Chapter 2
When I tried to dig deeper into her origins, I found nothing.
Lorenzo had long erased every trace of her from the pack’s archives.
I slammed the divorce papers down hard in front of him, staring straight into his eyes, my voice cold as the night mist: “So, you really can’t let her go? You even hid her background from me?”
He closed his eyes and let out a long breath.
“Molly,” he murmured.
“What’s the point of stubbornness? For us, what good will this entanglement bring?”
“Sign this paper, and you let go. If you don’t, there’ll be no way back between us.”
He glanced at the papers for less than two seconds, then flicked his fingertips, sending them straight into the shredder.
“I told you already,” he said, “in our world, so-called separation isn’t solved by divorce. Only death.”
I said nothing, but a dry, bitter laugh burst from my chest.
My wolf claws tingled with restlessness beneath my skin.
Gritting my teeth, I drew a knife, the tip pressing forward.
He moved in a flash, grabbing my wrist. Our hands froze on the hilt of the blade.
“Lorenzo, we’re less than two inches apart. You really think I won’t do this?”
Our knuckles whitened in the moonlight, neither of us would back down.
The air was filled only with the clash of our breaths and heartbeats.
“Sign it,” I threatened in a low voice, “or one of us will lie dead on this floor tonight.”
The standoff seemed to last only a split second.
Then Lorenzo suddenly smiled, resigning himself to fate, and pressed the blade straight into his own shoulder blade.
His other hand clutched me tight, leaving me powerless to stop him.
The blade sank into his flesh, and blood gushed out instantly, splattering across my arms and chest.
That warm, metallic stench of blood made the beast within me teeter on the edge of losing control.
The blood flowed too fast, soon it soaked through both our clothes, wrapping us tightly together in the same crimson stain.
Gritting his teeth, he whispered. “I won’t let you die first.”
“Lorenzo!” I cried out his name, my voice trembling.
He groaned, blood soaking both of us, but when he looked at me, his eyes held only that unwavering tenderness I’d remembered from so many years ago.
In that moment, his Alpha instinct surged forth, and through our mental link, he sent the very words I’d heard so many times before.
“Don’t be afraid. It’s okay. I’m here.”
The smell of blood took me back to the moon trial on my 18th birthday, back when my father had knocked me to the ground.
I was fading into unconsciousness when Lorenzo gathered me into his arms.
“Don’t be afraid. It’s okay. I’m here.”
Even as claws and stone axes rained down on him, he’d forced a grin and mustered all his strength to say those words.
We’d once embraced in a pool of blood, exchanged kisses beneath wind and rain.
But when feelings rot, betrayal is deadlier than any bite.
I pushed him away. “Don’t come near me again.”
I stumbled off, leaving a trail of blood behind me.
After that, we lived apart in silence.
He hid that girl well, I couldn’t find a single trace of her for a while.
But young wolf lacks patience, and Aria eventually showed up in front of me herself.
“Have you seen him lately? Don’t bother, he’s with me now.”
She was dressed in finery, a smile playing on her lips.
“Did you really think getting rid of my pup would change anything? You’re wrong. As long as his heart’s with me, losing one pup doesn’t matter. It only made him hold onto me tighter. I should even thank you, Molly.”
She deliberately pulled her neckline low, revealing hickeys on her neck and chest, each one a silent declaration of Lorenzo’s favor.
She pressed a hand to her abdomen, looking smug.
“What a shame, though, I’m pregnant again.”
She lounged on my sofa, acting like she owned the place, while I just sipped my coffee calmly.
“I heard you’ve been mated to him for five years and never gave the pack an heir. Only once, and you couldn’t even keep that one,” she sneered softly.
“Sometimes, you can’t blame it all on the male wolf.”
The next moment, the crash of porcelain hitting the floor cut off her laughter.
She screamed and clutched her abdomen as blood spread rapidly across the floor beneath her.
“Molly! You’ll pay for this!”
Her wails echoed through the room.
Guards stepped forward and dragged her away.
“Aren’t you afraid of Alpha’s punishment?” the butler asked in a low voice.
I tapped the stone table lightly with my fingertips, my voice cold and steady.
“To be a Valerius’s mate, you never rely on a man’s tenderness. And that alone will never be enough.”
