apter 132


    Freya’s POV


    .


    +8 Pearls


    Caelum’s hand trembled. The two silver bands slipped in his palm, nearly tumbling to the stone beneath our feet. The cheap metal caught the sunlight in a way that mocked us both.


    Aurora stiffened at his side, her eyes zing as she snapped, “How dare you im these rings as yours, Freya? Caelum bought them with the money he bled for, building SilverTech Forgeworks from the ground up. If you have any pride at all, buy your own rings with your own earnings instead of clinging to the wealth of others!”


    I let out a lowugh, one sharp enough to draw a hush from the crowd gathered along the pier. My gaze slid toward Caelum, slow and cutting, as if to peel back his mask. “Is that so? That money is yours, Caelum? Then may the Fates grant that you keep earning it.”


    Aurora lifted her chin with the arrogance of a newly risen hawk, a gleam of triumph shing in her eyes. “Without you dragging him down, he’ll soar higher than ever.” Her hand brushed the emerald ring on her finger. “Especially with me by his side.”


    She thought herself untouchable. Fool.


    “You haven’t learned your lesson,” I murmured, stepping past Caelum. The crowd shifted as I closed the distance between myself and Aurora, each step deliberate, my wolf prowling beneath my skin. I halted before her, so close I could hear the quickening of her breath. “Last time, I stripped a ne from your throat–jewel stolen in the shadows, a gift he gave you while still bound to me. And yet here you stand again, unting the emerald ring he bought while still tied to my bloodline. Is it that you’ve worn another’s jewels so long, you truly believe they belong to you?”


    Her cheeks med crimson, the mask cracking. “Thief? You dare call me that? This ring was a gift. Caelum gave it to me!”


    My lips curved into a de of a smile. “Did he? Then tell me, Aurora–why was I forced to wear trinkets so cheap they wouldn’t fetch a coin in the markets, while you drape yourself in a stone worth millions? Was his love so thin for me, yet so generous for you?”


    The air shifted, whispers hissing like dry grass in the wind. Wolves from every pack began murmuring to one another, their eyes darting between Aurora’s flushed face and Caelum’s rigid stance. The taste of scorn thickened in the air.


    Aurora faltered, her voice rising shrill. “Caelum gave me jewels because I saved his life! Tell them, Caelum! I pulled you from death’s jaws when no one else would. What did she ever give you?”


    A snarl threatened my throat. I seized her right hand, ws of my will tightening over her fingers until she gasped.


    “What are you doing?!” she yelped, panic breaking through her facade.


    Caelum lurched forward, fury zing–but Ss moved like a shadow, pressing a hand to his shoulder and pinning him where he stood.


    “Take another step,” Ss said softly, his voice as calm and inexorable as the sea, “and I will shatter your leg.”


    The crowd froze. The menace in his tone carried weight far heavier than mere words. He was the Irond Alpha–when he spoke, others listened. No one dared move.


    Caelum’s face contorted with helpless rage. “Whitmor, you would enable her cruelty? You’re letting Freya abuse her ce, hiding behind your strength!”


    Ss’s lips curled into something between disdain and amusement. “If she wishes to wield power, I will lend her mine. If she chooses to crush you, I will stand beside her. That is what it means when an Alpha decides where his loyalty lies.”


    The words dropped like thunder across the pier Gasps broke out, shock shing across every face. Even my kin–the Stormveil elders gathered–stared wide–eyed.


    Jocelyn Thorne’s face twisted in disbelief and fury. For years she had clung at Ss’s side, blinded and broken, yet he had never spoken such words for her. Yet for me–for the Bloodmoon–born wolf she despised–Ss dered himself my shield.


    Her eyes burned with venom as she red at me, teeth grinding.


    But I ignored her. My focus stayed locked on Aurora. I dragged her with me, her wrist clutched in my grip, toward the edge


    11:29 AM PP.


    of the dock. Her breath came in ragged bursts.


    “What–what are you doing?!” she shrieked, panic rising. “Freya, don’t be reckless!<b>” </b>


    +8 Pearls


    I smiled coldly. “You said you were Caelum’s savior, that you plucked him from the ckwater when he was bleeding from eight des. Such a feat would mean your swimming is unmatched. Surely these waters hold no fear for you.”


    Her eyes widened, confusion chasing terror across her face. She hadn’t yet understood.


    Then, with a swift twist, I pinched the emerald from her finger. The gem slid free with satisfying ease, glittering in my palm. And with the same motion, I released her hand.


    Aurora staggered backward, heels slipping on wet stone, and plunged into the sea.


    The crowd erupted.


    “Help! Help me!” she screamed, arms thrashing wildly, her cries echoing against the cliffs.


    Caelum surged forward, but Ss’s grip hardened, keeping him caged. Rage carved deep lines across Caelum’s face, his wolf straining against the leash of control.


    From behind, Jocelyn’s voice cut the air, shrill with usation. “Freya Thorne! Are you mad? You’ll drown her! You’ll stain your hands in blood out of petty jealousy!”


    “Jealousy?” I let the word drip with contempt. My eyes swept the water, calm and ssy, where Aurora sshed like a frightened pup. Then I raised my voice, carrying it over the waves. “Strange, isn’t it? For one who imed to dive into the raging ckwater and drag a half–dead Alpha from its depths, she flounders here in waist–deep tide.”


    I bent, seizing her by the arm, and hauled her upright. The sea only licked at her waist, no higher. Aurora’s face med crimson as she realized the truth–that her performance had been nothing but a lie unraveling in the open.


    I turned then, my gaze locking onto Caelum. The emerald gleamed in my palm, proof of his betrayal. My wolf’s growl rumbled beneath my words.


    “Tell me, Caelum,” I said, each syble deliberate, unyielding. “Do you still believe Aurora was the one who saved you? That she, and not another, dragged you from the ckwater when eight knives pierced your flesh?”


    The silence that followed was thick, electric, heavy with judgment. Every eye on the dock pressed into him.


    And for the first time, I saw doubt fracture the mask of the Silverfang Alpha.