MADELINE
I walked straight out of the ballroom and into a corner of the corridor because I was bothered. Deeply, uncomfortably bothered, the kind that sits under your skin and refuses to be ignored. It was about the Omega. About Fia.
I had told myself I was above it. That I would not be the villain in anyone's story, least of all hers. You could not fight what the heart wanted, that was always the excuse, the clean and reasonable one. If Cian still chosen me, then so be it. Fate, instinct, all of those things people liked to blame when choices became inconvenient.
But tonight was doing a very good job of proving just how wrong Aldric's careful assumptions had been.
I had seen it. The moment Cian realized she was gone. The way he had charged out of the ballroom, barely contained, his control slipping in that unmistakable way that meant his wolf was right there, clawing at the surface. That was not concern out of obligation. That was not duty to a bond he tolerated.
He loved her.
