Chapter 7

GINA

In that moment, standing at the edge of everything I had lost and everything I could become, I realized my answer could change everything forever.

Yet my heart hesitated.

No matter how broken Blood Claw had made me, it was still the pack I was born into. The land where my first breath was drawn. The place I had bled, and endured. Even if my parents had never wanted me, even if my sister had always looked at me like a stain she couldn’t scrub away, even if the pack had reduced me to nothing more than an omega-shaped inconvenience… it was still home.

I couldn’t sell them out like that.

Not without at least trying. I had to warn Darius of what was coming. So he would not be caught on awares.

I lifted my gaze to Keal, forcing my spine straight, forcing my voice not to tremble.

“We… we can talk about that later,” I said carefully. “But please…I beg you, I…I just remembered there’s a document in my bedroom. I have to take it with me.”

His brows furrowed instantly, surprise flickering across his face.

“What document?” he asked.

My fingers curled tightly against my thigh. “Please,” I said again, my voice breaking just enough to sound real…because it was real.

His eyes darkened.

“I hope you are not trying to play a game with me,” he rasped, his voice dropping dangerously low. “Thinking you can escape?”

Fear flared in my chest but I shook my head immediately.

“No… no,” I whispered. “I know I can’t escape you.”

The truth of that settled heavily between us.

Keal studied my face for a long moment, then exhaled sharply.

“Fine,” he said, irritation lacing his tone. “If you must go.”

Relief crashed into me so fast it nearly buckled my knees.

I jumped out of the car before he could change his mind and ran.

My feet carried me on instinct, heart pounding violently against my ribs as I darted back into the pack grounds. I didn’t take the front entrance to Darius’s office; Keal might notice. Instead, I circled around, slipping through the side corridor that led deeper into the building. My breath came in shallow gasps as I moved, every second screaming at me that time was running out.

I reached the second door, the one that opened directly into the office I just walked out of and raised my hand to the knob.

Then I heard Darius's voice.

And I froze.

“…finally,” he was saying, amusement thick in his tone. “That bad-luck Gina is out of my life for good.”

My blood turned to ice.

I leaned closer to the door, my hand trembling. He must be talking to someone on the phone.

“Honestly,” he continued, laughing, “I don’t know how I endured her for so long.” He gave a dry laugh. “Always trying. Always hopeful. Disgusting. She was so naive.”

My chest constricted painfully.

“So you know what the best part is?” he went on. “Even her own parents agreed to hand her over. They figured an Alpha like Keal would find her useless and kill her eventually.”

The world tilted.

My parents… agreed?

I pressed my palm against the wall to keep myself steady.

“Of course they did,” Darius said, smugness dripping from every word. “They never wanted her anyway. She was just… an unwanted extra.”

Extra.

Useless.

Disposable.

“And Ria?” he chuckled softly. “She was worried at first, but I told her not to be. Once that woman is gone, there’s nothing left to stand in our way.”

My heart slammed violently against my ribs.

Ria?

“She’s pregnant, after all.” Darius continued casually. “Yes, I'm so sure it’s mine. Not for that fool she called a mate.”

The air left my lungs.

Pregnant?

My sister… pregnant for Darius?

“And don’t worry,” he added, his voice lowering. “I’ll take care of everything. Once the divorce is finalized and the pack stabilizes, we’ll announce it properly. Malia has no choice, she would accept her as the mother of my child.”

I felt like I was sinking. Like the floor had vanished beneath me.

This wasn’t just betrayal.

This was a web of lies spun so carefully around me that I had lived inside it for years without ever seeing the threads.

My husband.

My sister.

My parents.

All of them.

Together.

Laughing.

Planning.

Using me.

I clamped a hand over my mouth to silence the sob clawing its way up my throat. My entire body trembled violently.

Rage and grief collided so hard inside me that I thought I might shatter into pieces right there. How could I have been so stupid all these while?

I loved them.

I defended them at every chance.

Sacrificed everything for them.

And all along, I had been nothing but a joke.

A burden they couldn’t wait to get rid of.

Something inside me snapped.

Cleanly.

Violently.

I turned away from the door, my movements sharp, almost feral. I didn’t remember running back toward the car; only that my feet moved, fast and desperate, carrying me away from that place before I completely lost myself.

Keal was already stepping out when he saw me.

“What happened?” he asked, his eyes narrowing.

I didn’t answer.

I yanked the passenger door open and slid into the seat, slamming it shut with shaking hands.

“Let’s go,” I said immediately.

He paused. “The document?”

“To hell with the document,” I snapped, my voice tight and controlled…too controlled. “I couldn’t find it.”

Keal searched my face, clearly sensing the shift, the storm boiling just beneath my skin.

I turned to look at him fully then, meeting his gaze head-on.

“I’m in,” I said, every word deliberate. Final. “I accept the marriage contract.”

His brows lifted slightly.

“And I want revenge.”

Not a tear fell.

Not a single one.

Because whatever softness I had left inside me died in that hallway listening to theDarius's phone conversation.

And I was done being their victim.