Chapter 4

Kyra sauntered toward me, each step oozing a victor's arrogance.

"Do you know what he calls you?" she stopped in front of me, her voice sickeningly sweet. "He calls you the 'perfect Luna.' Too perfect, too composed. An ice queen with no fire."

The Elder tried to step in, but her pack guards blocked him.

"And me?" she caressed her own belly. "I bring out his true, wild nature. I'm the kind of woman who makes an Alpha's blood boil." She leaned in, her voice so low only I could hear. "He said being with you felt like a duty. Being with me is true desire."

My hands clenched into fists.

"You think being Luna means anything?" Kyra stepped back, smiling with triumph. "He's in my bed every night, telling me how much he regrets mating with you."

"Enough," my voice was ice.

"He said once our son is born, he'll have grounds to challenge your title as Luna. After all, what good is a Luna who can't even keep her Alpha's interest in the bedroom?"

SMACK!

The sharp sound of a slap echoed across the altar.

Kyra clutched her face, her eyes wide with disbelief.

"You hit me?"

"I'd do more than hit you," I snarled, my control shattering. "I'd rip your throat out."

Just then, hurried footsteps sounded from the entrance.

"What's going on?"

Ford burst onto the altar.

Seeing Kyra holding her cheek, his eyes blazed with fury.

"Aiden!" Kyra immediately threw herself into his arms. "Shelly's gone crazy! She hit me, and she threatened to kill me!"

She sobbed, playing the victim perfectly.

"Shelly!" Ford snarled, pinning me with the full force of his Alpha command. It slammed into me like a physical blow. "How dare you attack a pregnant she-wolf?"

I looked at his furious face and felt nothing but cold irony. "Did you even ask why?"

"What reason could you possibly have to hit a pregnant woman?" he roared. "What the hell is wrong with you? Has losing Ford made you lose your mind?"

I laughed, a hollow sound that scared even me. "Yes. I have lost my mind."

I turned and walked toward the altar's exit.

"Shelly!" he called after me.

"Take care of your chosen," I said without a backward glance. "And tell her to stop parading her victory in my face."

Ford was already fussing over Kyra, gently checking her cheek. "It's okay, baby. She's just overwhelmed by grief. She'll calm down."

My phone vibrated.

A text from Billy: "The plane is ready."

I went back to my room, pulled out the crisp stationery I'd prepared, and began to write my suicide note.

"Dearest Aiden, By the time you read this, I'll be gone.

The pain of losing Ford is too much to bear. Without him, the very air feels thin..."

My pen stopped.

I pictured Ford's face, twisted in rage.

He had roared at me for another woman, like I was a stranger.

The pen started moving again.

Twenty minutes later, I placed the letter on the nightstand and packed a small bag.

I heard footsteps in the hall.

Ford was helping Kyra back to her room.

"I'll go with you to the healer tomorrow," he was saying softly.

"You're so good to me," Kyra cooed. "Not like some people, who fly into a rage and hit people."

We passed each other in the hallway.

Ford shot me a look, his eyes still holding the anger from before.

I stopped and turned back to him.

"Aiden."

"What?"

"Nothing," I said, starting to walk away. "Goodnight."

I didn't look at him again, but the thought was a shard of ice in my heart.

You wanted a fake death, Ford?

Fine. Let's see how you handle a real one.

Three hours later.

The private jet flew smoothly through the night sky.

I closed my eyes, feeling the gentle vibration of the engines.

Billy had arranged everything perfectly.

The plane would "crash" over a designated patch of ocean, and I would escape through a secret hatch.

By now, the news was already spreading through the pack.

"It's horrible! The Luna's plane went down at sea! There's nothing but wreckage!"