Chapter 1

“Tessa, help me arrange a false death.”

The moment the call connected, I got straight to the point.

Tessa fell silent. “What happened?”

I lowered my eyes to the photos still glowing on my screen.

In them, Cassian was half-naked, with bite marks across his neck. The one taking the photo had stood close enough to make sure I would see everything.

“I don’t want this anymore,” I said. “In five days, I’m leaving with the pup.”

Tessa’s voice changed at once. “Have you thought this through? The mate bond is still there. If he wants to find you, he will.”

“So I need the witch’s draught too,” I said. “I want the link severed.”

She was quiet for a moment, then said, “That draught doesn’t just cut the bond. It hurts. Once it starts working, it’ll feel like the link is being torn out of you little by little.”

“I know.”

“And the pup?”

“The pup comes with me. He’ll never know he has one.”

Tessa let out a long breath. “All right. I’ll handle it. Five days from now, a wreck on the mountain road. Fire. Death.”

I had just hung up when I heard a transport roll into the courtyard below.

Cassian was home.

I locked my phone and got to my feet. The bedroom door opened almost at once.

He came in fast, took one look at me, and crossed the room. His hand touched my forehead, then settled on my shoulder.

“Why do you look so pale? Are you feeling sick again?”

I looked at him and said nothing.

If not for those photos, I had meant to tell him tonight that I was carrying his baby.

When I didn’t answer, he crouched in front of me and placed his palm over my stomach. His voice softened.

“The healer said you can’t overexert yourself now. No stress. No shocks. No strong emotions. Is the pup troubling you?”

At the word pup, my fingers curled, but he either didn’t notice or chose not to.

“When the pup is born, I’ll be a good father,” he said. “Nothing will happen to you or the pup.”

He sounded so sincere that for one terrible second, I almost believed him.

But last night, he had been with someone else.

“I’m fine,” I said. “Just tired.”

Cassian took my hand.

“Lyra, I know you’ve been wronged lately. Selene’s sudden return stirred up too many old matters in the pack. I couldn’t just ignore all of it. But you need to understand this, you are not the same as her.”

He looked at me and went on in that same steady voice.

“You are my Luna. You’re carrying my pup. No one can take your place.”

Then he dropped to one knee before me, his hand still resting over my stomach.

“I’ll take responsibility for both of you. When the pup is born, the whole of Frostmoon Pack will know that you and the pup matter most to me.”

My throat tightened.

Cassian did love me. I had never doubted that.

But he had still betrayed me.

That was what made it unbearable.

I drew my hand back and asked quietly, “Cassian, if one day I disappeared, would you come looking for me?”

His expression changed at once.

“Don’t say things like that. With the mate bond between us, where could you possibly go?”

I said nothing.

He was right. As long as the bond remained, he would always be able to find me.

But five days from now, that bond would no longer lead him to me.

Cassian took my silence for unease and pulled me into his arms.

“Don’t think too much,” he said. “I’m here.”

I closed my eyes and breathed in the scent I knew so well, but my heart only grew colder.

Five days from now, I would leave with this pup.

From that day on, the pup would never call him father.

And I would never look back again.