Chapter 4 Chapter 4 CHAPTER

Liora's POV

I walked into the restaurant and the first thing my eyes laid on was the last person I wanted to see. Kade. He was sitting there, his head wrapped with fresh bandage and Selene sitting by his side with an annoyed look. He was saying something that made her frown heavily. What were these two doing here? I frowned and tried not too think too much about it.

I didn't hesitate to walk confidently. My heels clicked steadily against the marble floor loudly, announcing my presence. Then she turned and noticed me.

"Unbelievable," Selene said, loud enough for half the room to hear. Her voice was grating and sharp. "She's actually stalking us now."

I didn't even look her way. Not yet. I knew what she was trying to do, I wasn't going to be apart of her silly little games.

She knew I heard her and saw that I ignored it making her even more upset. Selene stood, practically knocking her chair back in the process. "What, no shame left at all? You're really gonna come in here, dressed like that, still trying to get his attention?" She snapped at me, drawing attention from some people I'm the restaurant towards us.

I turned to her slowly. She looked me up and down with a curled lip, clearly waiting for a reaction. I gave her none.

"I don't know what fantasy you've built in that overprocessed head of yours," I said calmly, "but trust me, Selene. My presence here has nothing to do with either of you."

"Sure," she scoffed. "You just happen to show up at the exact same restaurant, what, hoping to flash your claws and win him back? You were always pathetic like that-"

"Selene," Kade said quietly, shifting in his seat. My eyes lazily went to him, that was the first time he had talked.

She ignored him, eyes locked on me. "He dumped you, he's done with you and you still can't let it go. Everyone knows you were obsessed with him. Acting like you're some tragic heroine when really, you were just a clingy, jealous little-"

I stepped closer. Her words stung, but not in the way she wanted. Not anymore. She didn't know I'd already bled that wound dry. I didn't care about her or Kade any longer but I wasn't going to let her talk down on me like that.

"You should sit down," I told her flatly.

"Or what?" she laughed. "You'll cry on my heels? What even are you doing here? Someone like you doesn't belong in a place like this. Unless you're moonlighting as a waitress now? Everyone knows your social status you pathetic little thing. You must have slept with someone influential to be able to-"

I cut her off, not by my words but my hand. I didn't reply. I just raised my hand, and before she could flinch away or stop talking, I slapped her. Hard.

The sound cracked like ice under pressure. Conversations stopped. Cutlery paused mid-air. Selene staggered back, one hand frozen against her cheek. She stared at me in shock.

"That," I said evenly, "was light. Compared to what you actually deserve."

Her mouth opened, but nothing came out. She kept gawking and gaping like a fish thrown on land, but I ignored her. I wasn't going to stand here and exchange words with her, she wasn't worth it.

I turned to Kade, who had risen halfway from his seat, eyes wide, lips parted like he'd just remembered how to breathe.

"I'm not here for you," I said. "I don't want you. Not your apologies."

"Liora," he started, voice rough. "You-"

"Don't." I held up a hand. "You had chances. So many chances. And you wasted them. I'm not your mistake to regret now." I said in a cold voice to him.

I continued before he could speak again . "Whatever I felt for you, it's ashes now. Useless. And if either of you think you can speak to me the way she just did again." I looked at Selene, whose face was flushed red, eyes glistening with either humiliation or tears, I didn't care which. ".next time, it won't stop at a slap."

I turned my back on both of them and walked toward the hostess stand again.

"Miss Liora, we're ready for you," the hostess said with a kind but slightly startled expression.

"Thank you," I said, smoothing the edge of my jacket as a waiter approached to lead me toward the private dining room.

I felt my nerves all over the place and I was shaky but I had to calm myself down. I couldn't get riled up because of Selene and Kade. Sure they were infuriating, but like I said, they were worth my presence or time. I shouldn't be thinking about them.

Kade's POV

I didn't move. I sat there shocked. Even after she walked away, shoulders squared, head high, like she hadn't just shaken the air out of the room, I just sat here. Stunned. Frozen.

Liora.

Gods. I didn't think Selene and I would run into her at this restaurant. What was she doing here? How could she afford to be here?

She hadn't changed, and somehow she had. She looked sharper than I remembered, same eyes, same posture, but colder now. She has always been confident and sharp, something that drew me to her.

I felt something twist in my chest.

I could still smell her. Even through the spice of Selene's perfume, that scent still did things to me. Even now. Even after everything.

"Seriously?" Selene snapped, voice cutting through my thoughts. "You're still watching her walk away like you've got regrets?"

I blinked. Slowly. "What?" I mumbled, coming back to my senses.

"You didn't even flinch when she slapped me," she hissed. "You just sat there like an idiot. You think that's normal?" She snapped at me in anger.

She was right, I sat there and watched her get slapped by Liona without even othering a word or moving to defend her. Liona was as bold as ever and she looked even bolder now. Her aura screamed confidence in a way that almost made even me feel intimidated. I couldn't do or say anything, I was star struck and my eyes couldn't leave her.

"She caught me off guard." I managed to say to Selene who was standing there fuming.

Selene's eyes narrowed. "You're not over her." She accused me out of the blue and my eyes widened.

I turned to her then, jaw tightening. "Don't start." I said to her coldly.

"Oh, I will start, Kade. Because that pathetic display back there?" She pointed after Liora, even though she was long gone now. "She humiliated me, and you let her. And you're still gawking like you're heartbroken."

"I'm not," I said, too quickly.

Selene folded her arms. "Then why do you look like someone just kicked your damn soul out of your chest?" She raised her brows at me

I took a breath. "Because I wasn't expecting her to show up, alright? It caught me off guard. That's all it is." I said to her, it wasn't entirely a lie. She did catch us both off guard.

Selene didn't buy it. She looked at me like she was trying to peel back skin with her eyes. "I don't believe you"

I rubbed the back of my neck, fingers brushing the bandage. "She's not the one I chose, Selene. You are." I almost let out a groan, I didn't want to have this conversation right now.

Selene let out a bitter laugh. "Not the one you chose, but clearly still the one you want."

I didn't respond. Not right away. Because the truth? The real truth?

Liora was beneath me. Or. she had been. No name. No lineage. Just some she-wolf from an unknown northern pack who barely had enough to keep herself fed. She wasn't supposed to be someone I got mated to. I thought I was being generous. I thought she'd be grateful. I thought she would accept to be my mistress.

She didn't.

"I don't love her Selene, it's you, you're the one I love, you have nothing to worry about." Those words burned my throat as they were being uttered.