Chapter 5

The lead wolf looked at me with pity and contempt.

"Ms. Hayes, you brought this on yourself. Breaking a Mate Bond."

My strength left me. Everything went dark. I collapsed.

When I opened my eyes, it was already night. No one had taken me to a Healer. They'd locked me in the Pack Headquarters.

I was cold, hungry, and my wounds throbbed.

The cleaning staff let me out the next morning.

Under every disgusted look, I stumbled to the Healer.

After my wounds were treated, another message from Seraphine hit my phone.

【You must have liked the taste of last night. I've got another gift for you today.】

The next message was a photo of the Pack Infirmary.

It took me a second. It was my mother's room.

At the same time, a payment alert came through. Ethan had actually stopped paying my mother's Healer fees.

I dragged myself to the Infirmary with the last of my strength.

The first thing I saw when I ran into her room — my mother's eyes were open.

Before I could feel anything, Seraphine stepped out from behind the bed. I rushed forward.

Seraphine crowed: "Look, old woman. The daughter you raised is disgusting enough to be my mate's side piece. My mate and I have two pups already. Everyone hates her. If I were you, I'd rather be dead. Your mate cheated too, didn't he — you know how this feels better than I do."

I knocked her phone from her hand. Too late.

My mother's eyes turned on me, full of disappointment, full of pain. She gasped, clutched her chest, and collapsed back on the bed.

"Mom!"

I threw myself on the bed. Seraphine laughed.

"This is what happens when you cross me."

Then she turned and left.

I didn't have time for her. I ran for the Healer.

The Healer frowned after examining my mother.

"Your mother is in critical condition. Pay the fees. If we act fast there's a fifty percent chance."

I swallowed the blood in my throat and rushed to the billing desk.

The nurse worked with my card, then looked at me with suspicion.

"Ma'am, there's nothing on this card."

I stared at her. Impossible.

All of my pay, everything Ethan had transferred me — it was supposed to be on this card.

Then it hit me. This card was Ethan's.

I called him.

The same way he hadn't picked up the day of my accident — he didn't pick up.

Just as I was about to ask someone else for a loan, the Healer came toward me with regret on her face.

"I'm sorry. Your mother has passed."

The ground tilted. I couldn't hold myself up anymore. I collapsed. I cried like I was dying.

After I'd handled her funeral and had her ashes placed, I went back to Sterling Manor numb.

I grabbed the bag I'd already packed and was ready to leave when Ethan came home with Seraphine and the pups.

He frowned, pretending concern. "Why do you look like that?"

I was covered in cuts. My face was swollen.

Ethan and the others had shopping bags on their arms and designer labels on their clothes. We were from different worlds.

The bag in Seraphine's hand cost a million dollars. My mother's Healer fees would have been a tenth of that.

Seeing me stare at the bag, his eyes flashed with impatience.

"I was trying to make it up to you."

"By the way," he said evenly, "your reputation isn't great right now. Seraphine will fill in as my Beta aide for a bit. Submit your severance paperwork in the next day or two."

I pulled at my mouth. Ridiculous. I handed him the two documents I'd already prepared.

He didn't look. He signed both.

"Good. Once the fuss dies down, come back."

Seeing me calm, he paused, and added patiently, "You can't be like Seraphine. I have to think about her and the pups' reputation."

So I deserved to be thrown away.

I pulled at my mouth. I didn't say anything.

Seraphine gave me a smug look and tugged Ethan's sleeve.

"Ethan, I want to go to that music restaurant again. Take me and the pups, okay?"

He glanced at me. His voice softened.

"I'm making this up to you too. Next time."

Then he took her hand and walked past me, the way he had a hundred times before.

After they left, I gripped the signed severance and Bond Severance papers and went straight to the airport.

Before I boarded, Seraphine was still sending photos.

I blocked her, dropped the phone in the trash.

Ethan and I would never meet again.

The plane passed over the music restaurant. Something shifted in Ethan.

He suddenly gripped his chest. Something important had just slipped away from him.

Seraphine didn't notice. She was still chattering about the food at the restaurant.

Usually, Ethan would have smiled at her, indulgent.

But right now, out of nowhere, he thought of Elara.

If it were Elara, she'd have seen him grip his chest and rushed to him worried about his health.

Not like Seraphine, still going on about what was good to eat, what music was fun.

He suddenly missed Elara badly — Elara, still back at the manor.

Since they'd Marked, he'd stopped taking her out to places like this.

At first it was because he wanted more time alone with her at home. Later, he just got used to it.

Then Seraphine came back into his life, like a curse, or like the sting of being abandoned made him desperate to prove something.

Either way, Ethan got tangled up with Seraphine, and even had twins with her behind Elara's back.