Chapter 5

I was folding the last coat I wore all the time into my suitcase when my bedroom door flew open with a violent bang. The sound was so loud it made my heart jerk in my chest.

Adrian stormed in like a violent gust, his eyes bloodshot, a terrifying, murderous aura clinging to him.

He crossed the room in a few strides and clamped a hand around my wrist. The grip was so tight it felt like he was about to crush bone.

“Ann! I already told you Emma and I have nothing going on! She already lost a pup because of us, and she’s ended up like this. Why can’t you just let her go?!” he roared, each word forced out through his teeth.

I stumbled from the force of his pull. A sharp pain shot through my wrist, and my face went instantly pale.

“Adrian! Let go! You’re hurting me!” I fought to twist free, but it was like an ant trying to shake off a steel trap.

My cry of pain only seemed to make him angrier. He glared down at me, disgust and exhaustion written plainly across his face.

“Acting again? You’re acting again?” His voice dripped with contempt.

“Back when I begged you to get back together, you did the same thing, putting on that pitiful little face. I thought you were innocent. I thought you were real. I played along! But now?”

His eyes turned hard. “Now when I look at you like this, still refusing to admit anything, I just feel tired. I’m exhausted.”

He shoved me back without warning. My spine slammed into the cold wardrobe with a dull, heavy thud.

“How did you become like this?” he snapped, looming over me, his chest heaving. “Is it because I spoiled you for too many years? Spoiled you until you became completely out of control until your heart turned to stone?!”

He bent closer, voice vibrating with rage. “Do you have any idea what Emma went through last night?! A Rogue pried her door open in the middle of the night and broke in! She got hurt all over trying to defend herself! Now she screams the second she sees anyone she’s practically having a mental breakdown!”

I leaned against the wardrobe, rubbing my throbbing wrist.

“He doesn’t trust us anymore."

That was my wolf inside my chest, its last warning to me.

Listening to his accusations one after another, my heart sank into an icy pit.

“It wasn’t me.”

I lifted my head and met his blazing eyes. My voice was hoarse from struggling, but every word came out clear.

“It wasn’t you, then who was it?!” He didn’t believe me for a second. He cut me off like a judge delivering a verdict, sarcasm sharp on his tongue.

“Who else would hate her that much? Ann, I just forgot our anniversary. I just didn’t get you a gift. And you’re going to take it out on her with something this vicious?!”

“I said it wasn’t me!” I raised my voice. The anger and humiliation I’d been forcing down slammed around in my chest.

“Enough!” Adrian barked. The last of his patience snapped. He’d made his decision. “If you can’t stand her, if you’re that jealous of her, then go experience her life yourself!”

My stomach tightened with a sudden sense of dread. “What are you talking about?”

“I mean starting today, you’re moving out of here and into where she lived.” His tone was ice, absolute.

“She lived like that, you’ll live like that. You’ll stay in that cramped, damp basement of hers. You’ll eat the cheap food she could barely afford. You’ll work multiple jobs a day like she did. You’re going to learn what real suffering looks like.”

“You’re insane. I’m not doing that.” I stared at him, not able to believe he could even say something so absurd and so cruel.

“Not doing it?” Adrian gave a cold laugh. His eyes were knives dipped in ice. “Ann, do you really think you still get to refuse?”

He didn’t give me another second to argue. He grabbed my arm again and dragged me out of the bedroom, down the stairs, and shoved me into the car. No matter how hard I fought, he didn’t flinch.

The car finally stopped in front of that run-down complex. He hauled me out, shoved me inside a room where even the lock had been busted, the entire place torn apart.

There were scuff marks on the floor like someone had struggled. Dots of blood. The air itself felt wrong, restless, unsafe.

I stared at the place, at the fact it wasn’t even livable, and tried to reason with him anyway.

“Adrian, the door is broken. This isn’t—”

“What, our proud Luna can’t handle it?” he cut in, mocking, not a flicker of hesitation in him. “Emma could live here. Why can’t you? Tomorrow morning, I’ll pick you up for work.”

Then he turned and walked out like he didn’t care whether I lived or died. The engine roared as he drove away, leaving me alone in a space filled with danger and chaos.

It wasn’t like I didn’t try to run.

One time, when I took the trash out into the alley, I spotted my chance and bolted for the street. I didn’t even make it far before a Warrior appeared out of nowhere and blocked my way.

Night fell. Cold wind poured through the gap in the broken door, whistling like a warning.

With all my strength, I dragged the only heavy cabinet in the room over and jammed it against the door, bracing it as hard as I could against the frame that barely held.

Outside were drunks shouting, neighbors screaming, every sound sending my pulse racing.

I curled into the chair in the farthest corner, gripping a fruit knife I’d found in the kitchen. The handle was icy, biting into my palm.

I stayed like that, eyes wide, listening to every movement outside the door, braced for anything until morning.