Chapter 36: 36: A Different Man
"Soren..." The name left my lips no louder than a whisper.
My eyes were wide with horror, and I knew that my expression must’ve been the gold prize for Violet at the moment, but I didn’t care. All I could hear was a loud ringing in my ears, followed by the shattering of my heart.
"I hope you’ve had a good night’s rest," Violet said. She calmly fed Soren a bite of the fruit before she turned back to look at me. "We’ve been so worried about you when we realized you were missing. The afterparty wasn’t quite the same without you."
All throughout, I kept my eyes glued onto Soren, but he refused to look me in the eye.
The back of my eyes felt hot all of a sudden, and I could feel my tears already starting to gather. I felt choked up, as though there was an elephant sitting on my chest, preventing me from breathing.
In the end, I had to forcibly tear my eyes away from him. No matter how long I stared, he wasn’t going to pay me a sliver of attention. Trying to get him to look at me was only going to feed into Violet’s delight.
"I didn’t realize you wanted me there at the afterparty," I said instead, turning my gaze onto her.
She grinned brightly, and if I didn’t know any better, I might’ve even thought she genuinely missed me at the party. Although I imagined she did. After all, it was a celebration of her wedding to my mates. It would’ve been the perfect opportunity to gloat if I had been present, but alas, I wasn’t.
Perhaps Violet thought it was a shame I wasn’t there, and was trying to make up for the lost opportunity of last night.
"Of course I did," she said. "We all did. After all, you’re still a member of the pack. Willow was like a sister to me. By extension, that makes you my sister as well."
I resisted the urge to gag. Willow was neutral towards me at best, indifferent and cold at worst. However, the same couldn’t be said about the rest of my family. Ironically, that also meant that if Violet wanted to join in, she would fit perfectly with my brother.
"How unfortunate that I couldn’t make it then," I said, forcing a joyless smile. "What am I summoned for?"
"Straight to the point," Violet said under her breath, smiling. "I like it."
Slowly, she stood up. When she got on her feet, she leaned down and pressed a kiss on Soren’s lips. The latter froze for a second, but quickly leaned into the touch of his new chosen mate, kissing her back with fierce passion.
A sharp jolt of pain shot through my chest the moment their lips touched. And for every second they kissed, the pain dragged on and further intensified. It took every bit of control I had left in my body to prevent myself from going up and tearing both their faces out.
I resisted, trying my best to keep my lips from quivering. However, I bet I looked as though someone had just fed me a spoonful of shit.
When Violet finally pulled away, the pain instantly subsided. She grinned sweetly at Soren before sauntering over to me, stopping only a few steps away, and placing her hand on her hips.
"I have spoken to the Alphas," she said. "You are given the honor to serve me, the new Luna of Shadowclaw. Your station has been officially switched, and you will move into the main wing of the pack house effective tonight."
"What?" I blurted out, furrowing my eyebrows. "Why?"
"Because I like you," Violet said. She was a great liar, I would give her that. She had said it so smoothly that any dumber person would’ve believed her. "The Alphas have all agreed."
"I find it hard to believe that that is an arrangement you would want," I muttered through gritted teeth, my voice low.
Something flashed in Violet’s eyes, but it was gone before I could discern what it was.
She lightly patted my cheeks, and I stayed as still as I could, trying not to flinch.
"It is," she said. "More importantly, it is the Alphas’ arrangement. It’s to make sure you’re safe."
"Safe?" I echoed.
The large doors to the dining room creaked open, and both Violet and I turned to look in their direction. By the doorway stood Cassian, and his eyes lit up when he saw Violet.
"There you are," he said. "I’ve been looking everywhere for you―"
When he realized I was standing right next to her, his expression darkened almost immediately.
"Cassian!" Violet exclaimed gleefully.
She practically bounced her way over, wrapping her arms around him and jumping into his arms. He caught her, placing a kiss square on her lips.
"I was just telling Briar here about the new work arrangements," she said. She turned back to look at me, her smile innocent and sweet. "She’s excited to be near us."
My eyes widened. She was just putting words into my mouth!
"I―"
"As long as she remembers her place," Cassian spat out. He glared daggers at me, and if looks could kill, I would’ve been long dead and buried.
Then, he turned back to look at Violet, his expression softening instantly.
"Come," he said to her. "Rowan is looking for us."
Violet nodded once, her smile gentle as she followed Cassian out of the dining room. I watched, my feet rooted to their place. My whole body felt as though it had been frozen, and I couldn’t find the strength to move even a muscle.
Eventually, I heard the scrape of the chair, followed by a set of footsteps. Soren had risen from his seat and made his way towards the door.
Whatever energy I could not muster suddenly surged through my body. I ran up to him at once, grasping his wrist and forcing him to turn back. When he did, his cold eyes finally met mine for the first time, and I felt my blood turn cold.
This was not the same man who had looked at me so tenderly just hours ago.
"Soren, what is the meaning of this?" I asked, my voice shaking. "Why are you like this?"
