The Luna they betrayed became Untouchable

Chapter 40: Chapter 40

The Valemont dining hall rang with something it hadn’t held in a long while—real, unforced laughter.

Varek raised his glass for what had to be the third time that evening. "To Alpha Lucien," he said, grinning, "and his rapidly shrinking treasury."

Evelyn burst out laughing at that. They’d heard the news, and how she wished she was there to see the look on Lucien’s face when he read the reports.

It didn’t matter though. She knew this would at least force his hand to withdraw the order against Valemont. He had to realize he’d been backed into a corner by now. Any smart and intelligent man would back down, especially when it was affecting their finances.

Evelyn took a sip of the wine she’d been given, feeling lighter than she had been in months.

"Evelyn, you can’t—" Varek was cut off by Clara, who stepped into the room.

"My Lady, you have a visitor," she announced. "It’s the Alpha from yesterday," she said.

"Alpha from yesterday?" Evelyn repeated.

"I think she means Alpha Soren," Varek said as Evelyn set her glass down.

"Of course." She rose from her chair. "I’ll see him."

Varek gave her a knowing look.

"Don’t," she said sharply.

"I didn’t say anything," Varek defended.

"You were about to," she said, and walked out of the dining hall.

Soren was waiting in the entrance hall, dressed more casually than he had been the night before. His blond hair was slightly tousled, and there was an ease about him that made it difficult to believe he was the same man.

He turned around on hearing her footsteps, and the moment he saw her, he smiled softly.

"Evelyn."

"Soren." She called with a smile. "I didn’t think you’d come. I wasn’t expecting you."

"I hope I’m not interrupting. I couldn’t delay you for even a second."

Evelyn smiled faintly. "You’re not. We were just celebrating."

"I heard."

Her brows lifted. "Already?"

Soren chuckled. "News travels quickly when the Supreme Alpha is involved."

Evelyn stepped closer. "Then you probably heard what happened."

"I did."

"And I wanted to thank you."

Soren’s smile softened. "You don’t need to."

"I do."

"No, Evelyn. You don’t." He argued. She gave him a pointed look. "Let me thank you."

He laughed quietly and inclined his head. "All right. Thank me."

"Thank you. What you gave me yesterday changed everything. I don’t know how to repay what you handed me."

"You needn’t. I told you already—I’m here to help however you need it. You needn’t even ask."

"I know." A faint, tired smile crossed her face. "Though I confess, at this point, I’d settle for Lucien simply granting me a moment’s peace."

Soren nodded. "Perhaps a moment, but I doubt you’d get any more than that." His face turned a little more serious. "You should know, this isn’t the end of it."

Evelyn hummed. "I know that too."

Soren looked away for a second, then stepped closer to her. "I want to help you further, Evelyn. If you’ll let me, I want to help—"

"She already has help." The voice cut through the air like a whip before Alpha Damon had fully stepped through the doorway, unannounced, exactly as he tended to arrive everywhere.

His dark eyes settled on Evelyn first, then Soren.

Evelyn blinked. What was it with these men and showing up unannounced? "Alpha Damon, I wasn’t expecting you."

Damon inclined his head, though his gaze hadn’t left Soren yet. "Clearly not." He crossed the remaining distance into the hall. "You have a habit of forgetting to mention things, Lady Evelyn."

Evelyn raised a brow. "I’m not obligated to report my every visitor to you, Alpha Damon."

"No." His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. "But when the Supreme Alpha declares economic war on you and your allies overnight, and I hear about it from a merchant in my own pack rather than from my own partner—" He let the sentence hang there, sharp-edged. "I begin to wonder what else you’ve decided isn’t my business."

"Everything concerning Lucien’s decree is my business," Evelyn said evenly. "Not yours. That was the agreement, if you recall. I don’t answer to you, Alpha Damon, any more than you answer to me."

Damon’s eyes snapped to her, his jaw tight. "I could have helped."

"I didn’t need it, and I don’t need your help, Alpha Damon," Evelyn snapped.

Damon’s jaw tightened further. "You could have asked."

