The Rejected True Heiress (Liora) novel Chapter 105

Liora

The library door closed behind me with a soft click, and for a moment I just stood there, leaning my back against the cool wood.

My cheeks were still warm, my hands tight around the worn book like it was the only solid thing in my world.

Why did I feel so light? Like I wanted to go back in there. I should hate him, curse him out for everything. So why?

I forced myself to move, to get some distance between me and that quiet space that had suddenly started to feel too small. The hall stretched ahead, bright, silent, and empty.

My feet patted over the soft carpet, keeping a eye out for the door Callum had mentioned.

Callum.

His voice, his eyes when he’d looked at me, the way my chest had tightened at how close he’d been over my shoulder, just behind me. It all tangled together until I couldn’t pull one piece free from another.

I let out a hot huff. Enough. Stop thinking about him. It was weak, useless now. Focus, focus—

And I should have been, because I hadn’t clocked the heels clacking around the corner until she stopped right infront of me, our eyes meeting sharp.

I froze.

Callum’s mother stepped out from a side hall as if she had been waiting.

She didn’t move, didn’t say a word, just towered like a lone, dark pine. The sun spilled around her from behind, her shadow casting over me.

She looked at me like she always had, a rat. Only this time, a rat who had been caught.

I swallowed hard, my arms instinctively going behind my back, tucking the book out of sight.

Her eyes flicked over me once, then settled, cold and unblinking.

“Well,” she said softly. “I thought I heard someone in here who didn’t belong.”

I said nothing, only straightening and holding my chin high, meeting her steel gaze just as cold.

“You were in the library.” It wasn’t a question. Her gaze cut down to my hands behind my back before returning to my face. “More so, in my house. Do I even need to ask why or should I just assume the wolfless has stolen from me. Typical suspects.”

I stiffened my shoulders. “I wasn’t doing anything wrong.”

Her lips curved, barely. “You think walking uninvited through my house isn’t wrong?”

The words were silk, but there was a blade under every syllable.

She stepped closer, and the scent of her perfume this cold, floral, and expensive haze hit me like a wall.

“You know who likes the library?” Her voice was soft, but there was nothing gentle in it. “My son. The very person you are going to stay away from. Whatever you think this is, whatever game you think you’re playing, it ends here. Do you understand me?”

I met her gaze, refusing to drop mine.

“Callum is his own person—”

“He is not.” Her words sliced through mine. “He is my son. Our heir. The future of this pack and the livelihoods tied to it. Do you want to be responsible for the ruin of families? For starving children?”

Her words came fast, sharp. “This isn’t about you and whatever childish rebellion you think you’re waging for getting ‘lucky’ in your fated bond. That is over with. This is survival. Not that I’d expect someone like you to understand the weight he carries. For all of us. You will leave this place, and as a favor for me not pressing charges, you will never speak to my son again.”

The hall went very quiet.

“And if I don’t?” I asked softly.

Her brow arched, slow and deliberate, like I was a child testing the limits.

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