Chapter 5

Three years. I could refuse to go up to the private rooms because every time there was "trouble," the floor manager would call me into his office.

"Anya, you don't want to go up? Fine. You know I don't have any other hobbies. Let's begin."

The manager liked nothing more than to watch someone sobbing under a welt. I became the best specimen for his hobby.

He'd take the whip and the rod out of his drawer and beat them down on me, stroke after stroke.

The memories rose up in a wave. Every sacrifice I thought I had chosen for myself had been arranged.

Damon froze. Panic crossed his face.

"No. I didn't —"

I shook off his hand.

"None of it matters now."

I opened the door and stopped short.

The man outside came charging in, grabbed Damon by the collar, and threw a punch.

"You let Anya work at a Wolf's Den?"

Damon reacted and swung back.

"Who the hell are you? What, you want a woman I've already had?"

"Enough!"

Damon's fist stopped mid-air. His face went stiff.

"He's your brother?"

I wasn't an orphan. My mother was the one who forced her way into my father's Mate Bond, and I never wanted to go back to that house.

Colton Ashford is my half-brother. His mother threw herself off the Pack tower because of what my mother and I represented.

He knew the sins of the adults weren't my fault, but it wasn't possible for him to feel nothing.

So I refused my mother's demand that I be taken back into the Ashford bloodline, and I lived on my own.

Seven quiet years. Until the day Damon's Pack fell.

I didn't want him to suffer alone. That was why I swallowed my pride and went to Colton.

Colton was shocked when I asked for a million. After asking me twice if I was sure, he handed me the card.

Before I left, he saw the thick calluses on my hands. He sighed and pulled me into his arms.

"If things get hard, come home. Father misses you."

But somehow my mother heard about the loan. She called me screaming, demanding I come back and take the Ashford bloodline.

"Anya, I found you a perfect match. A strong young Alpha. Come home and you can take the Mark right away. Hurry!"

"No."

My refusal set her off. She shouted down the line.

"Anya! Do I have to spell it out? If you don't come back, you won't see a single dollar from this family! You want to be independent? Fine! Never come back!"

I gave the card back.

"Anya! Let's go!"

Colton's voice pulled me back. He was grinding his teeth. He turned and looked at Damon.

"Stay away from my sister. I see you again, I hit you again."

Damon lifted his head.

"Anya, it — it was a misunderstanding. I was wrong. It's my fault!"

He raised his hand and slapped himself across the face. The sound filled my ears.

Tears slid down my cheeks. I sniffed and tugged Colton's sleeve.

"Let's go. I'm tired."

Before we walked out, Damon grabbed my wrist. Red handprints stood out on his face.

"Anya, please. Don't go."

I pulled my hand free.

"Every time they forced drinks on me, every scar on my body, every one of those pictures — Damon, what did I ever do to you? Why did you do this to me?"

Damon was close to sobbing now. He pleaded with me, voice breaking.

"Nothing. You did nothing!"

"Damon, do you still have the ring?"

The question lit hope in his eyes. His hands shook as he pulled out the plain gold band from an inner pocket.

I took it and turned it over in my palm.

Damon licked his lips. Tense. Waiting.

I met his eyes once. Then I walked to the window and threw the ring out.

"Damon, if I could do it over, I'd choose to never meet you."

Damon tore down the stairs like he'd lost his mind. I walked toward Colton, toward Ezra, toward the others who loved me.

This time, I wasn't going to choose wrong.

That day, Damon sprawled on the ground outside the airport, not caring who saw. Flash photography went off above him.

He ran his hands over every patch of grass.

"The ring. The ring."

He kept wiping it, still imagining — if he found it, I would come back.

But there was one thing you couldn't buy at any time: the cure for regret.

My second day overseas, Damon sent me a video.

I opened it and screamed.

The woman in the video, covered in blood, was — Serena?

After I left, Damon brought the Wolf's Den manager to his place.

His guards worked the manager over. The manager fell to the floor, begging.

"Young Alpha — please, stop! Anya wasn't my idea. Serena told me to do it! She said it came from you!"

Damon's knuckles went white. All the "coincidences" were sharpening now.

Why had he walked in on Anya in Colton's arms at that exact moment? Why had it been him who thought of sending her to the Wolf's Den? Why had a spot opened up so fast?

It had all been Serena.