Chapter 4

He looked satisfied.

When Serena saw me, her eyes went red immediately. She rushed over and grabbed my hands.

"Elara, I'm so glad you came."

I turned my face away.

Cain pulled her in close. "The ceremony's about to start."

The two of them walked up to the front together like a real couple, accepting congratulations from everyone.

Then my phone rang. I bent my head to answer it.

A white-haired woman seized me by the hair.

"You jinx! My son finally came back, and you drove my other son away!"

She screamed, "Hold her down! Bring my whip!"

"Today I'll use Pack Law to teach you the Thorne Pack's rules, in front of everyone!"

"You couldn't give me a grandpup, you drove my son away — I'll beat you to death, you useless woman!"

Everyone took a step back. No one dared stop Margaret.

The first stroke of the whip landed. I looked instinctively toward Cain.

He pressed his lips together. He looked on with cold eyes, his arm around Serena.

In that moment, the last feeling I had for him vanished completely.

I struggled with everything I had, but the enforcers pinned me to the floor.

No one spoke up for me. In that grand ballroom, the only sounds were the crack of the whip and my breath growing weaker.

I didn't know how much time passed. My back was in shreds.

Blood had soaked through the white dress. The air smelled of iron.

Someone whispered, "We have to stop — she'll die."

I stared at the two people on the stage.

Cain met my eyes. He frowned. He shifted his weight.

Then Serena reached over and took his hand.

She picked up the mic and spoke to everyone: "Mom, we have more happy news today. You're going to have a grandpup."

Margaret stopped instantly. "Really?"

Serena looked at Cain with shy tenderness. "Yes. One month along. The night Adrian came back, we—"

Margaret cried out with joy.

At that moment, the ballroom doors burst open.

A tall man in a baseball cap walked in.

He laughed coldly. "Is that right? I didn't know I was having another pup."

When he pulled off the cap and showed his face, the entire room sucked in a breath.

Cain's face went pale.

"A—Adrian?"

Serena's face drained of color. She thought she was seeing things.

She stumbled down from the stage and, when she got close enough to see Adrian's face clearly, her eyes went red.

"Adrian, you're alive?"

Adrian only smiled coldly and walked straight to me.

"I'm sorry. I'm late."

Everyone stared.

Margaret wailed and threw herself at Adrian, clinging to him.

"Adrian, is it really you? My son, why didn't you come home? I've been crying myself half blind for you, do you know that?"

Adrian picked me up. He looked at Margaret, his face serious.

"Mom, out of everyone here, Elara is the most innocent. How could you do this to her?"

Margaret froze.

Adrian ignored the stares of everyone in the room. He said quietly to me, "I'm taking you to the clinic first."

Cain stood frozen. He watched Adrian walk me toward the doors.

He finally came back to himself when we reached the exit.

He rushed to block Adrian's path.

"Adrian. Where are you taking her?"

Serena caught up too, crying.

"Adrian Thorne, you've been gone all these years, you abandoned me alone — don't you owe me an explanation?"

"Do you know what I went through all this time—"

She started to say it, then stopped herself. She couldn't finish.

Adrian handed me to one of the men who'd come with him. He said firmly, "Get her to the clinic. Do everything you can for her. I owe her this."

By then I was barely conscious.

But I still heard Cain's voice.

He seemed to actually see the state I was in for the first time.

He drew a sharp breath.

"How are the injuries this bad?"

"I thought my mother wasn't that strong."

He didn't even notice that his own voice was shaking.

Adrian looked at him coldly. "You're remembering to care about your Bond mate now. Where were you a minute ago?"

After sending me off, Adrian dismissed all the guests.

Then he stood and faced Serena, Cain, and Margaret, who was still crying.

His voice was completely flat — like he was looking at strangers, not family.

He told them what had really happened.

"There was an accident at sea. The ship I was on hit a reef and sank."

"I drifted for a day and a night. I ended up on a small island. The islanders rescued me."

"But I lost my memory."

When Serena heard that, she inhaled sharply.

She twisted her fingers together, terrified of what was coming.

Cain had gone somewhere else in his head.

The image of Elara covered in blood wouldn't leave him.

Something in his chest felt wrong.

Not because his affair with his sister-in-law had just been exposed to his brother.

But because he realized he was afraid of losing Elara.

He'd always been in control of everything.

He'd been certain she loved him. Certain she'd never leave. That was why he'd offered a Bond Severance so casually — he knew she'd refuse.

Even if she agreed, he was confident he'd still be the one she couldn't let go of.

So he'd gone all the way.

Four years ago, to protect Serena's position in the Pack as Alpha's widow, he'd slept with her and given her a pup — claiming it was Adrian's.

And so Elara could never have a pup to compete with Serena's, he'd had her sterilized.

He was a Pack Healer. He'd used his medical access to take away her right to a pup.