Betrayed by My Ex, Marked by His Alpha Emperor Brother

Chapter 39

Elara’s POV

“You look exhausted, bestie.”

Seraphine’s voice slithered across the corridor like silk over broken glass. Sweet. Deliberate. Dripping with the kind of concern that meant she wanted to watch me flinch.

I kept walking. My boots clicked against the marble floor—steady, unhurried. The morning light streamed through the arched windows, painting long golden rectangles across the stone.

She fell into step beside me. Platinum hair swept over one shoulder. Red dress cinched tight at the waist. Perfume so thick it practically announced her several rooms before she arrived.

“Seriously, Elara.” She tilted her head. That practiced angle—chin down, eyes wide, the portrait of worried friendship. “Those shadows under your eyes. Have you been sleeping at all? You really should take better care of yourself. Some of us aren’t blessed with the kind of constitution that can handle... stress.”

I stopped walking.

Turned to face her.

She was smiling. That perfect, poisoned smile she wore like armor. But her eyes were watchful. Hungry. Waiting for the crack in my composure she could pry open with her manicured fingers.

“Actually,” I said, “I slept wonderfully.”

Her smile faltered. Just a fraction.

“Really? You don’t look—”

“I spent the evening unwinding. Clearing out some toxic influences.” I let the words settle between us. Light. Casual. The way you might describe tidying a cluttered room. “Very therapeutic. You should try it sometime.”

Seraphine’s left eyelid twitched. Barely perceptible. But I caught it.

I tilted my head, mirroring her earlier gesture. “Oh—by the way. Have you spoken with Isolde recently?”

The color drained from her face.

Not slowly. Not gradually. It vanished—like someone had pulled a plug and let all the blood rush downward. Her lips parted. Her perfectly arched brows drew together.

“Isolde?” She repeated the name like it had thorns. “What about her?”

“Nothing specific.” I smiled. “I just wondered if she’d been in touch. She seemed a bit... fragile, the last time I saw her. I do hope she’s taking care of herself.”

Seraphine’s throat moved. A hard, visible swallow.

“I’m sure she’s fine,” she said. But her voice had thinned. Lost its honeyed edge. “Isolde can handle herself.”

“Mmm.” I held her gaze. Steady. Unblinking. “Can she?”

For a long, delicious moment, neither of us moved. The corridor was empty. Morning light pooled around our feet. Somewhere distant, a door opened and closed.

Then Seraphine stepped back. Just one step—but it was enough. A retreat disguised as a repositioning.

“I should—I have correspondence to attend to.” She gathered her skirt. Her knuckles were white against the red fabric. “Excuse me.”

She turned on her heel and walked briskly toward the ladies’ rest chamber. Not running. Too proud for that. But her steps were faster than they needed to be.

I waited. Counted silently.

She stayed in the rest chamber for twenty minutes. Thanks to my heightened hearing, I caught the frantic, pulsing hum of her communication pendant activating through the walls. Three times. By the time I made it to the archive hall and set down my satchel, she finally emerged.

When she did, she looked wrong. Her posture was rigid—too straight, too controlled—in the way people hold themselves when they’re trying very hard not to fall apart. Her eyes kept darting to the corridor behind her, as if expecting something terrible to round the corner.

She’d tried to contact Isolde. That much was obvious. And Isolde hadn’t answered.

Good.

For the rest of the morning, Seraphine didn’t come near me. Didn’t speak to me. Didn’t even look in my direction. She drifted through her tasks like a ghost, flinching at sharp sounds, clutching her communication pendant every few minutes as if checking for a response that never came.

I filed the last of the dispatch ledgers and let the quiet settle around me.

Moonlight?

The response came immediately—a warm pulse at the back of my mind, like sunlight breaking through clouds.

I’m here.

Last night. The claws. The strength. That wasn’t normal, was it?

A pause. Not hesitation—consideration. My wolf spirit chose her words carefully.

No. It wasn’t.

When Isolde grabbed Valerius—when she threatened him—something broke open inside me. I moved faster than I’ve ever moved. Hit harder. My nails—they weren’t nails anymore. They were claws, Moonlight. Real claws. Like a shifted wolf’s.

