CHAPTER 26: NEW PERSON IN THE MANOR

"She is not needed here," I managed, though my voice trembled like a reed in the wind. "I don’t see why there’s a need to invite her."

My throat was so tight it hurt, but I forced the words out.

I would take whatever punishment Finn dealt me, every cruel word, every slap, every lash, but not this. Not her. Almira may not have been the best mother one could dream of but she was still my mother. The only family I had left. I loved her, despite it all.

Finn didn’t answer at once.

He carved another piece of meat with neat strokes of the knife. His calmness was worse than rage. Rage I could expect, rage I could brace myself against. But this quiet indifference chilled me far more.

"The Heirbind Rite is only a few days away," he said finally, his tone deceptively mild. "With what happened to Stella, I know it must have saddened you greatly."

His golden eyes lifted, catching mine like a snare. "Which was why you made... a mistake last night."

I clenched my jaw, my hands tightening in my lap until the knuckles turned white.

Mistake. That’s what he called it. My desperate attempt to escape his clutches, to breathe air that didn’t reek of chains. A mistake.

"So I thought of inviting your mother here," he continued, voice curling like smoke, soft and poisonous. "To accompany you."

Then, with the faintest curl of his mouth, mockery disguised as kindness, he added, "Isn’t that what you want? To be less lonely?"

His words burned hotter than the tea served in the table.

My lips pressed tight together, teeth grinding behind them.

My breaths came uneven, shallow.

Every part of me screamed to lash out, to throw the plate across the table, to scream that he had no right to touch her, to bind her to his twisted games.

But I couldn’t. Not now.

Not yet.

So I lowered my gaze and swallowed the bile in my throat.

My voice, when it came, was hushed, softened like surrender.

"I... I understand," I whispered. "I was wrong last night. I should not have tried to run. It was foolish. I see that now."

I dared a small glance at him, eyes lowered in false obedience. "I’ve learned my lesson, Finn. Truly. I won’t try to defy the pack’s rules again." The words seared my tongue as I spoke them, as though they weren’t mine.

He said nothing, watching me with that cruel patience, so I pressed on.

"My mother..." My voice broke. I forced it softer, pleading. "She enjoys her life in town. She belongs there. It brings her joy to be among her friends, her routines, her freedom. Here, she will only feel stifled. She will worry. Please..." My throat ached as the word cracked out. "Let her remain where she is happiest. I will be obedient. I will not give you reason to doubt me again."

The silence stretched taut between us. My heart pounded like a trapped bird, wings thrashing against its cage.

But Finn did not soften.

He set his fork down with deliberate care, the faint clink of metal against porcelain cutting through the air like the snap of a snare.

"You speak as though I brought her here for her happiness," he said at last, his voice low, almost amused. "As though this was for her

."

He leaned back in his chair, folding his arms, his gaze fixed unblinking on me.

"No, Vivien. I brought her here for you. To keep you from being foolish again. To remind you that you are not as alone as you think."

His lips curved into something that might have passed for a smile in another world, but here it was sharp and wicked.

"You should be grateful. I am giving you the gift of family. So close to you. So that you will not... lose your way."

My teeth sank into my cheek so hard I tasted iron. I forced myself to bow my head, to say nothing, but inside my chest, rage writhed like fire.

He had twisted it, turned chains into favors, threats into gifts. He wanted me to thank him for shackling me with the one person I couldn’t bear to lose.

I pushed the food around my plate, unable to eat.

The silence between us stretched on, broken only by the scrape of his knife and the measured sound of him chewing.

When the meal was finally over, I excused myself in a voice that was barely audible and left the hall with clenched fists.

Back in my room, I collapsed onto the bed, clutching at the blankets as though they could shield me. My heart pounded, fury and despair mingling in my veins.

He had stripped me of freedom. And now he had bound my mother to me like a chain around my throat.

How was I supposed to fight him now?

***

That afternoon, when I heard of Mom’s arrival, I sat frozen in my room until the knock came.

The door opened, and there she was - Almira, my mother.

She was radiant with delight, her steps light as she went inside. She clutched at her skirts like a young girl going to her first dance, her eyes bright with awe as they darted across the velvet curtains and gilded lamps.

"Can you believe this?" she exclaimed, turning to me with a smile so wide it strained her cheeks. "I didn’t expect to be invited by the Alpha himself to live in his manor!"

I rose stiffly to meet her, but my lips would not shape into a smile.

"You must be doing a great job, my beautiful daughter," she went on, reaching for my face with a fond palm.

Her hand was warm, trembling slightly, though her eyes gleamed with excitement more than affection. "Who knows? Finn might keep you as his lover and give us both shelter here!"

Her words made my stomach twist violently. I wanted to recoil from her touch, to spit the truth back at her, but I forced myself to stay still.

She didn’t see the chains.

She only saw the polished silver, the grandeur of the halls, the promise of safety and luxury.

I couldn’t explain what a disaster this was.

Not without shattering her joy. Not without revealing how deep Finn’s cruelty ran.

Almira moved about the room like a woman tasting a dream she thought long lost.

"I always wanted this, you know," she said, her voice taking on a wistful lilt. "When I was young, I dreamed of marrying an Alpha, of becoming Luna. But luck was not on my side. Fate gave me your father instead, and..." She trailed off, her lips pressing thin, bitterness flashing through her expression before she shook it away. "But now it feels like perhaps fate is making amends."

My jaw tightened. "Mother..."

"Think of it, Vivien." She sat on the edge of the bed, clasping her hands together with girlish excitement. "If the Celestial Wolf never awakens, there is a great chance you’ll become Luna. After all, you will be carrying the Alpha’s heir. That alone secures your place."

Her smile widened, her eyes dreamy. "And mine. Imagine it – me, living here in the Alpha’s estate, no longer just a lowborn widow in town, but the mother of the Luna herself!"

I clenched my fists until my nails dug into my palms. The bitter taste of reality rose in my mouth.

"You forget, Mother," I said quietly, though my voice trembled with the sharpness of the truth. "I am a traitor’s daughter. I will never be Luna. No matter whose child I bear."

Her face faltered for a moment, but only for a moment. Then she laughed softly, waving my words away as if they were nothing but a child’s fears.

But to me, they were a noose tightening around my neck.