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So, I do the only thing that feels right at the moment. I kiss her.

She responds instantly, opening up to me, and fuck, I praise her for it, because never in my wildest dreams did I think the night would turn out like—

“No one is stopping you from fucking all the whores in the city, boy, but you will have some damn respect for your pack!”

Lila stiffens in my arms, her lips going cold against mine.

A heavy silence swallows the room.

I turn slowly, pushing Lila behind me as I meet the hard gaze of the man who interrupted us.

“Elder Matthew.” I grind my teeth. “My date is not a whore.”

Elder Matthew stands before me, cane in hand, his sharp gaze almost cutting right through me.

As one of the senior elders of the werewolf council appointed by the previous Alpha to oversee my leadership, he's someone I’ve always treated with respect. I’ve followed every piece of advice he’s dished out without question, but this makes me pop a vein in my neck.

“When you were made Interim Alpha, no one questioned your choice of company. You are a man with a missing wife, a man with needs. We understood that,” Matthew says, leaning onhis cane. “But flaunting her, kissing her on sacred grounds? In front of the pack? That is a disgrace to our missing Luna.”

Lila’s fingers slip from mine.

I don’t have to turn around to know she’s pulling away. Regretting everything.

“Elder Matthew, I respect you, but this is going too far—”

“Does the woman behind you know you are already in an arranged marriage with our Luna? That you are actively searching for your one true Mate?”

I don’t answer.

I turn around.

Lila looks like she’s been slapped, her eyes desperately searching mine for answers.

When she finds them…

She runs.

Every instinct in me screams to chase after her, to explain everything.

But as I watch her disappear, only one thought lingers.

I haven’t cared about Irene, my supposed true Mate, since Lila came back into my life.

I haven’t even cared about our bond.

I’ve only thought about one thing.

My love for Lila.

Chapter Fourteen

LILA WINTER

Does the woman behind you know you are already in an arranged marriage with our Luna?

The words slam into me like a head-on collision. They echo in my ears like a cruel curse, wounding my wolf like a dog kicked to the curb.

The cold air welcomes me like I’m its long-lost daughter, but it does nothing to slow the burning ache in my chest that shatters me to pieces.