I lifted my glass with a smile that didn’t reach my eyes. “Of course.”
We both knew it was a lie.
That evening, I returned to the Solari Pack House. I planned to face my father—Alpha Mike—one final time. My heels echoed on the marble floors, the sound too sharp in a house that had never truly felt like home.
Before I reached his study, Elowen’s laughter drifted through a half-open door.
“…He actually let me bite him!” she was saying, her words blurred by wine. “Can you believe that? I practically own him now. Like a dog begging for a pat.”
More laughter followed.
“He must be head over heels,” someone teased.
Elowen scoffed. “Hardly. He’s convenient. Does what I say when I say it. When I’m bored, I call. When I’m not, he disappears.”
A pause. Then another voice asked, “And what about your engagement to the Solari heir?”
She laughed again, loud and shameless. “That corpse? Please. If I had the choice, I’d take the Alpha of Luminara instead. He’s richer, stronger—and stupidly easy to control. Did you know he sent me the Scarlet Dawn Crystal? Can you believe it?”