Leon’s POV
My eyes widened, and for a heartbeat, I couldn’t even breathe. He knew. The secret I had guarded with my life—the one thing that could ruin my standing and my future—was sothing he’d seen through as if it were glass.
"You knew?" I swallowed nervously, my grip on his collar loosening just enough for him to pull away.
"Yes," Ethan said, his voice maddeningly calm as he smoothed out the wrinkles in his shirt. "It was so obvious, Leon. The way you look at her when you think no one is watching... the way your scent spikes every ti I touch her. It isn’t exactly a mystery."
I felt a cold sweat break out across my neck. Panic flared in my chest, sharper than the anger from a mont ago. "Keep your voice down," I hissed, glancing at the door as if my brothers or father might be pressed against the wood. "Don’t let them know. Not my brothers, and especially not my father."
Ethan scoffed, a short, dry sound that made feel like a complete fool. He sat back down, crossing one leg over the other, completely at ease.
"You have no business with , Leon," he said, dismissively waving a hand. "If you wanted her, you should have claid her two years ago. Or this morning. Or literally any ti before she looked in the eyes and accepted my proposal."
"You think it was easy?" I barked, the words tearing out of my throat before I could stop them. "You think I didn’t try to say it? I tried to tell everyone. I loved Scarlett long before I ever felt the pull of the bond. I loved her before I even knew we were mates, but—"
"But what?" Ethan mocked, his voice cutting through my defense. He leaned forward, his eyes narrowing with annoyance. "You are scared, Leon. You’re terrified to tell the whole world that Scarlett is your mate. And why? Because her parents were branded as traitors?"
He stood up again, closing the distance between us until he was towering over , his presence heavy and suffocating.
"Scarlett is not her parents," he spat. "She is a young girl who has suffered in silence while you, her mate, watched it. You let her scrub floors. You let her eat scraps. And now you’re upset because soone else is willing to give her a better life?"
I stood there, frozen. Every word he spoke felt like a physical blow to my chest. I wanted to hit him. I wanted to shift and tear the house down. But I couldn’t move.
The weight of my cowardice held in place. I had spent two years hiding the truth to protect my title, thinking I was being noble, but looking at Ethan, I realized I had just been a coward.
"If you don’t have the backbone to stand up to your father," Ethan said, turning back toward the balcony, "then you don’t deserve her. In one month, she’ll be my wife. And you can’t do anything about it."
"One month," I whispered.
"One month," he repeated, his voice trailing over his shoulder. "And the clock starts now, Leon. If I were you, I’d spend that ti figuring out who you actually are. Because right now, you’re just a boy being controlled by your fathers."
I turned and walked out, my legs feeling heavy. The hallway was dim, the shadows of the ancestors’ portraits mocking as I passed. I thought about what he said. A boy playing at being a man. It was the truth. I had let my father’s rules and the pack’s judgnt dictate my life while Scarlett—the other half of my soul—carried the weight of a cri she didn’t commit.
I reached my room and locked the door, leaning my back against it. My wolf was pacing in the back of my mind, his eyes glowing with a dark, restless energy. He wanted Scarlett. He wanted to claim her and run, to leave the titles and the politics behind.
But I knew it wasn’t that simple.
I walked over to my desk and pulled out a small, wooden box hidden beneath a stack of old journals. Inside was a necklace I had gotten for Scarlett on her eighteenth birthday... that was the day I wanted to confess my feelings for her.
"I’m sorry," I whispered to the empty room.
The weight of the secret was starting to crush . And as I looked at the box, a new, terrifying thought flashed in my head. The thought of losing my Scarlett to Ethan... it was sothing I couldn’t imagine.
"No..." I whispered as I shook my head. "I’ll have to do sothing..."
A sudden knock ca on my door, interrupting my thoughts.
"Who is it?" I snapped, my voice trembling before I forced it into a cold, steady tone.
"Alpha Lennox requests your presence in the study, young Alpha," the guard’s voice muffled through the heavy wood.
I quickly shoved the box back into its hiding spot. I had to compose myself. I couldn’t walk into my father’s office looking like a man who had just been dismantled by his rival. I splashed cold water on my face, straightened my collar, and stepped into the hallway.
I t Liam and Leo on the way. They looked as rattled as I felt, their expressions tight and frustrated. We didn’t speak; there was nothing left to say. We simply walked in silence until we reached the large doors of the study.
We stepped into the room, and the air imdiately felt different, with the scent of heavy perfu filling the air.
Father Lennox was seated at his massive desk, his face blank. Beside him sat Father Levi, his expression equally stern.
But it was the three strangers that stopped us in our tracks.
Seated across from our fathers were three young, elegantly dressed won. My breath caught in my throat. They were triplets—just like us. They looked exactly alike, though they had different hair colors to distinguish them: one with hair as dark as midnight, one a blonde, and the third a soft, chestnut brown.
They offered us sheepish, fluttery smiles as we entered, but I felt nothing but a sharp wave of irritation. Even my wolf snarled at them. Ignoring their smiles, I looked directly at my fathers, my jaw tight.
"You sent for us," I said, not even trying to hide my irritation.
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