The Alpha's Forbidden Vow novel Chapter 109

POV: Selene

I had found a sliver of peace in the old, forgotten library.

It was the one place in the manor that was truly mine, a sanctuary of dust and silence where I could try to piece together the puzzle of my own identity.

The books on the Silvermoon were my only comfort, a connection to a past that felt more real than my confusing, painful present.

I was tracing the outline of the Silvermoon totem in a crumbling book when a familiar, cold scent pricked my senses.

Winter and ambition.

I looked up, my heart giving a small, wary flutter.

Ryker Laurent stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame as if he owned the place.

He was dressed in a perfectly tailored dark suit, a vision of cold, predatory elegance.

“Lady Selene,” he said, his voice a smooth, charming purr. “I had a feeling I might find you here.”

“You are not welcome here, Ryker,” I said, my voice steady, closing the ancient book.

“Am I not?” he asked, pushing himself off the doorframe and strolling into the room. “Your mate seems to have alienated everyone else. I thought he might be in need of a new ally.”

He stopped in front of my table, his icy blue eyes sweeping over me with a look of intense, appreciative focus.

“I heard what happened at the ceremony,” he said. “And I have heard whispers of your Alpha’s… changed demeanor since his return.”

He tilted his head, his gaze sharp and perceptive. “He is not the same man, is he?”

I did not answer.

Zane’s touch was always a fire, a brand of possession.

Ryker’s was a cool, deliberate caress.

“He cannot give you what you need,” he whispered, his eyes blazing with a cold, ambitious fire.

“He cannot cherish you as a queen, because he is too busy trying to control you as a possession.”

He leaned in, his lips almost brushing my ear.

“An Alpha who has forgotten how to love is unworthy of a Silvermoon Queen.”

“What he cannot give you,” he promised, “I can.”