Chapter 2

My heart was perfect.

Dr. Hartley called my father to report in, and I was finally free to leave.

In the parking structure, I couldn't find my car. I called the driver.

"Miss, Mr. Whitmore had me drop him at the Whitmore Pack House first. I'll be back to pick you up right after."

"Who told you to listen to him?" I said flatly.

Caleb took the phone.

"I ran into Serena at the hospital. She wasn't doing well. Your car's comfortable, so I had him drop her at the office first."

"You're the Pack Heiress. You don't have to clock in anywhere. Cut the working wolves some slack."

He hung up.

I almost laughed. My mother had that car built for me when she was alive — custom-measured to my body, engineered down to the millimeter.

It cost a fortune and took two years to finish. Of course it was comfortable.

I wasn't even dead yet, and they were already enjoying my things.

Now that I was thinking about it — Serena had been Caleb's Beta assistant since the day I met him.

Three years. I'd never caught anything off between them. I'd never seen her speak to my father more than twice.

Maybe they thought I was running out of time, so they'd stopped hiding it.

In Caleb's eyes, I was a love-struck fool. All my focus was supposed to be on the Bonding Ceremony.

I didn't wait for the driver. I flagged down a cab.

That evening, Caleb slammed the front door on his way in.

"You came home without telling me? I went to pick you up and waited a full hour."

I checked my watch. An hour? If I'd actually waited for him, it would've been three minimum.

"Your mother spoiled you rotten. You're sulking over nothing. Serena never throws tantrums like this."

I finally looked up. "What right does a Beta assistant have to throw tantrums at her Alpha anyway?"

Caleb choked on his answer. He shot me a look and disappeared into the upstairs study.

An hour later, he threw a sheet of paper down in front of me.

"Starting today, you follow this schedule. If you still care about me — if you still want a pup soon — you'll listen."

"I'm doing this for your health. For our home."

I nodded.

He relaxed and pulled me into his arms. "You know everything I've done, I've done so I could build a home. I love you. Don't disappoint me."

I held the schedule up behind his back.

It was, technically, a healthy routine. Especially good for the heart.

The next day at work, the first thing I did was fire the driver.

At midday, the Harrington Pack was holding a small Council meeting.

The door banged open. Caleb froze, then forced himself to call out. "Elara. Come out here."

Before I could react, my uncle — the current Alpha, famous across the Territory for his iron hand — spoke first.

"No manners at all. Anyone can just walk in now? Are our Gamma Warriors asleep?"

The council secretary apologized in a rush. "He's the Pack Heiress's Chosen Mate. We couldn't stop him."

Uncle Roderick snorted at me. "Your taste is worse than your mother's."

Caleb's face went red, but he didn't dare talk back.

When the meeting broke up, Caleb sat in my office with a black face.

"Your uncle humiliated me in front of all those wolves, and you didn't say a single word for me?"

When we'd first announced the Bonding, plenty of people had told me to think twice.

I'd held Caleb's hand and said, "He's good. He loves me. His warmth pulled me through losing my mother. He made me believe good wolves still exist."

Pathetic. The truth was he and my father had planned every moment of my weakness.

"Fine. Leave that. Why did you fire my driver? He knelt outside the Whitmore Pack House crying. Said I ruined his career. Do you know how humiliating that was?"

"It's the same as slapping me in public. Deep down, you look down on me, don't you?" He shouted.

Before, when he said things like that, I would've gone red-eyed and soft.

He knew it. He knew the thing I felt worst about was our rank gap.

This time I just sat down at my desk.

"A traitor once is a traitor forever. My mother taught me that."

"Your mother again. Your mother's long dead. You're spending your life with me now." His voice went higher. "I'm not coming home for a few days. We both need to cool off."

I understood. I wasn't going to crawl after him this time.

For three days, Caleb didn't show. I traced enough breadcrumbs to find Serena's secret account.

They were at the coast, relaxed as two wolves on holiday.

Sometimes a familiar middle-aged figure appeared in the background of her photos.

When they'd had enough fun, they came home flushed and rested.

When I got back to Harrington Manor, Caleb was chatting and laughing with my father.

"Every Bonded pair has its rough patches. I've already had a stern word with the boy. Let it go." My father didn't spare me another glance. He said his piece and walked off.

Caleb wrapped his arms around me, sweetness dripping. "Baby. I know I messed up. I asked the housekeeper to make your favorites. I'm exhausted. I'm going to lie down."

I wandered into one of the guest rooms and pulled out my phone.

A few days earlier, I'd installed cameras throughout the Manor.

Sound came through clear. My father's voice. Caleb's.

"Soften your tone around her. Don't let her catch anything. Her mother didn't know how much I hated her, right up to the end."