Chapter 61
FAYE
I couldn’t get Bella’s words out of my head.
Diana.
The name looped in my mind like a whisper, like a curse. I hated myself for it, but the curiosity burned hotter than the sting of Bella’s smug smirk. Who was Diana? What did she mean to Alexander? And why did Bella say it with such certainty, like she had laid a claim on
him no one could ever contest?
By the time I reached the pack house, I already knew what I was going to do. I wasn’t about to let Bella be the one in charge of all the details.
I went straight to Irene’s room.
I hesitated at her door for only a second before knocking. Irene opened it a moment later, her eyebrows shooting up in surprise when she saw me standing there.
“Faye?” she said, her voice warm but I could tell she was a bit confused. “This is… unexpected.”
I gave her a small smile. “I hope I’m not disturbing you.”
“Not at all!” She stepped aside quickly, ushering me in with a kind of eager energy. “Please, come in.”
Her room felt different than mine…cozy, lived–in, comfortable. Bookshelves lined one wall, stacked with novels and journals. A knitted throw was tossed over a small armchair. The bed was neatly made, but not stiff like in guest rooms–inviting, soft.
“Your room is lovely,” I said honestly, stepping further in.
“Exactly how I like it,” Irene replied, shutting the door behind us. “Warm and comfortable. You couldn’t pay me to live in a room like yours or Alexander’s. Too much space. Too… extra.”
I laughed at that, shaking my head. “You’re exaggerating. My room isn’t that big, it’s only slightly larger than yours.”
“Slightly larger‘?” Irene arched a brow, grinning. “Slightly larger is a garden. Your suite is practically an echo chamber.”
Her teasing made me chuckle again, and for a brief moment, the weight in my chest eased.
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But Irene was perceptive–always had been. As soon as I sat down on the edge of her bed, she tilted her head, studying me.
“All right,” she said. “What brings you here? I don’t believe for a second you came just to compliment my interior decorating.”
I exhaled slowly. No point in wasting time. “I need to ask you something,” I said. “And I need you to be honest with me.”
Irene’s expression shifted, wary now. “That sounds serious. But… go on. I’ll do my best.”
We sat facing each other, me on the bed and her on the small chair pulled close. For a moment, my tongue felt heavy. But then Bella’s mocking face flashed in my mind, and the question ripped out of me before I could think twice.
“Who is Diana?”
The effect was immediate. Irene’s eyes widened, her lips parting as if I’d slapped her with the name. She even coughed, choking on nothing but air.
“Where did you hear that?” she asked sharply, though her voice trembled under the weight of
old memories.
“Bella,” I admitted. “She mentioned the name while trying to get under my skin again. I didn’t stick around long enough to let her gloat. But…” I looked at Irene intently. “I need to know.
Who is she?”
Irene rolled her eyes, muttering a curse. “Of course…Bella. That girl thrives on stirring things up.”
“Tell me something I don’t know,” I said dryly.
Irene studied me for a long moment, then sighed, her shoulders slumping. “I suppose you deserve to know. You’re part of the family now. But… it’s a bit embarrassing actually.”
Her tone was heavy enough to make me hesitate, but I nodded. “Please. I want the truth.”
“Diana was… Alexander’s fated mate.”
My heart lurched. The words hit harder than I expected, stealing my breath for a moment… His fated mate, not just any woman.
But Irene wasn’t finished. Her eyes dropped back to mine. “She was also our late father’s consort for several years.”
I froze. “What?” ok, I didn’t see that one coming…what the hell!
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“Yes,” Irene said quietly. “Their relationship was… public, eventually. Turned out she was the reason my parents–our parents–separated in the first place. My mother had no idea who the other woman was, none of us did, until Father announced it himself. And not in private either. He unveiled her, proudly, at the Alpha’s annual banquet.”
Her voice dripped with disgust at the memory.
I couldn’t speak. My mind scrambled to piece together the fragments of what she was saying, but it felt like trying to catch smoke with my hands.
“You’re telling me,” I finally whispered, “that Alexander’s fated mate was his father’s mistress? ”
Irene flinched at the bluntness, but she nodded. “Consort, mistress–call it what you will. She was both. And it nearly destroyed my brother. The worse part was that they both knew exactly what they were doing.”
I sat back, stunned. My heart pounded so hard I felt it in my throat. I hadn’t even known their parents had separated. The thought of Alexander enduring not only heartbreak but public
humiliation like that…
“How long had it been going on?” I asked carefully.
“Longer than anyone realized,” Irene said. “By the time Father admitted it, Diana had already been in the picture for a while…he only announced it openly because everyone already knew he and his mate…my mom… were no longer together.”
She shook her head. “Alexander was shattered. He was shocked, heartbroken and
embarrassed at the same time. Hurt in ways I can’t even describe. Seeing the woman you’re bound to by fate–your mate–on the arm of your own father, in public…”
She trailed off, shaking her head.
My hands clenched in my lap, nails biting into my palms. What kind of father would do that to his son? The thought screamed inside me, but I bit it back. No matter how appalling it was, this was still Irene and Alexander’s father. I had no right to speak ill of him out loud.
But goddess, the cruelty of it. I could relate…in my case it was my own sister, my twin. But something about Alexander’s case seemed more cruel.
No wonder he carried so much weight on his shoulders. No wonder his walls were built so high…No wonder he was always cold.
I wondered if my own heartbreak had turned me into something like that too… Maybe I was equally cold without knowing it
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I sat in silence for a long while, Irene watching me with quiet sympathy. I didn’t know what to say, what to feel. Anger burned in my chest, not just at Diana, but at Alexander’s father too. They ruined him.
But beneath the anger was something else. Fear.
Because if Bella was right… if she truly had been the one to help him crawl out of that darkness… what did that mean for me? I wasn’t sure why, but that stung.
It’s not like I was expecting anything more than the alliance and the duty we both agreed to, but being mated to a man whom a woman like Bella had wrapped around her finger was a terrible situation I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.
I forced the thought away, straightening in my seat. “Thank you for telling me,” I said. “I know that wasn’t easy to share.”
Irene gave me a small smile. “Only because it’s embarrassing…I don’t want you thinking low of my father, even though he’s not here anymore. You know what I mean.”
I forced a smile. “You don’t have to worry about that. We all have our flaws, I totally
understand.”
I totally didn’t. The man was a terrible father.
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