Chapter 5

Violette and I had not fully recovered.

We were wrapped in bandages and finally made it back to Crimsonmoon's territory.

Our mother cried, her heart aching.

Our father stared at the bandages on us, a suppressed growl rumbling in his throat.

Three days later, after we had calmed our parents down, I finally picked up the phone I had forgotten about.

37 missed calls notifications flashed across the screen.

When I called back, Kane's roar nearly burst my eardrums.

"Stop messing around! If I hadn't come back to pick up a gift for Lyris's baby, I wouldn't even know you ran off with my kid again!"

His voice turned violent.

"Violette too! Adrian still can't reach her. Did you turn her against him? What's wrong with you, Selena? Are you proud of yourself for nearly cutting off an alpha and his mate, his Luna's Mate-Link? Is that what you wanted?!"

Violette suddenly snatched the phone from my hand.

"Marrying into your family was the worst mistake of my life! Listen carefully, Kane. No one turned us against you! We're rejecting you because neither of you deserves to be our mates!"

She hung up, and we blocked every contact point with them.

"Don't let trash like him hurt you anymore, Violette," I tried to comfort her.

Thankfully, on the fourth day, the Alpha King's seal appeared right where our mate-marks used to be—hot, glowing lines at the back of our necks.

The burning symbol confirmed that the bond had officially been broken.

We returned to Duskhaven to collect what was left of our children's belongings.

As we reached the house we used to share with the brothers, we found Lyris standing outside.

She was holding her baby, eyes red, playing victim. She looked like one soft breeze could blow her over.

She fell to her knees and spoke in a pitiful voice when she saw us.

"Selena, Violette, I'm sorry. I'm here to apologize on behalf of my brothers. It's all my fault that you misunderstood them. Don't blame Adrian and Kane. They were just worried about me, being a single mom and all.

"I was afraid of being alone at the hospital. That's why they stayed with me. I thought they already told you. I told them to! I really did!"

She kept playing the victim in front of us, flaunting how close they were.

We sounded like nothing but outsiders to the brothers, like we were never their mates to begin with.

Violette was about to slap Lyris in the face, but I stepped in front of her.

I tilted my head, looked down at Lyris, and said coldly, "Is that so? Do we need your permission to reject our mates, Ms. Lyris? Save your pity act. That stuff doesn't work on us."

Seeing the baby in her arms, I sighed and reached out to help her up, but the moment she heard the door open behind us, her eyes flickered.

Then, she suddenly collapsed to the ground, like I had just pushed her.

I froze.

Right then, Kane stormed out and shoved me hard, his face twisted with rage.

"Selena, how can you be so cruel?! Get away from her!"

I lost my balance and hit the ground hard.

Violette rushed to help me up.

"Lyris! Are you okay?" Kane asked, kneeling beside her.

Adrian came right after, checked that Lyris and the baby were unharmed.

Adrian then turned to us, ready to explode, but when his eyes landed on Violette's flat stomach, his face froze.

His voice trembled.

"The baby… Where is the baby, Violette?!"