"Why did you…" I choked on the words, tried again. "If you knew from the start, why did you date me? Why did you—" I couldn't say it. Couldn't force out the wordssleep with mein front of my father and Megan and Nathan's perfect, indifferent face.
"I needed to be seen trying. The pack was concerned about my lack of a mate. Dating you publicly kept them satisfied while I found someone suitable."
"Suitable." The word tasted like ash.
"And honestly, I thought I might as well getsomethingout of it." His gaze flicked over me, cold and dismissive. "Though it wasn't much. You were shit in bed anyway."
The words hung in the air, sharp and cold. Something out of it. Like I'd been a convenience. A placeholder. A warm body to pass the time.
"You used me." The words came out broken, barely audible.
"I wouldn't phrase it quite so dramatically." Nathan checked his watch with the same detached air he might use to check the weather. "We had an arrangement that was mutually beneficial. You got to be seen on the arm of an influential alpha. I got to satisfy the pack's expectations. Now it's time to move forward."
Mutually beneficial. I'd given him everything—my trust, my body, my heart—and he'd seen it as an arrangement. A transaction that had finally outlived its usefulness.
The pain in my chest intensified, spreading like wildfire through my veins. I couldn't catch my breath. Every heartbeat felt like shattered glass grinding against raw flesh. The bond was dissolving, unravelling thread by thread, and each severed connection sent fresh agony coursing through me.“You absolute bastard,” I hissed up at him as I fought to get to my feet.
Nathan stood smoothly, brushing an invisible speck of lint from his tuxedo sleeve. The movement was so casual, so unconcerned, that it made the agony tearing through my chest feel even more unbearable.
"There's no need for dramatics," he said. "You'll recover. The pain is temporary."
Temporary. As if that made any of this acceptable. As if the fact that I wouldn't die from this somehow negated the cruelty of what he was doing.
"Eleanor, calm down," my father said, his hand on my elbow. Not steadying me. Restraining me.
I jerked away from him, swaying on my feet. The room kept tilting, my vision blurring at the edges. "Don't touch me."
"This is exactly what I'm talking about," Nathan said, gesturing toward me with one elegant hand. "You're too emotional. Too unstable. A Luna needs to be composed. Controlled. You can't even handle a simple conversation without falling apart."
I stared at him through the haze of pain, and something cold and sharp crystallized beneath the agony. He'd planned this. Every moment, every touch, every whispered endearment—he'd known from the beginning that it would end here, in this hotel suite, with me on my knees while he announced his mating to another woman.
"Fuck you," I said, my voice steadier than I felt. "Fuck you and your perfect, suitable mate."
"Eleanor—" my father started.
"Get out." My voice came out steadier than I felt, though my entire body was trembling. "Both of you. Get out."
“Eleanor, I’m sorry. I-” Megan looked upset, but right now, I couldn't have given less of a shit.
“Just ignore her, dear. She’s prone to overreact to everything. Very sensitive and highly strung.” Nathan gave me one last contemptuous glance before he held out his hand to Megan. She hesitated, glancing at me one more time, then who took it and glided across the room with him to the door. He turned just before leaving, and for a moment hope flickered inside me.
"Don't come to the ball. It wouldn't look good."
And then he left.
I sank back down to the floor, trembling, the pain in my chest dulling into a hollow, endless ache. The carpet was soft beneath my palms. The city lights still glittered outside. I looked up at my father but his face was twisted with disgust.
"You stupid girl. How could you let this happen?"
I looked up at him, confused, still trying to breathe through the pain. "What?"
"You heard him, Eleanor. You weren't good enough. After everything I've done—the connections I made, the business deals I turned down to accommodate his schedule—and you couldn't even keep him interested."
I flinched. "Dad—"
"It’s not enough that I was saddled with a powerless witch for a daughter. That was humiliating enough, but now this? You couldn't keep him interested. It’s not hard, Eleanor, you just needed to smile and open your legs now and again. You couldn't even managethat."
"I'm sorry," I whispered, hating myself for apologizing, for the automatic response that years of his criticism had beaten into me.
