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Alaric pulled me back when I tried to leave. I fell into his lap deliberately, letting him kiss me hungrily. This was my plan - provoke Liliana. I whispered urgently, guiding him to the Matriarch's office - HER office. We claimed the space as ours, our covenant bond undeniable. When Liliana burst in furious, finding us entwined on her couch, I smirked at her. 'Every time you touch him, I'll reclaim him publicly,' I sent to her mind. "Not in here!" Liliana stated in an angry tone. Alaric's Alpha spirit surfaced, roaring "GET OUT!" at her - from her own office. Then his eyes turned on me, and crashed his mouth down onto mine with desire. Once again, my body betrayed me to the Blood Covenant between me and Alpha Alaric von Wolfsburg of the House of von Wolfsburg. His touch made me feel pleasure and desire. I knew I shouldn't let him touch me. I shouldn't want his touch or his kiss. I shouldn't drown in the pleasure his body could bring to mine. The day I met him, I thought he was the perfect gentleman he showed to the world. A handsome and charming man who wanted me. He was 130 years old but looked like he was only 30. He had never sealed a Blood Covenant in all that time. He didn't have a single mark on him. I thought he had waited patiently for me, his partner bound by the sacred covenant. My parents were so proud of me. I was the heiress of the Blackwood Clan, bound by blood to a powerful Alpha. He hadn't hesitated to claim me. I was only 19, about to turn 20. He found me at a formal gathering and claimed me in front of everyone. He smiled at me and kissed me lovingly. He marked me and sealed our covenant. He did all the things that made me happy, and I accepted him with all my heart. I was young and naive. It took five weeks of living in his family's ancestral castle to realize things weren't right between us. I was too happy in my little love bubble from the Blood Covenant to see who he really was. He was more than happy to have me in his bed every night. He enjoyed touching me as much as I enjoyed being touched by him. But that was all it would ever be. I often saw him with the noblewoman who helped him run the House, a woman named Liliana. She had been his acting Luna for six decades. I didn't think anything of it at first. Of course he needed someone to help him. He was 130 and had been an Alpha for 100 of those years. It made sense that he would train someone to help him until his true partner came along. I saw the logic in it. That was how he explained Liliana to me. She held the title of acting Luna for his House. She had an office and a suite in the family wing of the castle. It wasn't just any suite. She lived inside the Matriarch's Chambers. He said that since she held the title, it was only fair to place her there so she could get the respect of the House, as any Luna should. I accepted all of this from Alaric because it seemed logical. Liliana had smiled at me and shaken my hand. She congratulated me on my covenant with Alaric, and congratulated him on finding me. She smiled and said we would produce a handsome and strong heir for the House. Alaric told me he would have Liliana arrange lessons for me after my official investiture ceremony. I smiled at him. Why wouldn't I? He was my covenant partner and had brought me into his House right away. He announced me to everyone as his partner that very day. It all seemed normal. Nothing was out of the ordinary. I moved into the Alpha's suite, and we couldn't get enough of each other. He was very attentive to my needs. His primal spirit had bonded with mine many times, more than Alaric and I had. It was clear our primal spirits were fully connected. But I was blinded by the Blood Covenant. I understand that now. His spirit loved mine, but Alaric did not love Eleonora. He loved someone else. I found out the truth, and he thinks I don't know. He doesn't know that I overheard him talking to Liliana, the woman who lived in the Matriarch's Chambers and was the true Luna of this House. I was sitting at breakfast just five weeks after I came here, to the House of von Wolfsburg. I was smiling and talking with my new friends. I smelled him coming. I smiled and turned toward the corridor where I knew he would appear. I focused my hearing on where he was, only to have my heart shatter. My love bubble burst when I heard his words. "It's just the Blood Covenant, Liliana. Only my primal spirit loves hers. I don't love Eleonora, you know I love you and always will. That's why you're the Luna." His voice was soft. He clearly wasn't expecting me to be in the dining room. Then Liliana said words that hit me like a slap. "I know that having her here gives you more strength, and an heir from a pure bloodline too." She sighed, and they stopped walking. "I just find it difficult to see you with her. I will be your Luna always, I know this." "You're a perfect Luna. I love you for that, and I love you. I will keep you in the Matriarch's office. I just need one heir from her, and then you and I can go back to being together." My primal spirit, Rosa, whined in pain inside my mind. I got up and left the dining hall before they came in. I rushed out of the room. Everyone in there must have heard him say it. Or maybe they already knew how it was going to be for me and just left me in the dark. Tears fell down my face. I was so stupid to think he loved me. I had allowed myself to love him. I had given myself completely to our Blood Covenant and fallen for him in every way. But now it was all a lie. All he wanted