The Betrayed Princess Rising (Lylah and Ezra) novel Chapter 281

Chapter 281

3rd Person’s POV

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By the time Lylah reached the penthouse, night had already settled deep over Lunaris, draping the city in quiet shadows. She didn’t pause or linger. She moved with quiet purpose, crossing the space and retreating to her room, where she began packing for her visit to the Moonclaw estate the next day.

Clothes. Essentials. Small things.

Her movements were precise, but distant-her mind elsewhere.

So much so that she didn’t notice the Alpha who followed her inside.

Ezra remained a few steps behind, silent as a sentinel. The air around him felt wrong tonight- colder, heavier. But it wasn’t dominance.

It was fear.

He watched her as she packed-every fold of fabric, every quiet motion-and something twisted violently in his chest.

His wolf stirred.

A sharp, instinctive panic clawed through him.

“Lylah…” His voice came out rougher than he intended. “Are you angry with me?”

The question hung between them.

Lylah didn’t look up.

“No, Ezra,” she said softly. “Why would I be?”

She meant it. But her voice was too light, too distracted. Her attention had already shifted to her wrist.

There had been three bracelets yesterday.

Now, there were only two.

A small frown creased Lylah’s brow.

She moved quickly, pulling open a drawer and retrieving the velvet jewelry box tucked inside. The brown rosewood bracelet lay within, its star-shaped diamond pendant catching the light-

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Chapter 281

…

the one she had meant to give Ezra.

But hers…

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The red one, with a crescent moon charm that had once rested against her skin, was gone.

Lylah straightened slowly, confusion settling in.

Behind her, Ezra watched everything.

But he didn’t notice the bracelet-nor her confusion. He saw only distance in every movement she made. His thoughts fractured, instincts surging wildly.

He knew she was upset.

And the thought of losing her-

It struck something primal.

Without warning, he moved.

Ezra crossed the space in a heartbeat and pulled her into his arms. Tightly. Desperately.

“I made a mistake,” he said, the words breaking free before he could stop them. “I won’t defend myself. You have every right to be angry with me. But please…” His grip tightened, almost shaking. “Don’t leave. Not like this. If someone has to go, I’ll be the one. I’ll disappear. I’ll stay gone until you forgive me, I swear it.”

His voice fractured-raw and unsteady.

“I can even call him here… if that’s what you need. Just-please don’t walk away from me.”

Lylah frowned, caught off guard.

They pulled apart slightly.

For a moment, she simply stared at him.

Her confusion lingered-but now recognition surfaced beneath it.

Ezra was shaking.

Not with anger, but with something far more unsettling.

Fear.

“Ezra…” she said slowly, her voice softer now, searching. “I don’t understand. What are you

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Chapter 281

talking about? Who is ‘he’?”

Ezra’s gaze locked onto hers.

The usual steel was gone-stripped clean.

What remained was something bare. Vulnerable. Almost fragile.

Like moonlight trembling over dark water.

“Rowan Blackfang.”

The name settled between them like a shadow.

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“If his presence makes you calmer… happier…” Ezra continued quietly, “Then I’ll call him. I will. Just… don’t think about leaving me.”

Lylah’s eyes moved slowly over his face, reading what the words had left behind-the rigid set of his jaw, the emotion he was trying so hard to conceal, the look of a wolf who had said more than he intended and was now bracing for what came next.

“You’re terrified,” she said, her voice lowering. “And you’re saying things that don’t make sense. This has something to do with Rowan, doesn’t it?”

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

“Something that happened the night I dropped Tiara at the hotel.”

Because that was the night.

She was certain of it now.

That was when the air around Ezra had changed-when he returned carrying something invisible and heavy, something that clung to him the way fear does when it has just been earned.

“Tell me what happened.”

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The Betrayed Princess Rising