Chapter 47

I sat back with a glass of sparkling wine in my hand and took another delicate sip. The bubbles tickled the back of my nose, and with all the chaos of the night, it felt good to finally be off of my feet.

I had done several laps around the ballroom already, trying to find the Alpha of the hour, but Caleb was nowhere to be seen. Not near the alcohol, not among the celebrities and models clustered by the photographers, and not anywhere near Joseph and his wife.

The party was still going smoothly, though it had gotten late enough that some of the older politicians and their spouses had begun to trickle out of the ballroom. I watched them parade out through the hallway with grins from ear to ear.

But, even if the party itself was a success, I was still frustrated I couldn’t find Caleb anywhere. Regardless of if he was going to be difficult, we had to perform as a united front, and I couldn’t do that if I had no idea where he was.

Nevertheless, I tried to make the best of the time I spent alone. Vic and Brutus had been very willing to have conversations with just me about possible trade and political agreements between Caleb’s coalition and the Bears.

Even though Vic spent most of the conversation making eyes at Rachel from across the dance floor, we made some great progress with ways to move forward with our relationship. I was determined to take care of the Ball myself, especially since Caleb was proving he couldn’t be counted on.

I sighed, and took another long drink of my wine. My throat was warm from the drink, and it helped to take the edge off of my annoyance.

“Mind if I join you?” Daniel said, startling me out of my thoughts and nearly making me spill my glass.

“Goddess, Daniel, don’t sneak up on me like that.” I said, coughing slightly.

“I’ve been calling you for two minutes, I definitely did not sneak up on you.” He replied, raising an eyebrow. “How much have you had?”

I shrugged, finishing my glass and putting it on the table. “Not enough, I have no idea where Caleb is, and I think I might kill him when I see him next.”

Daniel laughed, though he didn’t sound at all amused. “I have also completely lost track of Lucas.”

“What? Well, where did he go?”

”If I knew, he wouldn’t be lost.” Daniel dropped to the cushion beside me, rubbing his forehead in his hands. “The fight earlier seemed to take a lot out of him, I don’t think he was expecting that kind of betrayal.”

I snorted, “If he wants to be a bitch about getting cheated on, he can be my guest. After all the shit he put me through, he had it coming.”

Daniel smiled at me, his eyes softening as they wandered over my face.

“What?” I giggled, unsure how to respond to his expression.

“No I just… I never thought I would see you standing up to him like this.”

I shrugged, thinking back over the horrible memories from my past life, and everything I was determined not to become again. “I just realized that wasn’t what I deserved.”

Daniel nodded, looking back over the crowd of guests still dancing and enjoying themselves. “I’m going to do another sweep over, I don’t like not knowing where he went. If he is hiding from us, it’s probably so he can cause trouble behind our backs.”

I agreed, “I need to find Caleb. This is getting ridiculous, he has been avoiding me all night.”

”Maybe he doesn’t know how to talk to you,” Daniel replied.

“Doesn’t know how to talk to me?” I repeated, incredulous. “He doesn’t know how to stop talking, I seriously doubt that’s the problem.”

Daniel raised his shoulders sheepishly. “Just… try talking to him.”

I rolled my eyes, and stood up. “I haven’t checked the back parking lot, he might be drinking in his car or something stupid like that.”

Daniel mock saluted me, and I laughed at the gesture. After politely ducking out of a few conversations with politicians and noblemen, I made it through the downstairs kitchen storage rooms, which led to an often ignored entrance.

I put my hand on the door, but stopped pressing as I heard voices on the other side.

“What do you want from me?” A woman said, her words sounded strained like she had been crying.

“I want the truth, Harper!” Adrian responded, exasperated and tired. “You’ve clearly been going behind my back for months, and then you tell Lucas and the entire ballroom that you don’t want me? I’m your mate!”

Harper let out a gasping sob, and for a moment, I almost pitied her. “I had to! Everyone was watching, if I lose this connection to Lucas, we’re ruined!”

Adrian sighed, and I heard a scraping noise like he kicked the gravel on the ground. “I don’t know what to believe anymore. When you said you knew how to get us closer to the king, I never imagined it would be like this.”

“But—“

”No! For once in your life, will you listen to me?” He groaned. “I have been patient and as kind as I could be knowing you were fucking another man. I believed you when you said you loved me, and I listened when you said you needed space.”

“It was for you, for us—“

“Can you just shut up!” I heard a gargling noise I couldn’t determine. “I want to believe you, every nerve in my body wants to touch you because you are my mate, but apparently I am the only one here who understands what that means.”

“Adrian…” Harper said, her voice small and terrified.

I peeked through the slight crack in the doors and saw Harper’s feet kicking off the ground. Shit, I thought, and swung the doors open into Adrian’s arms. He dropped her, and she lay coughing for a moment on the gravel.

Adrian sprinted off away from the building, and after a moment his footsteps faded away.

I looked down at Harper, pathetically wheezing. The sickly yellow light from the parking lot lamps cast deep shadows under her eyes. There were angry red marks just under her jaw from Adrian’s fingers.

“Get up, Harper.” I said.

She ignored me, her forehead pressed into the pavement.

“I need to get around you, stop acting like a child and stand up.”

She looked up at me, bloody murder in her eyes like she wanted to tear me apart. “You bitch,” she hissed. “You’ve ruined me, this is all your fault! You—“

“If you want to play the victim, be my guest. But you are not going to get sympathy from me. If you screw everyone over in your life, you don’t get to be surprised when it comes back to slap you in the face.”

She opened her mouth, but no sound came out except for a small, sad wheeze.

I watched her begin to cry, the tears dripping down her cheeks and falling messily from her chin. She sneezed twice with gobs of snot tracking over her lips.

I was shocked I had ever thought she was beautiful. She looked broken and bruised now, her dress was torn and the soles of her shoes were scuffed beyond repair. But even worse was the hideous heart she held inside, one that not even all the makeup and jewels in the world could distract from.