
“There’s no need to explain.” My voice was calm now. Flat. “Not to me.”
We kept walking.
+ Points
When we entered the dining hall, everyone was already seated. Darian looked at me like I was a ghost-haunted by guilt, maybe even fear. I didn’t return the look.
Lucian and I greeted Martha and Alpha Vander. Then we sat.
The silence didn’t last long.
“Mara,” Martha said, slicing through the tension like she was cutting into meat. “I don’t want you around Darian anymore. As you can see, he’s about to be married. And judging by your… history, I won’t have you troubling my son’s marriage.”
I didn’t answer.
She wasn’t worth a reply.
But God, I wanted to laugh.
Troubling her son’s marriage? After everything?
I reached for my fork and ate slowly. Calm. Graceful. Because sometimes silence is the sharpest blade of all.
“Are you deaf?” Martha snapped at me across the table.
Something inside me snapped.
Two months. Two months of swallowing insults, of being monitored, boxed in, judged. Two months of biting my tongue, training until my body ached just to keep my mind from breaking.
And she had the nerve to speak to me like that?
I slammed my fork down, stood, and yelled. “I have no business with your son! Stop picking on me! I am sick and tired of your s**t, Martha!”
The table went still.
“I hate that I’m here. Do you hear me? Hate it. I never wanted this. But here I am, stuck in this house, stuck in this mess. Leave me the f**k alone! You don’t get to dictate my life.”
Martha’s mouth fell open. Lucian froze beside me. I wasn’t finished.
“Darian will be Alpha. I will be Gamma. I earned that. I’ve worked harder than anyone to get there, and I won’t throw that away because you can’t stomach me. You want to hate me? Fine. But keep your poison to yourself.”
I turned to Alpha Vander, voice shaking. “Alpha, with your permission, I’d like to excuse myself.”
He stared at me, stunned-along with everyone else.
I was done. I wanted to run to the left wing, pack my things, and get the hell out.
I wasn’t leaving the pack-but I was done living in this circus. My hormones were all over the place, my husband was sleeping with his mistress, and the boy I’d crushed on for years now wouldn’t let me go. And somehow, I was the one
under constant surveillance.
I couldn’t take it anymore.
Martha stood suddenly, hand raised to slap me-but Lucian caught her wrist mid-air.
“Don’t,” he said low, voice like steel.
2/4
43 Pords>
<22 Breakfast Scene
Darian reached out to stop her too.
I saw Martha flinch. He’d squeezed, hard.
“Let her go, Lucian,” Alpha Vander commanded.
Lucian slowly released her, but moved in front of me, shielding me completely.
“Mara, apologize to your Luna,” the Alpha said, voice firm.
Tears welled in my eyes. The injustice of it stung. She got to humiliate me without consequence, but I had to beg forgiveness for defending myself?
Then his voice dropped even colder.
“Lucian, tell your wife to apologize. Or I will have you discipline her. And her parents will be cast out of this pack.”
I gasped softly. What?
Lucian’s voice linked to mine, quiet, pleading. “Mara, please… just say sorry.”
I swallowed hard. It took everything in me, but I forced the word out. “Sorry.”
The Alpha looked at me with tired disappointment. “You are no longer welcome at this table, Mara.”
His voice was colder now. “I thought you were sweet. I actually believed you were too good for Darian, which is why I joined you with Lucian. I didn’t realize you were this kind of girl.”
Lucian let out a low, bitter laugh. Everyone turned to look at him.
“You’re blind,” he said. “Blind to the mess your mate creates. Mara is sweet. Patient. You’d know that if Martha hadn’t spent two months trying to break her.”
He glanced at his father, jaw tight.
“Don’t call her my mother again. It’s an insult.”
Martha’s expression cracked for a second-pure rage underneath the shock.
“She’s wrecked everything she touches,” Lucian went on. “And now you’re punishing Mara for defending herself? No.
We’re done.”
He turned to me. “We won’t be coming to breakfast here again.”
“Sit down, Lucian! Now!” Alpha Vander barked.
Lucian didn’t move.
“Your stepmother has her reasons,” Vander said more calmly now, and pulled an envelope from his coat.
He handed it to Lucian without another word.
I didn’t know what was inside.
But the room went colder, heavier.
Something was happening.
And I wasn’t sure either of us was ready for it.
Comments
Vote
471
3/4
