Chapter 1

Our eyes met, and panic flashed across Serena's face.

"Nora—"

She reflexively tried to shut the door, but I pressed my hand against it and held it open.

Right then, voices drifted from the elevator lobby — Ethan's Pack brothers.

"Ethan's been Bonded six years now, and she's still stuck in grief over his death. She's thirty and hasn't found a mate yet."

"I heard she recently agreed to a blind date. Guess she's finally moving on."

"I'm telling you, what Ethan pulled was brutal. He crashed because Serena sent him a private photo — he was rushing to her when he drove off the bridge. But he let Nora believe he was racing to surprise her for her birthday."

"Nora tried to end her own life over the guilt. Multiple times."

"At least she's agreed to the blind date now. She should find a new mate soon."

"Keep it down — don't let Ethan hear..."

They turned the corner and walked straight into my line of sight. The voices cut off.

Cole's eyes darted away.

"Nora — what are you doing here..."

Just then, a familiar voice came from inside the room.

"Babe, are Cole and the others here yet?"

The sound hit me like a punch to the chest. My breathing stopped.

I turned around.

Ethan Sterling stood there, holding a trimmed bouquet, completely alive, not a scratch on him.

When he saw me, he went rigid. His eyes trembled.

I looked at the banner hanging across the center of the living room and pulled a cold smile.

"To my beloved mate — happy sixth Bond anniversary."

"Ethan," I said, one word at a time. "You're doing just fine, aren't you."

Ethan instinctively pulled Serena behind him. His face flushed with something between guilt and embarrassment.

Everyone else froze in place. The silence was unbearable.

Six years ago, Ethan Sterling drove off the river bridge in a storm — rushing to surprise me at midnight, they said. They gave me an urn.

I blamed myself for months. I thought if I hadn't made such a big deal about his betrayal, he wouldn't have gone out that night to make things right.

The day they buried him, I held his headstone and cried until I passed out.

After that, I couldn't sleep for missing him. I'd walk to the memorial ground alone and stay the whole night.

At my worst, I held a knife to my own wrist at his grave. The groundskeeper found me.

And now I find out it was all a scheme to slip away without consequences.

I picked up the photo frame on the table. Two figures stood side by side under ribbons of northern lights. My chest burned.

"Bonding photos," I said. "Iceland, wasn't it?"

Back when Ethan and I were planning our Bonding Ceremony, Serena was his secretary. She was there for all of it.

I'd been going back and forth about where to take our photos. Serena had suggested, carefully: "I think the northern lights would be perfect. Every aurora is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. It means you're the only one."

Ethan had smiled and said it was a great idea.

Not long after, I found a tube of lipstick in his car that wasn't mine.

I traced it back to Serena.

I wanted to break off our Bonding. Ethan stood on the eighteenth floor of the Pack building.

"Nora, if you break the Bond, I'll jump."

I went soft. I gave him a chance to end it.

He cleaned up every trace, had Serena fired, tried every way to make it right.

He even staged his own death.

And now he was standing in front of me, alive, sharing a home with the woman he was supposed to have ended things with.

I let out a short, bitter laugh and threw the frame onto the floor.

Glass exploded. Serena covered her face and screamed. A shard had cut her cheek.

"Nora, stop acting crazy!"

Ethan's eyes went red. He roared at me.

I laughed at myself, my voice dry and raw.

"Acting crazy? You're right. I am crazy."

"The six years you were 'dead,' I was out of my mind every single day."

Ethan's chest heaved. His eyes burned red, and his voice was full of accusation.

"I threatened to end my own life — and you were the one who stopped me."

"I did everything you asked. But you couldn't let it go. You kept punishing me."

"Do you have any idea how exhausted I've been?"

I slapped him across the face. The impact stung my wrist. Tears spilled before I could stop them.

"Ethan, you're the one who cheated. You're the one who lied to me."

"How do you have the nerve to say I've been punishing you?"

Serena dropped to her knees in front of me, eyes wet.

"Nora, please stop fighting. This is all because of me."

"I was shameless. I was disgusting. I was the one who went after Ethan."

"He kept every promise he made you. I was the one who wouldn't let go."

"I'll end the Bond with him right now."

She pressed her hand over her stomach, her voice barely a whisper.

"As for the pup... I'll get rid of it."

Every line of Ethan's face lit up.

"Serena — you're pregnant?"