Chapter 44: Chapter 44 Seeds of Revenge
Roxanne’s POV
I positioned myself beside Luna Vivian, claiming the seat that should have been mine by right. My hand instinctively curved over the gentle swell of my belly, where Julian’s child grew stronger each day. His heir. The future Alpha of the Zenith Fang. Tonight was supposed to be my triumph, the evening where everything finally fell into place.
Instead, ice water seemed to flood my veins as I watched the scene unfolding before me.
Julian sat several chairs away, but he might as well have been on another planet. His attention was completely absorbed by her. Seraphina. The woman who had somehow managed to cling to the Luna title despite three years of his cold indifference.
Those three years had been my salvation. Julian had treated Seraphina like a shadow, barely acknowledging her presence at pack gatherings. He spoke to her only when absolutely necessary, touched her even less, and left her to stumble through pack politics alone. I had watched it all with growing satisfaction, certain that he would eventually cast her aside completely. The pregnancy, I believed, would be the final push he needed to make the obvious choice.
But tonight shattered every assumption I had carefully built.
Julian’s palm rested against Seraphina’s back with casual intimacy, his thumb tracing slow circles against the fabric of her dress. The gesture was so natural, so possessive, that bile rose in my throat. This wasn’t the distant, dutiful contact of a reluctant mate. This was the touch of a man claiming his woman.
Seraphina looked radiant in a way that made my chest tighten with fury. Her usual nervousness in crowds had vanished, replaced by genuine laughter that seemed to light up her entire face. The sound bubbled up from her like music, and Julian was drinking it in like a man dying of thirst.
When had he ever looked at me like that? When had his face ever softened into such tender fascination when I spoke?
My fingernails bit into my palms beneath the tablecloth as I watched him lean closer to catch her whispered words. His dark eyes never left her face, and when she gestured with her hands while telling some story, he actually smiled. Not the polite, controlled expression he wore for pack business, but a real smile that transformed his entire face.
The breaking point came when he reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering against her cheek for a heartbeat too long. The gesture was so intimate, so tender, that several pack members glanced between them with obvious surprise.
Then their gazes found me.
The pity in their eyes was almost worse than the shock. I could read their thoughts as clearly as if they had spoken aloud. Poor Roxanne, carrying his child while he rediscovers his mate bond. Poor Roxanne, who thought she had won when she was actually losing everything.
The humiliation burned through me like acid. Every pack member at this table knew my situation. They had watched me grow from a promising young woman into Julian’s lover, had supported my unofficial position in his life, had assumed that my pregnancy would secure my future as Luna. Now they were witnessing my public dismissal in real time.
Luna Vivian’s gentle voice cut through my spiraling thoughts. "Roxanne, dear, you look quite pale. Is the little one giving you trouble tonight?"
I manufactured a smile that felt like cracking glass. "Just tired, Luna Vivian. Pregnancy takes more energy than I expected."
"Of course it does," she replied warmly, though concern shadowed her eyes. "But what a blessing this child will be. A future Alpha for our pack." She lifted her wine glass, attempting to draw attention to our end of the table. "To the next generation of leadership!"
Several high-ranking pack members echoed her toast, their glasses raised toward me with genuine enthusiasm. These were wolves who had known me since childhood, who had watched me train for leadership, who believed in my potential to guide the pack alongside Julian.
But Julian didn’t even hear his mother’s words. He was completely lost in whatever Seraphina was murmuring to him, his head bent close to hers as if they were the only two people in existence. Seraphina seemed equally oblivious, her attention focused solely on him with an expression of such soft adoration that it made my stomach turn.
They were creating their own private world right here in front of everyone, dismissing not only me but the entire gathered pack leadership. The slight was so obvious that uncomfortable silence began spreading across nearby conversations.
As the awkward moment passed and chatter resumed, my attention snagged on another face at the table. Alpha Dorian sat within clear view of Seraphina, and something about his posture made me look closer.
He was watching her with the focused intensity of a predator. His strong jaw was set, his intelligent eyes tracking her every movement and expression. This wasn’t casual observation or polite interest in a fellow Alpha’s mate. This was hunger, raw and barely concealed.
Dorian’s gaze followed the line of Seraphina’s neck when she laughed, lingered on her lips when she spoke, and darkened perceptibly when Julian’s hand moved against her back. The desire radiating from him was almost tangible, and completely inappropriate given that Seraphina was supposedly a mated Luna.
A slow, cold smile began spreading across my face as the possibilities crystallized in my mind. The jealousy still burned in my chest like a living thing, but it was now joined by something far more dangerous. Calculation.
Julian might be foolishly distracted by his renewed interest in Seraphina, but that left openings. Vulnerabilities. And Alpha Dorian’s obvious fascination with my rival presented exactly the kind of opportunity I needed.
If Julian wanted to humiliate me publicly by lavishing attention on Seraphina, then perhaps it was time Seraphina learned what it felt like to have her perfect world threatened. Dorian wanted her, that much was clear. Now I just needed to figure out how to use that want to destroy everything she had stolen from me.
My smile widened as I watched the three of them, completely unaware of the storm I was already beginning to plan.
