From Betrayed Luna to Wolf Queen (Lillian) novel Chapter 9

Chapter 9 The Broken Tranquilizer

Lillian’s POV:

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His lips pressed into a tight, bloodless line. Those deep brown eyes were fixed on me, the chill in them almost palpable. The oppressive aura of a dominant Alpha saturated the hospital room, thickening the air until it was hard to breathe.

I knew he was truly furious.

For Iris.

Something cold and sharp clawed at my heart, but the smile on my face didn’t waver. I broke our staring contest, turning my attention back to Iris‘ delicate, tear–stained face.

“I have a particular distaste for performances staged for my benefit,” I said, my voice soft but carrying perfectly in the strained silence. “Remember this, Iris. The next time you orchestrate a scene, I’ll be sure to give you a matching one.”

Eleanor shrieked, “Get out! Get out of this room!”

A scornful sound escaped me as I turned toward the door.

As I passed Julian, his hand shot out again, his fingers closing around my wrist like an iron manacle. His Alpha scent–that cold, :lean pine and winter air–enveloped me, now heavy with undisguised dominance.

stopped and looked down at his restraining hand. “What now, Alpha? Still insisting on that apology?”

Just let her go,” Iris murmured weakly from the shelter of Eleanor’s arms. She genuinely seemed to be in pain now, a fine sheen of weat on her pale forehead. “It hurts… please, just stop…”

t seemed her wound was causing real distress. She likely just wanted me gone so she could focus on her fragile act and managing

er discomfort.

But Eleanor wasn’t ready to drop it. She glared at Julian. “Call the pack enforcers! Do it, Julian! Have them take her into custody! Assaulting a female in postpartum recovery–that’s grounds for holding her in the pack detention cells!”

Now that I’d torn away all pretense and showed her neither respect nor fear, Eleanor was desperate to see me punished in the most evere way possible.

turned my head and met Eleanor’s gaze, my tone almost conversational. “The enforcers? By all means. Go ahead and call them.”

My complete indifference, my dismissive tone, made Eleanor sputter with incoherent rage.

wrenched my wrist from Julian’s grasp. This time, he allowed it. I walked out of the room without a backward glance.

Behind me, I sensed Julian’s gaze sweep over the wrecked room and Iris‘ pained form before he turned and followed me out,

Eleanor’s furious voice chased me down the hall. “He’s still following her! What spell has that orphan cast over him? My poor Iris

P–Please, the doctor…” Iris groaned, the sound thick with pain.

‘Oh, Moon above–you’re bleeding! You’re bleeding!” Eleanor’s panicked cry was followed by the frantic, repeated buzz of the

urse call button. “Iris, stay with me! That vicious creature–I will make her pay for this!” The hatred in her voice was a living thing.

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Chapter 9 The Broken Tranquilizer

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Then, with my wolf–sharpened hearing, I caught Iris‘ next words, delivered in a weak, tearful whisper meant to be overheard. “Is it because Ethan is gone… that I deserve this? I have no Alpha to shield me anymore… so I’m just… nothing now, am I?”

Eleanor’s voice instantly melted into a puddle of heartache and protective fury. “Don’t you dare say such things, my dear! I will protect you. You have your pups. You are a heroine of the Graves bloodline. That wicked Lillian… I will see her driven from this pack and into the shadows…”

The rest was cut off as the heavy door swung shut behind me.

But the hatred… I could feel it seeping through the door. In that moment, Eleanor undoubtedly wished I would simply vanish. Or meet a worse fate.

returned to my own sterile room. Julian entered a moment later, closing the door softly but firmly behind him.

‘Why are you still shadowing me?” I turned and shot him a sharp, challenging look. “I made myself clear. I am not apologizing to ris. If she wants contrition, she will only receive the variety I just delivered.”

Every word was honed to a cutting edge.

Julian moved closer, his tall frame looming, casting me in his shadow. He didn’t speak. Instead, his arms came around me from >ehind, pulling me back against the solid wall of his chest. It was broad and warm, wrapped in that familiar, comforting scent of ›ine and frost that had once been my sole anchor during the loneliest days in Graves territory.

Despite my resolve, my treacherous heart gave a painful lurch.

le rested his chin atop my head, his voice a low rumble against my back. “Fine. No apology.”

My entire body went rigid.

‘hen he continued, his tone tightening with reproach. “But you shouldn’t have laid hands on her. Or… forced her head down like hat. She is postpartum. Her body and spirit are fragile.”

My heart completed its journey–from that fleeting, stupid warmth straight down into a frozen, lightless abyss.

of course.

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