"Let's just leave it. I don't want him to know. And I don't want treatment anymore."
Alaric was hiding in the corridor, catching fragments of the conversation—but nothing clear.
When I stepped out, his face was all concern.
"How did it go? What did the healer say?"
I smiled and shook my head, about to answer—
When Lily's scent-message reached him through the pack bond.
"Alaric, my den flooded from the storm and I'm soaked through. Can you come help me?"
His expression shifted instantly.
"Sure. I'm on my way."
He thought I hadn't sensed it. Blocking the bond-thread, he turned to me with a perfectly straight face.
"Lyra, remember that alliance pact I mentioned? I'm going to meet with them now. If it works out, we might finally rebuild our territory."
I stared into his eyes.
When he'd claimed me as his mate, those same eyes had been filled with nothing but sincerity.
Now they looked just as sincere.
But the lies rolled off his tongue without so much as a blink.
My unbroken gaze made him uneasy. He nearly tripped over his own act.
"Lyra... is something wrong?"
"Go ahead."
"If you can secure this alliance, we won't have to worry about those rogue hunters anymore."