Chapter 3

When Ava returned home, she started packing away everything that carried Liam’s scent.

The couple’s mugs he gave her on her birthday.

The movie ticket from their first date.

The strip of photo booth stickers she had dragged him to take.

The box was almost full when the front door clicked open.

Liam was home.

His wolf eyes narrowed as he spotted the boxes, and in two strides, he was standing in front of her.

“Ava, what are you doing?”

She lowered her head, wolf ears drooping, refusing to meet his gaze.

“Ella’s moving in, isn’t she? I’m just… clearing things up so she won’t get upset.”

In a swift motion, Liam pulled her into his arms, his wolf tail curling tightly around her waist.

“You’re still mad at me, aren’t you?”

“No.”

“Ava, you’re a terrible liar.”

He lifted her chin with his fingers, locking her in the heat of his gaze.

“I’ve told you a thousand times—I’m just putting on a show for her.

If I’d really wanted to marry her, I would’ve dragged her back four years ago.”

Her wolf ears trembled slightly as she stared into his eyes.

“Liam,” she whispered, “you and I both know who lives in your heart.”

Before her voice could steady, the sharp trill of a ringtone cut through the air.

He glanced at the screen, answered quickly, mumbled a few words—then let her go.

“Pack business,” he said simply, and walked out without looking back.

As she watched his fading silhouette, Ava realized it didn’t matter anymore whether she confronted him or not.

Some love is like expired candy—

It looks fine on the surface, but the sweetness has long rotted away.

Even if you swallow it, all you taste is bitterness.

Not long after he left, Ava’s phone buzzed.

A message from Ella.

A photo filled the screen:

Liam, on one knee, gently cradling Ella’s ankle, tying a wolf fang protection cord around it.

Ava’s breath caught.

She remembered the past—

how she had once dragged Liam to the pack market, choosing a fang bracelet from a stall.

He had stood three steps away, ears twitching impatiently.

“You actually like these useless things?” he had scoffed.

Another message from Ella flashed across the screen—mocking, smug.

【I said my foot hurt, and Alpha Liam went to three sacred totem temples to find the most powerful guardian cord.】

【Did he ever do that for you?】

【Ava, wake up. His heart has never belonged to you.】

The cold light of the screen reflected in Ava’s eyes, freezing what little warmth was left.

Yes.

He had never loved her.

And she no longer had the strength—or the desire—to beg for it.

The next two nights, Liam didn’t come home.

On the third day, she saw him again—

at Ella’s farewell ceremony.

He pushed her wheelchair through the crowd, dressed in a dark ceremonial robe embroidered with pack sigils.

Ella’s face was pale, but the moment she tilted her head, Liam leaned down instantly, wolf eyes brimming with tender concern.

Ava’s lips curled into a bitter smile.

Just acting, he had said.

But the way he looked at Ella… it was the same way he’d looked at her four years ago—before everything began.

The ceremony began with her Alpha Mason Mason’s voice trembling on stage.

“My daughter, Ella Walker… though suffering from a fading bloodline, she is blessed—

She has family who loves her, and a mate who has never left her side.”

A giant screen lit up.

Childhood images flickered—

Ella’s first birthday, surrounded by pack members cheering.

Her Alpha father teaching her sacred pack runes at ten.

Her first wolf transformation at eighteen, family gathered in celebration.

In every single frame, Ava existed only as a blurred background—

the silent witness to a life that was never hers.

Then Liam appeared in the pictures.

Handing Ella flowers when she won a painting competition.

Sitting still as her model.

Holding her close during their bonding ceremony.

From youth to adulthood, one thing never changed—

his gaze, warm and unwavering, fixed on Ella.

Just as the audience was swept up in emotion—

the screen went black.

Then, like a hex ripping the air apart—

blood-red words exploded across the screen:

【Ella, a filthy thief like you deserves to have your soul scattered!】

【You stole my Mate—just like your whore of a mother!】

【May the silver flames burn you for eternity, may you never return to the wolf realm!】

The hall went silent.

Then came the collective gasp—

the wolves’ low growls, whispers, a rising storm of suspicion.

Hundreds of accusing eyes snapped to Ava.

Contempt. Hatred.

Ava stood frozen, her mind still blank,

when from somewhere in the crowd came Yael’s sharp, shrill scream.