CHAPTER 116

CHAPTER 116

Of course it's him.

Kallias fucking Morrigan.

The second I turn around, I already know. It's the scent-like cedar and

arrogance—and the way my skin goes prickly, like my body still remembers every fight, every kiss, every betrayal.

He looks good. Too good. That kind of good that makes you want to punch a mirror just to stop yourself from looking

twice.

Navy tux. Crisp. Jawline sharp enough to gut a deer. And that smirk-God, that smirk-same as the one he used to wear when he'd sneak into my room and say I was his secret.

"Found you," he says, low and smooth like whiskey, and I hate that I still remember how his voice used to sound when he whispered my name.

I blink, giving him my best you've-got-to-be-kidding-me look. “What, did you

crawl here from Riverstone just to make things awkward?"

"You look... different," he says, gaze sliding over me like I'm a fucking museum exhibit.

I raise a brow. "Yeah, well. Trauma has a way of turning Omegas into bombs."

He huffs a breath, something between a laugh and a sigh. "Where's your shadow? Seraphina? Don't tell me she's still clinging to your ankles."

Kallias shakes his head, smirk twisting a little sad now. "We split. She's actually working now. Secretary to some CEO in the North. She always did love order."

"She was good at color-coding. And at being a backstabbing manipulative bitch," I say, smiling sweetly.

He chuckles. "Still sharp."

"And you?" I ask. "Let me guess. Finally got that Alpha title you were jerking yourself over back when we were nineteen?"

"Riverstone's mine now," he says, tipping his glass toward me. "No more Alpha's son. Just Alpha. Official and all."

"Congrats," I say, and mean it, weirdly. "Bet the wolves are thrilled."

He doesn't reply. Just watches me like I'm some puzzle piece he used to own but can't figure out how it fits anymore.

"You really do look different," he murmurs.

I tilt my chin, already bored of this. "I look like a queen."

He smiles, and it's not cocky this time. Just... reflective. "Not yet crowned. But I'm good at predicting things."

The room's heat shifts. I feel it before I see it.

That invisible string pulling tight from across the ballroom. That unmistakable

weight in the air, like the forest right before a

storm.

I know he's watching.

don't even have to look. I can feel the heat of it burning into my neck.

I grab the glass from Kallias's hand-on purpose, slow and deliberate-and sip. Champagne. Cheap. Not worth the calories.

He leans in, close enough I can smell his cologne. Expensive. Desperate.

your mind about ruling beside a different kind of Alpha..." he says, voice just above

kind. The kind that reminds him I'm not

anymore.

had your chance. You blew it.

way his eyes linger on me makes my skin

Not because I'm scared.

How stupid I was.

A "used to be." A ghost

appears beside me in heels way

she says, kissing my cheek. "Duty calls. I'll

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CHAPTER 116

she disappears into the

I exhale, alone again.

the murmurs

Always the fucking murmurs.

"She planned this event?"

She even seduced the

vicious woman. She's got the King wrapped

she even

"She doesn't belong here."

I hear every word.

Every venom-dipped syllable.

Had worse thrown at me-rocks,

pain

my chin up high. Spine straight. Each step daring them to say it to my

They don't.

Of course they don't.

Until-

you all to know before the night ends." We all

It's Enoch. All

to. The fucking floor goes still at the

shift to make room for him. It really doesn't make any sense to me that the Goddess

The Alpha King.

whispered rumor to the ground by showing up in the flesh, wrapped in a black-on-black suit like sin decided to dress up and throw

elders on the raised dais,

until it slams into

then he says it. Loud. Clear.

Omega." He turns to me and nods, signaling for me to come up the dais with him.. "She is the last living descendant of the Lancaster bloodline. The Betas who stood beside my family

My lungs seize.

across the marble walls. Dresses rustle. Councilmen pale. One of them visibly

dead,"

man who's been dying to watch this trainwreck for months. His grin could slice egos. Another noble, whispering way too loud to be subtle, "Does this

Enoch hears it.

"She won't replace anyone.

Fuck.

My chest might as well have its own percussion section. Is that my rib cage? Or a goddamn

and locked on me like they're chained to

I already know what's coming. His jaw ticks, voice thick

"Taryn Lancaster, my queen-"

"Wait."

CHAPTER 116

blurt it like it's

He stills.

Whispers. A

I just spit

trembling. I thought it

pressure, with all these eyes on

I fucking rise.

that... I need to show you

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