I’d thought I was prepared for anything, but clearly I hadn’t imagined that she would have gone and gotten married to someone else. "How old is the daughter now?" I force myself to ask.

"Records show that she is six. She’s in first grade."

I reach for the report, knowing Jimmy would have been thorough. As I knew I would, I see a picture of the child clipped inside the file. A little girl in pigtails smiles back at me. She has Alice’s hair. Her eyes are green, though. She’s adorable.

My chest tightens with unspeakable grief. If things had been different, would this have been my daughter?

I close the file, unable to look at her anymore.

My mind and my heart are at war. Alice married a human. She lay in bed with him. She let him touch her, and she conceived his child.

When I took Alice’s virginity, she was shy, inexperienced. Did he teach her about her body, about what drove her crazy? Did she love him?

My wolf is pacing inside my mind, anxious, angry, and hurt. However, the voice of reason in my head asks me what I expected. Did I expect her to sit and pine for me? After everything I put her through, did I expect her to yearn for me and still hold a candle for me? After all, I got married, too, didn’t I?

"Get me that whiskey," I say darkly. Jimmy doesn’t waste any time. I take a swig straight from the bottle. Then, I pick up the report and throw it in the trash. "I don’t want to hear anything about Alice Lane ever again. Get in touch with Katherine Lockhart and tell her that we will only go ahead with this deal if a new lawyer represents her company."

Jimmy hesitates. "Are you sure about this, Darian?"

"Did I stutter?" I glower at him. "Why don’t you go and do what I told you to do instead of wasting time?"

My friend’s jaw tightens. "Yes, sir."

Once he leaves, I bury my head in my hands. A child. She has a girl who looks just like her. She’s raising her daughter alone.

Did she love her husband? Did he make her laugh like I used to? Was he the one who healed the scars I put on her soul? Did she forget about me when she was with him?

My vision blurring as the pain consumes me, I pick up the bottle of whiskey and hurl it against the door. It shatters into a thousand slivers of glass. As the whiskey stains the carpet, I stare blindly at the wall. The agony brewing inside me doesn’t disappear.

I’ve always prided myself on being a reasonable man. On being logical rather than letting my heart make decisions for me. And logic dictates that I should stay away from Alice. She has no place in my life. I should be happy that she managed to make something of herself after what I did to her.

And yet, all I can think of is her in bed with a man who is not me. My wolf is growling, desperate to get out. It wants to go lay claim to the woman it chose seven years ago.

"Enough!" I snarl, getting to my feet. "Alice is not ours. She’s not ours!" I walk over to the window and open it, desperate for some fresh air.

Alice doesn’t even smell like a wolf shifter anymore. She doesn’t quite smell human, either, but she definitely doesn’t give off the scent that is unique to our kind. Humans, witches, and wolf shifters all have unique scents that help my kind differentiate among them.

Alice smells like none of the three. She did smell tantalizing the other day, though. It stirred my blood. And I wasn’t the only one who noticed; the lawyers on my team also caught that scent. It didn’t escape my notice that every wolf shifter in the room was watching her, desire emitting from each of them. That’s why I held off on talking to them after our meeting. I didn’t think I would be able to stop myself from ripping out their throats.

The blast of fresh air does nothing to calm me down. It’s the right decision to ask for Alice to be removed from this collaboration.

But what if it hurts her career? a small voice asks inside my head.

I grind my teeth, frustrated. I can’t seem to win. Maybe I should talk to her. Explain why I don’t want her working on this case. She might agree with me. She might be upset. Or maybe she was happy to see me.

The sudden, intrusive thought has me wondering if Alice ever missed me. How did she feel when she saw me? Seven years is a long time, after all. Maybe she forgave me when she moved on.

I lean against the wall, my eyes fluttering shut. I would have to be delusional to think that she could ever forgive me.

I saw the anger in her eyes when she looked at me, even though she was able to control her facial expressions. The fury that made her eyes sparkle. And yet, all I could think of during that meeting was how beautiful she looked. I wanted to touch her hair, play with the ends of it. I wanted to ask her when she cut it short.

I wanted her to smile at me.

My phone rings, and without thinking, I yank it out of my pocket, a strange hope filling me. But the name on the screen isn’t the one I want to see.

Willow.

Angry and annoyed, I finally answer her call. "I’m busy. What do you want?"

"Where are you?" My wife’s voice sounds strained. "Why are you asking?"

