Alpha, Your Lock Betrayed Me Chapter 08
“That’s not true…”
Lysander went still, all the color draining from his face.
“You don’t need to explain,” I said. “Everyone can see you care about her. You two make perfect sense together.”
I stepped around him and headed for the door.
“Willa,” he called behind me.
I didn’t stop.
The night wind hit me the moment I stepped outside. I pulled my coat tighter and ducked into the convenience store on the corner.
Bottled water lined the cooler in neat rows. I grabbed one.
…
Lysander’s POV
Lysander stayed where she had left him.
He watched until Willa disappeared around the corner.
He stayed in Redpine overnight.
The next morning, after checking out, he went to her office building.
He didn’t go inside or wait for her. He stood across the street for a while and watched.
At eight thirty, employees began coming and going.
He didn’t see Willa.
He didn’t know what time she started or which direction she came from.
He knew nothing about the life she’d built there.
After ten minutes, he turned toward the train station.
On the ride home, he remembered something Willa had once said.
“We should take a trip to another city sometime.”
“Sure,” he had said.
“Where do you want to go?”
“Anywhere’s fine.”
“Then I’ll plan it.”
She had. She’d made an itinerary and sent it to him.
Three days and two nights, packed with plans and notes on which restaurants were worth visiting.
But he’d said, “I’m busy right now. Maybe next time.”
He had no idea how long she’d spent on it.
He’d never even opened the link.
Back in the city, Lysander didn’t go home.
He went straight to the county recorder’s office and asked how to replace the damaged deed transfer documents.
A clerk handed him a checklist and walked him through every requirement.
This was what he should have done the day after they were ruined.
Instead, he’d spent that day at the ER with Morrigan.
On his way back, he found Torvin outside the estate.
Torvin was carrying a convenience store bag and looked surprised to see him.
“Lysander? Haven’t seen you in a while. Where’s your… Luna? She hasn’t been around.”
Lysander stopped.
“She left,” he said.
Torvin’s smile vanished. “Left? Where did she go?”
“I don’t know.”
Torvin stood there, the plastic bag swaying from his hand.
After a moment, he said, “I ran into her outside that night.”
“She said the lockstone wouldn’t let her in. I didn’t think anything of it, so I told her Morrigan was upstairs cooking… I shouldn’t have said that.”
Lysander said nothing.
Torvin went on, “Morrigan really crossed a line.”
“Don’t tell me about Morrigan anymore,” Lysander said.
Lysander walked past him and into the building.
Inside, he grabbed a trash bag and threw out everything Morrigan had left at his place.
…
Willa’s POV
It was nearly ten when I left the office.
The air was cool, and my apartment was only a fifteen-minute walk away.
A few blocks in, I realized I hadn’t thought about Lysander in nearly a month.
When was the last time?
Probably the day I’d gone shopping for a comforter and spotted the same bedding he used.
I’d stared at it for a few seconds, then chosen a different set.
After that, he hadn’t crossed my mind.
I hadn’t been forcing myself not to remember.
He simply wasn’t there anymore.
Once my position became permanent, I moved into a new place.
It was a little bigger than my old studio and came with a small balcony.
I bought a compact lockstone and set up a magical security ward of my own.
When it was ready, I stepped outside and sliced my palm with a silver dagger.
A drop of blood fell into the stone. A chime sounded.
“Blood signature registered successfully.”