MAEVE'S POV
"Why was the door locked?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at me.
"Why? Do you suspect me of something?" I threw back, my voice light but taunting.
Clearly, he didn't appreciate that—his eyes narrowed further.
"You took quite a while coming to the door. Any particular reason why?"
"There is no particular reason. As for locking the door—it's standard procedure. I do everything possible to keep intruders like you from disrupting the treatment process." I folded my arms, quirking a brow. "What were you thinking? That I would murder your mother in the confinement of her room?"
"You're assuming things, Maeve. I never said that."
"But you were thinking it."
"I can see you haven't lost any of yesterday's fiery energy. For a moment, I feared I had only dreamed it all up."
Ivan walked right past me before I had the chance to respond. He moved deeper into the room. It took him all of two seconds to notice the mess.
Behind me, I heard his sharp intake of breath, right before he bellowed—
"What the fuck is going on here?!"
My hands trembled slightly as I shut the door and turned to find him glaring at me.
"Did you do that?" he asked, pointing directly at Lydia's bald head.
"Relax," I told him, forcing calm into my voice. "It's merely medical procedure. After reviewing her previous medical records, I realized I needed to examine her scalp properly. The only way to do that was to cut all of her hair off."
"So you made the decision to cut her hair off without consulting me?"
"Sorry. I didn't realize I needed your permission to do the job you assigned me to do. Is this going to be a thing now? Where I have to ask your permission for every spoonful of healing tonic I administer too?"
"You know that's not what I meant," he growled. "I'm just caught off guard by the new bald look."
"Oh well. Feel free to take it all in." I returned to Lydia's bed and made a show of plumping her pillows.
"What's with the bottles and herbs scattered all over the room?" he pressed, gesturing to the broken shards of glass on the floor.
I followed his gaze. The spilled tonic had dried, leaving a deep red stain across the floor. A stain like that would take at least half an hour to scrub out.
Fucking Lydia.
I let out a long, weary sigh.
"I guess you could say your mother wasn't thrilled about losing her hair. That's why the mess. She threw quite a tantrum before exhausting herself and falling asleep."
"She didn't hurt you, did she?" His voice softened slightly as he pursed his lips, eyes locking onto mine.
The question caught me completely off guard.
"No, she didn't," I said, clearing my throat and breaking his gaze.
Why would he ask me that?
Given our history, it was obvious he didn't care enough to be concerned about my safety.
"Why are you here?" I asked, putting the wall back up between us.
Ivan noticed. Subconsciously, his nostrils flared in protest. But then, he pulled his guards back up, shoulders stiffening.
Behind the scenes, my wolf growled, her claws raking at the walls of my resolve, desperate to break free—pushing, clawing, urging me to get closer to him.
I ignored her. I refused to be swayed by the force of her desires.
Yesterday in the study had been a mistake. There was no way in hell I was slipping up again.
"Why am I here?" Ivan re-echoed my question, pulling my attention back to his eyes. They were intense. Haunting. "I wanted to talk to you about Asha. Where is he?"
"He's back at my quarters, taking lessons." My brows furrowed together in confusion. "Why are you asking?"
"I've gotten the results of the DNA test. It turns out you were right. Asha is my son."
His eyes hardened.
Then, without warning, his hand shot forward and grabbed me. His grip was like steel, hauling me up and yanking me flush against him.
It was just like yesterday. Only a different scene.
"You kept my son and heir hidden away from me for years." Ivan's voice was cold. Dangerous. Menacing. The sound of it sent an alarming shiver racing down my spine. "And now, you are going to tell me why."
"I didn't keep him away from you." I shoved at his chest, forcing him off me.
He let go, as if just realizing we weren't in his study, but in the sick Luna's chambers.
I stepped back, breathing hard. My fists clenched tightly, fingers digging into my palms.
It was my calming mechanism. Thankfully, it worked. My voice was measured when I spoke.
"I know it's hard for you to grasp this, but I didn't keep him from you out of spite. I kept him safe."
"Safe? From what!" Ivan snapped, his patience thinning.
"From you insidious vipers." My voice was sharp enough to cut. "From Serena. From your bloodsucking mother. From a potential deadbeat father."
His jaw tightened. I took a step closer, the venom rising in my chest.
"You lost your right to him the moment you believed I'd purposely put my child's life at risk. The moment you chose to replace me with her. The moment you handed your trust to the very people who would've destroyed him the second he was born." My eyes burned into his. "You think your darling fiancée is innocent? Your precious second chance at love. loves you? Go ask her what she tried to do to our pup five years ago."