Rising Suspicions

Kaiden's POV

I watched her as she quietly slipped out of the dinner hall, her movements were quite subtle, it was almost like a shadow that passed through the crowded room.


It wasn’t the first time I’d seen Lilian retreat like this, feeling down and all and wanting to be away from the rest of the party.


But tonight's own, something felt different. The evening's happenings, the ceremony, of everything that had happened in the pack, it was all so heavy on her shoulders and it wasn’t lost on me.



I knew what it was that bothered her—my parents.


My mother had taken Lilian under her wing, and they had gotten closer to each other than most people realized.


The loss had hit Lilian just as hard, if not harder, than it did me, I could see. Hence the withdrawal.


But, I knew Lilian was strong. Too strong, perhaps. She bottled up her emotions, always presenting that calm and collected exterior to everyone else, even to me, even when she was breaking inside.



I sighed, nursing my drink as I watched her disappear through the doors.

I didn’t want to intrude on her grief or her thoughts, not yet anyway, but something in me told me to follow her, to make sure she was okay.


I waited for the minutes to pass before I set down my drink and excused myself from the table.

I’d given her enough time to collect herself, after all. The last thing I wanted at the moment was for her to be alone with those haunting thoughts on a night like this.

This was supposed to be a night of celebration and not otherwise.


I walked out in search of her, but as I stepped outside, the sight that greeted me froze me in place.

Henrik.

I clenched my fists tightly as I watched them. Standing way too close to Lilian, his posture was menacing, and I could see that his eyes were dark with whatever twisted thoughts that he had cooking up in that head of his.



My blood ran cold, and I felt the anger beginning to rise up.

I clenched my fists tighter as I forced myself to stay calm, to assess the situation before jumping to conclusions.


But the sight of Henrik's hand on her arm, and the fear that I saw in Lilian's eyes—it was enough to push me over the edge.
I didn’t think. I just acted.


“What the hell is going on here?” I asked in a sharp voice.


Of course one would know that I was angry already.


Henrik’s hand immediately froze, I watched as it hovered in the air as if he’d been caught in the act without any way of escape.



His grip on Lilian’s arm loosened, and she quickly stepped back, her eyes were wide when they met mine.


“I asked a question,” I repeated, my tone left no room for excuses and I knew they weren't going to do that.


My eyes moved between Henrik and Lilian, I searched for the truth in their faces.


Henrik was the first to respond to me, when he spoke, his voice was smooth but it was edged with something I didn’t like.



“Nothing,” he said, as I watched him shrug it off as if it were the most innocent of situations. “Lilian and I were just… discussing some things. Isn’t that right, Lilian?” he asked as I saw him turn to look at her.



I could see the hesitation in Lilian’s eyes, the way she swallowed hard before she nodded her head.


“Yes. We were just talking,” she whispered, but the lie was so clear, it almost hurt to hear her say it.



I wasn’t buying it. Not even for a second.


My eyes stayed locked on Henrik, his smug expression grated on every nerve.


The slick bastard.
He wasn’t the kind of man who just “talked.” Not with that kind of tension in the air. But I held my tongue and kept my focus on Lilian.



"Are you alright?” I asked her.
She nodded again, but the fear in her eyes was unmistakable.


“I’m fine,” she murmured, even though I knew she wasn’t.


I forced myself to relax my posture, and I gave her a softer look, but when I turned back to Henrik, every muscle in my body tensed again.


There was something about him—something that had always set me on edge all the time.


I never liked the way he looked at Lilian, the way he spoke to her, the way he is always interested in communicating with her, and tonight was no different.



“Well, I shall leave you both,” Henrik said, his tone was laced with that same condescending charm he always used whenever he was being annoyingly deceptive.



As he walked away, I waited until he was out of sight before I turned back to Lilian.



My brows furrowed in concern for her.
“Lilian, what happened? What were you and Henrik talking about?” I asked, I was trying my hardest to keep my voice calm and gentle, but I could still hear the edge in it.



“Nothing,” she said to me, but I could see the conflict in her eyes, the way she was holding something back. As if she was scared of saying what she had in her mind even though she somehow wanted to say it.


I frowned and stepped closer to her, my eyes searching her gray depths for answers.


“What really is your relationship with Henrik?”


The question quickly slipped out before I could stop it, and I saw the shock when it registered on her face.



This really wasn’t the time or place to press her for answers, but I needed to know. I needed to understand what the hell was going on, why she was so afraid, and why Henrik was always around her like a dark shadow and almost all the time.




This wasn't the first time I had caught them together.


She hesitated and her eyes darted away from me as if she was looking for the right words or probably a better way to avoid the truth.

But I couldn’t let it go. Not this time.