The Betrayed Princess Rising Chapter 142

Cora's POV

I sat stiffly at the dinner table.

Thane was there. Isaac too. Logan Silver had joined us as well. Their conversation flowed easily, glasses clinking softly against porcelain plates—but I could barely force a proper smile.

My mood had been ruined ever since my conversation with Rowan that afternoon. All I wanted was to leave now.

But I couldn’t. Not here.

Not in front of Thane and Isaac… and the others who believed I was the kindhearted daughter of the honorable Jax and Vala Stillward.

So I stayed—and kept the mask firmly in place.

“Lady Cora,” Logan said politely from across the table. “Is Alpha Rowan doing alright? I haven’t been able to reach him since the meeting with Alpha Ezra earlier today.”

He was the very man I had introduced to Rowan. Without my connection, Rowan would never have secured an alliance with one of Lunaris’s most respected engineers.

“Yes, sir,” I replied, offering a graceful smile. “No need to worry. He’s just a bit tired.”

Logan’s gaze sharpened slightly.

“Tired,” he repeated slowly. “And angry.”

My smile faded.

“What exactly happened during the meeting with Alpha Ezra?” Isaac asked curiously.

Logan leaned back in his chair, swirling the drink in his glass.

“Things became complicated between him and Alpha Rowan,” he explained. “We couldn’t reach the agreement we had planned. I suppose that’s why Alpha Rowan is rather upset right now.”

Isaac hummed thoughtfully.

“It’s rare to hear of Alpha Ezra having conflicts with anyone,” he said. “Did he and Alpha Rowan have problems before this?”

“Oh no,” Logan replied smoothly. “Nothing like that. This is merely a business matter.”

But as he spoke, his eyes drifted toward me.

And something in that look made my stomach tighten.

He was hiding something.

Something worse must have happened at that meeting.

Whatever it was, I could only pray Rowan hadn’t crossed a line with the Alpha of Moonclaw. Ezra was not a man one made an enemy of.

Here in Lunaris, that man might as well be a God. With a single order, he could shake Rowan’s standing… or destroy him completely.

“I heard Alpha Ezra already has a Luna,” Isaac said casually. “That’s surprising.”

My hand froze around my glass.

A Luna.

My mind immediately wandered to the woman who held that title. The woman chosen by a man as powerful and perfect as the Alpha of Moonclaw.

Whoever she was, that lucky bitch has won at life.

“Lady Cora? Do you hear me?"

Logan’s voice pulled me back.

“Ah—sorry,” I blinked quickly. “What did you say?”

“I have a surprise,” Logan said. “Some special guests want to meet you tonight. They’re from the Whitepine Pack—relatives from your late mother’s side, Lady Vala Stillward’s family.”

My breath caught.

“R-relatives?” I repeated, my voice betraying a faint tremor.

Damn it.

The word alone made my skin crawl.

I had no pleasant memories involving relatives.

None.

I hated them. Every single one of them.

So why were they here?

And why had Thane—along with his foolish friend—arranged for them to meet me?

Still, I forced a gentle smile onto my face.

Perhaps it would be better if I excused myself before those cursed relatives appeared and ruined everything I had built so carefully with one inconvenient truth.

I pushed my chair back and stood.

But before I could take a step—

“Lady Cora,” Isaac suddenly returned from the entrance hall, his voice bright with excitement.

He announced cheerfully. “They’ve arrived."