I felt it too. Her voice was quiet. Almost reverent. That wasn’t civilian behavior, Elara. Common-blooded wolves don’t manifest partial shifts. Not without a full moon. Not without years of training. And certainly not from raw emotion alone.

I stared at the archive shelf in front of me without seeing it. Dust motes drifted through a shaft of morning light.

Then what am I?

I don’t know. But whatever runs in our blood—it’s old. And it’s powerful.

The Baroness took me in when I was eight. I turned the memory over carefully, like handling a cracked piece of glass. Before that... everything is fog. I remember fragments. Snow. Pine trees. A woman’s voice singing something low and sad. But whenever I try to reach deeper, it’s like hitting a wall.

Suppressed memories. Moonlight’s tone sharpened. Someone buried them deliberately. That kind of mental block doesn’t happen naturally.

The Baroness?

Who else had access to a child’s mind at that age?

I exhaled slowly. Eight years old. Orphaned—or so they’d told me. Taken in by the Valois family out of supposed charity. Given a name, a role, a place at the bottom of their household.

But what if it hadn’t been charity at all? What if they’d taken me because of what I was—and then made sure I’d never remember?

We need answers, Moonlight said. Our cub was threatened, and something ancient woke up to protect him. That kind of power doesn’t come from nowhere.

I know.

Be careful who you ask. If someone went to the trouble of sealing your memories, they won’t be pleased to learn the seal is cracking.

Before I could respond, a gentle hand touched my shoulder.

“Elara, dear?”

I blinked. Claire stood beside my desk. Her expression was soft with concern, her elegant features creased at the brow.

“You’ve been staring at that shelf for quite a while. Are you all right?”

I managed a smile. “Fine. Just thinking.”

“You’ve had a difficult few days.” She lowered her voice. “If you need to rest—”

The air in the archive hall shifted.

It wasn’t a sound. Wasn’t a movement. It was a presence—heavy, warm, unmistakable—that rolled through the room like a tide. Every woman at the nearby desks straightened instinctively. Claire’s hand fell from my shoulder.

Kaelen stood in the doorway.

He filled it. Not just with his height or the breadth of his shoulders, but with the sheer gravitational weight of him. Dark hair. Dark coat. Those deep gold eyes sweeping the room in a single, commanding pass before settling—with absolute precision—on me.

“Ladies.” A polite nod to the room. Then, warmer: “Elara. A moment.”

Claire squeezed my arm once and stepped away. I rose from my chair and crossed the hall toward him, painfully aware of every eye tracking my movement.

He didn’t step aside to let me through the doorway. Instead, he turned and walked ahead, his stride measured, leading me down the corridor toward his private office. The door was already open. Afternoon light poured through the tall windows, catching the dark wood of his desk and the leather of his chair.

He closed the door behind us. The click echoed.

For a moment, he just looked at me.

His gaze traveled slowly across my face. Pausing at the fading bruise along my jaw. The shadows beneath my eyes that Seraphine had so helpfully pointed out.

Something tightened in his expression. A muscle shifted along his jaw.

“They’re healing,” I said quickly.

“Not fast enough.”

“Kaelen—”

“Taking care of you and Valerius isn’t a burden, Elara.” His voice was low. Direct. Stripped of all ceremony. “It’s what I want to do. Not because I’m obligated. Because I want to.”

The words landed in my chest like a warm stone dropped into cold water. Ripples spreading outward.

He leaned against the edge of his desk. Crossed his arms. The posture was casual, but those gold eyes held nothing casual at all.

“I made a promise to a certain four-year-old,” he said. “Something about spending the afternoon together. He was very specific about the terms.”

My lips twitched. “Was he?”

“Extremely. There were conditions involving piggyback rides and some stories.”

The warmth spread further. Into my fingers. Behind my eyes.

“He’ll hold you to every word,” I said.

“I’m counting on it.” His gaze softened. Just for me. Just in this room, with the door closed and the afternoon light making his gold eyes glow like embers.

A slow smile curved one corner of his mouth. “I’ll be waiting for you after work. Dress comfortably.”