Inez was unaware of the thoughts that were currently surging within Dominic. She watched Selene finish playing the piece she had chosen on the violin and do a little fancy bow before turning her wheelchair around. Inez’s eyes followed Selene, who was controlling her wheelchair; the woman paused a little in front of the woman who had pushed her into doing it and said something.
At least Inez was certain that Selene did say something because a second later, the face of the woman turned red and she glared at Selene. She seemed close to losing her head and attacking Selene, but maybe the time and place stopped her.
The woman raised her head and looked at Killian. Fearing retaliation, she shuddered when Killian smiled at her and turned to walk out of the ballroom.
"What did you say to her?" Inez asked Selene when she came to a stop beside her. She wondered what the usually polite and sweet Selene could have said to make the woman that angry.
"It’s nothing." Selene’s voice sounded cool. "I just told her about a very good doctor who can help her with her little problem."
"Her problem?" Inez echoed. She had a feeling that whatever it was. It was not good at all.
"That’s right. I heard through the grapevine that her little kitty cat smells awful, like something had ridden up there and died. I told her that there was no need to be bitter and upset because of it; we can always discuss this matter with Doctor Harrison. He would help her out quite professionally."
Inez was certain that a little explosion had happened behind her. Because – the hell? How in the world did her sweet Selene? The one who wouldn’t even raise her voice said such a thing?
She turned and glared at Killian. This man must be the cause of Selene’s changes.
Killian arched a brow. He said to her, "Do you think that I taught her these things?"
"I have never even heard her curse."
"That’s because she is trying to earn some brownie points in front of you. If not, she would have taught you some real nice curse words that would make others choke on a metaphorical dick."
Inez blew out a breath. "You are pleased."
"Pleased? I am fucking thrilled. At least my sister is using her cunning mind for something. I was worried that she would become a doormat with how she was acting; fortunately, she is safe, or else what was I supposed to do? My own sister becoming a doormat and people pleaser—I don’t think that I could have survived the embarrassment." Killian said with a long, drawn-out sigh as if he was suffering some kind of mental anguish.
Selene raised her head and glared at the man with a hint of reproach in her eyes. She, however, smiled and said to the man, "You should worry about your own troubles, Kill. I can see that Alpha Cherith is still staring at Inez. It seems like the message that the woman beside you is yours is yet to set in his mind."
Killian snapped his head and looked at Dominic. Their gazes met, and Dominic’s eyes flashed wolf. Anger was prominent in them. It seemed like Dominic’s wolf was not as easily fooled as Dominic.
He must be feeling the pulsating remnants of the bond, and that was a fucking problem.
Neither Killian nor his beast was happy about someone eyeing their woman. Killian was set to make this thing between him and Inez permanent. No more temporary marking or anything else like that. He wished for the imprinting to start, and for some reason, it hadn’t.
Maybe it’s because of this bastard. He is holding onto the remnants of their mating; that’s what’s making the imprinting slow down, his beast growled inside his head. He sounded almost feral, and if Killian wasn’t holding him back, he would have lunged and ripped out Dominic’s fucking heart.
Killian also had the same thought. It must be Dominic who was holding their imprinting back.
He wasn’t too pleased about it, but there were some things that he couldn’t fucking push.
But that didn’t mean that he was not fucking pissed about it.
And talking about being pissed. There was someone who was just as fucking pissed. No, maybe even more than Inez or Killian.
Nyx stared at Selene, who was dressed in a beautiful sea-green dress that suited her well, and her eyes then darted to the corner where Inez was standing next to Killian, looking just as fucking resplendent and beautiful.
The attention that should have belonged to her was now on the two women; even her mother, who had something to say every time Inez or Selene came next to her in the last few days, couldn’t bring herself to say anything.
If Nyx was not wrong, then her mother was actually staring at Inez with some appreciation. Appreciation. Something that she had never given her, even when she had tried her best to make her mother look at her with that same gaze. Why? What did Inez do for her mother to pay attention to her like that?
Nyx clenched the glass of wine in her hands tightly. Her eyes flashed with anger as she looked at the woman in front of her with hatred. She was prepared for Selene, but Inez came out of the syllabus.
"Who is that woman beside Alpha Sokolov?" a woman standing next to Nyx asked in a soft voice. "Your alpha looks quite smitten with her; don’t tell me that she is the next Luna of your pack. What kind of shifter is she?" The woman had walked past Inez earlier and couldn’t smell the scent of her beast, which confused her because usually shifters didn’t hide their scent.
"She is a latent," said Nyx. Her lips still curled in a sweet smile as if she didn’t realise what she had said, "But we can never choose the person whom we love. Can we?" As soft gasps echoed all over the place, Nyx walked away with her head held high.