Chapter 2

The flying glass cut Cain's arm.

He didn't care. He turned straight to Serena. "Are you hurt?"

In that moment, images flashed through my mind.

Rainy days — his umbrella always tilted toward Serena.

Walking side by side — he always kept her on the inside, away from traffic.

Even when a fire broke out, the person he shielded first was Serena.

Afterward, he always had an easy explanation: "She's my Pack sister-in-law. She's been your friend for years."

Every single word was meant to show he hadn't crossed a line.

He was just a devoted brother-in-law, looking after his dead brother's widow.

A good husband, keeping an eye on his wife's friend.

I had my doubts, but I refused to believe my husband could betray me with my best friend.

Especially since Serena was the one who'd brought us together.

Serena and I had grown up side by side.

We'd made a promise when we were young — no matter who we married, we'd live near each other and never be separated.

So when she Bonded with Adrian, she introduced me to his twin brother Cain.

At first I thought she was joking. I kept my distance from Cain.

Then one night I ran a high fever. I called Serena. But it was Cain who showed up.

He stayed up the whole night with me. When I woke, this normally impeccable man had dark circles and messy hair.

He looked almost ridiculous.

But I couldn't stop my heart from moving.

After Serena's Bonding Ceremony, Cain suddenly proposed to me.

I was pulled out of those memories when a shadow fell over me.

Cain held out the Bond Severance papers.

"Sign these."

"The house and the car are yours. Half the Pack assets go to you."

His arm was still bleeding, but he didn't care.

His eyes were on Serena, sitting in a hospital chair, crying quietly.

His gaze was tender. As tender as it could be.

My chest tightened so hard I forgot to breathe.

Just last night before the surgery he'd held me, looked at me with those exact eyes, soothed me in that exact tone.

He'd said we'd have more pups.

Then the next day he put me on that operating table and killed our pup himself.

I touched my flat stomach. I was shaking all over.

Four years. Four years of barbs from Margaret, of mockery from the Pack. All because I couldn't produce an heir.

I'd tried every remedy, every healer. Bitter herbal treatments. So many injections. All to give him a pup.

And every bit of it was because of what the man I loved had done to me.

Something bitter rose in my throat. I spat blood, and everything went dark.

When I opened my eyes again, Serena was busy at my bedside.

She saw me wake and leaned in eagerly.

"Elara, you're awake?"

She immediately ladled out a bowl of broth.

"I added some rare healing herbs — good for your recovery. Drink it while it's warm."

Then she mumbled something without thinking.

"Cain really does spoil me. A few years ago he traded a piece of Pack land to the Vance Healer Clan for a batch of their rarest herbs. Said they'd been cultivated for generations. More than I could ever use."

Then she seemed to catch herself. She went quiet.

I went still.

My voice came out rough. "What herbs?"

"The Vance Clan's rare healing herbs. Cain traded a piece of Thorne Pack land for them — that's the famous healer family, you remember?"

My blood turned cold.

Three years ago, my grandfather fell gravely ill. He needed a rare herb from the Vance Clan to survive.

I spent every cent I had trying to get in their door.

I couldn't even get a meeting. I had nowhere left to turn, so I went to Cain.

That was the first time I'd ever asked him for anything.

All he said was: "That's their most prized possession. There's nothing I can do."

My grandfather didn't survive. I lost the only person in the world who had truly loved me.

For me, Cain was powerless.

For Serena, he traded a piece of Pack land to get her those same herbs.

My fingers twisted the bedsheet tight. My eyes burned, and my vision blurred.

I didn't understand how she could sit here acting like nothing had happened — not even an hour after sleeping with my husband — chatting and blowing on the broth to cool it.

"It's cooled down now. Drink."

I raised my head. I couldn't hold it in anymore.

I shoved the bowl away. "Get out!"

The next second, a hand hit me across the face.

My ears were still ringing. I only understood what had happened when I tasted blood at the corner of my mouth.

I stared at the man in front of me. He was cradling Serena's hand, checking it carefully.

He looked at me with disgust — like he was looking at an enemy.

"Do you have any idea how much she cares about you? She spent four hours making that broth for you."

"Elara, she is your best friend."

I was laughing and crying at the same time. I pointed at them both. "She cares about me?"

"She cares about me so much she ends up in my husband's bed? That's a best friend? She's a shameless homewrecker!"

Cain said coldly, "You've got it backwards. The one who was in my bed on our Bonding Night was Serena."

"In terms of who was with me first — you're the other woman."