was an heir. Then he was either going to get rid of me, or betray me and our covenant. I didn't know which it was. I went back to our suite. No, this was not our suite. This was the Alpha's suite. His suite. I wondered why I was even in it. Why did he bother to claim me at all when he was in love with another woman? Why didn't he just mark and seal a covenant with her years ago? It would have been better for him. He could have just told me the truth when he found me. He could have told me he already had a partner he wanted to keep. He could have rejected me. It would have been so easy. That was how it was done. I would have dealt with it. It wouldn't have been nice, but I would have understood. I knew Liliana. The woman was always nice to me. But now, with this news, what was I supposed to do? Just give him an heir and let him walk all over me? He would probably take the child, reject me, and keep it for himself. Then he and Liliana could raise it together as their child. I stood there, not knowing what to do anymore. I wasn't supposed to hear that conversation, and I knew it. I had been here five weeks. I told my parents the investiture ceremony hadn't been organized yet. That he was very busy and needed to find time. I said it would probably be in a couple of months, because there was a formal masquerade ball already planned. He couldn't put it off. That's what he'd told me. But I had just learned, at that very minute, that there was never going to be an investiture ceremony for me. Because Liliana was the Luna of this House. It was all a lie. Everything was a lie. He only used my body for the pleasure of the Blood Covenant and to try and get an heir from me. It wasn't just me that was upset. Rosa was too. We heard that his primal spirit loved hers, but that didn't change the fact that I was just something to grow an heir for him. Something to be thrown away after it was born. That day, I watched him act like nothing was wrong. He came into the suite, climbed into our bed, and kissed and touched me. He made me feel wanted and loved. I stupidly fell for it. I tried to convince myself that what I'd heard wasn't true. That maybe he just needed more time with me to let our Blood Covenant grow. I decided to try and make him love me, like his primal spirit loved mine. But as the weeks passed, I knew it was true. I couldn't keep him by my side. He spent all his time in his office or with Liliana, taking care of the House. Not once was I asked to go and attend lessons. Liliana paid no attention to me at all. It was like I didn't even exist for him, except for in his suite, in his bed. That was all I was here for. To make him stronger, because of my pure bloodline. I set up a study in one of the spare bedrooms inside the Matriarch's Chambers. My online classes were about to start again for the new semester. I would bury myself in my studies during the day. It would keep me from trying to be a part of Alaric's world. There was no point anymore. But I wouldn't just leave. No. Liliana had to suffer for her part in this. Staying here, being Alaric's partner by the Blood Covenant even though he didn't deserve it, meant that woman would feel pain. She wanted what was mine, what was gifted to me. She deserved to know how it felt to be heartbroken and jealous of the woman in the Alpha's bed. Just like I was now heartbroken over Liliana being the true lady of his heart. I would stay and say nothing. Not even to my parents or my father, Alpha Bastian. I didn't want to tell them how wrong I had been. How stupid and naive I was. I thought I, a daughter of the honorable Blackwood Clan, could keep an Alpha like him. So I would bear it. A part of me wanted to get away from him. But another part wanted to believe it would change. That he would finally give in to the Blood Covenant and love me, like his primal spirit Hydro loved my spirit, Rosa. I knew a big part of me didn't want to give him up. Rosa didn't want to give up her mate either. Our union was a sacred one. There had to be a reason for it. I had to trust in the sanctity of the Covenant for now. So, I persevered. I smiled at him and tried to show him that I loved him. That I wanted to be his partner and his Matriarch. But it was no use. Three weeks after that awful day I heard him say he didn't love me, I felt it. The first time he touched another woman with affection. He touched Liliana, and I knew it. My face suddenly burned with an icy fire all down the left side. Pain ripped from my temple to my chin as he lovingly caressed Liliana's face. He hadn't slept with her. I wondered if he thought one caress wouldn't trigger the Covenant Backlash, because I didn't run down there and accuse him of betraying me. No, I just sat in my study room. I let the tears spill down my face. I finally realized that it was never going to work between us. He would never, ever love me. I was his partner by covenant, but not the lady of his heart. He could still come into these chambers and put his hands on me as if he hadn't caused me pain. My stupid body betrayed me to our Blood Covenant. My spirit, Rosa, called to his to try and strengthen our own bond, to have Alaric feel it and connect to me. But no. It was his spirit that mated mine, and then nothing. Alaric hadn't touched me at all. Then there was a sharp pain in my arm a few days later. And on it went. He didn't think I knew. He was off doing what he wanted, touching Liliana with affection, and I felt it all. He didn't kiss her or sleep with her, but Rosa and I felt every touch. Brief or long, it cut into us and stabbed