The Rejected True Heiress (Liora) novel Chapter 37

“I mean,” he said, shrugging, “apologizing for my parents trying to expel you feels like a decent reason.”

I crossed my arms. “You have that look.”

“What look? You don’t know my looks?”

“Oh, I so do. It’s one that says you’re holding back questions. Get it out already–I’m getting cold.”

His lips pressed together, teeth catching the corner as he turned to fully face me.

“Alright,” he said at last. “I want your name.”

I blinked. “Do you have amnesia?”

“No. Your real name.”

The space between us pulled taut like a wire.

He went on, slower now. “Back there, after the exam. I realized I don’t actually know who you are. Maybe you’ve been hiding something. Or maybe I’m wrong. But you don’t act like someone wolfless. You’re trained. Too strong. Too sharp. You’ve been playing a role. Did you really think no one would notice? That no one would ask? You’re clearly one of us.”

“One of who, exactly?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

He didn’t say it, but I could feel the word pressing behind his teeth. Noble.

I looked at him for a long time. He stared back, searching, hoping, so damn sure I’d hand him something

he could use.

“You want a reason,” I said quietly. “A reason to love me. Permission from society.”

His jaw tensed. “That’s not-”

“You want me to give you a name I don’t have. One that makes this easier to choose. One that makes me

easier.”

He flinched.

And I hated that it stung.

I looked away, toward the tree line. The stars blinked overhead, clouds thinning just enough to let the wind slip through the branches and catch the edges of my shirt.

“My name,” I said at last, “hasn’t changed. It’s Liora Belrose.”

He closed his eyes. His shoulders dropped.

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Chapter 37

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Just like that, the hope left his face.

And I didn’t feel better.

We stood there, not speaking. The wind filled the silence, tugging at my braid, wrapping its fingers through the trees.

“You really thought I was one of them,” I said. Not accusing. Just… tired.

“I hoped.”

“Sorry to disappoint you,” I murmured. “But I’m just me.”

He looked at me again, gaze unreadable.

“Yeah,” he said softly. “That’s kind of the problem.”

Callum

When she said her name–Liora Belrose–I didn’t bother hiding my disappointment. I think part of me had been holding out hope. That she couldn’t be wolfless. That she was someone. Someone with a name that

mattered.

Not because I wanted her to be something she wasn’t.

But it would make this, these feelings, easier. Something I could take back to my parents and say, See? She’s not just some wolfless girl with a sharp tongue.

Just one name. One recognizable surname. That’s all I needed.

But she saw right through me.

“You want me to give you a name I don’t have,” she said. “One that makes this easier to choose. One that

makes me easier.”

I flinched.

She caught it. Of course she did.

She always does.

Our walk back was awkward at best, but at least I could say I tried.

Eventually, the silence started to grate, but she didn’t seem interested in breaking it. So I did.

“I have to marry a princess,” I said, voice low. “Not by choice. My parents decided. The pack needs the alliance.”

She looked at me like she understood… but like that didn’t excuse anything.

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“Sure. Given your status, that makes sense,” she said. “But do you want to?”

“No.”

Another stretch of quiet.

“You still insulted the bond,” she added, calm as ever. “Even if you didn’t mean to.”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “I know.”

That was the problem with Liora, she made it hard to pretend. With others, I knew how to act. With her? I was always two steps behind.

“I didn’t come here expecting… whatever this is,” I admitted.

She glanced over. “Flattery, clearly.”

I huffed a laugh. “Right, this has all been very romantic.”

“You’re terrible at it.”

“I come from a long line of emotionally stunted men. It’s hereditary.”

She smirked. Just barely. But I caught it.

As we neared her dorm, our pace slowed. Maybe on purpose. I found myself watching her again- shoulders straight, chin high. Defiant even in her steps.

“I don’t get it,” I muttered. “Why you came with me. Why you’re not more… furious?”

“Oh, I am,” she said. “But being angry all the time is exhausting.”

That, somehow, hit harder than if she’d yelled.

“I don’t think I hate you, though,” she added after a beat.

“Uh. Thanks?”

“Don’t make it weird.”

“It’s already weird.”

“Fair.”

When we reached the dorms, she didn’t say goodbye. Neither did I.

She just looked at me one last time, like she was memorizing something. Then, without warning, she ran up the wall, and with a vault, disappeared through her window.

I stood there for a while, hands in my pockets, that familiar tug pulling in my chest.

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Maybe it was the bond.

Or maybe… I just didn’t want the night to end.

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Chapter 38