Chapter 3

Then Paige burst out laughing, a sharp, cruel sound, and her smile twisted into a glare.

"That damn cat clawed my silk stockings and my heels! Do you know how important tonight's ritual is? How dare it ruin my look! So yes, I kicked it out. Call it a punishment."

Her words hit me like a knife to the chest.

I stood frozen, hardly breathing.

Something inside my wolf snapped. It was a deep, burning pain, like blood pouring from an open wound.

I turned to Grant, shaking.

"Where is she?" My voice cracked. "Grant, did you throw her out? Don't you get it? It's freezing out there. What if a car hits her? What if she's dead?"

I clutched his arm with both hands and shook it, desperate.

He shoved me away, his eyes blazing. "Enough. You're losing it over a cat. Stop making a scene."

Then he jerked his arm free, as if I had a disease. "Know your place," Tessa sneered behind me. "You're the help now. You don't get to yell at the Alpha."

Paige stepped up and folded her arms. "And so what if we did kill that stupid thing? What are you going to do about it? It's just an old cat."

Her words rang in my ears like a funeral bell.

I didn't answer.

Something in me shattered, and then it caught fire.

I turned and ran.

Out the door and down the steps.

I could hardly breathe as the freezing wind lashed my face.

I searched the roads, the sidewalks and the alley behind the garden.

Snow had started to fall, swirling over the road like ash.

My hands were numb and my breath came in short gasps. My fingers were raw and scraped from digging through hedges and trash bins.

There was still no sign of her.

I staggered to the edge of the street and watched headlights blur past, one after another.

My chest throbbed. My legs gave way. Then everything spun, as if the whole world were caving in.

I hit the ground with a thud.

Everything went black.

When I opened my eyes, I was lying in a hospital bed.

A familiar figure sat beside me, holding my hand.

"Dad?" My voice shook. "Why are you here?"

I pressed my face into his palm and sobbed. I couldn't carry this pain alone anymore.

He didn't say much. He just nodded and brushed the hair off my forehead.

"Mara, it's over now," he said softly, his voice thick. "I know everything. Don't cry, sweetheart."

He let out a long, heavy sigh, full of sorrow and regret.

"I warned you before you bonded with him. He never truly believed you were his mate, and I knew he'd keep looking for someone else. None of this is your fault. He's the one who failed you."

His voice went on, steady and gentle, like balm on my broken heart, but my mind had already drifted away.

My thoughts pulled me back...

I remembered the day Grant decided to bond with me.

His family had begged him to keep looking for his "true mate". They couldn't believe a strong Alpha like him would settle for a weak omega like me.

Grant had stood up to every one of them.

He said it didn't matter if he never found his true mate. Choosing me was enough for him.

They cast him out for it. His own blood turned on him. Still, he held my hand and promised we'd build something better from nothing.

And I believed him.

I truly thought I was the luckiest she-wolf alive.

I waited patiently and foolishly hoped that one day he would open his eyes and see that I'd been his true mate all along.

But as time went on, he became someone I didn't know.

I could barely get the words out when I finally whispered, "We've cut our bond."

My father squeezed my hand tighter, as if to hold me to something solid.

Tears ran down my cheeks. He wiped them away, though I hardly noticed.

"Mara," he said gently, "come home with me. Back to our pack. You don't have to face this alone. I'll protect you. No one will hurt you again."

His words settled into my heart like a warm blanket.

My body relaxed, and for the first time in ages I drifted off to sleep in peace.

But when I opened my eyes again, my father was gone.

I jolted upright in a panic.

I scrambled out of bed to look for him when, suddenly,

my phone rang.

Grant's name lit up the screen.