Chapter 20 An Unexpected Alliance

"How do you know I didn’t go home last night?" Eira asked, her eyes cold.

Alpha Sebastian studied her face, searching for some sign that she had seen him with Serena.

If she had walked into that bedroom, she would have cried. She would have confronted him. At least, the old Eira would have.

"You didn’t," he said with sudden confidence.

"I went back this morning. You were already gone."

Relief crossed his face before he could hide it.

Good. She had not caught them. No tears. No scene. No demand for divorce.

He noticed the red mark his fingers had left on her wrist.

"Did I hurt you?"

"Yes."

He did not apologize.

"Where were you last night?"

"With a friend."

"Man or woman?"

"A woman."

Alpha Sebastian frowned. "Since when do you have friends?"

Eira almost laughed. He knew so little about her that friendship sounded suspicious.

"That’s none of your business."

"Was it one of Sterling’s assistants?" His mouth tightened. "Stay away from them. People on the executive floor don’t do favors for free."

"Who I spend time with is my choice."

Alpha Sebastian opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

A few yards away, Serena stood outside the boutique, pretending to study a window display while keeping one eye on them.

Eira turned to leave.

"Eira!"

Quick footsteps came down the corridor.

Lila hurried toward them in sneakers and a Stanford sweatshirt, slightly out of breath. She held up a faded hair tie.

"You left this at my place."

Eira blinked. She had noticed it missing that morning but assumed it was gone for good.

"You came all this way for a hair tie?"

"I was already on campus nearby." Lila gave the hair tie a small shake. "It matches your bag, so I figured it might matter."

It had once. Alpha Sebastian had given it to her years ago.

Now it was only an old piece of fabric she had forgotten to throw away.

"Thank you," Eira said.

The timing still felt almost too perfect. Eira made a mental note of it but said nothing.

Alpha Sebastian looked between them. "You stayed at her place last night?"

Lila finally turned to him.

"And you are?"

Before Eira could answer, Alpha Sebastian stepped in.

"I’m her husband."

Lila went still. Then she looked him over from head to toe, making no effort to hide her disappointment.

"You’re her husband?"

The disbelief in her voice was impossible to miss.

Alpha Sebastian’s expression tightened. "Is there a problem?"

"Technically," Eira said.

Alpha Sebastian turned to her. "There’s nothing technical about it. We’re legally married."

"Funny," Eira said. "You had trouble remembering that last night."

His jaw locked. Cedar sharpened in the air before he pulled it back under control.

Lila looked between them and understood enough.

"Got it," she said. "One of those marriages."

"Watch your tone," Alpha Sebastian said.

Lila lifted both hands. "Hey, I’m just working with what you two gave me."

Alpha Sebastian studied her more closely. "And you are?"

"Lila."

"No last name?"

"Not one you need."

Her casual refusal to give him a last name irritated him.

Alpha Sebastian pulled out a business card and held it toward her, trying to take back control of the conversation.

"Sebastian Hale. Thank you for looking after Eira last night."

Lila glanced at the card but did not take it.

Alpha Sebastian frowned at Lila, then looked at Eira as if to ask, This is the company you keep now?

Eira ignored him. She took the hair tie and slipped it into her pocket.

Lila was still slightly out of breath, so Eira handed her a tissue.

"Thanks." Lila wiped her forehead, then glanced down at her Stanford sweatshirt and sweatpants. "My brother called like the building was on fire. I didn’t even get time to change."

She linked her arm through Eira’s.

"Come help me find something decent to wear."

"Sure."

Eira turned back to Alpha Sebastian. "Your two minutes are up."

She and Lila started toward the fitting rooms.

Alpha Sebastian called after her. "Tomorrow is Isabella’s birthday. Pick up her gift and be home early."

Eira stopped and looked back.

"I’ll send a gift."

"That’s not enough. You still need to confirm the guest list, pick up the cake, and make sure everything’s ready before people arrive."

There it was.

Four years of birthdays, anniversaries, Pack dinners, and holiday parties. Eira had handled every invitation, every vendor, every last-minute disaster.

Then the Hale family had smiled for photographs and acted as if the evening had organized itself.