at us every single time. And he acted like he didn't know I could feel it. Everyone knew touching another meant your covenanted partner felt it as pain. Then I saw it happen with my own eyes. Alaric was standing in the doorway to his private study. He was smiling at Liliana. His hand reached out and brushed a few loose strands of her hair back behind her ear. I felt it. The searing pain of his betrayal. The Covenant Backlash. It was a loving act towards the woman he loved, and it happened right in front of me. I had been coming down the grand staircase and had stopped to look at him, my partner. He was looking lovingly at the woman before him. That wasn't me. It was Liliana. I don't think I'd ever seen him look at me like that, except for the first time he found me. Even now, I knew that had been a lie, just to get me to agree to the Blood Covenant and come here. He was down there for everyone in the castle to see, openly touching another woman. He didn't care how it affected me, or who saw it and would talk about it. I gritted my teeth against the pain, even as tears filled my eyes. Others in the main foyer saw it, just like I did. Alaric did not care who knew. I hadn't had to suffer the full pain of him sleeping with Liliana yet, but from what I was seeing, it was only a matter of time. Rosa was gone. She retreated to the darkness of my mind. She saw it too and felt the pain. She realized Alaric was never going to care about us. There was no calling her back. Two weeks later was the annual House Hunt. I didn't show up. He sent me a sharp text. "Where are you? It is the Hunt." I replied, "I've sprained my ankle. Have Liliana ride with you, like she used to." He just replied, "Fine." He disconnected the call. He hadn't even asked what had happened, or if I was alright. He didn't seem to care. I sat there in the Matriarch's Chambers and more tears fell. His lack of concern hurt. Even though I knew why he didn't care, it didn't stop the pain. I knew he was happy to have Liliana ride with him. She was who he really wanted next to him. I was just there for the Blood Covenant, to produce an heir and secure the Continuation of the Bloodline. Nothing more. No more did I hope to keep him. No more did Rosa try to grow a stronger bond with his spirit. Finally, I accepted it, and so did she. We were nothing to Alaric and never would be. We were just his partner, never to be his Matriarch. I left our room that night and slept in my little study. I didn't see a point to being in his bed. My body was the only thing of use to him. So, I focused on my studies and committed myself to them fully. I spent my days that semester in the corner of the castle library or my study room and avoided him. Not that he noticed or even cared that I was suddenly gone all the time. He never came looking for me during the day, only after he was ready for bed. Falling asleep before he came to bed was something I learned to avoid. He could wake me from sleep with his touches and kisses, and have my stupid body betray me to him. His words about how much he wanted me were lies, but I still seemed to crave hearing them. I couldn't say no to the man when I was half-asleep. I took calls from my parents about how things were going and told them everything was fine, even when it wasn't. This was my life and my Blood Covenant to deal with. I didn't want them to worry. I would find a way to leave on my own terms. And I was not going to give him an heir. I would stay and make Liliana suffer the knowledge that Alaric was retiring to his chambers every night and sleeping with his covenanted partner instead of her. I knew that woman had to hate it. She had to be completely jealous of it. She was just biding her time until I was pregnant and birthed an heir for the House before getting Alaric for herself. They were both cruel, and they deserved to suffer. I would make them suffer for as long as I could possibly stand it myself. I would brace myself against those moments when he touched Liliana. And if he had the audacity to sleep with her, I would stumble out into a common area and allow everyone in this house to see what he was putting me through. I knew I was just waiting for that to happen. I even had a plan for when it did. It would be my way of getting revenge on him. It would make his own house see him as an Alpha not worth his title. I could deal with the pain until then. He wouldn't beat me down or make me a doormat. I would get my revenge. I was walking down the stairs, talking to my father on the phone. I was heading off to have lunch with him. I had been here, putting up with Alaric and his attentions at night but also trying to avoid it. I would tell him I had to study and that I would come to bed later. But I had no intention of doing that and would just sleep in my private study. He had stared at me a few times this week, like he wanted to ask me something before he left for his office. I'd just shrugged it off with a, "Sorry, I must have fallen asleep at the computer." I would tell him that and then walk out of our suite altogether, or just pretend I hadn't even seen his look. I saw no point in talking to him or explaining myself. He knew what he was doing. He had to know I knew it as well. Yet sometimes his narrowed eyes would land on me, as if wanting me to explain why I wasn't in his bed. It was very simple in my eyes; I didn't belong there, even though the Blood Covenant bound us. When he did ask me what I was doing or where I was going, I always said, "I've got a class to attend," or "I've got a study group to attend." Then