Chapter 4

I hadn’t slept a wink. Sometime before dawn, I padded out of my room, cradling a mug in both hands, heading to the kitchen for water to soothe my raw throat.

That’s when I saw her.

Lily.

She stepped out of Alpha Jack’s room, draped in a loose, silky nightgown that left little to the imagination. Her hair was tousled, lips swollen, and her neck? Painted with hickeys.

The scent on her skin—his scent—hit me like a freight train. It was unmistakable.

I stopped dead in my tracks.

“You—”

The word barely left my mouth. I thought I’d prepared myself. Thought I could walk away with dignity and a quiet, broken heart. But witnessing it—seeing her slink out of his room like that—slashed me deeper than I expected.

A loud crash snapped me out of my daze. The cup had slipped from my hands, shattering on the floor. A jagged shard sliced into the top of my foot, blood already pooling around it.

The door creaked open again, and Jack appeared, shirtless, the panic flickering in his eyes the moment he saw me.

“Anna,” he said, stepping forward, “wait—let me explain.”

My lip trembled. “Explain what?”

He scowled, already shifting the blame. “Don’t jump to conclusions. Lily was just... helping me examine my spine. She’s a doctor. You can ask her yourself.”

Lily, still basking in post-coital smugness, gave me a slow, mocking smile. “Yes. Strictly medical. I was just giving Alpha Jack a spinal adjustment.”

My wolf, Annie, growled low in my chest. Liar.

I didn’t need to ask. I knew what I smelled. No amount of lying could disguise the truth from a wolf’s senses.

Jack’s gaze turned cold. “You’re being ridiculous. What kind of filthy thoughts are you having to turn a medical visit into... this?”

Each word felt like a slap.

“Do you want the whole Pack thinking she’s sleeping her way through patients? She’s our doctor. She’s here to help me recover—unless, of course, you’d prefer I stay paralyzed for life?”

There it was. That same tactic. Twist the knife and make it seem like I was the one with the problem. The jealous one. The irrational one.

He wasn’t even trying to hide it anymore.

“Apologize to Lily,” he ordered, voice clipped and merciless.

Annie whimpered, but her voice was steady in my mind. “Don’t do it, Anna. We’re better than this. Let’s walk away.”

But I didn’t have the strength. Not yet. I forced myself to look at Lily and dipped into a small, stiff bow.

“I’m sorry,” I said through clenched teeth. “I misunderstood.”

Lily’s smug expression deepened, satisfied.

Jack dismissed her with a flick of his fingers before turning to me. “Let me see your foot.”

Only then did I notice how much blood had soaked the hem of my pajama pants. I didn’t say a word as he knelt and gently picked the glass from my skin. His touch was careful, attentive—as if that made up for the pain he’d just inflicted on my heart.

That was Jack’s pattern: crush me, then cradle me.

And for three years, I let him.

I stared at his downturned face, his brows furrowed in concentration. My chest felt hollow.

I whispered to Annie, “I don’t want his poisoned honey anymore.”

After that, I stayed in my room, avoiding everyone. The pain in my foot was nothing compared to the one tearing through my chest.

Then came the knock.

A warrior stood at the door, shifting uncomfortably as Lily stepped up behind him with a bright, fake smile.

“Alpha Jack said we’re switching rooms,” the warrior mumbled. “To make it easier for Lily to—”

“To be close by,” Lily cut in smoothly, then added, “Also, change the sheets and everything. I can’t stand the smell of a Rogue.”

That did it.

I moved to a guest room downstairs.

That night, I sat in front of the fireplace and threw every single thing Alpha Jack had ever given me into the flames—bracelets, letters, his old jacket, everything.

I watched the fire devour them all.

Every gift, every fake moment, every lie—reduced to ashes.

And just like that, the last ember of love I had for Alpha Jack burned out with them.

“What are you burning?” His voice came from behind me.

I didn’t even turn around.

“Nothing important,” I said. “Just clearing out the trash.”