Chapter 9

Third Person's POV

After lunch, Zane and the others headed to the golf course.

Ezra sat in a chair in the lounge area, staring down at a delicate pocket watch resting in his palm.

Inside the cover was an old photo of a girl who looked around ten.

She was standing by the beach in a woven straw hat, holding a seashell and smiling brightly.

"Why are you looking at your sister's photo again?" Zane's steady voice came from beside him.

Ezra casually closed the pocket watch and slipped it into his inner suit pocket. "Nothing," he replied calmly.

Ever since he saw that pregnant Omega being bullied by Luca, a strange, indescribable feeling had been stirring inside him.

Zane fixed his gaze on Ezra.

The two of them had met while studying abroad and later founded a company together.

Having known him for years, Zane had always known Ezra had a younger sister, and the fact that Ezra carried her photo around all this time showed just how deeply he missed her.

Back then, after his mom rejected his dad, she took Ezra away with her.

Later, she met her second chance mate, Alpha Cassian Winteringham, and became the Luna of the Ironspike Pack.

The Winteringham family, which ruled the pack, was old and prestigious.

Cassian had poured everything into raising Ezra as the pack's heir. Now, Ezra was the CEO of Rosestone Group.

"Since you're in LA now, why don't you go see her?" Zane asked.

Ezra gave a small shake of his head, a trace of sadness flashing in his eyes. "Maybe she doesn't even remember me anymore."

When their mom took him away, she was only nine.

More than a decade had passed since then. In his sister's memory, he was probably nothing more than a vague image by now.

Even if they really met, they would probably just be two strangers connected by blood. So what was the point?

"Don't you wanna know what she looks like now?"

Ezra's gaze drifted toward Pandora, who was swinging her golf club in the distance, as if he was using her petite figure to imagine what his little sister might look like after growing up.

A faint smile tugged at his lips. "She's probably about Pandora's age by now. I wonder which lucky bastard will end up mating with her."

Zane chuckled softly as he watched Pandora walk toward them.

"Don't let Pandora hear that," he teased. "She'll definitely get jealous."

Ezra's smile faded, and he looked at Zane seriously. "I don't mind you dating her, but until you completely sort out your own mess, you aren't allowed to mark her."

Zane didn't argue, a faint smirk remaining on his lips.

Meanwhile, back at Zane's company.

Josephine slammed a thick stack of documents hard onto Loretta's desk.

"Loretta! What is your problem? You really think you're someone special, huh?"

Just moments ago, she'd once again tried to dump work that wasn't even Loretta's responsibility on her, only to be refused outright.

Loretta lifted her head with a sneer. "Josephine, if you can't even handle basic tasks and have to pawn them off on other people, maybe you should just quit and give your job to someone who can."

The coworkers secretly watching the drama unfold were all stunned.

"How dare you!" Josephine barked, flushing with rage. She lunged forward, ready to slap Loretta.

But before she could, Loretta grabbed the glass of water on the desk and splashed the whole thing right in her face.

Drenched, Josephine froze on the spot.

Drops of water slid down her ruined makeup as she let out a hysterical scream. "Loretta! You shameless cow!"

"What's all this noise? Have you all lost your minds?" Craig's stern voice suddenly rang out.

Josephine stopped dead just as she was about to pounce on Loretta.

Craig stormed over, eyeing Josephine's messy state with a deep frown. "What happened?"

Josephine immediately played the victim. "I just assigned Loretta her normal work, but she refused to do it and even threw water at me!"

Extreme displeasure flashed in Craig's eyes as he glared down at Loretta with icy condescension. "What right have you to act like you're above the rules here?"

Looking at these hypocrites, Loretta reached up, yanked off her employee ID lanyard, and slammed it onto the desk.

Then she glared daggers at Craig, her voice ice-cold. "Fine. Then I quit. Happy now?"

With that, she turned and walked away without looking back.

"Loretta! Stop right there!"

Craig couldn't believe that the usually meek Loretta actually had the nerve to walk out on them.

Loretta took the elevator straight to the first floor.

The moment she stepped out of the elevator, she bumped into Zane returning to the office.

Instantly, she felt the overwhelming, cold Alpha aura radiating from him.

She bit down hard on her lower lip, forcing herself to endure the pain that surged through her body because of their broken mating bond.

She kept walking. As she passed the tall, imposing Zane, she ignored him completely and walked right out the front doors.

She then headed straight for Deepwater Manor. She was going to pack her things and move back to the Silver Moon Pack for good.