4

Damon's voice was hoarse and deep, tinged with accusation. The moonlight streaming through the window cast half his face in shadow, making him look like the predator he truly was.

"I went to the pack council," he said, his shoulders tense. "They confirmed it. The scent records show she really took wolfsbane."

It seemed he had truly investigated and finally believed that Cathy was really dead. The realization hadn't softened him—it had made him more dangerous.

"Daphne, tell me, why did Cathy take wolfsbane?" His voice cracked slightly on her name. "And what's with the plane ticket to another country? Was she trying to leave me?"

I let out a cold laugh, the sound echoing in the silent room. "Not just that."

Damon's brows furrowed deeply, the skin between them creasing into deep lines. His usually smiling face was now terrifyingly grim, stripped of all pretense.

But I felt no fear. Instead, a sense of bitter satisfaction welled up inside me, dark and vengeful. Let him suffer, I thought. Let him taste even a fraction of what Cathy endured.

"Damon, in a couple of days, you should receive a mate bond severance ritual request," I said, watching the color drain from his face. "That's the last thing Cathy left for you before she died."

His eyes widened, pupils dilating with shock.

"She wouldn't," he whispered, but there was no conviction in his voice.

"It's a shame though," I continued, twisting the knife deeper. "Whether you agree to the severance or not doesn't matter anymore. Cathy has already left you completely. She's beyond your reach now, beyond your control."

"Daphne!" My name came out like it was being squeezed through Damon's clenched teeth, a violent snarl that would have terrified me once.

In a flash, he crossed the room. He suddenly grabbed my throat, his claws extending as he pinned me against the wall. His dark eyes were as deep and threatening as an abyss, swirling with rage and something that almost looked like pain.

"Tell me, why did she want to leave me? Why?" Each word was punctuated by the tightening of his grip, his claws pricking my skin. "After everything I did for her and her pathetic pack!"

"Did you put her up to this?" His face was inches from mine, his breath hot against my cheek. "Did you poison her mind against me? Was this your idea?"

I raised my claws to block his hand from my throat, drawing thin lines of blood along his wrist. My face remained expressionless as I met Damon's furious gaze, a smile still playing on my lips despite the pressure on my windpipe.

"Damon, do you really not know why Cathy wanted to leave you?" I choked out, my voice raspy but steady. "Or are you just pretending not to know? You're truly disgusting!"

His grip loosened just enough for me to breathe as confusion flickered across his face.

"What are you talking about? I gave her everything—status, protection, a place in the strongest pack in the region!"

"Answer me!" he snarled, his grip tightening again, claws drawing pinpricks of blood from my neck.

I had no doubt he wanted to kill me. His wolf was pushing forward, his eyes glowing an eerie green in the dim light.

I let out another cold laugh, even as spots danced before my eyes from lack of oxygen. Cathy's scent items, filled with her scent of misery and heartbreak over these three years, flashed through my mind—the crystallized memories of her suffering that she'd been too proud to share with me while alive.

The scent of her tears as she cried alone in her room. The scent of blood where she'd clawed her own arms in despair. The scent of resignation when she finally gave up on her mate ever loving her.

Just thinking about those scents, those memories, made me want to tear Damon apart limb by limb, consequences be damned.

My eyes turned cold as steel as I spoke each word clearly, wanting them to cut into him like knives: "Damon, let me ask you something. Where were you when Cathy's parents died one after another? When she needed her mate most?"

His grip faltered slightly, confusion crossing his face.

"Where were you when Cathy was cornered by rogue wolves at the northern border? When she called for you through the mate bond, screaming your name as they tore into her flesh?"

Damon's eyes widened, his breath catching.

"What did you say to her when she was sick in the hospital with silver poisoning and wanted you by her side? When she begged the nurses to call you, and you told them she was just seeking attention?"

His face paled with each question.

"Do you remember any of this, Damon? Or were these moments too insignificant for the mighty Alpha to recall?" My voice dripped with venom.

I had learned about all of this from Cathy's scent items. Over these three years, I knew Damon was cold towards Cathy, but I had no idea she had suffered so much, hiding her pain behind bright smiles and cheerful conversation.

When her parents died, I asked Damon why he wasn't there to support her. Cathy had covered for him, claiming he was on a diplomatic mission to a European pack, too important to interrupt.

But now I knew the truth from her preserved memories. Damon wasn't on a mission at all. He was vacationing with Victoria in a luxury resort, ignoring Cathy's desperate calls through their mate bond.

When Cathy was attacked by rogue wolves at the pack's borders while picking healing herbs, Damon was in bed with another woman, dismissing the pain surging through their bond as just another of Cathy's "tricks" to get his attention.

Yet Cathy never said a word to me, swallowing her pain and disappointment, protecting the mate who didn't deserve her loyalty.

Damon's expression gradually froze as the truth of my words sank in. The hand at my throat slowly loosened its grip until it fell away completely.

"I... I was..." He mumbled, unable to form a complete sentence, his confident façade crumbling to reveal the coward beneath.