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I stared at Lilith’s naked body, waiting like an offering on my bedroom floor. The sight that once would have stirred immediate hunger now left me cold. Her practiced pose, her calculated smile – it all seemed hollow.
“Get out,” I said, my voice flat.
Lilith’s eyes widened, genuine shock replacing her seductive expression. “What?”
“You heard me. Get dressed and leave.” I walked past her to my window, deliberately avoiding looking at her body again.
“Kaelen!” She scrambled to her feet. “I’ve been waiting for you.” Her voice dropped to the sultry purr that used to work on me. “I thought after dealing with that pathetic omega, you might need some real pleasure!
The comparison to Seraphina made my jaw clench. “Not interested.”
“Not interested?” Lilith echoed, disbelief coloring her voice. She approached me from behind, her hands sliding around my waist. “Since when are you not interested in this?”
I caught her wrists and removed her hands from my body. “Since now.”
When I turned to face her, fury had replaced her seduction. She made no move to cover herself, using her nakedness as both weapon and shield.
“This is about her, isn’t it?” Lilith spat. “That little omega bitch has gotten under your skin.”
“This has nothing to do with Seraphina,” I lied. “I’m just not in the mood.”
Lilith laughed, the sound harsh and brittle. “You’ve never ‘not been in the mood‘ before. Not with me.” She stepped closer again, her scent – too heavy with perfume – making me want to step back. “Remember all those nights? How many times I made you come? How many ways I pleased you that she never could?”
Each word grated against my nerves. The memories she invoked felt distant, like they belonged to someone else.
“Get dressed, Lilith,” I repeated, my patience thinning. “This isn’t happening tonight.”
She stared at me for a long moment, then abruptly turned away, snatching her clothes from the floor. I watched her yank on her dress, not bothering with underwear.
“Fine,” she snapped, whirling back to face me. “Reject me tonight. It doesn’t matter. Tomorrow the ceremony makes me your official concubine, and you won’t be able to push me away then.”
The reminder of tomorrow’s ceremony – a formality I’d agreed to months ago hit me like a
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physical blow. I’d forgotten entirely.
“We’ll see,” was all I said.
Her eyes narrowed dangerously. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means get out of my room. Now.”
Lilith’s face contorted with rage. “You’re making a mistake, Kaelen. Whatever she’s done to twist you around her finger won’t last.” She stalked toward the door, then paused with her hand on the knob. “I’ve been everything to you for years. Everything. And you’re throwing that away for what? An omega whore who’s probably fucked half the pack by now?”
The insult to Seraphina – so at odds with what I’d just discovered about her – made my temper flare. “Enough,” I growled. “Get. Out.”
The door slammed behind her so hard the walls shook. I ran a hand through my hair, trying to steady my breathing. The scent of Seraphina still clung to my fingers, a ghostly reminder of what had transpired between us. Of her softness, her heat. Her virginity.
A knock at the door interrupted my thoughts.
“What?” I barked.
The door opened to reveal my brothers. Orion’s face was tight with barely contained anger, while Ronan looked more bemused than anything.
“The whole hall heard your little lovers‘ quarrel,” Ronan said, shutting the door behind them. “Trouble in paradise?”
I ignored the question. “What do you two want?”
Orion stepped forward, nostrils flaring. “You reek of Seraphina.” His eyes darkened. “What happened to ‘stay away from her, brother? Or does that rule only apply to Ronan and me?”
“Nothing happened,” I lied.
“Bullshit.” Orion moved closer, his fists clenched. “I can smell her arousal all over you. You
touched her.”
“Like you only kissed her?” I countered. “Don’t play innocent, Orion. I caught you with your tongue down her throat.”
“At least I’m not a fucking hypocrite,” he snarled. “You lectured me about staying away from her, then ran straight to her room the minute my back was turned.”
“I didn’t fuck her, I said, though the admission felt like defeat. “Unlike you, apparently.”
Orion’s eyes widened fractionally before narrowing again. “What did she tell you?”
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“Enough to know you did more than kiss her.” The memory of Seraphina’s taunting words – *Orion did it better* – made my blood boil all over again.
“You’re lying,” Orion said, but uncertainty flashed across his face. “She wouldn’t say that.”
“Wouldn’t she?” I stepped closer to him, our faces inches apart. “She seemed pretty eager to compare notes.”
Orion’s fist connected with my jaw before I could react. The blow snapped my head sideways, pain blooming across my face.
“You son of a bitch,” he growled.
I retaliated immediately, tackling him backward into the wall. Picture frames crashed to the floor as we grappled.
“Stop it!” Ronan shouted, attempting to separate us. “Both of you, enough!”
He managed to wedge himself between us, shoving us apart with considerable force. I stumbled back, tasting blood where my teeth had cut into my cheek.
“Have you both lost your minds?” Ronan demanded, glaring at each of us in turn. “Fighting over Seraphina? The omega we’re supposed to hate?”
“He started it,” Orion spat, straightening his shirt.
“I don’t care who started it,” Ronan said, his voice hard. “What I care about is that you’re both apparently getting intimate with our mate behind my back while pretending she means nothing to you.”
Neither Orion nor I responded. The accusation hung in the air between us, impossible to deny.
Ronan’s laugh was bitter. “The hypocrisy is almost impressive. We all swore we’d never forgive her, never touch her except to produce an heir. Yet here you are, fighting over who gets to fuck her first.”
“It’s not like that,” I muttered, though I wasn’t entirely sure what it was like anymore.
“No?” Ronan raised an eyebrow. “Then explain why my brothers, who have shared everything from childhood toys to women, are suddenly at each other’s throats over an omega they claim to despise?”
I had no answer. Neither did Orion.
Ronan shook his head, disgust plain on his face, “Figure your shit out. And maybe try being honest with yourselves while you’re at it. He headed for the door. “I’m done playing referee in whatever twisted game this is.”
The door closed behind him with a soft click that somehow felt more final than Lilith’s dramatic
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Orion and I faced each other in tense silence.
“Stay away from her,” I finally said.
“You first,” he replied coldly.
We stared each other down for another long moment before Orion turned and followed Ronan out, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
I sank onto the edge of my bed, exhaustion suddenly overwhelming me. The events of the night played on repeat in my mind: Seraphina’s response to my touch, her cruel words afterward, the fight with my brothers.
None of it made sense. How had one omega girl managed to drive this wedge between us? Between three brothers who had been inseparable since birth?
The answer lurked at the edges of my consciousness, but I refused to acknowledge it. Refused to admit that perhaps what I felt for Seraphina wasn’t hate at all. That perhaps it never had
been.
No. I had spent too many years nurturing my bitterness, feeding my anger with memories of her betrayal. The pain when she’d rejected me, mocked my feelings, tossed aside my confession as if it meant nothing.
I couldn’t let go of that hurt. Couldn’t forgive her for what she’d done.
I hated her. And it had to stay that way.