"Why would I ask for something I didn’t need?" she asked. "Besides, you already are helping enough. That was never in question." She held his gaze, unflinching. "But I don’t need permission to seek help elsewhere. You made that condition yourself—or have you already forgotten the terms you agreed to that day in your study?"

Damon’s jaw tightened, but he said nothing.

Soren, who had watched the exchange with something like amusement, finally spoke. "For what it’s worth, Alpha Damon, I’d like to formally offer my own investment in the healing house. As a partner."

Damon’s head snapped toward him. "That’s not necessary."

"I wasn’t asking your permission." Soren’s tone sharpened slightly. "I was informing Lady Evelyn."

"She already has a partner."

"She can have two." Soren’s eyes didn’t leave Damon’s. "Unless there’s some rule against it I haven’t been told."

Damon’s eyes narrowed. "You think you can just walk in and—"

Evelyn stepped between the two of them before either could press further. "Alpha Damon has no say in who joins this venture. Our terms in this partnership were clear, and I intend to hold him to them."

She then turned to Soren, who started to speak before she could even talk.

"I have resources outside the realm. Connections not even Alpha Lucien can touch. If you want to build something that reaches beyond this realm, beyond anyone’s reach—I can help you do that."

Evelyn considered him for a long moment. "I’ll take it under advisement. Formally, the same as I did with Alpha Damon."

"That’s all I ask." Soren inclined his head, satisfied, though his gaze lingered on her a moment too long before he continued. "There is very little I wouldn’t do for you, Evelyn. You’ve only to say the word."

"And what would you want," Evelyn asked quietly, "in exchange for all this generosity?"

The question hung there, the same one she’d asked him the night before, though something in her voice now suggested she already suspected the answer wouldn’t be as simple this time.

Soren was quiet for a moment, something in his expression settling, resolving.

"I’d be a liar and a fool to tell you I want nothing." His jaw tightened. "I left this pack the day after your wedding to Kael because I couldn’t stand to watch you belong to another man. I told myself it was for the best. I told myself a great many things over the years to make the leaving easier." He held her gaze. "None of it worked. Seeing you again hasn’t dulled it, Evelyn. If anything, it’s made it worse."

"Soren—"

"I know." He lifted a hand gently, cutting her off before she could finish. "I know you’ve only just ended a marriage. I know a second man is likely the last thing on your mind right now, and I’m not foolish enough to ask for anything you’re not ready to give." His voice softened further. "I only ask that you consider me. Whenever that time comes—next season, next year, whenever it is—consider me. I’ve waited once already. I can wait again."

"I have only just gotten out of a marriage. The very last thing on my mind is another. I won’t and I can’t promise you anything, Soren."

"I know that too." A faint, rueful smile touched his mouth. "I don’t expect you to choose me. I only want you to remember that I’m here."

Evelyn hesitated. "Soren..."

"Use me."

She blinked. "What?"

"For the business. For your plans. For anything." He smiled. "You said you don’t like owing people—then don’t owe me."

He gestured toward himself. "Use what I have. My money. My connections. My reach. Whatever you need."

"And what if I never give you what you want?" Evelyn asked.

"I’ll survive." He smiled. "But I’d rather you at least give me the chance of a consideration whenever you are ready."

Evelyn looked down. "I promise you nothing, Soren."

"I’ll take whatever you give me," he replied instead.

Standing a few feet from them, Damon’s jaw had gone tight, something unreadable moving behind his eyes. He said nothing—he had no grounds to say anything—but the muscle ticking along his jaw betrayed something he couldn’t quite name even to himself.

He realized, distantly, what it was: irritation. Real, and entirely unwelcome.

Evelyn opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Clara, who had hurried back into the hall, eyes panicked.

"My Lady—"

She didn’t get the chance to finish. Behind her, the doors swung open, and Lucien stepped in, his entourage filing in at his back, his gaze already fixed on Evelyn with an intensity that silenced the room entirely.

"Lady Evelyn Valemont. I believe we have unfinished business."

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