Chapter 3

Tires screeched outside the lab building early that morning.

A black Cullinan pulled horizontally in front of the main entrance steps. The car door slammed shut, and Griffin marched over, bringing a wave of cold air with him.

Dark circles shadowed his eyes. His jaw was set like stone. The raw shock of our severed bond had clearly kept him up all night. Yet his voice carried that same old, tired condescension.

"You canceled the rings and blocked my number. How long are you going to keep throwing this tantrum?"

I frowned at him. "So what? We're done. We go our separate ways."

His face didn't budge. He pulled a velvet box from his jacket and popped it open. The mating bands sat inside.

"I got them back. The ceremony goes on. Stop being mad, okay?"

The sharp click of high heels cut through the air. Tabitha stepped out of the SUV. Unlike Griffin's calm act, her face was twisted in disgust. She shoved a thick stack of papers right into my face. The sharp edges grazed my cheek, scattering sheets across the concrete.

"Ten sharp, day after tomorrow," Tabitha snapped, glaring down at me. "The ceremony schedule changed. Before you two take your vows, you will stand in front of the pack elders and beg Kendra for forgiveness."

I gave a cold laugh and looked at this titular stepmother, my voice flat as ice: "Since when do the rules of the Reyesfield pack belong to an outsider wolf to decide?"

Tabitha's face went white, then red. She raised her hand to strike me.

"Rowan, stop pushing buttons!" Griffin grabbed her wrist in time, his brows knotted in frustration. "Tabitha is just trying to keep peace in this family. Kendra went into shock last night. She suffered so much. Just swallow your pride, apologize, and let this go. Can't you do that for me?"

Before I could answer, the rear door swung wide open.

Kendra stumbled out with tear-stained eyes, her voice trembling. "Stop pressuring Rowan, please! It's all my fault. I shouldn't have been there..."

She hurried toward us, only for her ankle to give out. She threw herself straight into Griffin's chest.

The impact knocked the briefcase right out of my arms.

The zipper split open. A worn mechanical watch tumbled out, landing on the cold concrete. It was my father's old lab watch.

The crystal shattered into pieces, and the delicate hands were crushed to powder in an instant.

My face froze. "That was my father's."

Kendra buried herself deeper into Griffin's chest, shaking like a leaf. "I'm so sorry! I slipped! I didn't mean to!"

Griffin wrapped both arms around her, patting her back. "It's fine. It was just an accident. Don't cry."

Tabitha pointed a vicious finger at my nose, screaming. "You can't even hold your own things, and now you want to frame Kendra? Wipe that evil look off your face!"

Griffin held the weeping girl, then looked up at me. His stare was heavy and suffocating.

"Ten sharp, day after tomorrow," he said. "You swallow your pride and apologize to Kendra. Even if it's just for show. Do that, and you're still my Luna. If you don't, even I can't protect your reputation in this city."

I stood there, looking down at the broken metal in the dirt.

I didn't yell. I didn't shed a single tear.

I pulled a tissue from my pocket, scooped the shattered gears into it, and dropped the wad straight into the trash can next to me.

"Don't bother waiting for the day after tomorrow. I already told you. I'm done being your Luna."

I turned on my heel and walked straight inside, never looking back once.

That afternoon, I wrapped up every piece of my transfer paperwork in record time.

As I walked out of the office, Griffin's assistant emailed me the revised ceremony schedule.

Three full pages of demands, every single one tailored to Kendra. Remove all cool-toned flowers. Dim the venue lights so she wouldn't feel faint. They even demanded I wear flat shoes so I wouldn't loom over my fragile stepsister.

At the bottom, Griffin had scribbled in ink: Drop the cold attitude. Play nice with everyone, and everything goes back to normal.

I fed the entire stack into the shredder without expression. I watched the blades chew it into ribbons.

I pulled out my phone, went to the airline portal, and bumped my flight up to dawn tomorrow.

Just as the booking confirmed, my screen lit up. A picture message arrived from a burner number.

I tapped it open. It was a screenshot from our private pack feed, showing Tabitha's smug post:

Time to teach her who runs things. She actually thought she was some sacred Luna.