To ruin an Omega Nov Chapter 61: Jealousy Jealousy

Chapter 61: Jealousy Jealousy

FIA

I stood outside Cian’s chambers, my back pressed against the cold stone wall. Heat crawled up my neck and into my face until I thought my skin might catch fire. My hands shook at my sides. I couldn’t stop replaying what just happened. The fra falling from my fingers. The glass exploding across the floor. His face when he saw what I’d done.

’Why can’t you keep your fucking hands to yourself?’

My chest squeezed tight. I wrapped my arms around myself like that would sohow hold

together. It was just a picture fra. I hadn’t ant to snoop. I was just looking for sothing, anything, to distract myself from the mory of his arms around . From the way my fingers had traced his lips while he slept.

The drawer had been open. Just a crack. The fra was sitting right there in plain view. I’d only wanted to see who was in the photo. That was all.

But the way he’d looked at

when he walked in. Like I’d destroyed sothing precious. Like I’d crossed a line I didn’t even know existed.

I pushed off the wall and started walking. My legs felt unsteady. The hallway seed too long, the walls pressing in on all sides. I’d seen Cian cold before. I’d seen him dismissive and cutting and cruel in that quiet way he had. But this was different. This was raw fury. The kind that ca from sowhere deep and painful.

He’d lost his cool completely. The first ti I’d ever seen him truly rattled.

Sothing had happened with whoever was in that picture. You didn’t keep a photo hidden in a drawer and then explode like that unless it ant sothing. Unless it still hurt.

I reached my suite and pushed through the door. The familiar scent of lavender and clean linen wrapped around . For a second I just stood there, trying to catch my breath.

"Luna Fia."

I jumped. Bo was standing by the window with a stear in her hands, working on a dress. She set the stear down and gave

a slight bow.

"How was your night?"

The question hit

like a punch. My mind flashed to waking up in Cian’s arms. To his hand on my waist. To the way his eyes had opened and locked with mine before everything fell apart.

"It was fine," I said. The lie tasted bitter on my tongue.

Bo’s face lit up. Her eyes went wide and a pleased smile spread across her lips. "So it happened. You and the Alpha did it."

"Goddess, no." The words burst out of

too fast. "That wasn’t what happened. We just spent the night together in the sa bed. But nothing happened."

Bo’s smile didn’t fade. She looked almost proud, like I’d accomplished sothing important just by sleeping in the sa room as my husband. It felt weird saying it. Calling Cian my husband. But that was what he was.

I turned my attention to the dress she’d been steaming. The fabric looked crisp now, all the wrinkles smoothed out. "Is sothing happening today?"

"Not really," Bo said. She picked up another dress from the pile beside her. "I noticed so of the clothes were wrinkled and I took it upon myself to do sothing about them. Who knows when you will need them?"

"Right."

I moved toward the bathroom. A shower sounded perfect right now. Hot water. Steam. Sothing to wash away the morning and the ss I’d made of everything.

"Want

to help you run the bath?" Bo dropped the stear again, already heading toward the bathroom door.

"There’s no need for that."

My hand touched the doorknob. I stopped. The question burned in my throat. I shouldn’t ask. It wasn’t my business. But I couldn’t shake the image of that photo. The woman’s face. The way Cian had looked at her in the picture, like she was the center of his whole world. The way the woman has also looked at him.

"Can I ask you sothing?"

Bo turned back to . "Of course. Anything."

I swallowed hard. "Was Alpha Cian ever in a relationship before marrying into Silver Creek?"

"Oh." Bo’s expression shifted. Sothing careful slid into her eyes. "Madeline."

My heart kicked against my ribs. "Who is Madeline?"

Bo glanced at the door then back at . Her voice dropped lower. "We’re not really supposed to talk about her."

"Why?"

Bo set the stear down completely now. She moved closer, her hands folding in front of her. "Madeline Blossom was a witch and a family friend of the Donlons since childhood. She was for a while the love of Alpha Cian’s life and best friends with Luna Elara Donlon, Alpha Cian’s cousin, before she rcilessly broke his heart."

The words hit

one after another. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe properly. A witch? The love of his life?

