Betrayed by My Ex, Marked by His Alpha Emperor Brother novel Chapter 124

Chapter 124: Chapter 124

Elara’s POV

Lyra had been fussing since somewhere around three in the morning.

Not screaming. Not wailing. Just that restless, squirming whimper that made it impossible to sleep and impossible to be angry about not sleeping. I’d rocked her, fed her, changed her, walked circles around the bedroom in the dark until my legs ached. She’d finally surrendered sometime before dawn, her tiny fist curled against her cheek, breathing slow and even in her cradle.

I stood over her now, watching the rise and fall of her chest. The morning light crept across the nursery floor in pale gold bands. She looked so peaceful. So impossibly small.

I envied her. The ability to simply stop fighting and rest.

Footsteps behind me. The creak of the floorboard near the doorway—the one that always groaned no matter how carefully you stepped.

"She’s out?"

I turned. Kaelen leaned against the doorframe, two cups of coffee in his hands. His dark hair was a disaster—half-flattened on one side, sticking up on the other. He hadn’t bothered with a shirt. Just loose trousers slung low on his hips. The morning light carved shadows along the ridges of his bare chest, every line of muscle catching gold.

It was profoundly unfair that he could look like that at this hour, a completely distracting perfection.

"Finally," I whispered, accepting the cup he offered. Our fingers brushed. His skin was warm. The coffee was bitter and perfect.

He stepped closer, peering down into the cradle. A softness crossed his face that he never let anyone else see. Then he looked at me—really looked—and the softness shifted into something more careful.

"You didn’t sleep."

"I slept enough."

"You slept nothing." He said it without accusation. Just fact.

I sipped my coffee and didn’t argue.

We moved to the corridor, pulling the nursery door half-shut behind us. His scent wrapped around me—pine and leather, familiar as my own heartbeat. It steadied something inside my chest. A fraying thread pulled taut.

"I got a message yesterday," he said, leaning against the wall. "From Riley."

I looked up. "Riley?"

"She and Sir Cassian." A faint smile tugged at his mouth. "They’re engaged."

Something warm bloomed behind my ribs. Genuine, uncomplicated warmth. Riley and Cassian. Of course. I’d seen it coming long before either of them had.

"She’s invited you to the celebration," Kaelen continued. "At the old training grounds."

The warmth froze.

The training grounds. Where I’d drilled formations. Where I’d sparred with Marcus until my knuckles bled. Where I’d stood in front of the tactical board and directed operations like I belonged there. Like I was someone who mattered.

That was before.

Before the failed mission six months ago. Before my tactical miscalculation had nearly killed my entire squad just prior to my capture. Before I’d lost—

Moonlight.

My wolf. My other self. Gone.

The coffee turned to acid on my tongue.

"Ela." Kaelen’s voice, low and close.

I realized my hand was shaking. I pressed the cup against my stomach to steady it.

"I can’t go back there," I said.

"You can."

"You don’t understand." My voice came out thin. Scraped raw. "That mission—the ambush happened because of me. My tactical call. My miscalculation. People almost died, Kaelen. And now I’m—" I swallowed hard. "I’m nothing. I’m a mortal woman playing dress-up in a world of wolves. What am I supposed to contribute to the empire now?"

He set his own cup on the windowsill. Then he was in front of me, both hands framing my face, tilting it up until I had no choice but to meet those dark gold eyes.

"You are not nothing." His thumbs traced my cheekbones. "You survived things that would have destroyed anyone else. That didn’t come from Moonlight. That came from you."

My eyes burned. I blinked hard.

"They’ll look at me and expect the person I used to be."

"Then let them look." His forehead touched mine. "You’ll earn their respect the same way you always have. By showing up. I promise you that."

I closed my eyes. Breathed him in. Pine. Leather. Steady, unwavering certainty.

"Riley would want you there," he murmured.

That was the part that broke through. Because he was right. Riley would want me there. And I owed her more than my fear.

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