Chapter 2

Dominic yanked at his tie, his jaw tight. A sharp pain clawed at his chest—the mate bond, fraying.

His wolf howled in agony, but he shoved the feeling down, mistaking its pain for his own frustration with Marina.

"Give her two more days," he snapped, his voice pure ice. "Don't you dare let her out until I hear her crying and begging for me in the mind link. We're going to headquarters."

My soul followed them, drifting toward the Silver Moon Pack's headquarters.

When the elevator doors opened, I saw a sight that filled me with a cold rage.

Harper was sitting in my chair. In my office. She was rifling through my files as if she owned the place.

"Harper, thank you for handling this," Dominic said, sitting across from her. His voice was so gentle it made me want to scream.

"Oh, don't thank me, Dom." Harper looked up, her eyes shimmering with false concern. "I just... I can't help but worry about Marina."

"Worried about her?"

"Was it too cruel? Locking up the Luna like that?" Harper bit her lip, a perfect picture of feigned guilt. "You two are fated mates. She must be heartbroken."

Heartbroken? I'm dead, you two-faced, conniving bitch!

"Maybe it's my fault," Harper continued, her voice a soft murmur. "You're too good to me, and Marina sees me as a threat. That's why she lashed out."

Dominic's expression hardened instantly. "Harper, don't think like that."

"But..."

"You're my best friend since we were pups," he cut her off, his voice firm and absolute. "That will never change. Marina has to accept it."

Best friend since they were pups.

And me?

I was just an outsider. A mate who needed to be "disciplined."

"Dom, maybe Marina just loves you too much," Harper's voice grew even softer. "Women get jealous, especially of a childhood friend..."

"Jealousy?" Dominic sneered. "Harper, you're too naive. Marina’s problem isn't love. It's possession."

He stood and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, his back to her.

"She needs to be broken."

Broken.

The word was a physical blow, ripping through my soul.

If my ghost could cry, tears would be streaming down my face.

"What do you mean, 'broken'?" Harper asked, feigning ignorance.

Dominic turned, a cruel light in his eyes.

"Marina is from the sea. She despises dry air. She can't stand smoke." A cruel smile touched his lips. "So I'm using the very things she hates most to break her. If she wants to be my Luna, she will learn to obey."

It's not hate, you fool! It's a deadly poison!

"Dom..." Harper hesitated.

"What?"

"Isn't that... isn't that too cruel?" she asked, pretending to be worried. But I saw the flash of excitement in her eyes.

"Cruel?" Dominic laughed. "Harper, I just locked her up. If it makes her obedient and stops the jealousy, what's a few days?"

Just then, there was a knock on the office door.

"Come in."

Liam entered, his face grim. "Alpha, we have an emergency."

"What is it?" Dominic asked, annoyed.

"The life-sign monitor for the isolation room... Alpha, it's flatlined." Liam's voice trembled. "We're getting no heartbeat or respiration from Luna. It's been like this for forty minutes."

I saw Dominic's body go rigid for a second.

Deep inside him, his wolf was howling in pain.

The mate bond was disappearing.

The connection was breaking.

But his mind refused to accept it.

"Flatlined?" He barked out a laugh, but it sounded strained. "She's faking it."

"Alpha, the monitors don't make mistakes..."

"Don't fall for her tricks!" Dominic slammed a folder on the desk, sending papers flying. "She's not a wolf, but she's no fragile human! That woman can heal herself!"

Heal myself? What a complete and utter fool I was. Dominic, I gave up all my divine power for you. I'm more fragile than a human now, you absolute fool!

"Besides, I just locked her up. How could a little smoke kill her?" His voice was rising, bordering on hysterical. "Don't you dare open that door!"

Liam stared at him, horrified. "Alpha, if something really happened—"

"There is no 'if'!" Dominic cut him off, his chest heaving. "This is just another one of her desperate tactics to force my hand! I won't fall for it!"

"Dom, calm down," Harper said, gently rubbing his back. "Maybe... maybe she really learned her lesson, but she's just too embarrassed to apologize?"

"Learned her lesson?" Dominic sneered. "If she had, why hasn't she apologized through the mind link?"

Because I'm dead! I'm nothing but a fading wisp of a soul!

"Turn off all the alarms," Dominic ordered, his voice dangerously low. "She wants to play games? Fine. Let her play."