Betrayed by My Ex, Marked by His Alpha Emperor Brother novel Chapter 226

Chapter 226: Chapter 226

Elara’s POV

The hallway stretched before me like a tunnel with no end.

I checked Lyra’s room first. She was curled on her side, silver hair fanned across the pillow, one small fist tucked beneath her chin. Her breathing was slow. Even. Peaceful. She knew nothing of the poison spreading through these walls.

I watched her for a long moment. My daughter. My perfect, innocent girl.

I pulled the door shut without a sound.

Valerius’s room was next. I pressed my ear to the wood before entering. A faint melody drifted through—the enchanted music box Brenna had given him. Tinkling notes, soft as falling snow. I eased the door open.

He was propped against his headboard, knees drawn up, the music box balanced on the blanket beside him. His dark gold eyes—his father’s eyes—lifted to mine immediately.

"You should be sleeping," I said.

"Can’t."

I crossed the room and sat on the edge of his bed. "The music helps?"

He shrugged. That same one-shouldered shrug from dinner. "Sometimes."

I reached out and smoothed a curl from his forehead. He let me. Didn’t pull away, didn’t lean in. Just watched me with that unsettling steadiness.

"Goodnight, my little warrior," I whispered.

"Night, Mother."

I left before he could ask me anything. Before those golden eyes could see what I was barely holding together.

The corridor leading to the sitting room was dim. Candles burned low in their sconces, casting long shadows across the stone. My footsteps slowed as I approached.

He was there.

Kaelen sat in the darkness by the cold fireplace. No flames. No light except what bled in from the hallway. His elbows rested on his knees, hands buried in his dark hair. His shoulders curved inward. The shirt he wore was creased, untucked at the back. Even from this distance, I could see the bruised hollows beneath his eyes. He looked completely drained.

He looked up when he heard me.

"Elara."

I stopped. Ten steps between us. I counted them. Ten steps felt safe. Closer than that and I might smell her on him. Closer than that and I might shatter.

"You look—" He paused. Searched my face with a gentle gaze. "Strange. Are you alright?"

Strange. That was what he noticed. Not guilty. Not apologetic. Just concerned, the way one might be concerned about someone who appeared unwell.

"Training ran long today," I said, lying effortlessly. My voice sounded foreign to my own ears. Flat. Controlled. "I’m tired."

He stood. Took a step forward.

I took a step back.

He stopped. Something shifted in his expression—exhaustion, maybe guilt. I couldn’t read him anymore. Everything I thought I knew about this man had been peeled away, layer by layer, until only doubt remained.

"You should rest," he said quietly. "Can I—"

"Goodnight, Kaelen."

I turned before he could finish the sentence. Before the softness in his voice could reach the place inside me that still wanted to believe.

The guest room was at the far end of the wing. I closed the door. Locked it. Pressed my back against the wood and slid down until I sank to the cold floor, lying there fully clothed.

Darkness. Silence.

And then the images came, the ones Gareth had shown me.

Seraphine’s hand. Pale fingers splayed across his bare chest. Possessive. Comfortable. The kind of touch that spoke of familiarity.

Her neck. The marks. Dark against her fair skin. Teeth. His teeth. I knew those marks. I’d worn them myself once, in another life, when he’d pressed his mouth to my throat.

Now someone else wore them.

I pressed my palms against my eyes until I saw stars. It didn’t help. The images were branded behind my eyelids, torturing me.

Years.

I’d been gone for years. Years of silence. Years of raising Lyra alone in border towns and underground fighting pits while my body broke and my wolf—

My wolf.

I reached inward, the way I’d done a thousand times since losing Moonlight. Reached for the tether that should connect me to my other half. Found nothing. Just empty space. A severed cord dangling into the void.

I was incomplete. Fractured. A woman missing half her soul.

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