Chapter 81

needed Gregory’s help for trade in the North, but every time I saw him casting those lingering looks at Scarlett, my stomach tightened with anger.

He was being more than friendly, and she, for some reason, seemed to welcome it, laughing a little soo warmly at his jokes, her eyes shining just a bit t brightly. I knew I couldn’t reprimand her in front of him; that would be unfair and humiliating. So, I gritted my teeth, forcing myself to stay silent, to swallow down the bitter frustration building up inside me. I didn’t let out a breath until she elegantly turned him down when he asked her to dance. Th bought me a small wave of relief, but it didn’t wash away my worry entirely.

Why was I even worried? Scarlett was ours-claimed and marked. Yet, I couldn’t shake the nervous tension that gnawed at me, the lingering fear that ma ast maybe, Gregory was getting to her. He looked at her with a hunger that made my blood boil, as if he were ander her spell. And maybe he was-Scarle had changed so much lately.

We used to say she wasn’t the prettiest, maybe because she never had a reason to care about her looks, or perhaps because life hadn’t been kind to her before. But now, with love and care, she’d blossomed.

She was, without a doubt, the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen-not just because of the mate bond, though that intensified everything. She’d filled out, her body becoming curvier and more alluring, her skin glowing with health. Her beauty was intoxicating, a kind that could drive any man wild.

And Gregory knew it. He was clever and slick, weaving tales of the Northern lands, promising her freedom and power-things that any woman here. restricted by our culture, might secretly yearn for.

He knew what he was doing, trying to sell her this dream of freedom in the North, a place where he claimed women had a say, where they had choices. Scarlett was smart, though. She never gave away her true lineage, but even without words, her appearance told her story. Her tanned skin, her dark, wavy hair, her unmistakable Southern grace-they all gave her away. Gregory didn’t care, if anything, he seemed even more determined. That sleek charm he was using was only skin-deep, and I knew better than to trust it.