Chapter 29

Violet

When I woke, evening shadows stretched across the room. I blinked, trying to shake the heavy drowsiness from my mind, surprised by how long and deeply I had slept. Just last night, everything felt twisted and strained, like I could barely hold myself together. And yet, here I was, more rested than I had been in ages.

I smirked. It probably had something to do with the way I’d dealt with Lucas earlier.

My phone chimed with notification and I laughed as I opened it. Lucas was flailing around trying to catch falling letters. He had people sweeping the streets as he snarled and barked orders.

Nora was nowhere to be seen, but the coverage said that a small fleet of planes had dropped invitations over ever city in Darkmoon’s territory.

I shook my head and closed my phone, barely stifling a laugh. Theodore had some insane ideas, but I had to give him credit for style.

I made my way to the parlor nearest to my room and poured myself a drink, letting the glass settle between my fingers. The amber liquid shimmered in the dim light, offering a brief distraction from the memories creeping up on me. All those years with Lucas—loving memories that had once filled me with warmth, now just made my chest ache with a hollow kind of pain.

Sighing, I took a slow sip and glanced down at my wrist, running my fingers over the mark of the unwanted. Alcohol could only numb the pain, but I drank anyway. Oddly enough, it was much lighter than it had been earlier. I wondered if it would completely fade even before I managed to get through the court case. My neck ached faintly where Lucas’ mark had once been. I rubbed at it and wondered briefly is my mark on him was still there. I scoffed. It hardly mattered if it was. I hoped it was. I hope it haunted him.

I breathed out, relaxing and turning it all over in my mind. I could feel Theodore, distantly. It felt a lot like when Lucas and I had first been bonded, but there was no mark, no new scar from a bond. It didn’t make any sense. And if I was being honest, thinking about Theodore made me anxious in ways I wasn’t ready to admit.

It was probably better this way. I didn’t have to suffer until the court case and when he eventually fuond his fated mate we’d be able to break ties easily. After all, it was expected that he would choose her, even if we were just six months into our contract.

Lost in thought, I didn’t hear him come in. The absence of my glass and his voice pulled me back to reality, smooth and warm like the whiskey in my glass.

“This is a bit strong for a lady, don’t you think?” His eyes twinkled with a boyish amusement as he grinned. “Especially on the wings of such a great day? We should be drinking champagne!”

I looked up at him, stunned a bit by how young and handsome he was, how easy going he was, and how warm his presence made me. I felt his joy. Lucas…

Lucas had never felt as happy to be in my presence as Theodore felt right now. I swallowed past the tightness in my throat and took a breath.

His grin turned knowing and teasing as he raised my glass to his lips, taking a slow, deliberate sip.

“If you stare too long, you might fall in love, you know?”

I scoffed at that and reached up to take my drink back. His eyes remained on me. That knowing look didn’t vanish. I felt vulnerable, exposed, as if he could read everything I was trying so hard to bury.

I forced a smile. “I like whiskey for victory… Champagne is too polte.”

He grinned. “My kind of woman.”

He poured himself a glass and joined me on the couch, topping off my glass. He lifted his glass.

“A toast?”

“To?”

“You,” he said softly. “For being… utterly captivating. Bold… Beautiful adnd fucking ruthless.”

I scoffed. “Really?”

“I wouldn’t mind watching you wipe the floor with that jackass, but it would have undermined the authoritative, furious vibe I was going for to spring a boner while you did so.”

I snorted. “You’re ridiculous.”

“And you’re… the most alluring woman I’ve ever seen.” I went still. His gaze turned soft. “I thought so even before I saw you at the bar, but that night…”

He let out a soft, hungry sound.

“You had a thing for distraught, hm?”

He scoffed. “You were sad sure you were angry yes but you definitely weren't distraught.” He licked his lips. “You might have been drinking because of Lucas but you weren't going to drink yourself into oblivion over him.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because you're not the type to run from your problems” He leaned forward. “ I remember seeing you at the Academy.”

My jaw dropped. “You were…”

“A few years below you. I was passing through when you were on the pitch… going up against five alpha who thought they had you pegged.” He let out a low whistle. “You unlocked a kink I didn't even know I had when you wiped the floor with them.”

I shifted uncomfortably. I had no idea that Theodore had seen me that long ago. I let myself wonder what it would have been like to have met him back then before I'd met Lucas. Something told me that I'd be in a very different position than I was in right now but I turned away from that thought.

“I don't feel much like her these days.”

“Then you should have more whiskey… and more berries. we have a an abundance of both of those here in Midnight.”

I chuckled and drank some more.

“Did you see the coverage? If you’re planning to drink yourself into oblivion over that whore’s child, watch him flail around a couple of times.”

I scoffed. “Who said it was about him or his child?”

My voice cracked, giving away something I didn’t even want to acknowledge. His eyes softened and he lowered his voice.

“The Goddess is graciously kind… ever-benevolent… even when you think she is being cruel.”

I set my jaw and blinked back tears before downing my glass and thrusting it toward him.

“The decanter is on your side.”

He took the glass, our fingers brushing briefly as he took it to refill it. The cool clink of glass against glass filled the air barely distracting me from the welling grief in my chest. He handed me the glass back and shifted closer.

“I stand by my statement to say that he's an idiot, and despite what your father's thought you were always too good for him.”

I set my jaw. “If you don't know what my father thought.”

“ I saw the coverage of you at his funeral and I gleaned a few things… Marrying Lucas was his idea, wasn't it? The whole setup that's now got you into this trouble with his idea, wasn't it?”

“My father was a romantic. He was grieving and dying… I just wanted him to go in peace.”

“He was an egoist,” Theodore scoffed. “And he might have been grieving and he might have been dying but he was also a misogynistic asshole who refused to acknowledge how great you were for fear that she would outshine him.”

I turned to him, glaring. The words died in my throat as I saw him looking down into his glass with a hard expression.

“It may hurt to hear but you know it's true, and if it's any consolation, he's definitely regretting it.” He looked up at me. “And he'll be regretting it much longer than you will.”

“How can you say that?” I asked, almost breathless at the hard, sure look in his eyes. “With such confidence?”

He grinned. “Because you'll stop regretting it as soon as Lucas is out of your life for good, and you've already surpassed him at least a hundred times over.”

A flutter stirred in my chest at his words, but I masked it with a light laugh.

“You’re really laying it on thick tonight. What are you after?”

“Nothing,” he said, shifting.

I gasped, suddenly realizing exactly how close we were. When our eyes met, it felt like a spark of electricity shot through the air, igniting something I wasn’t ready to acknowledge. His gaze turned sultry, dropping to my lips slowly before dragging back up to my eyes. My stomach fluttered uncomfortably. It might be the alcohol, but I felt this undeniable draw to Theodore. The heat of attraction simmered between us, jumping and sparking like a live wire, but I couldn’t shake the cold grip of reality.

This – his interest, our relationship, my place here in Midnight– was all just temporary.

“Keep your distance, Alpha Theodore,” I said.

A soft glow filled his eyes, and he smiled.

“Make me.”