Chapter 3

The next afternoon, a black, heavy-duty tactical SUV pulled up in front of Maya’s apartment building.

The doorbell rang.

Caleb stood outside, holding a black coffee from the bakery at the edge of the territory, my favorite.

He looked calm, well-dressed.

As if our breakup at the altar last night was just a petty tantrum from his mate.

Maya blocked the doorway, eyeing him with suspicion.

"Let him in," I said from the couch, my voice flat.

Caleb walked in, placing the coffee on the table. "Your favorite dark roast. Are you done being angry?"

He sat across from me, adopting the posture of a superior ready to solve a minor problem.

"How do you want me to make it up to you? I'll cancel my patrols for next month. I'll spend the whole week with you, how about that?"

I looked at the steaming coffee. "I already told you. We're over."

"Stop throwing the word 'breakup' around, Evelyn." He was patient, but a flicker of exhaustion crossed his brow. He was lecturing me again. "We can't always fight about Jenna. She's a poor orphan. That's it."

"That's it?" I almost laughed.

"Last year, for my birthday, you promised to watch the full moon with me from the snowy mountains. What happened? Jenna said she was scared to be alone, so you made me shift back and freeze at the bottom of the mountain until dawn."

Caleb frowned. "There was a rogue pack roaming nearby that night. She can't defend herself."

"And to make it up to me, you gave me a moonstone necklace."

"That's right."

"Then you turned around and bought Jenna a bracelet in the exact same design."

He paused, his eyes darting away. "She just happened to like the style. It doesn't mean anything."

"What about last month?" I stared him down. "You moved my two pack guards to Jenna's apartment just because she said she heard strange noises at night."

Caleb's face darkened. "You're a grown she-wolf. You're perfectly safe in the center of the territory."

"I worked late that night. Three rogue Alphas followed me for two whole blocks." My voice was devoid of emotion, like I was telling someone else's story. "If a patrol hadn't passed by, they would have dragged me into an alley."

Caleb shot to his feet, his pupils shrinking. His voice held a rare note of panic. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

"I called you three times! You were busy comforting Jenna because she was trembling from a thunderstorm!"

The living room fell dead silent.

Caleb stood frozen, his mouth open, but no words came out.

"And the Luna bracelet," I said softly. "The one I spent six months designing and hand-crafting myself. The one I was saving for our mating ceremony. You lent it to Jenna for a party. She completely ruined it. You told me it was just a piece of metal and we could buy a new one."

Caleb's jaw worked. "I didn't know it was that important to you. If you had just told me, I never would have let her borrow it."

"You didn't know, or you just didn't care?"

He finally stopped making excuses. That familiar look of disappointment clouded his eyes again.

"Evelyn," he softened his voice. "Jenna has nothing. You have me. You have the protection of the Crimson River pack and the prestigious position of future Luna. Why are you obsessed with these little things?"

I felt a wave of exhaustion wash over me, deeper than any I'd ever known.

"Because I care about those little things. I'm not fighting over a shawl or a few guards."

I looked at him, my words sharp and clear.

"I'm fighting over the fact that every single time, you choose her. And then you turn around and demand I act like the perfect Luna."

"I never wanted to abandon you," he said, his brow furrowed in pain, as if my words were completely unreasonable.

"But you never put me first, either."

Caleb's face grew grim. "Jenna has no one but me."

"And what about me?"

"You have me."

I suddenly laughed.

He would never get it. I had pretended to have nothing, to be nothing, just for a chance at a pure love. And he had taken my heart and ground it into the dirt.

"You're right," I said, standing up. "I don't need you anymore."

Caleb stared, stunned. "Evelyn."

"Get out."

He walked to the door, his voice turning hard and cold. "You never used to be this unreasonable. We'll talk when you've calmed down. I'll be back to pick you up tonight."

The moment the door shut, Maya threw the black coffee into the trash can.

That night, a black, armored car with the royal crest stopped downstairs.

I only had one small suitcase.

All the gifts Caleb had ever given me—the expensive jewelry, the clothes, even the laptop we used to plan our future—I left them all neatly on the table in the penthouse.

Those things belonged to Evelyn, the meek, pleading rogue omega.

And now, the Lycan King's daughter was going home.

Jasper leaned against the car, pulling the door open for me. His eyes were cold, daring anyone to approach.

"To the border airstrip. Father's jet is waiting," Jasper said quietly, shutting the door behind me.

An hour later.

I was sitting on a plush leather sofa in the Lycan royal private jet, ready to leave this territory for good.

Just as the roar of the engines started, my phone vibrated. A text from Caleb.

"Jenna's distant relatives got into trouble in the Thornfield Barrens. I have to go deal with it tonight. Our celebration trip is postponed."

Thirty seconds later, another message arrived, his tone a command.

"Call the resort and cancel. Be a good Luna."

I looked at the two messages. I felt nothing.

Across from me, Jasper handed me a glass of warm water, his gaze icy as he stared out the window at the shrinking territory of the Crimson River pack. "What is it?"

"Nothing." I turned off the old phone, popped out the SIM card, snapped it in half with a click, and dropped it in the trash.

I used the new phone Jasper had given me to call the exclusive mountain cabin resort.

The one Caleb had me book a year in advance for our celebration.

"Cancel the reservation."

The manager on the other end was shocked. "Miss Evelyn, if you cancel now, the deposit is non-refundable. Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Should I inform Alpha Caleb?"

I looked through the large window at the territory I once loved so much, now just a cluster of lights in the dark.

"No need."

I hung up and pushed the old phone across the table to Jasper. "Destroy all of it."

Jasper took the phone and nodded. "Take off."

——

Meanwhile.

In the penthouse of the Crimson River pack.

After calming a distraught Jenna and delegating the Thornfield Barrens issue to his beta, an exhausted Caleb pushed open the door to his home.

"Evelyn, I'm back."

The living room was silent. The lights weren't on for him like they usually were. No one came to take his jacket.

He assumed I was sulking in the bedroom and casually took off his suit jacket.

But when he pushed open the door to the walk-in closet, he froze.

My half of the closet was empty.

He yanked open the drawers. My pack registration, my ID, all my personal belongings—gone.

There was no warmth from me on the large bed.

The only thing left was the moonstone necklace he had once placed around my neck himself. It lay on the cold glass surface of the vanity.

Its light was dim.

Just then, his phone rang. It was the manager from the resort.

"Mr. Thorne, your mate just canceled your celebration trip."

Listening to the voice on the phone, staring at the empty room.

Pure panic shattered the Alpha's composure.

Caleb's face changed.