Jennifer’s Pov

My chest hurt so bad I could feel it in my throat, but I kept my face still. I wasn’t going to let Kane see. Not that he cared. He looked just as cold as the Alpha, sitting there across from me, saying nothing the whole way.

When we reached the castle, I stepped down and he stepped down too. I already knew my way to the entrance now.

Inside, a maid met me. “This way, my lady. Dinner is served.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“I’m sorry, my lady, but the Alpha ordered that you eat.”

I stopped walking. “So they’re forcing me to eat now?”

“I’m sorry, my lady.” She kept her eyes down. “Please, this way.”

I didn’t have anything else to say to that. I followed her into the dining hall.

The table stretched long in front of me, covered in more food than I had ever seen in one place.

“Is this all for me?” I asked.

“Yes, my lady. We didn’t know your preferences, so we prepared a little of everything.”

I sat down and stared at it for a moment. If I was going to die anyway, I might as well be full when it happened.

That was when I realized I was actually hungry. There was no hope left to hold onto, so I told myself I should at least eat. I dug in, and with every bite something in my chest loosened, just a little. But underneath it, my heart still ached. I kept thinking about Brian. I still loved him, and I hated myself for it.

When I finished, the maid was waiting by the door.

“Are you done, my lady?”

“Yes.”

“There’s something we need to do next. Your fitting.”

“What fitting?”

“Before you truly become the Alpha’s bride, you must bond with him. The ceremony happens tomorrow. We need to fit your dress properly, my lady.”

I just nodded. What else was there to say?

They led me to a dressing room and started measuring me, pinning fabric, murmuring to each other. I stood there and let them work, my mind somewhere far away from my body.

“What color would you like, my lady?” one of them asked.

I opened my mouth to answer and nothing came out at first. Color. As if that mattered. As if any of this was really about what I wanted. But I caught myself before anything sharp could slip out, because none of this was her fault either.

“I don’t know,” I said instead, my voice tired rather than harsh. “Whatever you think looks best. I trust you.”

She smiled gently, like she understood more than she let on. “Silver, then. To match the circlet.”

“Silver is fine,” I said, and looked away so she wouldn’t see my eyes stinging.

“Are you alright, my lady?” she asked quietly.

“I’m just tired,” I said. “What’s your name?”

“Amelia, my lady.”

“Thank you, Amelia. For being kind to me.”

She gave me a small smile, like the kindness cost her nothing at all, and that alone almost undid me.

When they finished, Amelia looked at me carefully. “I can see you’re stressed. Would you like to see the castle? I can show you around, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure,” I said.

In the back of my mind I thought, if anything ever went wrong, if there was ever a chance to run, I should at least know where I was running from. I knew it was a foolish thought. I followed her anyway.

The castle was massive. Amelia walked me through the east wing, then the north, then the south, each one bigger than the last. Some of the rooms were completely empty but still kept spotless, like they were waiting for someone who might never come.

“How many people actually live here?” I asked.

“The Alpha and the Beta,” Amelia said. “The High Priestess comes and goes. And all of us who work here.”

“That’s it? Just the two of them?”

“Yes, my lady. Neither of them has a mate yet.”

“Oh,” I said, and didn’t know what else to say to that.

We turned a corner and stepped into a library.

I stopped in the doorway. I used to love reading, before all of this happened to me. For one second I felt something close to happiness. Then right behind it came the sadness, heavy and sudden, because I might never get to enjoy any of these books at all.

I told Amelia I wanted to be alone for a while, and she left me there.

I walked between the shelves, running my fingers along the spines, losing myself a little in the quiet.

“Hello, Jennifer.”

I jumped and spun around.

A man stood there, not as tall as Christian, but there was something in his face that resembled him. “Who are you?”

“Forgive me, I startled you. My manners.” He gave a small bow. “I’m Elijah. The Alpha’s cousin.”

“Okay,” I said, because I didn’t know what else there was to say to that.

“May I walk with you?”

“I’d rather be alone.”

“Depressed, aren’t you.” His voice was light, almost amused. “Knowing you’re probably going to die after the wedding night.”

I stared at him.

