Chapter 4

The moment Mira was pinned to the ground, the color finally drained from her face.

The Alpha aura rolling off Alaric was orders of magnitude stronger than Cain's. Mira's entire body went limp — she couldn't even struggle.

She screamed at me.

"Luna! Please, help me! I was wrong! You're the one who brought me here — you can't just leave me!"

I didn't look at her.

I couldn't afford to think about Mira anymore.

The pain in my abdomen was getting worse. The bleeding hadn't stopped. The Healer's hand was pressed against the wound, but the glow of his healing magic had faded to almost nothing.

Alaric turned to his captain of the guard.

"Go to Cain Thorne's herb stores. Bring back the moongrass. Anyone who gets in the way — put them down."

The captain left. Cain wasn't at the pack, and the storeroom guards put up a token resistance, but they were nothing against the Alpha King's personal guard.

An hour later, the moongrass finally reached the Healer.

But by the time he prepared the medicine and got it into my mouth, it was too late.

My baby didn't make it.

I felt the small thing inside me — the one that had been moving — go still.

Alaric stood beside me in silence for a long time.

"I'll see that you get justice."

I didn't answer. Once the medicine took effect, I couldn't hold on any longer. Everything went dark.

When I woke again, the tent was quiet.

An attendant was sitting nearby. The moment he saw my eyes open, he leaned in.

"Luna, the Alpha King went to deal with the vampire incursion into the territory. Before he left, he assigned two Healers and a full guard detail to stay here. He asked that you rest and focus on recovery."

I nodded.

I was about to close my eyes again.

The tent flap was ripped open.

Cain stood in the entrance, his face dark as a storm.

He swept his gaze over the guards and Healers, fury in every line of his expression.

The first thing out of his mouth:

"You used my moongrass? That was the only stalk in the entire pack."

He walked toward me, each step heavy with menace.

"Do you have any idea that Vivienne got hurt at the hunting grounds? She's an Omega — she can't heal on her own. She's not like you. I promised her that moongrass."

I lay there, looking at his face.

The old me would have cried. Would have explained. Would have fought to prove I wasn't the person he thought I was.

This time, I said one thing.

"Break the mate bond. I'm done."

Cain's expression froze.

In all the time he'd known me, he had never heard those words from my mouth.

He stared at me, brow furrowed, as if making sure he'd heard right.

Then Vivienne appeared.

She stood at the tent entrance, eyes rimmed red, a bandage wrapped around her wrist. She carried herself with exaggerated caution, as if terrified of intruding.

The instant Cain saw her, everything about him changed.

He crossed to Vivienne in two strides and cradled her bandaged wrist with both hands.

"You're hurt like this and you came all the way here? I told you to wait for me at the pack house."

Vivienne shook her head, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I didn't want you two fighting because of me… I know I'm just an Omega. I can't heal on my own. I can't do anything. All I do is cause you trouble. If I'm a burden, I'll just leave the pack on my own…"

Cain panicked.

Right in front of me, he wrapped one arm around Vivienne's waist and wiped the tears from the corner of her eye with the other.

"You're the one I chose. She's just a fated mate — the Moon Goddess paired us, not me. Once she has the baby, I'll hand it over to you to raise. Then I'll go to the Elders' Council and petition to sever the bond."

He said all of this with his back to me.

As if I wasn't there.

In my past life, those words would have ripped my heart out of my chest and ground it into dust.

In this life, I just found it pathetic.

Hand the baby over to her?

My baby was already gone, Cain.