Chapter 11

Leaving Thorne Manor set off a wave.

Roland called and spent a long time telling me everything I'd done wrong. Vivienne blamed me too.

They said I should be grateful to Cain. They said if Thorne Pack hadn't chosen me, Forsythe Pack would have sent me off in an arranged match — maybe to some older widower, maybe to someone who only wanted a young woman for the wrong reasons.

"Your sister's husband has three outside children and she puts up with it. Why can't you?"

In the end, Roland threatened to sever ties with me entirely.

I said "okay" and meant it.

Thirty days later, Cain and I met at the Pack Elder Council Hall and made the dissolution official.

Along with the dissolution papers, Cain handed me a check.

His Pack assets, once valued, came in at over ten billion dollars.

This check was for one billion.

He put it in my hands.

"Ember. Walk farther roads, climb higher mountains, find somewhere bigger than all of this."

Then: "Can I still see you? After this?"

I nodded. "Of course."

"I'll have a birthday gathering every year. You're always invited."

Cain let out a long breath, and finally, quietly, he smiled.

All the things he could have said got compressed into one sentence.

"Ember. Take care of yourself."