Chapter 8

He kicked the rogue wolf aside in a single motion. Everyone around them froze.

So did I.

But Kieran barely glanced in my direction. He turned his Alpha dominance on the auction hall manager instead. "I thought this event was restricted to Alphas. How is a rogue wolf getting in?"

The manager nearly dropped to his knees apologizing.

But Kieran had already turned back to Melody, his voice gentle. "I know seeing rogues unsettles you. It's handled. Don't let it ruin your evening — find something you like and I'll get it for you."

Melody looked up at him, her eyes bright. "Anything I want?"

"Anything." His voice was quiet and indulgent.

Melody smiled like a child who'd been given the world. She rose on her toes and kissed his cheek. "You're so good to me."

I stood there watching, and suddenly felt like laughing.

This man who was protecting his true love — and still, a second ago, had moved to protect me.

What exactly did he think he was doing?

I turned and pushed through the doors to the terrace.

I leaned against the railing. My phone buzzed — an Instagram notification.

I opened it.

Melody had posted. Nine photos. Kieran had spent fifty million dollars on a massive diamond ring for her.

The second photo: Kieran holding her hand, sliding the ring on.

The third: the two of them in profile.

Kieran looking down at her — with a tenderness I had never seen from him. Had never received from him.

The last photo: the two of them together.

Melody nestled in his arms, glowing like the happiest she-wolf alive.

Her caption: "#Proposal. My Alpha, my everything."

The likes were already in the tens of thousands. The comments section was flooded with congratulations.

"Oh my god, she's so lucky!"

"I can't believe she got the Frost Pack Alpha!"

My grip on the phone tightened until my nails nearly cracked the screen.

In two years with Kieran, even at his most intimate, he had never given me a ring. Had never offered anything that looked like a promise.

I breathed in slowly. Then I went back inside. Kieran was gone. Only Melody remained.

The auctioneer was presenting the next lot. "An ancient alchemical formula manuscript — said to be the life's work of a renowned alchemist from twenty years ago—"

I was on my feet before I realized it.

That was my mother's handwriting. Years of her research and her heart, bound into those pages.

It should have been locked permanently in her laboratory. How was it here?

I looked at Melody.

She was sipping champagne, utterly at ease. She raised her glass in my direction, her smile curling with a challenge.

"Opening bid: one million dollars."

The price climbed. I kept my paddle raised, teeth clenched, driving the price to five times its market value.

The auctioneer raised his hammer. "Fifteen million — going twice—"

"My apologies, everyone." Melody rose gracefully, her smile sweet as honey. "This manuscript is a personal keepsake of mine — I'm afraid it's not actually for sale. A staff member made a mistake including it."

She walked up to the stage, took the manuscript back from the auctioneer, and as she turned away, winked at me.

I followed her backstage and cut her off.

"Melody." I kept my voice level. "Give me back the manuscript."

"Why?" She tilted her head. Perfectly innocent. "It's mine."

"It was my mother's."

"Oh." She nodded, almost thoughtfully. "But your mother is dead. It's in my hands now. Doesn't that make it mine?"

I curled my fingers into my palms, nails cutting into skin. "What do you want for it?"

"I'll trade it for anything — the estate inheritance, a bank account, even your title as the Alpha's daughter. Name it."

Melody smiled, that exquisitely sweet smile. "Look at you being so humble. That's not like you at all."

She paused, then pointed toward the industrial furnace burning nearby. "But I'll give you a chance."

"I hear you're very proud of your Alpha bloodline. The furnace runs hot. But an Alpha should be able to take a few seconds, right?"

"If you can go in there and pull the manuscript out before it's ash, it's yours."

I lunged to stop her, but she had already thrown the manuscript into the flames.

I didn't think. I shifted into my white wolf and threw myself into the fire.

The heat hit me like a wall. It scorched through my fur.

The stench of burning filled my lungs. I bit down and held on, and pulled the manuscript from the fire just before it turned to nothing.

I stumbled back out and shifted to human form, sinking to my knees.

My beautiful dress was in tatters. My hair was singed and curling. My hands were raw and bloody.

But I held the manuscript against my chest. Like I was holding my mother.

Melody had already drifted back into the main hall.

At that moment, Kieran's car pulled into the car park.

He stepped out — and the first thing he saw was me, on my knees on the ground, looking like wreckage.