“Sorry, that came out wrong.” He didn’t sound sorry at all. “But it’s the truth. And I have a solution for you, if you want it.”

“What solution?”

“I didn’t think you’d want to hear it.”

“What solution, Elijah?”

“Be my mistress.”

He looked at me the way you’d look at something on a plate.

“What?” I said.

“You’re not bonded to him yet. You could be mine instead. That would stop you from ever becoming his. Wouldn’t you want that? As mine, you wouldn’t have to die.”

I looked at him, trying to understand what he thought he was offering me. Anyone else might have taken it without blinking. But this was the Alpha’s cousin standing in front of me, offering to steal his own family’s bride like it was nothing.

“No,” I said. “I’d rather stay where I am.”

His face changed. “So you’d rather die like a hostage.”

“Please. I want to be alone.”

He grabbed my wrist hard and yanked me toward him.

“You dare reject my offer?” Elijah’s voice was low and ugly. “I’m offering you something any woman in this territory would kill for. Do you even know who I am?”

“You’re hurting me.” I tried to pull my arm free. “Let go.”

His grip only tightened. “You’re going to accept it. Right now.”

I forced myself to meet his eyes even though my heart was racing. “If this is who you really are, then I would rather be the Alpha’s bride and die than spend my life as your mistress. I would never.”

Something dark flashed across his face. He reached to his side and pulled out a dagger. The metal caught the light as he raised it toward me.

“No one rejects me and lives to see the sunrise.”

I froze. My back hit the edge of the table behind me. There was nowhere left to go.

Then-

A sharp sound cut through the space… something fast and precise striking Elijah’s wrist. He hissed in pain. The dagger dropped from his hand and clattered across the floor. Blood welled up from a clean cut on his skin. He released me at once and staggered back a step, clutching his wrist.

We both turned.

Alpha Christian stood in the doorway.

He simply walked into the library, and the whole room seemed to shrink around him.

His expression was cold, but I could sense something lethal lurking beneath it.

His eyes went first to the dagger on the floor, then to the red mark on my wrist, and finally to Elijah.

When he spoke, his voice was quiet enough that it should not have been frightening. It was.

“Elijah.” He stopped a few steps away. “What gives you the right to put your hands on my mate?”

Elijah straightened, still holding his bleeding wrist. For a moment he looked like he might try to explain. Christian didn’t give him the chance.

“Leave.”

The single word landed like a command that left no room for argument.

Elijah’s jaw tightened. He glanced at me one last time, hatred clear in his eyes, then turned toward the door.

“Elijah.”

Silence settled over the room.

Christian turned his attention to me.

The library suddenly felt too small. I could still feel the ghost of Elijah’s grip around my wrist, my pulse refusing to slow. Christian’s eyes moved over my face before dropping to the red mark on my skin. They lingered there for a moment too long.

Something in his expression tightened.

I waited for him to say something.

Instead, he took one slow step closer.

Close enough that I had to tilt my head slightly to meet his eyes.

His hand lifted instinctively, but stopped halfway. His fingers curled into a fist before he slowly lowered his hand.

“Did he hurt you?” he asked.

His voice was quiet, almost unnaturally so.

“I’m fine,” I said.

The words came out softer than I intended.

“Don’t you think it’s a little chilly in here?” he added quietly.

I looked at him, trying to read the expression on his face. His gaze remained on me, calm and unreadable, as though he had noticed something I hadn’t.

Only then did I become aware of the chill clinging to my skin.

Without thinking, I slipped my arms into his coat.

The warmth immediately wrapped around me, carrying the faint, familiar scent of him. I pulled it closer around myself, and only then did I realize that goosebumps had broken out all over my skin. I couldn’t tell whether it was from the cold or the fear that still lingered from what had just happened.

Little by little, the trembling in my hands eased. The tightness in my chest loosened, too, as if the warmth around me had finally given my body permission to stop bracing for the next blow.

Christian just waited until I seemed steadier.

Then he turned and walked out of the library.

I watched the door close behind him, my fingers unconsciously curling into the warm fabric of his coat.

Oh. I’d forgotten to thank him.

I instinctively pressed a hand to my chest, my heart fluttering at what he had done.