Chapter 1

"Ms. Hayes, are you sure? Once you make this decision, you'll become a direct rival to your mate, Alpha Ethan Sterling. There's no going back."

I looked down at the severance papers and the Bond Severance forms in my hand and gave a bitter laugh.

Seven years of Marking. Ethan Sterling had shattered our bond with his own hands.

On our Bond Anniversary, I was four months pregnant with his Alpha Heir when I was hit by a car. Bleeding out, I kept calling him. His phone stayed off.

After I was released from the Pack Infirmary, I found the truth in the pockets of Ethan's jacket — four tickets to the Moon Festival Fairgrounds and a photo of a family of four.

The date on the tickets was the same day I lost our pup.

In the photo, Ethan and Seraphine were laughing.

At the same time, my phone lit up. A message from Seraphine.

【Did you like the seventh anniversary gift I gave you? His twins and I are already four years old — you're the one who was never supposed to see the light.】

A second later, she sent videos.

I opened one. I watched Ethan move over Seraphine's pale body, and I heard his voice.

"I promise you. The twins will be the Sterling heirs. As for Elara, I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to her."

In that moment, everything was clear. I pulled back every piece of love I had given him.

"Mr. Wyndham. I don't need a way back."

"I'll join your Pack. Find my mother a Healer, and seven days from now I'll report in."

I hung up and looked at the Bond Severance document in my hand. My mind went back.

I wasn't just Ethan's Beta aide. I was his secretly Marked mate of seven years.

On our Bond Anniversary, I found out I was carrying his pup.

I was going to tell him that night. A second later, a car came straight at me.

As everything spun, my first instinct was to shield the pup.

Blood kept pouring out of me. On my last breath, I hit his speed-dial.

Ethan didn't pick up.

When the last of my hope drained out, I blacked out.

When I woke up, I touched my flat stomach, and my chest tore open.

I understood everything from the look of pity in the Healer's eyes.

I dragged myself home.

I threw Ethan's worn clothes into the washer, and as I did, a receipt fell out of his pocket, along with a photo.

I looked at it. Seraphine and Ethan.

The twins were in the photo too. Anyone would have called them a happy family of four.

I couldn't stand. I forced myself to open the receipt.

The Moon Festival Fairgrounds. The location was right next to where my accident happened.

So Ethan and Seraphine already had children.

The day I was in the wreck, their family of four had been at the Fairgrounds.

While they laughed together, I lost my pup.

The pain bent me double. The room spun.

Right before Ethan came out, I forced everything back into place.

He stepped out of the shower in a towel, his eight-pack on display.

I saw the claw marks all over his back.

He paused when he saw me, then tossed me a gold chain from a bag beside him.

"Don't be angry. On our anniversary I was just taking a client's family to the fairgrounds. I'll make it up to you later, okay?"

He coaxed.

My chest ached.

What kind of client needs a trillion-dollar Alpha King to walk their wife and pups around a theme park?

If Ethan cared about me at all, he wouldn't pick such an obvious excuse.

I went cold all over. I took the necklace blankly.

That night, he rolled on top of me, his voice soft.

"Elara, I've been away so long. Did you miss me?"

The thick smell of wolfsbane rolled off of him and choked me.

I broke out of his arms. Under Ethan's puzzled stare, I said flatly:

"I'm not feeling well today."

Ethan frowned, then gave me a gentle hug and got up to make me ginger tea.

He was still attentive. But the warm brew meant to settle my stomach made me cold inside.

I closed my eyes. All I could see was the red of the crash. I didn't sleep.

Late at night, Ethan's phone rang. He grabbed his clothes and rushed out.

The door clicked shut. I opened my eyes in the dark.

I gripped the two documents in my hand. I finally pulled myself out of memory — and then, from behind me, a voice.

"Elara, what's in your hand?"

"You're here just in time. Sign this. This is—"

Before I could finish, Ethan took the documents from my hand.

"Let it go this time. We agreed no Pack work at home. Your efficiency is slipping."

My hand froze. Bitterness rose in my chest.

Soon enough, Ethan wouldn't have to worry about my efficiency.

He was about to look at the papers when his phone rang. Even as he picked up fast, I saw the name on the screen.

Seraphine.

He tossed the documents aside and rushed for the door.

I bent down to pick them up. Before I could stand, Ethan came charging back in and kicked me hard in the stomach.

The stomach that had just lost a pup. Pain shot through me like needles. I swallowed the blood in my throat and looked up at him in disbelief.

"Elara, you shouldn't have done this." His voice was calm. His eyes were ice.

"You kidnapped my pups just because I went to the Fairgrounds with them?"

I went cold. He had me pinned like prey.

"Stop this. Where did you take them?"

Everything went dark.