Chapter 35. Jealous Flame

Cassandra’s apartment within the Citadel felt less like a home and more like an opulent prison. The Exile Pending order had been a shockwave, but the reality was the quiet, humiliating cessation of luxuries. The Pack’s financial freeze meant no more off-territory shopping sprees, no imported wines, and, most gallingly, the suspension of her allowance. For Cassandra, whose entire self-worth was built on consumption and display, this enforced austerity was a personal affront.

She wasn't mourning the Pack's isolation; she was mourning the sudden poverty of her own life, a life that had been so nearly guaranteed by the status of Alpha’s Bride.

She paced the imported rug in her living room, every stride fueled by venomous frustration. Her father, Gerald, was locked in the detention cells—a direct consequence of Aria's testimony and Kade’s explosive reaction. The shame was suffocating, and the source of that shame was always the same: Aria.

That wretched,