I would move away from him, heading for either the library or my study. It was also the truth. I did have classes to attend and studying to do. He could check if he bothered, not that he had. I would not let him and his betrayal affect me getting my degree. No, I was going to have something to fall back on when I left this house. But today my parents were coming to town, and I was off to have lunch with them, away from the von Wolfsburg estate. They had wanted to visit the castle, but I told them there was a nice place to eat in the city and I would meet them there. Today, I was dressed a little differently than my usual clothes, a little more on the dressy side. I knew it. I was trying to look my best for my parents so they wouldn't pick up on that something was wrong with my Blood Covenant. Although I saw Alaric walking through the Grand Hall as I came down the last set of stairs, I ignored him. I kept my conversation with my father going and my eyes away from Alaric. That was actually getting easier to do by the day. I was treating him the way he always treated me, I thought, as if he didn't exist outside of our private wing. That was probably why he was looking at me in the mornings. But he had started it, and I was just following his lead. That's how I planned to explain it, if he ever actually asked me what my problem was. Though I didn't think he would, or more likely, he didn't care to. Although today, I could feel his attention was on me. But I was on the phone, talking happily to my dad about seeing him and my mother. I was certain it was my dress that caught his eye, not me. Today I was wearing a simple but nice blue dress and low heels. I had even put on make-up and looked and sounded happy and cheerful. As though I didn't have a care in the world, because that was how I wanted my parents to see me. Normally I dressed in jeans and nice tops, with a pair of runners or walking barefoot. Liliana always dressed in nice clothes and had her hair and nails done. She wore nice jewelry. I had seen her out on the estate, swiping a card for the Matriarch's account to pay for her lunch with her friends. She had likely done it on purpose, right in front of me. The woman who took the payment had looked at me with some guilt. I had ignored it. I had been in the private café on the estate with a book to study, not wanting to be near Alaric or Liliana in the main castle. I knew why Liliana did it. She had seen that woman look at me when she came into the café. She had probably come in there just to do that to me and reinforce her position at Alaric's side. I had not even been given access to a house account with my name on it. I had been here two solid months now, and nothing. Alaric didn't care to give me anything, that was certain. I was still using the money I had earned for myself from my own clan, from tutoring the children who needed it. I was just lucky that I had gotten a scholarship to my university of choice. At least I didn't have to worry about paying for that on my own. As long as I maintained my grades, I would be able to continue it next semester. I was already making plans to move into a dorm on campus for that. I wasn't needed inside this house for anything at all. I was just there to warm the Alpha's bed until he got his heir for the Continuation of the Bloodline. I knew it. I was just about to get in my car when Alaric called my name. "Eleonora, where are you going?" It seemed he was curious today. Maybe he didn't like the fact I was leaving the estate. Who the hell knew? "Out to have lunch with my parents. They're in town," I called over my shoulder as I unlocked my car. "Do you want me to go with you?" he asked. I actually stopped and looked at him. I wondered why on earth he would ask that question. "No," I answered him. "You're busy. Go do whatever it is Alphas do during the day." I stated it and saw him frown right at me, at my dismissive answer to his question. But I had no idea what he did. He had never once tried to explain to me what his family's corporate empire involved, or the businesses he ran. I wasn't his Matriarch, so I didn't need to know. That was how I took it. I was also now just biding my time on that Dissolution of the Covenant I knew I was going to issue before leaving to live on campus. That was still pending, and I was hoping I'd be notified soon. I would still have to wait until this semester was over, but my life here was quiet for the most part. I had stopped interacting with the members of the house. That was just too humiliating for me, considering Alaric didn't care who in the house saw the way he touched Liliana. So I was solely focusing all my attention on my studies all day, every day. I had heard many of the house members call Liliana "Lady," over the past two months, and I was addressed as just Eleonora. I hadn't originally minded it, but now I knew the truth. And although it had really hurt in the beginning, I had made myself get used to hearing those words. That helped to keep me grounded and showed me just how right I was. I considered myself nothing more than a regular house member, and one that was planning on leaving the moment I had somewhere to go. Though I wasn't going back to my own clan. I would feel ashamed that I couldn't even keep my covenant partner interested in me. Barely a month after the covenant was sealed, some I knew would say, "Well, what can she expect? She is just a warrior's daughter from the Blackwood Clan." "I should go with you when you see your parents," Alaric stated, walking towards me now. "Why?" I asked.