Chapter 6: The Letter That Changed Everything.

My fingers had just touched the royal seal, ready to open the letter when footsteps approached.

Luis approached me, his head bowed. “Alpha,” he said. “I need to apologize. I was out of line earlier. I never meant to put you in such an uncomfortable situation. My feelings are my own, and I shouldn’t have let them interfere with my duty. I’m willing to accept any punishment you see fit.”

He started to kneel, but I stopped him. I grabbed his shoulders, helping him up. “Luis, don’t,” I let out. “You’re not to blame for what Rebecca did. She twisted your words, and that’s on her, not you. You’ve always been loyal to this pack and to me. Don’t punish yourself for something you can’t control.”

Luis looked up, his eyes lighting up.“Alpha, Zenobia I…”

Before he could finish, Maxwell’s roared behind me.

"What the hell?"

I jerked back to see Maxwell and Rebecca outside the hall, looking at us. The fury in Maxwell's eyes was unlike anything I'd ever seen.

"Maxwell, wait—" Luis started.

Maxwell's fist connected with Luis's jaw. They crashed to the ground. A group of pack members started to gather, shocked that their Alpha was fighting his beta. I couldn’t believe it, fourteen years of friendship dissolved into a brutal fight. All because of me.

Council members rushed out of the hall, drawn by the commotion.

"Stop it!" I tried to pull them apart. "You've been best friends since childhood! This is all a misunderstanding!"

"Misunderstanding?" Maxwell snarled, landing another punch. "My Beta kissing my wife?"

"Maxwell, please!" I grabbed his arm. "Luis, back off! Both of you, stop this!"

Yet my pleas fell on deaf ears. Maxwell couldn’t stop. He kicked, punched and choked Luis. Luis struggled against him, barelyable to spur with his alpha in measurable strength. Nomatter how much Luis tried, Maxwell was stronger than him, better at fighting than him.

“Please, stop!’’ I cried out, trying to grab Maxwell’s hand.

Finally, with help from other pack members, we managed to separate them. Maxwell's lip was bleeding, Luis's eye already swollen.

I noticed Rebecca disappearing off into the opposite direction. I was too preoccupied to think much of it.

“Maxwell, you don’t understand!’’

“ You’re my beta, my best friend, yet you’ve been fucking my wife!’’ Maxwell roared, then threw himself atLuis again. It took yet another band of pack warriors to pull my husband off his beta before he killed him. His eyes were Alpha red, fangs out and body distorted. He was in between shifting to his wolf, ready to kill Luis.

"The letter," I suddenly remembered, patting my dress. My blood ran cold. "Where's the letter?"

I spun around, searching the ground where they'd struggled. Nothing. Then I noticed – Rebecca was gone.

My heart stopped. The Lycan King's seal. His response to my plea. I’d been so busy stopping my husband from killing his beta, that I lost the letter in the chaos.

"Take him to holding," Maxwell ordered the guards dragging Luis away. He turned to me with cold eyes. "We need to talk. Now."

I nodded, turning to Amber. "Find that letter. It's critical."

My beta nodded,dispersing the crowd of onlookers as she started the search. While my husband pulled me away, I could only pray to the goddess that we found that letter.

Maxwell pulled me into his office, slamming the door. "How long?"

"What?"

"How long have you been sleeping with my best friend?"

"I've never—"

"Don't lie to me!" He slammed his fist on the desk. "I felt like the worst husband alive bringing Rebecca home. I tortured myself over hurting you, and all this time you've been—"

"I haven't been anything!" I stepped toward him. "Luis confessed his feelings days ago. That's all. I never encouraged him, never acted on it."

"Then why didn't you tell me?" His voice cracked. "Why did I have to find out like that, in front of the entire council? Do you know how stupid I looked?"

"When exactly was I supposed to tell you, Maxwell? While you were in bed with Rebecca? Or maybe during one of the council meetings where you parade her around as your true mate?"

"You made a fool of me—"

"I made a fool of you?" I laughed bitterly. "You brought another woman into our home, moved her into your bed, and I'm the one who made you look foolish?"

Something flickered in his eyes – doubt, maybe regret. He took a step toward me. "Zeno—"

The door opened. Rebecca glided in, wrapping herself around Maxwell. "Everything okay, baby?" She pressed a kiss to his lips.

Maxwell's entire demeanor changed. The vulnerability vanished, replaced by cold indifference. "You'll pay for this betrayal, Zenobia. I trusted you."

"Maxwell, please—"

"Save it." He wrapped an arm around Rebecca. "Let's go, love. I'm done here."

I watched them leave, my heart breaking all over again. The man who'd just shown a glimpse of my old Maxwell was gone, replaced by Rebecca's puppet once more.

Amber waited for me in the hallway, no doubt to give me the letter.

“Where is it?’’ I asked, trying to hold back the tears and forget every cruel thing my husband had just said. Instead, my beta looks at me with empty eyes.

"Alpha... we can't find the letter anywhere. It's gone."