Chapter 4

“Rhea,” Daemon said as he reached for his jacket, “something urgent has come up at the office, and I need to deal with it. Stay here and finish your dinner. I’ll return for you when I’m done.”

He left before I could respond, and the moment the door closed behind him, the warmth in the room disappeared.

Mrs. Targaryen’s expression hardened.

“You have less than a month,” she said without hesitation. “If you are not carrying Daemon’s heir by then, you should not bother returning here. Is that clear?”

Her husband followed with an even harsher warning. “You came into this family with nothing. You have no pack lineage, no influence, and both of your parents are gone. Without Daemon, you have no standing at all. Do not assume this family will continue accepting you indefinitely.”

Their words settled over me like stones.

I remained seated, saying nothing because there was nothing I could say that would change their minds. What could I possibly do when even the man who was supposed to stand beside me had already chosen to leave?

Daemon never returned that evening, so I made my way back to the pack house alone.

The moment I entered, however, I stopped.

Yvette was already there.

She was stretched comfortably across the sofa, dressed in a silk nightgown and casually eating chips as though she had every right to be in my home.

“I thought you were going to the motor race,” I said quietly. “You told us you would be staying out tonight.”

She looked up and smiled.

“Oh, Rhea, I forgot to mention something. I did go to the race, but I left before it really got started.”

She tilted her head, and I noticed several fresh marks along her skin.

“I met my mate near the garage,” she continued with a satisfied smile. “He recognized me, and things became rather intense.”

My stomach tightened.

“When did you find your mate?” I asked. “You never told me about him.”

“It was about nine months ago,” she replied casually. “It happened shortly after I returned from studying abroad. You remember how much I missed Daemon, so I decided to stay here instead of moving back to the main pack house.”

She paused, watching my expression.

“That was when Daemon introduced me to him.”

My breathing became uneven.

Nine months ago.

The same period when everything between Daemon and me had begun to change.

Before I could ask anything else, I felt familiar hands settle on my shoulders.

“Sweetheart,” Daemon said gently from behind me. “You look exhausted. It has been a long day. Why don't you go upstairs and rest? I’ll prepare a warm bath for you.”

His voice was tender, almost painfully normal.

I turned toward him but said nothing.

I no longer had the strength to question him.

I went into the bathroom, closed the door, and began changing. Only after I had started did I realize that I had forgotten to bring clean clothes.

I opened the door slightly.

Then I froze.

Daemon was standing in the hallway with Yvette.

They were far too close, and the way he looked at her was nothing like the innocent concern he had shown me moments earlier.

Yvette noticed me first.

For one suspended second, our eyes met.

There was no shame in hers.

Only triumph.

I immediately stepped back into the bathroom, grabbed my clothes, and locked the door.

My hands were trembling so badly that I could barely hold them.

The bath was already running, so I lowered myself into the water and allowed the heat to surround me. Yet even then, I could not escape what I had seen.

My mind returned to five years earlier, to our mating ceremony on the island.

During the celebration, I had glanced only once at another male wolf who happened to pass nearby.

Daemon had reacted as though I had committed some unforgivable betrayal.

He had kept me inside our room for an entire week, refusing to let me leave or even interact with another male.

When I finally became too exhausted to argue, he had held me against his chest and whispered, “Rhea, you don't need anyone else when you have me. Promise that you will never give another male your attention.”

And I had promised.

I had kept that promise for five years.

I never flirted. I never entertained another male. I never even allowed myself to wonder what life with someone else might have been like.

Yet Daemon had demanded absolute loyalty from me while secretly giving his own to another woman.

I sank deeper into the water, staring blankly ahead.

What had I done to deserve this?

When I finally emerged, the house was quiet again.

Yvette was gone.

Daemon sat nearby as though the evening had been completely ordinary. On the table rested a plate of sliced fruit and a steaming cup of ginger tea.

He stood and handed it to me.

“I know your heat cycle is approaching,” he said gently. “Drink this. It should help you feel more comfortable.”

I accepted the cup.

The warmth seeped into my fingers, but there was nothing warm left inside me.

How could he stand there so calmly after everything that had happened?

Only moments earlier, he had been with her, yet now he was behaving like the devoted Alpha I had once believed him to be.

That night, sleep refused to come easily.

My thoughts kept circling the same question until exhaustion finally dragged me under.

How many versions of Daemon were there?

Sometime before dawn, I finally fell asleep.

“Rhea!”

I woke with a start.

Daemon had jolted upright beside me, his breathing ragged and his wolf visibly restless beneath the surface. The instant he realized I was awake, he pulled me into his arms and held me tightly.

“Please don't leave me,” he whispered, his voice trembling. “Rhea, I don't want to lose you.”

I remained motionless against him.

“What happened to you?” I asked quietly.

His eyes were red, and his face looked as though he had spent the entire night fighting some invisible battle.

“I dreamed about you,” he said. “I saw you break our bond and walk away. I tried to reach you, but you kept disappearing until I couldn't find you anymore.”

His arms tightened around me.

“Then I woke up and you were still here beside me. I could still feel you in my arms, and for a moment, I thought I had actually lost you.”

My throat tightened.

For a brief moment, I almost told him the truth.

I almost whispered that his nightmare was not a nightmare at all.

That the day he feared was already approaching.

Instead, I looked at him silently and thought the words I could not yet bring myself to say.

It will happen soon, Daemon.