Chapter 278. Don’t Touch My Mate

Elizabeth’s POV

“So, Valord,” Coen said, his voice cutting through the strange, heavy silence that had settled over the room, “interesting name.”

The sound of my family name spoken aloud in this place, surrounded by lycans who were dissecting every word I said, snapped me out of the hazy trance I’d been drifting in. For a moment, I had almost forgotten where I was—almost forgotten the weight of eyes on me, the unspoken judgments, the curiosity that clung to my skin like smoke.

“It’s common where I’m from,” I replied calmly, even though my pulse picked up slightly.

“And where are you from?” he pressed, leaning back against the counter, arms folded across his chest.

I felt every gaze in the kitchen shift toward me. Aerys. Tonga. Alec. Coswell. Even Harry, who had been standing sl