| Body |
"You were still untouched?" My alpha mate stopped moving, staring blankly at the blood on the couch. "That...what I did...was your first time?"
"Does it matter?" I tilted my chin up, meeting his cold gaze.
"Of course not." His scoff cut deeper than his claws ever could. He roughly let go of my body and tossed a box at me.
"Just because I slept with you doesn't mean I want you pregnant. I told you; I'll drink molten silver before I ever let my blood mingle with the Reeds'."
My heart clenched. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.
This was the first time he’d touched me since our forced marriage. A tiny, foolish part of me had dared to hope he might finally accept me.
But his words shattered every illusion.
He still hates me...
I closed my eyes, and memories from the past surfaced like ghosts.
Three years ago, my parents drugged me with silver and beat me nearly to death before leaving me on Dane’s land.
Knowing that Dane wouldn't stand by and watch me die, they invaded the Blue Ridge Pack while he was busy rescuing me.
That single act of kindness cost Dane everything: his marriage, his packmates, and... his family.
From that moment on, he saw me as nothing more than a pawn in my parents' scheme. No matter how many times I’d told him I was innocent—even when I lost my wolf because of the trauma—it never mattered.
I opened my eyes, a tear sliding down my cheek.
Suddenly, his phone screen lit up with a message.
I couldn't help but glance over, and the name Evelyn made me shudder.
Worse, it contained a picture of her in seductive lingerie, captioned, "Waiting for you."
It hurt so much.
For months I told myself he'd come around. He would see my love for what it was—real.
But he'd ripped that hope away even as he'd finally claimed my body. I should have felt loved. Instead, I felt dirty and used.
As he dressed, not even bothering to look at me, I pulled the folded silver ribbon out of my purse. The one they'd used to bind us together during our forced mating ceremony.
Since I didn't have a wolf, the magic in the ribbon was what tied Dane and I together on a deeper level—it held the magic of our mating bond. In the dimness, it glittered with woven threads of iridescent lunar magic.
Dane, I have something to say.
I touched his mind softly. It might be one of the last times. I loved how it felt to be tied to him. When he was kind, it was like having a warm safe place to rest.
But he was almost never kind.
He sneered and pulled his mind away from mine. "I don't much care."
Every time I thought he couldn't hurt me more, that his abuse would end, he cut me with his words again.
I laid the ribbon across my knees and hugged myself, squeezing my elbows like that could stop my heart from aching so badly.
"I think we should cut the ribbon and sever our soul-bond."
Dane
I didn’t bother to turn around and look at my manipulative, murderous mate.
I’d finally slept with her. It was all she’d been begging me for three years.
Her body was incredible- better than I’d imagined.
I hated her for it.
I had fought myself tooth and claw over the years to keep from touching her. To remind myself what she had done.
Three years ago, I left my post to rescue Ann, only for her father to take advantage of my absence, murder my parents, and force me to marry her.
Complicit, conniving, manipulative Ann Reed. The reason my family was dead.
I grabbed her chin with one hand and let my claws cut into her skin deep enough to draw blood. Like poppies on snow.
“You’ve taken your little game too far,” I sneered. “You think I’d fall for this?”
If I cut this ribbon, my connection to her would snap. I wouldn’t be able to sense her anymore. What if she ran from me?
“You could be free,” she coaxed. “You could…be with Evelyn.”
Hearing that, I relaxed.
Ann hated Evelyn—the woman who’d saved my life. The one I truly loved.
She’d never try to leave me. It would mean letting Evelyn win. As soft as Ann pretended to be, there was steel in her. I knew it.
I’d teach her not to pull this sh*t with me.
“You’re going to regret this. ” I sliced the ribbon with my claws. It fell in two neat pieces on the ground.
There was a sound like flames snapping, a burst of heat. The threads of magic in the ribbon flickered out.
Then Ann was gone from my mind. For a second, I felt blank. Like the deepest part of me was torn away.
“Consider that payment for your…services.” I threw my black card at her, masking my unease with a sneer. “Now clean yourself up. I’m going to find Evelyn. I need the company of a woman who knows how to please me.”
That would show her for trying to bait me.
As I closed the door, I heard a muffled sob. It was the most heartbroken sound I’d ever heard.
I froze. I wondered if I was wrong about everything.
Was Ann a victim of her family?
Did she truly love me?
No. It couldn’t be.
Ann was a liar. Her family were thieves.
Her tears wouldn’t bring back my family or my packmates. Or undo all the damage and trauma her pack had caused.
My wolf growled and paced beneath my skin. My wolf…liked my wife. He craved her.
But my wolf was all passion and instinct, and I had to rely on my human side to be objective. Which meant shaking off these feelings and walking away.
That night, Evelyn couldn’t hold my attention as usual. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Ann. The way her voice broke. The way she clutched that ribbon like it was the last thing tethering her to this world.
By morning, I couldn’t stand it anymore.
I flipped through the contacts on my phone and called my wife. But she didn’t pick up. I texted. Called again. And again.
She never answered.
Finally, I held back my rage and called my assistant. "Find out where Ann is."
Minutes later, Archer’s voice crackled through the line.
“The car she uses is at the Atlanta International Airport. According to the security footage, it’s been there several hours.”
“And?!”
“She bought a ticket to Europe. She’s really leaving.”
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