While Sebastian was still in the main quarter and Matt was handling an emotional Laila so she wouldn’t direct her anger at their Luna in the future, in another part of Silver in the Kade’s other quarter where the hot sun was blazing against the glass window, Javier dismissed the omega worker who had lead Ember to his study room.

"I told you not to come here to see me until I have handled Sofia," he said even while his hands were reaching out to grip her closer to him and she was cooing in his ear like a satisfied lover, turning him on.

"I couldn’t help it, my Alpha. You know, after I heard the elders were deciding to crown you, my heart longed to find you and congratulate you on this milestone. I never thought things would turn out this way for us. I came to Silver never knowing I would find a man for me. You." She kissed his cheek and Javier grinned, liking that she was already addressing him as her Alpha.

"Why haven’t you sent Sofia away to her pack like you said you would?" Ember asked, trying to mask her irritation at the fact that he was delaying sending that she-wolf back to her family. She wouldn’t want to lose her second chance at becoming the supreme Luna the way she had lost to Viola.

"I don’t know what is wrong with her, she is refusing to go back home." Javier gritted out. He had thought Sofia would have wanted to return to her family pack the moment he gave her his permission and told her he no longer wanted her as a mate, but the she-wolf had taken a particular fondness for the word no and he still blamed that wolfless bitch for her defiance.

"You can leave her to me, my Alpha. I can deal with her and make her accept your rejection. I will have her gone before the day we are crowned." She wound her arms around his neck, rubbing herself against him.

"And don’t forget the promises you made me." She whispered into his ear, reminding him of what he promised her. "You promised to release Evan and Leni and give them back all the resources the late Alpha took from them. They are my friends and I don’t like them being locked away. I want them to attend our ceremony."

Ember had been shamed in public because of Viola, insulted and humiliated to the point she’d had to hide herself away, but she no longer wanted that. She wanted to come out of hiding and fix things. She would become the North princess again and earn back her respect if she gave Moonwillow everything they wanted.

She was still dizzy with happiness and she beamed when Javier said, "I plan to release them today. My cousin knew nothing about pack matters, blacklisting Moonwillow and your pack the way he did. As long as you give me a healthy heir, I will give you more than you ever wished for." Javier said proudly, completely unaware that everything he was being handed was a trap set to walk him straight into the shark’s mouth.

---

Viola didn’t wake from her blissful sleep until the sun was high in the sky, though despite that the room was pleasantly dim, the thick curtains drawn together to keep the sunlight out so it wouldn’t disturb her rest.

The first thing she noticed when she opened her eyes was the emptiness beside her. She felt her heart cave like a piece of it had gone missing, and her expression turned grim at the realization that he had already left.

Viola stared at the ceiling.

She had known he was leaving. He had told her himself, and she faintly recalled waking to find him dressing in the early morning light, and when she had smiled at him he had come forward and kissed her and whispered for her to sleep more.

Viola had wanted to fight the sleep but hadn’t been able to. "You’re leaving already?" She had whispered softly and he had nodded and kissed her again, catching her lip between his teeth and nibbling gently, sucking and exploring inside of her mouth.

"Sleep some more, love. You look tired. I have made some food you can heat up when you wake. Take care of yourself." He had kissed her one last time and then patted her hair until she drifted off again, something she had wanted so badly to fight so she could at least see him off or walk him to the door, despite the worry sitting heavy in her heart that he was traveling again so soon after narrowly escaping an assassination.

Viola lay there recalling everything that had happened between them last night and then again this morning, and a heat unlike anything she had known before climbed up to her cheeks, warming them all the way to the roots of her hair. She found herself missing him even though he hadn’t been gone more than a few hours. She couldn’t recall ever feeling this way toward Evan in the past, this warmth, this fluttering deep in her stomach, this tingling in her toes that made her curl them beneath the sheets.

She couldn’t believe how much time she had wasted feeling miserable rather than enjoying the presence of her mate and giving him a chance to show what she was missing. She had guarded her heart so fiercely that she had turned away every possibility of loving him, her fears building walls she had convinced herself were necessary.

And now she was lying in a bed that smelled like him, with the memory of his hands on her skin and his mouth kissing and licking every inch of her, the thought of it alone pulling a low heat between her thighs. All that careful distance felt like the most wasteful thing she had ever done in her life.

"Stupid." She whispered to the ceiling, slapping her head.

The more she thought about Sebastian, the more her heart felt warm and her skin tingled like little sparks were flying underneath it. The feeling was so foreign to her that she raised her arm and admired the goosebumps rising along the backs of them.

Viola didn’t know what Sebastian felt deep down, beyond his mate bond. She still wasn’t certain whether everything he did and said to her last night was because of their mate bond, but she was certain of her own feelings.

Maybe he felt everything. Maybe he felt nothing beyond mate bond attachment. Maybe she would never know for certain and would spend the rest of however long she had here reaching for an answer and doubting whether another mate would come along and sweep him away from her. Something she had feared might happen eventually because of this prophesied mate situation.

But she had decided it no longer mattered.

She would love him completely, without demands and without expectations. She would give him everything she had for however long she was allowed to have him, and when the time came, when he found the prophesied mate he could mark without killing, when she found her sister, and when the reason for her being here finally dissolved and there was nothing left tying her to this place, she would leave.

Quietly. Without burdening him.

Because he had already given her far more than the people she had once considered family ever had, even the one person she had spent years desperately trying to please.

Evan had used her without giving her anything in return except distrust and pain, but Sebastian had never used her or burdened her with pack duties, even when he technically should have. Instead, he had shown her care, affection, patience, and kindness.

And somewhere along the way, without her realizing when it had happened, her heart had become completely his.

Viola sat up slowly on the bed, the sheet pooling at her waist, and pushed her tangled hair back from her face.

Her body ached in a way it never had before, a deep, settled soreness between her legs that had nothing painful about it, and she sat with it for a moment.

Then she swung her legs off the bed and made her way to the bathroom on feet that were still slightly unsteady, something she refused to be embarrassed about, because the experience with her husband had been wonderful despite the little awkward moments the night before.

She smiled to herself recalling everything that happened between them.