Chapter 1

On the fifth anniversary of our Marking, my husband's precious adopted Omega sister kidnapped our daughter to force me out.

When the video call connected, I watched Fiona grab my daughter's hair and push her head under the water, again and again.

By the time I got there, my daughter's face had gone blue. She was in a coma.

"I'll make this right for you. Fiona went too far this time."

A month ago I'd tried to leave. Damien had stopped my flight at the airport and brought me home. Since then he'd stopped spoiling Fiona. Again and again, he'd taken my side.

I thought he'd really changed. So I took the screen recording and drove to the Crescent Council to file against her.

Halfway there, Damien rammed my car into the guardrail.

"Fiona was just playing around. I've already punished her. There's no need to drag the Council into this."

"She's the sister I raised with my own hands. Her record has to stay clean. Do you understand?"

He held me against his chest, blood running down my face. Then he crushed the phone with the evidence on it under his heel.

I realized he hadn't changed at all. In Damien's heart, the sister who shared no blood with him was the only family he had.

This time, I was leaving him for good. I was never coming back.

I woke up with my head pounding.

Before I could figure out where I was, I saw Damien sitting beside the bed, carefully applying salve to my cuts.

For a second I thought I was back in the years when he used to protect me, love me.

Then it all came crashing back.

Evelyn. Fiona. The crash.

I jerked away from him, tore something in my side, and gasped at the pain.

Damien pressed my hand down and spoke softly. "Don't move. You just got out of surgery. Be good. Listen to me. Forget the Council."

My voice was hoarse. I bit down on every word.

"No. I'm filing against her. She's going to answer for what she did to our daughter."

"Damien, Evelyn isn't even five yet. She's our daughter. Fiona is just some girl with no blood tie to you. Why are you only protecting her?"

His eyes darkened. I couldn't read his face.

"I know you're angry right now. But I've already punished Fiona. She's the sister I raised. I can't let a mark like this follow her for the rest of her life."

"We can have another pup later." He was looking straight at me when he said it.

"…What did you say?" I could barely believe it.

He talked about our daughter the way you'd talk about a stray dog.

"I watched Fiona hold our daughter's head under the water with my own eyes. Once. Twice. She's lying there now, and we don't know if she'll live, and you're telling me to just have another one? She's the pup I carried for ten months. She's family, not something we trade in."

"Don't talk like that." Damien sighed, like he was holding himself back. "We'll have another one. A son this time. He can inherit the Kane Pack and he'll be with you for the rest of your life. Isn't that enough?"

My head went blank. I could barely hear him.

"I should have Severed the Bond half a year ago," I said through my teeth.

The moment he heard "Sever," his face went cold. Every trace of softness drained from his eyes.

He pressed down on my arm when I tried to push him away. His voice dropped. "Selene. Every tantrum has a limit."

He pulled out his phone, opened the gallery, and swiped to a set of photos.

My brother. At a restaurant, eating dinner with business partners, a little tipsy, smiling. He had no idea someone was watching him.

"If you insist on filing against Fiona," Damien said quietly, "then I'll have to drop something into your brother's wine."

The blood roared up into my head. My chest was heaving. "Damien, are you out of your mind?"

He was still calm. "Sel, as long as you cooperate, nothing will happen."

"Be good. We don't need the pup, do we?"

I was shaking all over.

My brother had fought side by side with Damien to secure the Kane Pack.

Seven years ago, when Damien first took over the Pack, his position was falling apart. It was my brother who used Hart Pack connections to steady every piece on his board.

Later, when I was kidnapped by rogues, he went into the den alone and carried me out. That day I cried against his shoulder, and from then on I decided this was the man I'd love.

When we were dating, he spoiled me like I was the only thing in the world. Every romantic thing a man could do, he did. I thought he was real.

And now he'd crashed my car to stop me, and wanted to poison my brother, all for Fiona.

I cried. Tears came out with the anger.

"Damien, you ungrateful piece of filth."

He only sighed and took my hand, like he was comforting me. "Sel, I love you. I respect your brother too. But Fiona is my only family."

"I've kept her locked up for a few days. She knows she was wrong. She means it this time. She won't do it again."