Page 39 of Rejected By the Shifter King

The last line was also the last puzzle to solve. Who would betray whom?

Chapter Thirteen

DESPITE INVITATIONSonly having been sent less than 24 hours prior to the party, everyone was quick to confirm their attendance. It was so very rare, after all, for the great Domenico Moretti to host a ball, and for his elusive but now legendary brother-in-law Lysander Allard to be its guest of honor only made their names on the guest list all the more delicious.

And true to the guests' expectations, the paparazzi - upon catching wind of the exclusive fete for select Lyccans and Faes - had come in droves and words like 'party of the year' were constantly being bandied about. So enthralled were the guests at their newfound celebrity status that none of them seemed to notice the grimness underneath all the glitter, sparkle, and revelry.

Not a single one was acting guilty or suspicious, not a single one was giving himself away as a double-crossing spy...or an idiot who had accidentally said too much.

It was something they all expected, which was why they had a particular Lyccan guest going around, chatting everyone up while she put her skills to use.

Lysander's gaze tracked Matilda Fontabella's movements as she struck up a conversation with another group of guests. The Lyccan princess was said to have a talent for sniffing out liars, and they would know soon enough if this was true.

In the meantime...

He, too, had his own role to play.

As soon as Lysander came out of the balcony and back into the ballroom, the beast inside him immediately bristled. Being surrounded by so many Lyccans still didn't sit well with both man and beast, and he had been constantly fighting against the urge to snatch Estrella out of anyone's reach and lock her in a cage where no other man would be able to look at her.

She was his Star, goddammit.

His.

So why did some of these stupid dogs keep trying to provoke him with the way they stared at his wife like she was their own goddess to worship? They were so damn obsessed with his wife, he wouldn't be surprised at all if it turned out these Lyccans were the same ones behind the extremely popular online shrines dedicated to Estrella.

Stupid, goddamn dogs.

Only the knowledge that any violence on his part could hurt the Faes' membership with L'Alliance kept Lysander in check. After ordering the twins to stick to their princess like glue, Lysander thought it best to avoid looking at the Lyccan side and concentrate instead in reintroducing himself to his people.

While many had welcomed him with tears in their eyes, they were also understandably cautious, and it was only after talking to him for several minutes and seeing that he wasn't the type to involuntarily change into a murderous beast that they finally relaxed and started talking.

They would ask him about Ammon, tentatively at first then eagerly, upon realizing that the Fae prince was no longer as aloof as he used to be. After this, banter would follow, with everyone jokingly saying that his return would finally put an end to money-grubbing tabloids repeatedly referring to Estrella as the abandoned princess.

Over and over, the run of his conversation with his people followed the same template, and always, it would end with the guests excitedly sharing their memories about a battle that took place some months after his disappearance.

While Lysander made sure to make the right noises and play the impressed consort every time they eagerly turned to him for his reaction, a part of him privately wondered just how exaggerated these stories were. He remembered Estrella to be timid, traumatized by the attack she suffered in her younger years. She had been good at developing battle tactics, but to actually apply them in real life? The Estrella he knew couldn't even stomach hurting a fly, and now they wanted him to believe that same Estrella had singlehandedly rescued Fae hostages from a gang of rogue vampires?