Chapter 54
Lila
The shift was subtle, but I felt a distance in Damon’s gaze. The way his expression cooled just slightly when I entered the room. Flo trace of the man who had kissed me with fire or sent heartfelt notes in the morning.
And I had no idea why. If Vanessa had told him who I was I’d be expelled or dead.
I sat in the outer parlor just off the eastern corridor, reading the same sentence over and over. The words blurred. The pages meant nothing. Because every time I caught sight of him–shoulders taut, mouth drawn tight–I felt something in me crack.
What changed?
The memory of the letter he sent still pulsed at my ribs. The softness in his voice during our dinner. The way his fingers had curled around mine like he couldn’t let me go. That had been real. I knew it. And now…
Now he wouldn’t even meet my eyes.
I told myself it was nothing. Maybe a political matter like not showing favoritism. Maybe something else entirely. But the longer I sat there, the heavier the ache in my chest grew. Until I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
A knock came at the parlor door.
I rose too fast, heart stuttering, but it wasn’t Damon. It was a courier, thin and pale, holding a folded note sealed in familiar ink.
“For you, my lady.”
I took it with a trembling hand. Broke the seal. The words blurred almost instantly.
Your mother’s condition has worsened overnight. She’s asking for you. Please respond as soon as possible. – Caretaker Sasha
I sat down hard on the edge of the settee, the wind knocked from my lungs.
Ruby surged forward. Go. We have to go.
“I know,” I whispered, barely audible.
The ache in my chest twisted into something raw and sharp. Panic. Guilt. Helplessness. I was supposed to be here securing power for Henry. Lying to Damon, Playing a role. But all I wanted in that moment was to be with my mother.
To keep her alive. Before it was too late.
I stood, gripping the note so tightly it crumpled in my palm. My feet moved before I’d even made the decision; they carried me down the corridor and through the east wing toward the council chambers, where I knew Damon would be.
It wasn’t until I reached the carved doors that I hesitated.
He hadn’t looked at me all day. We hadn’t spoken since the night we danced in the greenhouse. If he believed whatever I’d let him see was a lie, I didn’t know how he’d react to this request.
But I couldn’t afford pride right now. I couldn’t afford to lose any time.
I stepped inside.
The room was half–lit, its long table scattered with scrolls and half–drained cups of coffee. Damon stood at the far end, speaking with Ronan in hushed tones. He looked up when I entered—and his eyes went cold again.
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Chapter 54
Not cruel. Just… distant,
“Lady Elena,” he said. No warmth. No hesitation. Just formality like a blade.
“I need to speak with you, please,” I said quietly.
He exchanged a glance with Ronan, who gave a short nod and exited the room without a word.
I stepped forward and held out the note, fingers shaking. “My mother’s condition has changed. She’s asking for me. I need to go to her,”
Damon took the paper. Read it. His jaw worked once, and for a second I thought I saw something flicker in his expression. But it vanished just as quickly.
“You have my permission,” he said. “You may return home for as long as necessary.”
I swallowed. “Thank you.”
He nodded once. “Ronan will arrange the escort.”
I waited–one second too long–for him to say something more. A question. A touch. Anything. For the flicker of softness to return. But it didn’t.
Whatever warmth had bloomed between us had gone cold again. And I didn’t know if it was ever coming back.
Damon turned away, walking to the window like I wasn’t even there. And in that moment, I knew. He thought everything between us had been an act.
The truth perched like a bird in my throat, wings beating to get out. I could have told him my name. My reason. My lies and the love that had started to grow in spite of them.
But I couldn’t.
I turned and walked out of the room with the truth still burning on my tongue and my heart breaking all over again.
The guards didn’t say a word as they escorted me down the corridor. I didn’t expect them to. But their silence felt like a verdict.
I held my head high anyway.
My boots struck the polished floors with soft, deliberate steps, but my chest was anything but calm. Damon’s cold approval clung to me like fog, heavy and damp, impossible to shake.
When I had asked for permission to leave, something in his gaze something distant.
Like I’d proven his worst suspicion right. And maybe I had.
had changed. The quiet burn I’d seen in him just days ago had been replaced with
Outside, the palace steps glowed with the late afternoon light. The sky was too clear for how I felt–mocking in its serenity. A royal transport waited at the edge of the courtyard, its doors open, sleek and black as polished onyx. My escort stood beside it, motionless.
I paused at the top step. Turned my head, just slightly. As if I might see Damon there. Coming to see me off.
I swallowed hard at the empty space and climbed into the carriage.
The interior smelled faintly of waxed leather seats/Velvet–lined windows. It should have felt luxurious. It felt like exile.
I settled into the corner, fingers knotting in my skirts. The moment the door shut, the weight of it all finally pressed into my stomach.
Ruby paced with worry. You shouldn’t feel guilty for loving your mother.
“I don’t, I feel guilty for… everything else,” whispered.
It was Damon’s face that haunted me- -how carefully he had pulled back his emotions behind that crown of his, how quickly the warmth had drained
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Chapter 54
from his voice. Permission granted. Like I was a soldier requesting leave, not the potential mate he had kissed under moonflowETS.
He thinks I used him.
The thought sliced through me. And worse, I didn’t even know how to correct it. I couldn’t tell him the truth. Not without putting everything at rid mother, my wolf, the fragile scaffolding I’d built just to survive.
The wheels began to turn. The palace rolled slowly out of view, swallowed by the trees as we passed through the gates. The shift from stone to forest was sharp. The palace had never felt like home, but now, seeing it disappear, it ached in a way I didn’t expect.
I didn’t lie to him about who I am, I thought, more to myself than to Ruby.
You lied about your name because you had no choice, she replied gently.
I didn’t lie about how I feel.
No response. The truth hung between us, raw and sharp.
I pressed a hand over my chest, where Damon’s letter rested in the pocket of my travel cloak. His words repeated in my mind like a chant. I won’t demand as a King. I’m offering a chance. For you. For us. And then, For your father, too.
That had been the shift, hadn’t it? A reminder of the strings always putting beneath our choices. Had Damon doubted me from the beginning? Or had Vanessa finally twisted the knife deep enough to make him bleed suspicion?
I didn’t know. But I hated that I hadn’t fought harder to explain. Hated more that I couldn’t. Not yet.
My hands curled into fists. I stared out the window at the winding road. Fields blurred past, dotted with trees and the first stirrings of frost along their
roots.
Somewhere beyond them was my Nightfall Pack’s territory. Somewhere beyond that…my mother. Pale and fading. She was the reason for this. The only thing that still tethered me to this deception.
I rested my head against the window. Cold seeping through it into my skin, numbing the ache behind my eyes.
I hadn’t cried yet. But I could feel it building. And when it came, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to stop it.
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