Then one morning, just as I was preparing breakfast, a knock echoed through the mansion. I opened the door to find a woman standing there. I immediately recognized her.
“Georgina?” I breathed, my voice barely a whisper.
She smiled, a perfect, practiced smile that seemed to mock me. “Kierra, isn’t it? Alpha Damon’s wife.”
Alpha Damon appeared, and for the first time in weeks, I saw a flicker of warmth in his eyes. But it wasn’t directed at me. It was for her.
“Georgina,” he greeted, his voice soft. I’d never heard him speak that way to me.
The way he looked at her, like she was a treasure he’d lost and suddenly found again, tore at me. I tried to swallow my jealousy, but my voice betrayed me.
“Uhm… d-do you two know each other?” I asked.
He glanced at me, his expression hardening. “She’s… someone important to me,” he said, and I could see the pain in his eyes, the memories he’d tried to bury.
“Someone important?” I repeated, my voice shaking.
Georgina placed a hand on his arm, a possessive gesture that made my stomach twist. “Don’t worry, Kierra,” she said, her tone saccharine. “I’m just an old friend.”