Chapter 3

I went still. My eyes locked on his.

"Just lend it to them for a few days. When they're better, I'll return it."

I stood there. My chest was being torn apart.

That pendant was something Ethan had made for me seven years ago.

Back then, I'd been bullied at Pack Academy and had fallen into a darkness I couldn't climb out of.

I refused the Healer's remedies. So Ethan knelt three thousand nights at the Moon Goddess Sanctuary until the priests taught him how to make a Moon-blessed pendant.

Now, over an accusation that wasn't even true, he was stripping it off me. For the wolf who had tormented me in the first place.

Seeing me not move, Seraphine's eyes flashed with malice.

She stepped closer and spoke sweetly. "Elara, if you don't want to give it, never mind. The pups and I will manage."

As she spoke, she pinched me hard — right on an old scar.

I saw the mockery in her eyes. I snapped. I shoved her away.

"Ah!" She screamed, and in the next second Ethan caught her.

"Elara Hayes!" Fury filled his eyes. "You still haven't learned. You went after Seraphine again. Looks like ten thousand feet wasn't enough."

I stared at him. My voice shook.

"The one who bullied me back then was Seraphine."

Ethan froze for a second. Seraphine sobbed against him.

"I don't know what Elara's talking about. How could I be that kind of wolf? I... I don't know how to prove myself anymore."

She cried harder. The twins started crying too.

For a moment Ethan didn't know which one to comfort first.

He pulled them all against him and growled softly. "Of course I know you aren't like that. Elara's lost her mind. I'll give her a bigger lesson."

Ethan's eyes on me were terrifyingly cold.

A second later, Pack Warriors dragged me into the storage cellar. Before I could react, Ethan had them throw in nine hundred and ninety-nine bundles of dried wolfsbane.

He didn't look at me. "You hurt Seraphine and the pups and tried to pin the old bullying on her. Looks like being bullied suited you."

The door of the cellar slammed shut.

The smell of wolfsbane swallowed me.

My throat swelled. I couldn't breathe.

I'd developed this reaction to wolfsbane because of Seraphine's bullying.

After he found out, Ethan banned wolfsbane from the manor and the Pack Headquarters.

He wouldn't even allow the pattern of it in the house.

Now, for Seraphine, he had thrown me into a cellar full of it.

My eyes swelled. I couldn't even cry. The last piece of love I had for Ethan died in that room.

...

When I opened my eyes, I was at the Pack Infirmary.

Ethan was handling Pack business beside me. When he saw my eyes open, something like love flickered in his.

He lifted a bowl of broth to my mouth.

I turned my head away.

His eyes darkened.

"This whole thing was your fault to begin with. I've been more than patient."

Whatever he said, I just stared at the ceiling. I didn't look at him.

Getting nothing from me, Ethan yanked the Moon-blessed pendant off my neck.

His voice was sharp and furious.

"You seem fine to me. From now on, this pendant belongs to Seraphine. You don't get it back."

He stared at my face, like he was trying to find something in me.

I nodded calmly.

Panic flashed in his eyes, then turned back to anger.

"Elara Hayes. How long are you going to sulk? I've been bending over backwards. You're still holding out on me!"

I just pointed at his phone. Seraphine was calling.

Ethan picked up immediately and coaxed her out of the room.

Ethan never once thought that my silence was from wolfsbane exposure.

Before, even the smallest discomfort and he'd have noticed.

Now, I could die in front of him and he wouldn't blink.

I discharged myself before he got back.

Back at Sterling Manor, I pulled out everything connected to him.

Seven years of photos. Ninety-nine letters he'd written me by hand. The seven years of journals.

I threw them one by one into the fireplace.

I was burning the last journal when Ethan came back with Seraphine and the pups.

"Elara Hayes. What are you doing?"

I dropped the journal into the fire without flinching, and rasped out:

"Burning things."

Ethan frowned. He started to say something. Seraphine tugged his sleeve.

He shifted uncomfortably. "The twins need to stay here for a while. They'll use the pup chamber we already set up."

I stopped. My nails cut into my palm.

"That was for our pup."

Ethan said flatly, "They're my pups too."

I pulled at my mouth. My hand drifted to my stomach without meaning to.

Seeing I wasn't speaking, Ethan softened. "They'll be yours too."

"They'll never be mine."

I turned and went upstairs, ignoring Seraphine's pouting behind me.

Back in the bedroom, my phone wouldn't stop. Every message was from Seraphine.

【That chain he brought back to you the day you lost the pup — it was a leftover freebie I picked over.】

【Every day he told you he was away on Pack business, he was with me. Did you know he's already introduced me to his brothers, his business partners, his clients? To them I'm the Luna. You're just a secret Beta aide.】

She sent photo after photo of herself with Ethan.

The most recent was dated last night.

While I was locked in a cellar full of things I was allergic to, half-dead, he was with her.

Every time I was in danger, he was with her.