His Discarded Luna, the Rival's Obsession — Chapter 177 A Familiar Face

Lainey guessed Lila first. When Vincent’s expression didn’t so much as flicker, she moved on to Kate, then Natalie. Still nothing.

"Okay, I give up. Just tell me already, Vince."

Vincent kept his eyes on the road. If this was what it took to finally kill his sister’s hopeless crush on Alpha Killian, then so be it.

"Her name’s Eira. Alpha Killian treats her like she’s made of glass, and everyone in his circle falls right in line behind him."

That should paint the picture clearly enough. A man as cold-blooded as Alpha Killian Sterling was actually letting a woman under his skin.

Lainey froze for a beat.

"How serious are we talking? Does he actually want her? And what about Serena’s guy?" She frowned. "Two Alphas circling the same woman? This Eira has to be way more than Serena—"

She caught herself and bit it back. Her brother was sitting right there, and trash-talking Serena wouldn’t go over well.

But now she was hooked.

Alpha Killian had been born at the top of the food chain. He was the Alpha of one of the oldest bloodlines on the continent, a wolf whose Pack controlled territory and resources that half the packs on the coast would kill for.

For years, heiresses and wannabe Lunas had thrown themselves at him without ever earning a second glance.

And yet some woman named Eira had cracked him wide open.

Lainey had to see this woman for herself.

The next morning, Eira finished uploading the walkthrough shots of the place on Ashford Lane and emailed her notes over to a design studio. Nothing about the layout was structural, mostly just furnishings, so their proposal came back fast. They set up a meeting at a coffee shop downtown.

Before she left, Mrs. Jones looped a brown scarf around her neck.

"Mrs. Jones, it’s not even that cold out yet."

"The wind off the coast gets brutal this time of year. Keep it on. And drive safe."

"Bye, Mrs. Jones." At the door, Eira crouched down to scratch both German Shepherds behind the ears. "See you two later."

The designer spotted her the second she walked in.

"Ms. Crawford, right this way. Here’s the plan. All the brands and materials are listed, so just check off whatever you like."

Eira scrolled through the tablet. The proposal called for an open kitchen, a balcony knocked through, and floor-to-ceiling glass.

"Raise the balcony section into a platform so it’s set apart from the living room. Keep the same hardwood floors throughout. I don’t need much, just a dark walnut table over there and a built-in bookcase behind it in the same tone. That’s it for now."

"Perfect. We’ll just need you to walk our crew through the property once they get started."

"It’s Ten Ashford Lane. Everyone shows up with a photo ID, and I’ll need plate numbers and vehicle details ahead of time. It all gets logged at the gate."

The designer blinked. To an outsider, Ashford Lane was just a nice address in a nice neighborhood, not the kind of place that ran security like a Pack border checkpoint.

"Got it. I’ll get out of your hair, then. We’ll keep you posted in the group chat."

Eira watched him go, finished her coffee, and stood up. On her way out, she bumped shoulders with a woman scrolling through her phone.

"Sorry."

They both looked up at the same time.

The woman was polished, five-inch heels putting her at eye level with flat-shoed Eira.

Blunt bob, pearl studs.

Lainey barely heard her own apology. Something in the other woman’s face had snagged her, deep and insistent, and she couldn’t look away.

Eira gave a small nod and turned to go.

"Wait." Lainey’s hand shot out before the word even left her mouth, closing around Eira’s wrist.

"Can I help you?" Eira glanced back.

Lainey barely registered the question. She was staring at those eyes, at the line of that brow. They were her father’s.

"That one was on me back there," Lainey said. "Let me buy you a coffee to make up for it."

"I just had one, thanks." Eira slipped her wrist free and walked out.

Lainey drifted to the window, her pulse climbing.

Out on the curb, Eira slid on a pair of rimless glasses while she waited for her car. The wind off the coast swept across her profile, clean and sharp.

There it was again. Stronger this time.

That side profile was a dead match for a photo Lainey had stumbled across years ago, her father when he was young, out in the field.

A memory she’d buried a long time ago floated back up. The whispers when she was little. Funny, she doesn’t look a thing like her mom or her dad. The grown-ups always assumed a pup couldn’t follow along. She’d caught every word. Her parents had bitten the head off whoever said it, swore up and down she took after her late grandmother, and eventually the whispers died off. But the crack it left had never really healed.

Lainey touched her own cheek, her eyes locked on Eira.

She hadn’t even gotten the woman’s name.

She hurried out the door just as Eira’s car pulled up to the curb.

"Sorry, could I grab your name? Or maybe a number? I still owe you that coffee."

Eira’s eyes cooled.

"I’m good, thanks." She slid into the car and told the driver to go.

Following a stranger was insane, and Lainey knew it. She flagged down a cab anyway and fired off a quick text to push her afternoon plans.

The cab trailed the car clear across town, out toward the quieter streets near the water. It finally slowed at a curb where another car was already waiting. Cherry-pink, impossible to miss.

Lainey recognized it in a heartbeat. That was Lila’s car.

Lila hopped out and hooked an arm through the woman’s, and the woman who’d been ice-cold ten minutes ago actually smiled.

Lainey sat frozen in the back of the cab.

She looks like a completely different person when she smiles.

So the woman and Lila went way back. Lainey and Lila weren’t exactly close, but they’d crossed paths plenty, the kind of faces that kept turning up in the same circles.

She could hardly jump out now and start grilling Lila’s friend right in front of her. That would look bizarre, and word would only make things messier.

Then again, this actually made things easier.

If the woman was that tight with Lila, there’d be no shortage of ways to dig.

Besides, she was due at the Sterling estate that evening to see Luna Seraphina.

She’d just get the story out of Lila then.