"Why did she break his heart?"

Bo’s mouth pressed into a thin line. "The Blossoms are traditionalists and power hungry. They didn’t want Madeline for Cian. Interspecies relationships are still sensitive among many. And then there was the matter of the pack." She paused. Her eyes searched my face. "It was sort of clear then that Alpha Cian wouldn’t be the one to get the power of the pack. Madeline’s family wanted more for her. They wanted power and influence. Cian couldn’t give them that."

My stomach twisted. I thought about the way he’d held that broken fra. The blood on his hand. The look in his eyes like sothing inside him had shattered along with the glass.

But Cian was Alpha of Skollrend. He has a reputation too. They had been wrong. Or was that him proving a point?

"Did sothing happen, Luna Fia?" Bo’s words broke my train of thoughts.

The question ca soft and she really did look concerned. I looked at Bo and saw the worry lines etched across her features.

"I accidentally broke a fra with her picture," I said. My voice cracked as I continued. "And he went berserk."

Bo gasped. She closed the distance between us in three quick steps and took my hand in both of hers. Her skin felt warm against mine. "I’m so sorry. Are you willing to talk about it?"

Sothing inside

crumbled. Bo’s kindness, her concern, the way she held my hand like she actually cared. It was so different from everything else in this place. Most of the people here at Skollrend had treated

like an obligation, a burden or a political tool. But Bo looked at

like I mattered.

My throat tightened. Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes and I blinked hard to keep them from falling.

"Yeah," I whispered.

Bo guided

to the bed. We sat down side by side. She kept holding my hand. I stared down at our joined fingers and tried to find the words.

"I didn’t an to touch it," I started. "The drawer was open. Just a little. I saw the fra and I was curious. I picked it up to look at the photo." I swallowed. "Then he walked in. He saw

holding it and he just exploded. I’ve never seen him like that before. Even when he was an and he told

to get out."

Bo squeezed my hand. "He’s very protective of anything to do with Madeline. Most people in the pack know not to even ntion sothing that reminds him of her. He keeps that part of his life locked away."

"But why keep the photo if it hurts so much?"

"Because he loved her," Bo said simply. "Maybe he still does. And sotis people hold onto pain because letting go feels like losing the person all over again."

I thought about the way Cian had looked in that picture. He had been young. He had been happy. Like he hadn’t learned yet how to build walls around himself. Madeline had been beautiful. With hair like spin cold and bright cornflower blue eyes. Her smile too... That smile that looked genuine and warm.

But she’d also broken his heart and left him in the dust because he hadn’t been powerful enough. Because her family wanted more.

"I should apologize," I said.

Bo shook her head. "Give him ti. He needs space when it cos to Madeline. Pushing him right now will only make things worse."

I nodded even though every part of

wanted to fix this. To take back what I’d done. To sohow undo the damage.

Bo stood and smoothed down her dress. "Why don’t you take that shower? I’ll make you so tea for when you’re done."

"Thank you," I said. The words felt too small for what she’d given . For the comfort of having soone in my corner who didn’t treat

like garbage.

She smiled and squeezed my shoulder before heading toward the small kitchen area in my suite.

I walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind . My reflection stared back at

from the mirror. Red eyes. Flushed cheeks. Hair still ssy from sleep.

I looked like soone who’d had the worst morning of their life.

The love of his life...

That phrase kept echoing in my head. Cian had loved soone once. Really loved them. And she’d destroyed him.

No wonder he kept everyone at a distance now. No wonder he looked at

like I was just another burden he had to carry.

I turned the tap and let the tub fill, the water rushing out in a steady stream. Steam curled up and ward the small room. I slipped out of my nightgown and lowered myself into the bath, the heat wrapping around

the mont my skin touched the water. I closed my eyes and let it rise against , hoping it would quiet the noise in my head.

But no matter how hard I tried, I could not push Madeline Blossom out of my mind. Her na kept circling back, tugging at sothing I was not ready to look at.

Maybe it was not confusion at all. Maybe I understood this tight pull in my stomach more than I wanted to admit. I just did not want to face what it ant.