Chapter 2

The Thorne Pack had only one male heir per generation, and Cain was that heir. Gerald desperately wanted him to produce the next Alpha. He pressed me about it many times.

But there was nothing I could do. Cain didn't want it, and I wasn't going to force him.

Then, in the fifth year, Gerald ran out of patience.

Without telling me, he slipped something into Cain's drink. A drug.

Then he sent Cain to my room and locked the door from the outside, trapping us both inside.

That night is burned into my memory.

It hurt.

It hurt so much I couldn't breathe.

Cain's eyes were glazed. His body moved on instinct, driven by the drug.

But he had no experience, and he was rough without knowing it.

I felt like I was being torn apart. Tears kept falling.

By the time the sky started to lighten, I couldn't take it anymore. I passed out.

At noon the next day, I woke up to the sound of things breaking.

Cain was in a rage.

He smashed my phone. He destroyed the TV on the wall. Chairs and tables clattered to the floor.

When he saw me wake up, he walked over and held up a mirror.

The mirror showed me what I looked like.

I hadn't even managed to get dressed. I was covered in red marks and bruises.

He pointed at my reflection, and his eyes held pure contempt.

"You're disgusting."

"I hate you."

"I don't want to see you."

I was in terrible shape that day. My legs could barely hold me up.

But the moment Cain's episode hit, he was gone.

I had no choice. I went to look for him.

I didn't stop to eat. I searched from noon until midnight.

I checked every place he ever went, until my legs were shaking under me.

I still couldn't find him.

I was leaning against the front door, completely spent, gasping, when Cain finally came home at one in the morning.

He wasn't alone.

There was a girl with him. She had a dimple when she smiled. It was sweet.

The girl looked up at him. "I've never met someone with the same taste in music as me."

"Meeting you is the best thing that happened at that concert."

That's when I understood — Cain had gone to a music concert alone.

His phone had died, and he didn't know the way home. The girl had walked him back.

Cain slowed his steps on the short path to the door, stretching it out.

They talked about music. About composers and performers I'd never heard of.

Cain had loved music since he was young. He'd studied under a renowned teacher, opened his own studio after graduation, and composed pieces that actually became famous.

I stood in the doorway and listened.

They talked for thirty minutes, but Cain never noticed I was there.

It was the house manager who finally spoke up.

"Young Master, it's late. You should go in."

"Your Mate has been waiting for you."

The girl turned and saw me. She blinked. "Is this your wife?"

Cain's face tightened. He was quiet for a moment, then nodded.

Then immediately added: "Forced. Not my choice."

"I don't like her."

"I don't want anything to do with her."

I stood frozen.

A wave of shame hit me out of nowhere, and I wanted to disappear.

The girl's name was Serena Holloway.

Serena reached over and tugged his sleeve, smiling. "It's getting late. We'll see each other again soon."

After that night, Cain and I went back to silence and cold.

He refused to say a single word to me.

His birthday came around. I'd gotten him a limited-edition pair of wireless headphones — sold out multiple times, reserved six months in advance.

Cain picked up a lighter and burned them in front of me until they were in pieces.

"I don't like you."

"I don't like anything from you."

"Trash. I don't want it."

He spent his birthday with Serena.

After that night at the gate, they'd stayed in touch. A while back, Serena had started an internship at his studio.

One evening he came home wearing a ring on his finger.

A gold ring. Serena's birthday gift to him.

I looked at the wreckage of the headphones on the floor and felt a deep, hollow exhaustion settle inside me.

The next day, Gerald suddenly called and asked me to come to the study.

He wanted me to retrieve a document for his assistant.

The problem was, Cain had always forbidden me from entering the study.

I hesitated.

Gerald pushed me, said the document was urgent, said the assistant was already waiting outside.

I thought about it and went in.

Before I left, I made sure everything was exactly as I'd found it.

But Cain found out I'd been in there.

His phone was linked to the study's security camera.

He came back from the studio, and the look on his face was dark and furious.

"You can't go in there. You're not allowed!"