Chapter 3

NORA

I stood frozen in place, cold from head to toe.

A moment later, through the wall, came the wet, unmistakable sounds of kissing.

Ivy's voice was soft and sultry. "You're so bad, making her listen from next door."

"Then scream louder. I want her to hear every damn breath."

I clamped my hands over my ears.

It didn't help.

My wolf had been asleep for five years, but I was still a shifter. Even dulled, my hearing caught everything. Every sound slipped through the cracks between my fingers.

The cold seeped into my heart, little by little, until it hurt so much I curled up on the floor. The soaked wedding dress clung to my skin like a layer of ice.

It felt like two armies were at war inside my head.

On one side: everything good Kyle had ever done for me. His promises. His smile.

On the other: my mind, no matter how hard I fought it, piecing together pictures of him and Ivy tangled up together from every sound coming through that wall.

My head felt like it was about to split open. I crawled over to the nightstand and pulled open the drawer.

The unfinished bottle of antidepressants sat there, untouched for years. A yellowed sticky note clung to the side—Kyle’s meticulous handwriting, mapping out every dose like a chore I’d failed to complete.

My hands shook as I shook some out and dry-swallowed them.

I don't know how much time passed before the door opened.

Kyle stood in the doorway with a towel around his waist, looking down at me.

"You can't even handle this? How are you going to survive being my wife?"

Behind him, Ivy—covered in marks—laughed.

"Kyle, don't tell me you actually feel sorry for her."

Something flickered in his eyes. But he still sneered.

"As if."

"The whole point of marrying her is to make her feel what I felt back then. Why would I feel sorry for her?"

My head snapped up.

Despair spread out from my heart, inch by inch.

So it had all been fake.

There'd never been any love. Just revenge he'd been planning for years.

I'd hit the bottom so hard that something inside me pushed back. I shot to my feet and slapped him across the face.

The crack echoed through the room.

Kyle and Ivy both froze.

A few seconds later, Kyle roared, "You hit me? Nora, do you have a death wish?"

My heart had hurt so much it had nowhere left to go. I laughed.

"Didn't you bet her I'd slap the hell out of you once I found out? Well, I delivered. What are you so upset about?"

I laughed even harder.

"Although if it'd been Ethan, I wouldn't have had the heart to slap him."

The second the words left my mouth, Kyle's face went black.

He stared at me for a long time. Then he laughed too.

"You did that on purpose?"

"Fine. Have it your way."

He stepped back. The door swung shut in front of me, inch by inch.

This time, I didn't try to stop it.

I backed up, one step at a time, until I reached the bed.

When the sounds started up again on the other side of the wall, I stacked the comforter and the pillows on top of each other, one layer after another. The soaked dress was too heavy. The train kept wrapping around my ankles. So I bent down and tore it off.

Then I climbed up.

Right above me was the glass dome.

The rain had stopped. A gap had opened in the clouds, and the moon was showing through. Pale. Bone-white. Exactly like it had been every single night for five years.

I pushed open the skylight—the one Kyle had built just for me, the one he'd said I could open anytime you want to see the moon—and slowly pulled myself up onto the roof.

With every movement, a voice in my ear kept urging me on.

Go. He stopped loving you a long time ago. He was only ever with you for revenge. Leaving is the only way out.

The moment that voice went quiet, I smiled.

And let myself fall.

This time, I was the one passing by his window.

"Nora—no!"

Inside, Kyle's eyes went wide with horror as he threw himself at the glass.