Nina stood outside the grand hall doors for longer than she should have.

The guards on either side kept their eyes forward, not looking at her, not moving. Her hands were loose at her sides as her mind worked. She tilted her head to the right, thinking, then to the left.

Then she exhaled.

The plan was to know how mad he was so she would know what to do next. Fairly good plan, until she entered the hall.

He was at the far end of the hall, in the Alpha’s seat, one elbow on the armrest, his head resting against his hand. The hall was empty apart from him. Her footsteps carried across the floor as she came in and his eyes locked on hers.

The next words he said evaporated every plan she had before walking in.

’’Stop there.’’

His voice reverberated through the hall and Nina’s feet came to an instant stop. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

She lifted her eyes to his face and for the first time since that morning, his anger was showing.

Nina held her breath.

A second passed, and he lifted his elbow off the armrest.

’’Do you know what happens to people who lie to me?’’

The hairs on her arms rose. Her heart hit her ribs once, hard.

She pressed her lips together and looked at him, her eyes working.

A second passed, and Nina lowered herself to her knees. Her head dropped.

’’I am sorry,’’ she said. Her voice came out steady. ’’I thought it wouldn’t matter since I was going to die.’’

Rodrigo looked at her bent head, his mind working. He had been sitting in this hall for twenty minutes trying to locate the edges of his anger and the edges kept shifting on him. He knew he was furious. He could feel it sitting in his chest, but clearly not for the reason he wanted himself to think it was.

’’Your mother... who is she?’’ he asked.

Nina froze at his question. He dug into her?

She lifted her head, schooling her expression. ’’She was a household servant who died giving birth to me,’’ Nina replied, holding his gaze.

Rodrigo was quiet.

’’Is there anything else you want to tell me?’’ he asked.

Nina stared at him. Forcing her heartbeat to be still, she shook her head.

’’No, there’s nothing else.’’

Her eyes were steady as she watched him. He hadn’t acted suspicious and yet went digging into her. How much more did he know?

Nina’s thumb pressed against her skin as she held his gaze.

He was more calculating and smarter than she thought.

He straightened, holding her gaze.

’’Is that your final answer?’’ he asked, his voice dropping.

Nina watched him.

If he was pressing, it only meant one thing.

He didn’t know much, and he was trying to get her to tell on herself.

’’Yes, Alpha,’’ she said. ’’That is all.’’

Rodrigo stared at her for a long while. Her heartbeat was calm, her expression giving nothing.

His jaw worked for a moment, then he stood.

He crossed to where she knelt, his footsteps echoing in the hall as he walked toward her.

Nina’s head bowed, her hands folded into fists on her thighs. She didn’t move, didn’t make a sound. Rodrigo stopped in front of her and reached down and tilted her chin up.

Her eyes were closed, and slowly, she opened them, and they locked on his.

His heart stopped.

The blue in them were clear and steady and searching his face slowly, her lashes soft against her cheeks, her eyes blurred with unshed tears as she stared at him, and for one brief second he forgot why he was mad.

His hand tightened to a fist at his side and he forced his gaze away from her eyes.

’’From this point forward,’’ he said, ’’you are to perform your role as Luna and nothing else.’’ His voice came out level, controlled. ’’I don’t want to see you. I don’t want to hear you. You are gone before I wake and you live as though you don’t exist.’’

Nina’s gaze blurred slightly at the edges, her brows furrowed as she watched him, but she didn’t look away.

Rodrigo’s hand tightened slightly on her jaw.

’’This is the last time I forgive you,’’ he said. ’’The next time —’’ he paused. ’’There will be no next time.’’ He tilted his head. ’’Is that understood?’’

Nina’s lips parted.

He was trying to push her away.

She was quiet for a moment as her mind worked, then she let the tear slip, her lips trembling.

’’Yes,’’ she said finally. Barely audible.

His grip on her chin eased, and she watched his eyes soften a fraction.

Nina let another tear drop as she bit into her lip until it hurt.

Rodrigo let go of her chin. Not roughly, but her face swung slightly to the side and she let it stay there as he straightened, her eyes dropping to the floor.

He stood for a moment, and then she heard him turn. His footsteps moved away from her and the hall doors opened and shut and the sound of him was gone.

Nina stayed on her knees.

The torches along the walls threw light that shifted and settled and shifted again. She stared at the floor in front of her, her jaw tight, her fingers still pressed into her palms, and she sat in the quiet until the last echo of his footsteps had completely faded.

Then she straightened.

Rodrigo continued walking without stopping, his strides long as he crossed the guards and kept moving until he was somewhere down the east corridor. Then he stopped, his jaw working as the image of her face returned without invitation.

Had he gone too far?

The question surfaced before he could stop it.

He exhaled sharply.

He was angry, but he’d known about the lie since morning and he’d crowned her anyway, so it wasn’t about the lie.

His mind reached for the thought he’d buried and refused to address.

He stopped it, but it was a little too late.

It was already there.