Chapter 84

Evelyn

I stared out the narrow window watching the streets come alive with people going about their day. Most were just rising, but I had already been up for hours. After everything that had happened the previous day, how could sleep even be possible?

Instead, I lay awake staring at my ceiling, or pacing the cold marble floors of my room, or gazing out the window. All the while, I lingered on one small but significant fact: Logan hadn’t said he was done.

There might still be a chance for us yet. I replayed it all again, for the hundredth time, recalling his voice, that gutted look on his face, and the way he’d walked away like I’d scorched him. Right now, I could still feel the empty space between us, but it couldn’t last forever, right?

Maybe I didn’t deserve him. I’d hurt him, worse than any sword or arrow could. And this was my punishment.

I supposed that there was no avoiding this reveal. We had been destined for this from the start, and because of it, perhaps we had never had a true chance. But I still wished things had gone differently. That I had been able to tell him privately so that he didn’t have to deal with his marriage being upended so publicly.

It didn’t matter what I thought might have been better, though. What happened was done, and all I could do was try to convince him to see my side of things. And to try to win him back. If I hadn’t already lost him forever, that is.

A quiet knock interrupted my spiral. I didn’t turn around. “I’m not up for an early morning Summit panel,” I called flatly. I wasn’t really up to anything, to be honest. Everything was so unappealing just then.

The door opened anyway. “It’s not a panel,” Alex said gently, “just me.”

I turned my head slightly as he entered the room, a stack of papers in one hand, his smile warm and pitying.

“Good morning,” he said, setting the papers down on the table near the door. “They’re continuing with the Summit discussions in a few hours. You should be in attendance, but I thought you’d want to know sooner rather than later…”

I narrowed my eyes at him questioningly. Immediately, my mind was racing with possibilities, most of them centered around Logan. Was he ok? Had he already tried to move on? Did he irreparably hate me?

“Your equality proposal is moving to the next phase,” he said. “The final vote is scheduled for tomorrow.”

“Oh.” I blinked. “That’s… good.”

In the wake of everything, I’d hardly even thought of my proposal’s status. After my fight with Logan, it had felt secondary.

He raised an eyebrow. “That’s all you’ve got? That’s good?”

I tried to summon a smile. I really did. But it came out thin and crooked and wrong, and the muscles of my face strained against it as though resisting. “Sorry. I just… I can’t feel anything right now.”

Alex crossed the room and sat beside me at the window, his shoulder brushing mine. It reminded me of when we were young and used to sit side by side in the woods together. We’d had our whole lives ahead of us then.

“You should be proud, Evelyn,” he said. “You did something no one thought possible. You stood in front of every pack leader and Alpha in this kingdom and demanded change. Not many could do that.”

I looked back out the window. Outside, a couple was already strolling through the gardens, leaning in close as they spoke. A twist of jealousy knotted my stomach.

“And none of it matters. I can’t even begin to feel proud of it. Not when I might’ve broken the one thing that mattered most,” I said.

Silence followed. Then, softly, Alex asked, “Did he say it’s over?”

“No. But he’s furious with me and I’m worried that the ‘over’ part might be implied.” I swallowed hard. “He looked at me like I was a stranger after it was announced. Like he didn’t know me at all, and this person he was meeting for the first time horrified him. And maybe he’s right. Maybe he never did truly know me. Maybe it’s all too much for him.”

Alex was quiet for a moment. Then he said, “You know, for what it’s worth, these things are supposed to have challenges. They are things you will overcome if it’s meant to be. I truly believe that. What you’re feeling… It’s heartbreak. The kind that comes when you realize how much someone means to you and you might be losing them. Ultimately, it’s a good thing. It means you care.”

I turned my head toward him, throat tight. “I’m not too late, am I?”

“I don’t think so,” he said softly. “But you have to give him space. And trust him to come back on his own. I really, really think he will.”

I nodded, biting my lip. “It just feels like I’ve spent so long hiding. First, from who I was. Then, from what I felt. And now that both secrets are out… I’m so scared I lost it. The only thing that really mattered.”

“You should feel free.”

I sighed. “I should. But I don’t. Everyone keeps looking at me like I’m a riddle they finally solved. But I don’t feel solved. I feel more lost than ever. I’ve never felt like this. It’s terrifying.”

Alex placed a hand over mine. “You’re not lost, Evelyn. You’re just finally on the path you were always meant to walk. You were never meant to be defined by a crown or a name. You were meant to shape them. And Logan will see that.”

He paused and sighed. “You know, I spent some time with him while we were trying to get you out of that rogue camp. I’d never seen a man so distraught, Evelyn. It was like he was ready and willing to set the whole world on fire if it meant he could be with you in the ashes.”

A tear slipped down my cheek. “I love him, Alex.”

“I know.”

“After all that time trying to force it, it just happened. Everything was starting to fall into place. And now that it has… I don’t want to go back.”

“You won’t,” he said firmly. “You’re not that girl anymore.”

I looked at him. He was the only constant in a life full of shifting ground. “Thank you. For still being here.”

“Always.” He smiled, kissed the top of my head, then stood. “What else are brothers for? Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a very stubborn Alpha to go talk some sense into.”

“Be gentle with him,” I said softly, trying to tease.

But Alex just gave me a knowing look on his way out. “I’ll be as gentle as he deserves,” he said with a grin that warmed with sincerity. “He’s in love with you, Evelyn. Everyone else can see it. But that’s a battlefield all its own. Give him time.”

And then he was gone, and I was left with the window again and the world just coming awake beyond it.