Chapter 4

“Take Nora upstairs,” Adrian told one of the attendants. “She needs to rest.”

I caught his sleeve as he turned away.

He pulled free without looking.

He had no idea how weak I had become.

My legs gave out, and I fell hard against the rough stone floor.

Pain shot through my palms as they scraped against the stone floor.

Adrian stopped.

He had just started to reach for me when Ivy spoke.

“Adrian, weren’t we supposed to go to the boutique today? I still haven’t chosen a dress for the bonding ceremony.”

His hand paused in midair.

Then he looked back at her.

“I forgot.”

The concern in his face softened as he walked to Ivy’s side.

“Don’t worry. If we can’t find the right one today, you can wear Nora’s. Blackridge’s ceremony is only a formality,” he added. “Since the Blackridge have sent that many gifts, she won’t need anything elaborate.”

Ivy glanced at me.

“But that gown was made for Nora.”

“You’re only borrowing it.”

Adrian took her hand.

“She can have it back after your ceremony.”

Then the three of them left to help Ivy choose her dress.

Only after the front door closed did one of the attendants hurry forward to help me stand.

The next day, they really did take my gown.

My mother had begun making it the year I was born.

She had chosen the finest ivory silk she could find. Even after twenty years, the fabric remained soft and luminous. She embroidered the bodice herself with silver thread, stitching two wolves beneath a full moon, then used stones from her own bonding jewelry to decorate the veil.

Dad used to tease her for starting so early.

Mom would only smile.

“My mother began making mine when I was born too,” she had told him. “The bonding ceremony is pretty important. My daughter should never have to settle.”

But now, the three brothers who had once loved me most had taken everything she made and given it to Ivy.

Three stylists surrounded Ivy, arranging her hair and fastening my mother’s gown around her body.

I sat alone in my room.

A house attendant had left a plain white dress on my bed. It was new, but the fabric was thin, and the sleeves were too long.

A note lay beside it.

[Blackridge won’t care what you wear. The ceremony is only a formality.]

I changed without asking who had written it.

When I came downstairs, Adrian looked at me and frowned.

“Is that all you’re wearing?”

“It’s what was left for me.”

Something shifted in his expression.

“We were short on time,” he said. “When Noah and Ivy complete their bonding ceremony, you can have your gown back. Ivy will be careful with it.”

I looked past him at Ivy.

She was wearing the gown my mother had spent years making.

“There’s no need. I don’t want it anymore.”

The gown. The bonding fund. Or any of them.

Surprise flickered across Adrian’s face before anger replaced it. “Don’t start this again.”

Cole and Mason followed him. Their voices drifted back to me from the hall.

“We spoiled her too much. She’s still throwing tantrums on the day of her bonding ceremony.”

“Maybe some time in Blackridge will finally teach her to appreciate everything we’ve done for her.”

Their footsteps gradually faded.

Everyone hurried outside when the Hale family’s cars pulled into the driveway.

My brothers escorted Ivy down the front steps. Adrian held her hand. Cole checked that her cloak was warm enough. Mason kept making jokes until she smiled.

A Hale attendant opened the car door for her.

“Ms. Rowan, Mr. Hale was already waiting at the ceremony site.”

None of them looked back.

A young attendant named Leah found me standing alone in the entrance hall.

“Miss Nora, the Blackridge car is waiting beyond the gates.”

I picked up the small bag I had packed, slipped the signed severance letter into an envelope, and left it on my desk.

Leah’s eyes moved over my plain dress.

“Where are your brothers?”

“They’re busy.”

“I can walk out with you.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I know.”

She stayed beside me anyway.

Outside, most of the pack had followed Ivy’s car toward her bonding ceremony.

Only a few vendors remained near the gates.

A single black sedan waited for me.

As Leah helped me into the back seat, I heard two women speaking nearby.

“Wasn’t the Vale daughter’s ceremony today?”

“She already left with the Alpha and her brothers.”

“Then who is that?”

“The adopted one, probably. No Alpha would send his real sister away alone.”

Their voices faded when the door closed.

I looked back at the silver wolf carved above the gates.

For an instant, I imagined my parents standing beneath it.

My father raised one hand.

My mother smiled through her tears.

Then the car moved, and they disappeared.

I did not look back again.

From that moment on, Silvercrest was no longer my home.

-

Adrian’s POV

By the time Adrian returned from seeing Ivy and Noah off, the estate had fallen silent.

He handed his coat to an attendant.

“Where’s Nora?”

The attendant blinked. “She left with Blackridge more than an hour ago.”

All three brothers stopped.

“Alone?” Cole asked.

“Attendant Leah walked her to the car.”

Adrian looked toward the empty staircase.

They had planned to return in time.

He had only meant to give Ivy a few final instructions. Then Noah’s father had opened a bottle of wine, and Mason had insisted on staying for the first toast.

Nora knew that.

She should have waited.

“She could have sent someone for us,” Mason said.

Cole’s jaw tightened. “We knew what time she was leaving.”

No one answered him.

Adrian rubbed a hand over his face.

“We’ll make it up to her when she comes back for the family brunch tomorrow.”

The next morning, Noah arrived with Ivy shortly after nine.

All three of my brothers were already waiting outside the Vale estate. After exchanging a few polite words with them, Noah glanced toward the empty road.

“Nora isn’t back yet?”

“Not yet,” Adrian replied with a smile. “Blackridge probably has more complicated bonding customs. I’ve already sent someone to check.”

He was holding a box of my favorite cinnamon rolls. He had gotten up before sunrise and driven across town to buy them from the bakery I had loved since I was a child.

Noah hesitated.

“I’ll wait with you.”

The food on the dining table slowly grew cold.

Ten o’clock passed, then eleven.

By noon, their uneasiness had turned into irritation.

Mason paced back and forth across the entrance hall, looking toward the driveway every few minutes.

“Is she trying to punish us?”

“What if Blackridge refused to let her come?” Cole asked.

“Or maybe Nora is still sulking,” Mason muttered. “When she gets back, someone needs to teach her a lesson.”

The box in his hands had gone cold.

At last, headlights appeared through the snow.

One of Silvercrest’s border scouts jumped from the vehicle before it had fully stopped.

He was alone.

Adrian stepped forward.

“Where’s Nora?”

The scout struggled to catch his breath.

“Alpha, I just learned that the Blackridge delegation left Silvercrest before dawn. They’re returning to their northern territory, and they have no intention of coming back.”

He paused.

“And Alpha Kieran died during the night.”

Adrian’s face changed.

“Then Nora should still be with them. Where is she?”

The scout’s face went pale.

“I haven’t seen Ms. Vale. But I saw the funeral convoy was carrying two coffins.”