"Isabella is your sister," Eira said evenly. "Why are you giving me her birthday checklist?"

Alpha Sebastian frowned. "Because you’ve always handled these things."

"Exactly. Your family relied on me for four years, then acted like I contributed nothing."

She took out her phone and forwarded him the guest list and contact details for the bakery, florist, and event decorator.

His phone buzzed.

"There. You have everything." Eira slipped her phone back into her bag. "From now on, the Hale family can manage its own events."

"Eira, don’t start."

"I’m not starting anything. I’m ending something." Her expression remained calm. "Consider this my formal resignation as your family’s unpaid event planner."

She turned to leave, then paused.

"One more thing. If tomorrow falls apart, don’t call me."

Eira met his eyes, her smile cool and faint.

"Use the advice you gave me for four years."

"Figure it out yourself."

She turned and kept walking.

Lila stayed quiet until they reached the next store.

"Let me get this straight. He expected you to buy the gift, confirm the guest list, deal with the vendors, and clean up whatever went wrong?"

"That’s been the routine for four years."

"And his contribution was what? Showing up?"

"Usually."

Lila stared at her. "Wow. And I thought my brother was difficult."

Eira gave her a sideways look. "Alpha Killian isn’t exactly easy."

"No, but he knows assistants are employees, not unpaid family staff."

A laugh slipped out of Eira before she could stop it.

Lila brightened.

"I’m serious," she continued. "If my family threw a party, we’d hire people. We wouldn’t marry someone and quietly turn her into the entire operations department."

A beat. "You know marriage isn’t a life sentence, right?"

Eira looked at her.

"People get divorced," Lila continued. "They move on. Sometimes they upgrade."

"Upgrade?"

"My brother, for example."

Eira stopped walking.

"Does Alpha Killian know you’re trying to set him up with a married woman?"

"He knows I have excellent judgment." Lila’s grin faded into something more thoughtful. "Honestly, though? I worry about him. He’s the strongest Alpha in the north. He runs everything, the Pack, the company, half the truce agreements between wolves and humans that keep this whole region from falling apart. Everyone needs something from him. Nobody just wants to sit with him."

"That sounds lonely."

"It is. And the worst part is the Moon Goddess hasn’t even bothered to fix it. Most Alphas his age have already found their fated mate by now. Killian’s twenty-eight and still nothing. No pull, no mark, no bond. Just him, alone at the top, waiting for a goddess who apparently forgot his name."

Eira said nothing.

"But you," Lila said, tilting her head, studying her a little too closely, "he doesn’t act like this around anyone. Not once, that I’ve seen. I’d bet money you two are fated."

Eira shook her head. "That’s not possible."

"Why not?"

"Because I don’t have a wolf, no scent." Eira said it plainly. "Wolfless Omegas don’t get fated mates. There’s nothing in us for the bond to catch on to."

Lila opened her mouth like she wanted to argue, then seemed to reconsider. "Fine. No fated mate."

She brightened again, changing tracks entirely. "But do you have any idea how good you actually are? That paper of mine, the one you fixed in like two minutes flat? It got approved. Clean pass, no more revisions."

Eira blinked, caught off guard, then let out a small laugh. "So I take it you’re officially free from thesis hell?"

"Okay, don’t rub it in." Lila bumped her shoulder again, grinning. "Point is, that’s not secretary work, Eira. That’s researcher work. Good researcher work. Whoever’s got you filing memos and confirming caterers is wasting a brain that clearly does better math than mine."

Eira thought of her hidden identity and only smiled, saying nothing.

A short distance behind them, Natalie and Kate stepped out from around the corner.

Kate lowered her phone.

"Did Alpha Killian send Lila?"

"Had to," Natalie said.

Kate glanced back at Alpha Sebastian and Serena.

"So Alpha Hale is Eira’s husband."

"Apparently."

"And the woman with him?"

"Definitely not his Luna."

Kate wrinkled her nose. "Her scent is all over him."

Natalie looked at the luxury bags in Alpha Sebastian’s hand, then at Serena clinging to his arm.

"He hides his Luna, takes another woman shopping, and still expects Eira to plan his sister’s birthday."

Kate shook her head. "The nerve of that man."