Kaden’s POV
The elevator doors closed, cutting Ruby from my view. I stood there staring at my reflection in the polished metal as the elevator began descending, trying to get my fucking head straight. Less than five minutes ago, I’d been lying naked beside her. Now I was on my way downstairs to face my brother.
My brother.
A wave of guilt twisted violently through my stomach. "Fuck." I dragged both hands over my face. What the hell had I done? No matter how many times I reminded myself that Kane was cheating on her, no matter how much I told myself that Ruby had come to me willingly, one fact remained painfully clear. She was still his woman. She was carrying his child. And I had just slept with her.
My own brother’s woman. My wolf shifted restlessly inside me, completely uninterested in my guilt. Mine.
I clenched my jaw. "Not now."
As the elevator passed the lower floors, a sudden, cold realization hit me. I hadn’t washed her off me. Her sweet, warm scent of honey, sweat, and raw desire hung heavily on my clothes and skin. I was walking straight into the lion’s den carrying the literal proof of what we’d just done.
The elevator chimed. I straightened immediately, forcing every emotion from my face as the doors opened onto the main floor.
I heard Kane before I even saw him. "Where the fuck is she?!"
His voice thundered through the palace. I stepped into the hallway and followed the noise toward the main sitting room. Two guards stood outside looking uncomfortable, and one of them immediately bowed when he saw me. I walked past them.
Kane was pacing the middle of the room like a caged beast, his jaw set, his hair messy, and a wild, bloodshot glare in his eyes that told me he’d been tearing through the palace for several minutes.
The moment he saw me, he marched toward me. "Where is Ruby?"
My jaw tightened. Interesting. He disappeared for days without telling his pregnant woman where he was going, yet suddenly he was acting like a concerned lover?
"Good evening to you too."
"I’m not fucking joking, Kaden."
"Neither am I."
His eyes narrowed. "I’ve checked her room. I’ve checked the garden. Stephanie doesn’t know where she is. The guards haven’t seen her for hours. Where the hell is she?"
I stared at him. For some reason, hearing the genuine concern in his voice irritated me. Perhaps because Ruby had spent tonight convincing me that this man no longer wanted her. Perhaps because I’d seen her tears when she told me he was cheating. Or perhaps because a much uglier part of me simply didn’t like hearing him call her his.
"You suddenly care where she is?"
Kane went completely still. "What?"
I folded my arms across my chest. "You’ve barely been around for days."
His expression changed, hardening instantly. "Where I’ve been is none of your business."
"Maybe not. But apparently, it became Ruby’s problem."
His eyes narrowed further. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"
I should have stopped. Ruby had trusted me with something private. Whatever was happening between her and Kane wasn’t mine to expose. But the image of her standing in my doorway with tears gathering in her eyes came rushing back. Kane is cheating on me. My anger returned instantly.
"Are you fucking another woman?"
Silence. Kane stared at me. For several seconds, he didn’t even blink. Then his eyebrows slowly pulled together.
"What?"
"You heard me."
"What kind of fucking question is that?"
"A simple one."
His face hardened. "And why exactly are you asking?"
"Because your pregnant woman has been sitting in this palace alone while you disappear for hours without explaining where you’re going."
Something flickered across Kane’s face. Guilt? Fuck. My stomach tightened. I stepped closer, towering over him. "So I’ll ask again. Are you seeing another woman?"
Kane’s jaw clenched, but he didn’t answer. That hesitation told me everything I needed to know. She hadn’t lied to me.
A bitter laugh escaped me. "Unbelievable."
"Kaden—"
"She’s carrying your child."
"I fucking know that!" Kane roared, stepping directly into my space.
"Then start acting like it!"
Kane’s eyes flashed gold. Alpha power immediately pressed into the room, and the guards outside shifted uneasily. Kane grabbed the front of my shirt, his fingers digging tight into the fabric. "Be very fucking careful."
I didn’t move. "Or what?"
His nostrils flared. For one second, I thought he might actually hit me. Part of me almost wanted him to. Maybe I deserved it—just not for the reason he thought.
"What happens between Ruby and me is none of your fucking concern," Kane growled, his breathing heavy. "You don’t know what’s happening."
"Then explain it."
"I don’t owe you an explanation."
"No. But maybe you owe one to the woman carrying your child."
His face tightened, that strange guilt crossing his expression again. My wolf growled inside me. Ruby had been right. There was someone else. And strangely, that realization didn’t make me angry only on her behalf. It made something dark and selfish inside me feel relieved. I hated myself for it, because if Kane didn’t want her anymore... I did. The thought came so naturally that my chest tightened.
Kane suddenly stared at me differently. His anger didn’t disappear, but something more calculating entered his expression. "Why do you care so much?"
My body went still. "What?"
"You heard me."
I forced a scoff. "She’s pregnant and living under my roof. I’m allowed to care whether she’s being treated properly."
"Bullshit."
My jaw tightened.
Kane leaned in closer, studying me. "You couldn’t stand her a few weeks ago."
"Things change."
His eyes narrowed. Fuck. Wrong answer.
"What changed?"
"Nothing."
"You just said things change."
I stared at him. He stared right back. For the first time since I’d walked into the room, unease crawled up my spine. Kane wasn’t stupid. He needed to be shut down before he started asking questions I couldn’t answer without lying directly to his face.
"Where were you tonight?" I asked instead.
His expression immediately closed. "None of your business."
"Then stop questioning mine."
I moved to rip my shirt from his grip and walk past him, but as my body shifted, Kane’s entire frame went completely rigid.
His grip on my clothes tightened to a crush. Slowly, his eyes lifted to mine, all the calculation vanishing into raw, territorial fury. His nostrils flared once. Twice.
My stomach dropped. Ruby. Her scent.
Kane’s eyes darkened until they were almost black. "Why the fuck do you smell like Ruby?"
For half a second, my mind went completely blank. Then instinct took over, and I kept my face like stone. "Because I was with her earlier."
His jaw snapped shut. "Where?"
"She had a panic attack," I said, my voice steady and cold. "I helped her back to her room and had to hold her up so she wouldn’t collapse on the stairs. That’s what you’re smelling."
"When was that?" he growled, his wolf pushing right beneath his skin. "Don’t fuck with me, Kaden."
I shoved his hands off my chest, stepping back with a sharp growl of my own. "Get control of yourself, Kane. I don’t know where she is right now."
That wasn’t entirely a lie. She had been on the rooftop when I’d left, but she could have moved. Kane stared at me for a long, dangerous moment, his chest heaving as he weighed my words. I stared back without blinking.
Footsteps came rushing down the corridor, breaking the suffocating air between us.
Both of us turned as one of my guards appeared at the entrance, breathing heavily. He bowed quickly. "Alpha."
"What?" Kane and I demanded at the same time.
The guard hesitated, glancing nervously between the two of us. "We found Miss Ruby. She’s up in the rooftop garden. She said she couldn’t sleep and went up to get some fresh air."
A wave of quiet, intense relief washed through my chest. The cover story held.
"Send her down here. Now," Kane barked, rubbing a hand over his face.
"There’s no need to yell," a soft, quiet voice called out from the corridor.
We both turned. Ruby stood in the doorway, wrapped tightly in a heavy blanket, her hair slightly tossed by the night wind. Her eyes met mine for a second, blank, careful, and completely unreadable, before she turned her full gaze toward Kane.
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