Chapter 4

The silver cell.

A place where even the windows were sealed with silver bars.

The walls themselves were threaded with silver.

For a werewolf, every breath, every brush of skin against the wall, was like being stabbed with a thousand needles.

This room was for traitors.

The connection of our bond had faded to a flicker, but the break itself was a constant, stabbing pain.

It had been a week.

No one came to see me.

No food.

Just a single glass of water each day.

I stroked my five-month belly.

"I'm sorry, little one," I whispered. "Mommy has put you through so much."

Footsteps echoed in the hall.

The door opened.

Bonnie walked in.

She was wearing an expensive silk maternity dress, her belly round and high.

Around her neck was a moonstone necklace I recognized. It had belonged to Ryan's mother.

"You look pathetic," she purred from the doorway, her voice oozing fake pity.

"Get out."

"Now, now," she stepped closer, deliberately flashing the jewels on her wrist. "I just came to see how you were doing."

She caressed the necklace. "Ryan said this necklace is for the future matriarch of the pack. Do you think it looks good on me?"

My fists clenched.

"He also said that once our pup is born, he's going to formally reject you," she smiled sweetly. "He said he finally understands that duty and love can go together. And that I… I am the duty he's willing to embrace for the rest of his life."

"Enough!"

Pure, untamed power surged through me—the strength of my bloodline.

CRACK.

The jade bracelet on her wrist shattered, the pieces scattering across the floor.

"AH!"

Bonnie let out a piercing scream. She collapsed to the floor, clutching her stomach. "Help! Help me! She's trying to kill me! My stomach… my baby!"

I stared, stunned at her performance. There was no blood. No wound. She was acting.

But frantic footsteps were already pounding down the hall.

"Bonnie!"

Ryan burst into the room and immediately knelt to check on her.

"What's wrong?! What happened?!"

"It was her…" Bonnie pointed a trembling finger at me, tears streaming down her face. "She… she used her power on me… Ryan, my stomach hurts so bad… Our baby…"

Ryan looked up at me, his eyes blazing with a fury that froze my soul.

"You attacked a pregnant woman?!"

"Ryan, look at her! She's not hurt! She's faking it!"

"She's bleeding!" he roared. "Look at the blood on her dress!"

My eyes shot down. A patch of red was already soaking through her dress. A trick. She'd planted it.

"Ryan, can't you see—"

"I've had enough!" he cut me off, the last shred of warmth in his eyes gone. "Can't you just leave her and this child alone?! Can't you be quiet, for the peace of the pack?!"

"Quiet?" I laughed, a hollow, broken sound. "So the traitor and her bastard can have peace?"

In that instant, Ryan's face shut down completely.

He lifted the ‘unconscious' Bonnie into his arms and turned to leave.

At the door, he paused without looking back and delivered his final, chilling order.

"No food. No water. Not without my direct command."

The door slammed shut again. This time, it was a death sentence.

In the dead of night, a cloaked figure appeared at my window.

Draco. The pack's oldest healer.

"Child, you are dying," he said, his voice full of sorrow.

He passed me a small vial. Inside was a dark green liquid.

"Moon-fall Herb," he whispered. "An ancient draught. It severs the mate bond... by sacrificing the life that forged it."

I took the vial, my hand shaking.

"Why are you helping me?"

The old man sighed. "I cannot watch an innocent mother be treated this way. But child, once you use this, there is no turning back."

He vanished into the night.

I clutched the vial, feeling the power thrumming within it.

This was my last choice.

And my only revenge.

I bit my fingertip and used my own blood to draw an ancient sacrificial circle on the floor.

Moonlight streamed through the silver bars, pooling in the center of the circle.

The blood-red runes began to glow.

I raised the vial. A single tear finally escaped, falling onto my stomach.

"I'm sorry, my sweet baby," my voice was soft and full of grief. "Your father doesn't love you. The pack won't accept you. Mommy can't let you be born into such a cold world."

"Better you become the blade of my vengeance... than live a life of shame."

I tilted my head back and swallowed the potion in one, desperate gulp.

Agony ripped through me.

The bond in my chest began to snap, the sound like shattering glass.

Blood poured from my body.

The light from the circle blazed brighter and brighter.

I heard panicked shouts and running footsteps from the hall.

The door was thrown open with tremendous force.

Ryan stood in the doorway.

His eyes landed on the scene.

All color drained from his face, replaced by pure, raw horror.

I was lying in the center of a pool of blood and blinding light.

"Monica…" His voice was a shattered whisper. "What have you done?"

He stared at the blood, at the glowing circle.

"Our pup… what did you do to our pup?"