Her head dipped. “I’m sorry for judging you without knowing you.”
“Hey,”
She looked up, and I held her gaze, something soft blooming in my chest. “Maybe you had the wrong impression before. But you’re willing to see past that to the real me.” I smiled. “That matters more”
The air between us shifted, lighter, warmer. A seed had been planted-one that could grow into something stronger than mere acquaintance.
For the first time, I thought of Judy not just as another student or an ally by circumstance, but as a friend.
When we finally parted ways outside the caf?, she hugged me briefly. “Thank you again, Sera,” she whispered before hurrying off with renewed determination in her step.
I lingered in the night air, smiling faintly to myself. But the warmth didn’t last.
Because that’s when I heard her voice.
“Touching.”
My blood chilled. I turned, and there she was-my scheduled dose of poison, before I could even be bothered to miss her: Celeste.
CELESTE’S POV
Do you know how fucking humiliating it is to look for your partner, and the first place you can think to search is where his ex-wife works?
I didn’t know what I would do if I found Kieran in the hotel where Sera was working, but I certainly didn’t bargain for that nauseating spectacle where my scheming sister once again managed to convince a group of people that she was worth shit.
For years, Sera had been nothing more than a ghost trailing behind me, silent, invisible, desperate for scraps of attention.
I had been the sun-golden, adored, untouchable.
And now? Wolves who should have sneered at her weakness hung on her every word. And the weak and useless with which she should have been ostracized now looked at Sera like she was the moon incarnate.
It made me sick.
When she turned toward me, her eyes were sharp, wary. As if she expected my attack.
“Celeste,” she said flatly. “I would ask how you’re faring since your little accident, but it turns out I don’t care.
I narrowed my eyes. I didn’t even want to think about how spectacularly that plan had crumbled.
I’d expected carnage in the wake of my accident. Sure, my mother turning on Sera, willing to hit her, was satisfying, but seeing Kieran block her, watching Ethan run after her…
I put the images out of my mind because if I thought about them too much, I would lose my shit and start screaming in front of this caf?.
Instead, I folded my arms, painting my lips into a smile as I steered the topic away. “That was quite impressive in the lobby. You’ve certainly changed, sister. But you’ve had ten years to practice, haven’t you? Ten years studying the art of seduction? Because look at you now-every stray mutt within a ten-mile radius is suddenly under your spell.”
I couldn’t even tell if the jab landed because she didn’t flinch. Infuriating.
Instead, she stepped closer, her voice low, edged with something that made the fine hairs at my nape stir.”
Unlike you, Celeste, I don’t need masks. People trust me because I’m real. Because I treat everyone witn genuineness. Something you never quite mastered.”
I clenched my jaw. She was supposed to break under my words, not throw them back in my face.
“Keep telling yourself that,” I spat back. “Just because it fits so well, you’ve forgotten you have a mask of your own on?” I scoffed. “One day, Sera, I will rip that shit off and everyone will have proof of your-“
“Speaking of proof…” She leaned in, her breath ghosting my cheek, and her eyes glinted with menace that caught me off guard. “I have that.” Her lips curled. “Proof that your little stunt-the self-staged attack-was nothing more than a performance. If I wanted to, I could reveal to the world tomorrow that their precious
Princess Lockwood is nothing but a conniving bitch.”
My chest constricted.
It had all happened so fast; she couldn’t possibly have proof that I threw myself in front of that car-the car which Abby was driving at the perfect speed to make sure I wasn’t too gravely hurt.
Sera was bluffing-she had to be.
But…
My entire world was built on their trust, their adoration. If that cracked-if she exposed me-
She smiled then. A cold, dangerous thing that sent a shiver down my spine. “And the best part? Everyone believes me even without the proof. It wouldn’t take much to show them the truth about you. Especially since this isn’t even the first time you acted like a bitch, would it?”
My nails bit into my palms. Rage boiled under my skin, thick and choking. How dare she? How dare she think she could threaten me?
I wanted to spit back, to remind her she had always lived in my shadow, that she always would. That wouldn’t change after all this time.
But even as I opened my mouth, dread gnawed at the edges of my fury.
Because I had seen it tonight, hadn’t I? The way the crowd watched her. The way even wolves from other packs tilted their heads toward her voice.
If she kept this up, if she kept growing, it wouldn’t stop at Kieran and Ethan. The day would come when the whole world believed her over me.
Never. I would not allow it. I would rather die.
Or better yet, kill her.
“Celeste?” A man’s voice-familiar, unwelcome.
The sound froze me, cooling my fury into fear.
Sera’s eyes darted past me, curious. I watched them widen in recognition, and my heart jumped into my throat when she tilted her head respectfully and said, “Alpha Thomas.”
Shit, shit, shit.
CELESTE’S POV
“Alpha Thomas,” Sera greeted with a polite smile, her eyes darting curiously between us. “Is there anything I can help you with?”
I knew I should relax my shoulders, ease the look of horror on my face, but I was too busy trying to keep my heart from pounding out of my chest.
“Oh no,” that familiar voice answered, amusement edging his politeness. “I thought I recognized your…friend. Celeste-that is you, right?”
Sera arched a brow, and I took in a deep breath. It was time to end this before I gave the bitch another weapon in the arsenal she was building against me. spun, forcing a detached smile onto my face. “You must be mistaken,” I said quickly, my words sharp as glass, my eyes unable to meet his. “I don’t know you.”
Before he could speak and declare that I, in fact, knew him, before he could list out all the ways I knew him and doom me, I turned on my heel and fled into the night.
Cowardly? Perhaps. But better a hasty retreat than the ruin his presence threatened to unleash.
I barely remembered how I got from that caf? door to my car.
My heels clicked too fast across the pavement, my breath shallow, hands trembling as I gripped the door handle.
I slammed the door shut, sealing myself inside. The air inside felt suffocating, hot against my skin.
Sera’s voice still clung to me like a bloodsucking leech: proof.
I still didn’t believe it truly. And yet-her eyes… no, damn it, I couldn’t shake the feeling she had something real.
And then he had appeared.
Of all the people to walk out of the shadows-fucking Thomas Bane.
I pressed my palms hard into the steering wheel, forcing steady breaths. It was fine. Everything wasn’t ruined.
Surely he was only passing through. Surely-
A firm rap on my window shattered the fragile thought, and I flinched violently, head whipping toward the sound.
There he was, his face lit by the amber streetlight, his derisive smirk every bit as mocking as I remembered.
“Terrible performance, Celeste,” Thomas drawled, his voice muffled through the glass. “You’d think a cunning shrew like you would have better acting skills.”
My stomach dropped. My fingers scrambled uselessly at the ignition, but before I could start the engine, he motioned lazily with one hand. “Relax. I’m not here to expose you. I just stopped to say hello.”
I forced a scoff, rolling the window down an inch. “How…courteous of you.” My voice was steadier than I felt, though my pulse pounded violently at my throat.
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