[ROWAN POV]

"I can’t fucking believe it," Cassian said, shaking his head. He coldly laughed, running a hand through his hair to push his fringe back. "You really... I thought that was a mistake the first time, but turns out I was wrong. This entire time... I should’ve known..."

I scowled, releasing him from my grip and taking a step back. Cassian didn’t move from his spot, his back still pressed against the door, refusing to let me pass.

"The first time?" Soren asked, frowning. "Wait, what is going on?"

"Are you actually stupid, Soren, or are you just pretending to be an imbecile?" Cassian snapped. "Goddess, fuck! Rowan marked Briar!"

"You― He―" Soren turned and looked at me. "What the fuck?"

I pursed my lips tightly together, refusing to say anything.

"And you said this isn’t the first time?" Soren asked, his head snapping back to look at Cassian.

"Goddess, no. On the day of our wedding, I found Rowan and Briar in bed," Cassian spat out as though the words poisoned his very being. "I could smell Briar’s pheromones in the room, but it was dying out by then. I thought she had used it to seduce Rowan back then."

I remembered that occasion. Briar’s pheromones had indeed gone off the rails that day, most likely stress-induced. There was no other explanation I had for it, considering it hardly ever happened after that day.

Either that, or I hadn’t been spending enough time with her to realize it was happening. A wave of jealousy shot through me suddenly. How had she been dealing with her heats, in that case? She couldn’t have possibly just toughed it out all by herself.

Regardless, Soren and Cassian were still caught up in their conversation. Cassian looked as though he had just witnessed the asteroids that had killed the dinosaurs making a detour to wipe the rest of us out, too. For him, it was the end of the world.

"I gave you the benefit of the doubt," Cassian said.

"You look like you just found your wife sleeping with your worst enemy," I flatly said, unable to resist. On a normal day, I would’ve stayed silent, but he was quickly getting on my nerves. "Move. If you’re not planning to rest, I am. We have an early day ahead."

"This is a hundred times worse than that!" Cassian cried out. "Do you still not realize what you’ve done? This is Briar, for crying out loud! Briar Argyris!"

"I am very well aware who the woman I marked is," I said through gritted teeth. "Now move."

"So you finally admit it!"

"I have never denied it," I pointedly said. "She is my fated mate."

"Our," Soren said, quick to correct. He had been pretty quiet, simply watching as Cassian’s emotions went through a rollercoaster ride. However, this single word that he spoke made me want to punch his head in even more than every single word Cassian just spouted, combined.

"This can’t be fucking real," Cassian said, still shaking his head. "Are you two seriously fighting over the semantics? His, yours, ours. It doesn’t fucking matter! None of us should’ve marked her!"

He threw his hands up in the air, frustrated. Likewise, my anger was slowly starting to reach its tipping point.

"Have you forgotten what she did?" Cassian barked. "She killed two people. Two!"

"Willow might still be alive," I said.

"So now you’re going to blindly trust her, just because you’ve marked her?" Cassian said. "Are you going to tell me next that she was innocent all along, and that we’ve mistaken her this whole time? And that you know she is telling the truth because the mate bond lets you feel her emotions and all that fucking fairytale crap?"

I frowned.

It had been a common myth among children, especially those who were still too young to gain their wolves and thus their mates. Many of them believed that once a bond was in place, two fated mates would be connected so thoroughly that they could feel each other’s every thought, feeling, and emotion.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t as right as the rumors went. I could feel Briar’s frustration, but it felt like a small droplet in the vast ocean of my own emotions. It wasn’t useful in the least bit in discerning whether or not she was telling the truth.

"I can’t," I honestly said. "And I won’t. Just because I’ve marked her doesn’t mean that I will blindly forgive her for everything."

"Good," Cassian said with a scowl. "Or I would’ve thought that you’ve been swapped out by a skinwalker."

"But," I said. "If what she says is true, and that Willow is alive, we should send out search parties for her."

If Briar could point her out, Willow must still be in the area. There had been so much blood in her room that the natural thought would be that Willow had died that night. If she were alive, she would’ve been heavily injured the night she left Shadowclaw.

On top of that, if Willow had fully recovered, why didn’t she come home? Unless she couldn’t. If that were the case, all the more we should have someone search the grounds for her. She might still be injured or have sustained new injuries.

As long as Willow could be found alive, she would be able to tell us what truly happened that night. It would not absolve Briar of all her crimes, but at least the murder of Willow Argyris would be removed from that damning list.

"That’s it," Cassian said. "I’m going to go see it for myself."

"Cassian," Soren began to say, reaching out to hold Cassian’s shoulder, but the latter shrugged him off. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"I need to see what the fuck Briar did that could bewitch Rowan like that," Cassian said. He threw the words over his shoulder before storming out of the room, the door closing behind him with a loud bang.

Soren flinched slightly at the sound, wincing before turning to look at me. We exchanged a wordless glance before quickly following Cassian to Briar’s room.

***

[BRIAR POV]

I stared at the small mirror in the room.

The mark at the base of my neck had healed completely in record speed, leaving behind two small, faint indents. The only sign that it had been a fresh wound just minutes prior was the fact that there was still some blood left in the surrounding area, including the collar of my shirt.

The room still smelled heavily of sex. More than that was Rowan’s scent, still clinging stubbornly to these four walls, determined to haunt me.

I sighed, placing the small mirror down. No matter how much I stared at it, it didn’t go away like it would in a bad dream. Ironic that this was all I thought of now, when it would’ve been my heart’s greatest desire not too long ago.

However, so many things had happened that right now, this mark was just a burden.

I had tried to rub it away, thinking that such a childish method might work, but it only made it worse. The mark was insanely sensitive, but not in the same raw and painful way that fresh wounds often felt. Contrastingly, a light touch was enough to send arousal through my body as though they were bolts of electricity.

It didn’t take long before I learned my lesson and avoided it entirely.

My gaze quickly found the window.

The moon was high in the sky now, its silvery light beaming in from outside. However, even though it easily illuminated the grassy plains right outside my window, I still couldn’t find the familiar figure of the tanned wolf anywhere.

Willow had disappeared as though she had evaporated into thin air. There was nothing left behind to even indicate that she was in the area. By the time someone actually went out to check the exact spot, any scent she might’ve left behind would’ve also already faded.

I sighed, lying down on the bed with a groan.

Everything had gone so horribly wrong. I had just wanted to get someone to look for Willow and clear my name. However, I had invited quite possibly the worst person into my cage. If it were Soren―

No. Things might not have turned out well with Soren either.

If Cassian had been the one to check in on me, perhaps Willow would’ve already been found. I couldn’t guarantee she would vouch for me, but at least she would be found alive. I would be cleared of my title of murderer.

I took a deep breath in before exhaling heavily. Maybe I should get some sleep. It didn’t look like anyone else would be dropping in for a visit. Even if sleep evaded me, at least it wouldn’t be for the lack of trying.

However, just as I was about to crawl under the covers, I jolted. It felt as though the hairs on my body were prickling to attention.

I could still smell Rowan in the air. In fact, the scent seemed to be growing even stronger than before. This could no longer be excused by the lingering scents that remained in the room from his last visit.

Sure enough, I heard murmurs outside the door, followed by the sound of the lock clicking. The door pushed open with a bang, and I jumped in surprise. However, the man who stepped in wasn’t Rowan.

"There you are!" Cassian growled, his eyes narrowing as they zeroed in on me.