“Piers attacked the Luna Princess,” Grayson said. His voice was more measured now, lacking every emotion except coldness. “Handle it. He needs to learn to stay loyal to Josie. He also needs a lesson about not touching things that don’t belong to him.”
Lilian’s POV
Early the next morning, as I tried to sneak down to the kitchen for breakfast, I barely made it into the main hallway, before Josephine spotted me, rushed toward me, and slapped me across the face.
I hadn’t even seen her coming. It wasn’t until I felt the sting on my cheek that I understood what had happened.
“Piers was attacked last night,” she said. “He’s still being looked at by the doctors. Do you have any idea what you did? Did you tell his attackers to be so brutal when you hired them?”
“I didn’t-“
“You couldn’t accept that he didn’t want you? You had to hurt him for his rejection?”
“He attempted to assault me,” I said firmly, not allowing her to cut me short this time. “He tore my dress.”
“You are lying. That’s what you do. Ophelia told me. You lie about everything.”
Yet even as she said it, I saw the way her gaze wavered, like she wasn’t so sure.
“This isn’t the first time he’s done something like this, is it?” I asked, feeling sick to my stomach for all the women who could have experienced the same terror as me, as well as for Josie herself, who was constantly gaslit about the behavior. “He’s not a good person, and you know that. Piers and Ophelia are trying to twist it, but I did not encourage what he did.”
“Don’t lie,” she said. “I hate liars.”
“I’m not lying to you,” I said, suspecting that I might be the only person presently in her life telling her the full truth. To further convince her, I decided to reveal a hidden truth about me. “I’m still a virgin. When I lose my virginity, it won’t be to some stranger in a hallway. Not if I have anything to say about it.”
She seemed stunned. “But Grayson…”
My cheeks heated. “We haven’t done that… yet…’
For the first time since I met Josephine, she seemed utterly out of words. She moved around me and walked away without a single word more.
I watched her until she rounded the corner. She was the one who slapped me, who accused me of terrible things, yet I wasn’t angry. Instead, I only felt pity for her. And worry.
Maybe the bond I felt for her remained, the way she cared for Grayson like how I cared for Ronan. Whatever the cause, I felt protective of her.
I just wished there was more I could do for her. As helpless as I was here, I could only watch and pray she would realize the kind of monster she was engaged to, and get out before it was too late.
Grayson’s POV
I laid on the bed, allowing all of my muscles to relax, playing pretend as I had grown accustomed to doing. Being trapped in my mind with my thoughts was the worst of it, sometimes, but while I hid, I plotted, thinking of ways to track the traitor in my midst, of ending him so I could go back to living.
At least, that was how it had been before Lillian came into my life. Now, begrudgingly, I contributed part of my thinking to her. Her body was appealing, as much as I wanted to deny it, but she was infuriating and a liability. If anyone could throw a wrench into my plans, unknowingly or otherwise, into my plans, it was her. I needed to rethink all of my plotting, taking her into consideration.
She added so much complication to everything. I should have thrown her out the first day, but…
Goddess preserve me, there was something about her. My wolf liked her. That alone was enough for me to tolerate her. At least for now.
As I laid there, I felt a presence approach. Stretching out my senses, I knew it was my sister and further committed to my act.
She knocked lightly, waited a minute, and then opened the door, slinking inside. She moved toward the end and sat on the end of it. Unlike her, she was silent.
“I wish you were awake,” she said, and a sense of guilt stabbed through me.
The logical reasons to hide my true condition from Josie outweighed the emotional ones to tell her, but she was still dear to me. Someday I would tell her the truth and beg her forgiveness. She would give me forgiveness instantly, I was sure, but I didn’t know if I would ever forgive myself for this deception I knew would hurt her.
Kour… surrogate… is the absolute worst,” Lillian said, quieting my thoughts. “If you were awake, I would tell you what she tried to do to Piers while you were here asleep. You wouldn’t tolerate it. At all. Piers is family, right? Even if we aren’t married yet. Your surrogate is just a womb to you. One you didn’t even really get to pick yourself, even if your wolf is okay with it.”
She turned away from me. I peeked open one eye, seeing the curve of her back as she slumped forward in defeat.
“I’m being mean because I’m being defensive,” she said. “I said this was Lillian’s fault, but is it? The way Piers was holding her dress, it really had seemed like he grabbed it, not like she had tried to lower it and he was trying to stop her. And then the attack… No one even talks to Lillian. Could she really order someone to hurt Piers and have anyone listen? But who else could have done it?”
She covered her face with her hands, her voice muffled now. “I don’t know what to do. If you were awake, you’d have the answers, but…” She started to turn back to me so I shut my eyes. “You can keep a secret, right?”
She waited like I would actually answer. Maybe she was building up whatever courage she needed to actually say the words. “What if she’s right? What if Piers…” She let the words hang for a long moment before continuing. “I don’t know if Piers is right for me. I’ve been wondering that for some time. But it’s too late, isn’t it? The date is set. The preparations are being made. I have to see this through now. For better or worse. That’s the vows.”
If I could tell her that I was awake, I would shake her and remind her that she had yet to take those vows. An engagement was nothing. It could be broken in a blink, with Piers out on his ear by the end of the day.
But I couldn’t say a word. So I stayed still and quiet, and inwardly hated myself for allowing my sister to hurt.
I’d find some way to free her of this mess though, even if I couldn’t do this directly. If she didn’t think Piers was right for her, then he wasn’t. That marriage would never happen so long as I breathed, even if I couldn’t let it be known that I was awake.
Josie didn’t say much more. Just lingered for a while and then left.
I continued to boil in frustration, even when Laila walked in with some breakfast for me.
“I brought you some fruit,” she said, bringing the tray closer.
I opened my eyes and glared at her. He paused in her step, likely from the intensity of my glare.
“Do you… not like fruit?”
“Bring it here,” I commanded.
She did, placing the tray on the bed beside me. Then she started to sit.
“Don’t jostle the bed while I’m eating,” I snapped. I hated the sound of my own voice, grumpy and intolerable. Lillian was a frustration that I couldn’t trust, but she hadn’t done anything in the present moment to earn this ire.
Even so, I was in a foul mood and she was here. That was enough.
She looked at the bed, then around at the chair. Without a complaint, she went to the chair and pulled it closer to the bed. She sat.
I ignored her, turning to look out the window as I ate.
My wolf though, traitor that it was, walked toward Lillian. Taking point beside her, he rested his head in her lap.
She gently combed her fingers through his fur, and he practically purred like a kitten.
Despicable, I condemned in my thoughts, while pushing away a vile sort of feeling that seemed a lot like envy.
Lilian’s POV
“I’ve just received word,” the Prime Beta said as Grayson and I were in Grayson’s room. Sitting upright, Grayson was looking through the pack notes of the day. He looked from them to his Beta. I was in a nearby chair, attempting to mend my torn gown.
Grayson had already told me to simply discard it, but knowing that Josephine had picked it out for me made it special. Also the gown was so beautiful, to throw it away felt like a waste. It deserved to be worn to an occasion where it wouldn’t be so rudely ripped.
“What’s the news?” Grayson prompted.
“The Queen herself has suggested that Lillian attend the Moon-Blessed Hunt.”
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