Silence from the other end, and then she says, in a high-pitched tone, "I told you to tell me where you’re going at all times. Why can’t you understand

that? You’re not staying at any of the royal residences. I checked. So, where are you, Darian?"

"You may be my wife, Willow, but don’t think for even a minute that you have any control over my actions or my life. Your job is to dress up and be presentable. There’s nothing more I want from you." My tone is ruthless, and I can hear her rapid breathing on the other end. A vein in my forehead throbs.

"Serena came by today."

"Why is the leader of the white witches’ coven coming to the royal palace? I explicitly made it clear that she is not to enter the palace grounds if I’m not there!"

"She’s my friend, Darian! You can’t tell me who I can and cannot see—"

"Yes, I can. You may be my queen, but you are still my subject. And if you cannot curb your extreme behavior, don’t think I won’t put you under house arrest. You are crossing lines, Willow."

"She’s worried about us!" Willow cries out. "We need to produce a royal heir."

"I’m not interested in that. I have other things to tend to."

"Not interested?" She makes a choking sound. "What is wrong with you? I’m beautiful. I take care of myself. Why won’t you just—"

I cut her off, not wanting to hear the same drivel from her. "I don’t have time for this nonsense. I have work to do."

"We were supposed to go on vacation last week. We were supposed to spend time together so that we could conceive a child!" Her voice is quivering. "I made the arrangements. All you had to do was show up. I waited for three hours. The cruise left, and you weren’t even answering your phone. You promised you would—"

"I didn’t promise anything," I scoff. "You and your father tried to strongarm me into it. He said I would go; I never said I would. Your father may be involved in palace affairs, but I don’t recall the last time I let someone speak for me. I’m not going on any cruise; this kingdom isn’t going to run itself."

"My father could look after things while we’re gone. You can trust him." I let out an amused laugh. "Trust your father? I don’t even trust you."

A soft sob. "How can you say that? We’ve been married for seven years, Darian. Why won’t you give in? A lot of time has passed. I have been nothing but understanding. You and I... Look, wherever you are, just come home. Let me plan a romantic dinner, and then we will—"

"I’m not interested in sharing your bed. You don’t excite me, Willow."

My harsh words have her pausing and then changing tune. "If I were Alice Lane, you would have no problem getting excited, would you?" The edge of her voice is laced with hysteria.

I bristle. "Don’t say Alice’s name to me ever again."

"Why? If she were to spread her legs in front of you, you would fuck her without hesitation. I’m ten times more beautiful and a hundred times more cultured than that back-alley whore. What does she have that I don’t have? She’s dead, Darian! Just get over that bitch and come home. I’m your wife. And I’m the queen of the kingdom, not that redheaded tramp—"

"That’s enough!" I roar. "One more word about Alice, and I’ll have you thrown into the dungeons for another week."

She goes silent.

I let out a shuddering breath, covering my face with my hand. "Don’t call me again, Willow. You got what you wanted; now, live with it. Just don’t expect me to warm your bed."

I end the call. Tossing the phone aside, I sink to the floor, resting my head against the wall.

Life would be so simple if I weren’t royalty.

If only I had not seen that mark on Alice’s ankle. If only I had not mentioned it to anyone.

Everything that happened was my fault, and Alice and I both paid the price for it.

The door opens as I sit there. Staring at the ceiling, I hear footsteps approach me, along with the clinking of glass. Jimmy sits down next to me and pours me a drink. "Here."

I glance at him. "You could’ve sulked for a little bit longer."

He shrugs. "You’re an asshole fifty percent of the time. If I sulk every time, I won’t get anything done." He toasts my glass with his own. "You need to get drunk."

I sip the scotch. "I take it you heard?"

"You had her on speaker. I tried to rip out my eardrums when I heard that nasally voice, but it didn’t work."

I let out a miserable laugh. "I wish I hadn’t been born into this family, Jimmy."

"Fair. But you do get to be king of the Wolf Kingdom, even if you are stuck in an unhappy marriage. Just drink till you forget that part."

"Actually, that’s good advice. I’ll take it." I drain my glass and then hold it out to him for a refill. But once he pours it, I only gaze at the liquid.

After a while, I murmur, "Her daughter looks like her." "

She does." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Do you think she ever missed me?"

Jimmy gives me the side-eye. "Let’s be honest, Darian. She most likely hates your guts."

"I know," I breathe as I put the glass to my lips and drink.

But can I live with that?