Chapter 3

Panicking, I slipped into the home office adjacent to the master suite.

The office held only a single desk; Lucas wouldn't waste time in here.

"Lucas, isn't this a little too much for one day~?"

"Shut up."

Chloe went silent instantly.

Within seconds, her whimpers turned into sharp cries of pain.

"I'm sorry, Lucas... it hurts too much!"

Lucas didn't stop. He pushed harder.

One minute. Two minutes.

My stomach violently churned; my head spun with pure disgust.

I bit down on my own forearm hard enough to draw blood, using the sharp sting to keep myself lucid—and to punish myself for being such a coward.

What on earth was keeping me frozen here?

The moment they walked through that door, I should have ripped it open.

I should have torn their throats out with my claws and fangs to quench this burning rage.

But that would have been too easy on them.

Or maybe, the remnants of my five years of love made me terrified to look his betrayal straight in the eye.

After all, because of my boundaries, he had waited for me for five whole years without complaining.

Amidst the frantic, wet slapping of skin, Lucas suddenly hissed in pain.

"Who told you to bite me?!"

"Lucas, it hurts... please be gentle with me~"

Chloe’s voice was breathy and fragile, the kind that would soften any man's heart.

Lucas was no exception.

He paused, his voice turning tender. "Whatever you want."

That familiar tone. That familiar tenderness.

Lucas hadn't spoken to me like that in ages.

The last time he uttered those words was six months ago.

Lucas had been drugged with wolfsbane aphrodisiac during a pack negotiation.

Terrified of losing control and ruining things between us, he called me to his side to guard him.

He submerged himself in a tub of ice water, trembling violently, his skin flushed an unnatural crimson.

I turned to fetch him a glass of water from the bar, only to be ambushed. Lucas lunged at me like a feral beast.

I knew he wasn't in his right mind, but I refused to give in.

In the struggle, I bit him hard on his collarbone.

Blood mingled with ice water, dripping onto the pristine white rug below.

Lucas's bloodshot eyes shrank in horror as sanity snapped back.

"I'm sorry, Elena... I lost my head."

I straightened my clothes and shoved him back into the tub.

Seeing my cold silence, he apologized over and over.

"I'm sorry, Elena, I didn't mean to."

"Elena, please don't shut me out, I couldn't control my wolf."

Like a stern parent, I reinforced my boundaries, reminding him how much I hated being forced.

Looking like a kicked puppy, he lightly hooked his finger around mine and whispered:

"Whatever you want."

"I'll do whatever you want."

...

At some point, the sounds in the bedroom ceased.

I heard the front door open and click shut twice.

A moment later, my phone vibrated with a text from Lucas:

"Elena, where are you? I miss you."

Then Chloe texted me her update:

"Elena, what you said actually worked! The way Lucas looked at me totally changed!"

I texted her back: "Is that so? Looks like the rumors are true."

"What rumors?"

"Lucas wants to dump his betrothed and choose you."

I told Lucas I was over at my mother Sarah's place.

When I arrived at her cottage, Lucas was already in the kitchen, helping prepare dinner.

Sarah shot me a discreet glance.

I followed her obediently into the bedroom.

"Why did you lie to Lucas and tell him you were here?"

"Do you have any idea how terrified I was when he showed up at my door asking for you?"

"I thought something terrible happened to you!"

"If I hadn't covered for you on the fly, you'd have been busted! Tell me, where were you really?"

"Catching a cheater," I said flatly.

"Catching whose cheater?"

Sarah leaned in, ready for gossip.

She had no idea the cheater was the prize son-in-law she bragged about to the entire pack.

Instead of answering directly, I asked, "Did you inform Robert about my mate ceremony?"

She waved dismissively. "I'll let him know in a couple of days."

"Don't bother."

"Why? Didn't you want Robert at your ceremony?"

My fingers twisted in the hem of my shirt. I didn't know how to break the news of Lucas's infidelity.

Finally, I pulled out my phone and showed her the photo of Lucas and Chloe with their faces pressed together in bed.

"Sarah, Lucas cheated on me. I just found out today."

...

It took everything in me to physically pin Sarah to the bed.

Her eyes blazed with feral fury.

"None of these bastards are any good! Daring to break a mate vow right before the ceremony—I'm going to rip him limb from limb!"

I held her down, begging her to stay calm.

Eventually, she sank onto the edge of the mattress and began to weep.

I knew what she was crying about. It brought back all the ghosts of her past.

When Sarah was young, she was duped by an Alpha. He promised to make her his Luna, but once she got pregnant with me, she discovered he already had a bonded mate in his home pack.

He walked away without looking back. Sarah brought me to the Ridge Pack all on her own.

With no family, no backers, and no status, she fought tooth and claw to earn the rank of Gamma—heading pack security and intelligence.

From childhood, I was taught never to trust an Alpha's vows.

Yet, I had fallen into the exact same trap.