Chapter 14 The Black Bed
Emilia’s POV
I’d been at it all day, fighting to tune out the noise of everyone else’s thoughts. The office lights gave me a low, grinding headache, but it wasn’t the lights that were killing me.
It was the voices.
"...playing the dutiful assistant, does she really think Alpha Scott doesn’t notice how useless she is..."
"...gone a whole week and comes back with a ring on her finger? Who’d marry something like that..."
"...no wonder Scott keeps her so close, you’d have to be blind not to see the way he looks at her..."
Every thought hit my skull like a shard of glass, each one sharper than the last. My new gift for reading minds felt more like a sentence. Kindness laced with malice. Fake concern stretched thin over real contempt.
And that was just the one bold enough to think it near me. I didn’t need to guess what the rest of the floor was saying about the week I’d taken off. A wolfless girl vanishes for seven days, then strolls back in married? The theories practically wrote themselves.
I pressed my fingers to my temples, willing the voices quiet. They never went. Not until I put distance between myself and the source.
So I kept my head down and worked, and told myself I only had to make it to the end of the day.
I’d just shouldered my bag to leave when two women stepped into my path.
I knew them. Talia from marketing, Priya from Alpha Scott’s PR team. Both halfway in love with him. Both sure the other was the only thing in her way.
"Leaving already?" Talia looked me up and down, slow. "Let’s make one thing clear. Stay away from Alpha Scott."
"You’ve been sniffing around him for months, and it’s embarrassing to watch," Priya added. "A wolfless little assistant. Do you have any idea how pathetic that looks?"
"An Alpha bloodline doesn’t mix with whatever you are," Talia said. "No wolf. No pack worth naming. Nothing in your blood belongs anywhere near a man like him." She leaned in. "So know your place. Before someone puts you back in it."
A week ago, that would have landed.
Not tonight. Tonight I’d been in their heads for eight hours, and I’d heard everything. Including what these two really thought of each other.
I gave them a small, tired smile.
"Some friendly advice back," I said. "Worry less about me." I looked at Talia. "That account you lost last month? Priya’s the one who tipped the client that you’d fumble it. She wanted it reassigned to her."
Talia’s head snapped around. "You bitch. I knew it was you."
"Oh, please." Priya’s face went red. "You’re one to talk. Who do you think put your name on HR’s cut list?"
"You did what?!"
I was already walking. By the time the elevator doors closed, they’d forgotten I existed, too busy tearing into each other to notice I was gone.
By the time I made it back to Silver Moon Pack territory, the sun was setting. The light was warm. Calming.
The pack house loomed before me, massive and cold.
The living room was empty when I entered. Just silence.
I climbed the stairs, my feet heavy. All I wanted was to collapse on that mattress and let the dark take me. To escape the voices, the thoughts, the constant assault.
I pushed open the bedroom door and stopped.
The bed was black.
Yesterday it had been white. White sheets, white duvet, white pillows. Now every last piece of it was black. He’d swapped out the whole set. Frame and all.
I let out a short laugh. He’d replaced the entire bed.
No wonder he’d been married six times. What woman could put up with this?
I went to my secret chamber. Sebastian had stuck me in there like a dirty secret he had to hide. I threw on comfortable clothes. God, better than that stiff work outfit.
Downstairs, I found Tiffany lounging on the couch, face lit by her phone screen. She looked young. Carefree.
An idea struck me. Tiffany was blunt, honest. If anyone would give me answers about her brother’s bizarre behavior, it would be her.
"Hi, Tiffany," I said gently.
She looked up, face breaking into a bright smile. "Hey, Emilia!"
The warmth loosened something in my chest. At least someone in this house didn’t treat me like a contaminated object.
"Where did Mom go?"
"Moonstone Pack," Tiffany beamed. "To thank the Seer who told her to hold the bride selection ceremony. She’s convinced you’re the best thing that ever happened to this family."
I glanced around. We were alone.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Yes! What is it?" Her eyes lit up.
I hesitated, then plunged forward. "Why does your brother keep getting married and divorced? What’s really going on?"
Tiffany sighed, throwing her head back. "Why does every newly married sister-in-law ask me the same question?"
Heat flooded my cheeks. "I’m sorry, I just..."
"No, it’s okay!" She straightened. "I didn’t say anything to any of them, but I like you, Emilia. So I’ll tell you something."
She leaned closer, glancing toward the door before whispering. "It’s because he shows zero affection to women. Zero. And he’s obsessed with everything being perfect. No woman can stand him, no matter how much money or status they get."
I thought about the black bed upstairs. Couldn’t argue with that.
"He never lets any woman stay in this house more than three months," Tiffany continued. "Either you volunteer to leave, or he drives you out. You know how cruel he can be? My fourth sister-in-law lasted two months, and when she finally left, Sebastian didn’t even know her name. Can you imagine? He really broke my parents’ hearts."
"Wait." I caught something in her words. "Left? You mean none of the six previous Lunas actually died?"
Tiffany rolled her eyes. "At least when they left our pack, they were alive and perfectly safe. What happened after that, we honestly don’t know."
My thoughts stalled.
Alive.
Safe.
Then why did every pack talk about Sebastian Simons as if he buried brides for sport?
Tiffany read the confusion on my face and shrugged. "The rumors got out of control, and my brother, being the emotionally constipated idiot he is, never bothered correcting them. In fact, I think he enjoyed it."
"Enjoyed it?" I repeated.
"Not because he wanted people to think he killed them," she said quickly. "More because if all the packs were too terrified to offer him their daughters, then he wouldn’t have to keep going through these ridiculous bride selections."
I stared at her.
"But your parents still forced him to choose?"
"Obviously." Tiffany sighed. "They want an heir. They want the bloodline secured. They want everyone to pretend my brother isn’t cursed, unstable, and one bad full moon away from turning the palace into a crime scene."
My mouth fell open. "But why? What’s wrong with..."
"His brain? I think so too!" Tiffany nodded vigorously.
"No, I mean, is he really..."
I couldn’t finish the question. Trauma? Mental illness? Something worse?
"It’s not what you think," Tiffany said hastily. "It’s actually—"
"Tiffany."
The voice came from behind us. Cold. Sharp.
We both froze.
My heart stopped, then hammered. I could feel him behind me before I even turned around.
"Are you badmouthing your brother behind his back?" Sebastian’s voice was lethal. Worse than shouting.