Chapter 4

In my daze, I found myself pulled into a warm embrace. Underneath the familiar scent, there was something else mixed in.

I instinctively tried to pull away, but the arms around me only tightened.

Theodore let out a quiet sigh and brushed the snowflakes off my face.

"Eleanor, what am I supposed to do with you? Why do you have to be this stubborn? The Elders have been holding your inability to have children against you for years. Marlene can carry a pup for us now.

"If you just accept it, the moment it's born, I'll send her away, and things will go back to how they used to be between us."

I shook my head slowly.

"I don't want that."

Theodore stared at me in shock as I pulled out the bond-severing scroll I'd already prepared.

I looked him dead in the eye and said firmly, "Theodore, let's sever our bond."

He looked at me like I was a stranger.

His gaze dropped, with visible effort, to the scroll. It took him a long moment before he managed to force out a single word.

"Fine."

He cut his palm, severed the bond with me, and threw one bitter, resentful warning at me before turning and walking away fast.

"You'd better never regret this, Eleanor Sinclair."

I picked up the scroll and pushed myself unsteadily to my feet, meaning to leave. It felt like every ounce of strength had drained out of me the second the bond broke.

By the time I reached the door, Theodore was standing there waiting.

He frowned. "Eleanor, you can't even take care of yourself without me."

We'd already severed the bond. I had no interest in dealing with him and tried to step around him.

That was when my phone started buzzing frantically.

I answered, and the healer's panicked voice tore through the speaker.

"Ms. Sinclair, your father has taken a sudden turn for the worse. Please come to the healing hall right away!"

The phone slipped out of my hand and hit the floor.

My already weakened body finally gave out, and I sank to the ground.

Some of the stubborn coldness on Theodore's face melted away instantly, and he pulled me into his arms.

He helped me up, his voice shaking slightly. "Eleanor, don't panic. I'll take you there right now."

Before he'd even finished speaking, rapid footsteps approached from a distance.

Marlene came stumbling forward, her clothes in disarray. She grabbed Theodore's sleeve, tears pouring down her face.

"Theodore, Edward is missing!"

Then she turned to me and dropped to her knees, sobbing out her plea.

"Ms. Sinclair, please, I'm begging you, spare my pup! I was wrong. I know I was wrong. Punish me however you want, just don't hurt him!"

Panic and suspicion seized Theodore instantly. Before I could even open my mouth, he grabbed both my arms, gripping hard enough to grind my bones.

"That's why you took so long coming out here. Eleanor, where did you hide my pup?"

I trembled under his grip, shaking my head as hard as I could.

"I didn't do anything. I never went anywhere near him."

He completely ignored my denial.

"Won't tell me, huh? Then you can find out for yourself what it feels like to lose someone you love."

He dragged me along, then drove us straight to the healing hall.

He shoved the door open. My father had just been resuscitated by the healer, hooked up to every kind of life support machine, his breathing so faint it was barely detectable.

Blind with fury, Theodore's eyes were bloodshot. He walked straight over and shut off the life support machine.

The monitors let out a piercing alarm. I lunged forward like I'd lost my mind, and Theodore threw out an arm and knocked me flat to the ground.

My palms slammed into the floor, a dull pain spreading through my limbs.

I lay there, begging over and over. "No! Please, don't do this, my father is innocent! Theodore, you can't do this to him!"

But my cries didn't move him even slightly.

In the middle of my despair, Marlene came rushing in, burying herself timidly against Theodore's chest.

"Theodore, we found Edward. It's my fault, I forgot I'd left him in the storage room. Ms. Sinclair's father got worse because of me. Is she going to hate me even more now?"

With the truth laid bare, Theodore's face went pale, then flushed, unable to look at me. He spoke like he was trying to comfort himself as much as soothe a frightened Marlene.

"It's fine. It hasn't been long. Besides, the healer's here. Nothing will happen to her father. Don't worry. You're carrying a pup, it's normal to feel anxious and overwhelmed. Just don't get worked up.

"I'll go see her once the pup is born."

With that, he carried her away and left without sparing me a single glance.

I crawled toward the bed on my hands and knees, my shaking hands trying to restart the machines.

But it was already too late.

The last bit of warmth faded from my father's body, and he never responded again.

My entire world went empty.

The pup was gone. My mate of eight years had severed our bond. And now the only family I had left in this world had left me too.

I went alone into the wilderness outside the territory, a small vial of ground wolfsbane powder hidden against my chest. I'd taken it from the healing hall.

I twisted off the cap, pressed my fingers to the rim, wanting nothing more than to end every bit of this suffering.

Right as the vial touched my lips, a strong hand shot out and locked around my wrist. The vial slipped from my grip and vanished into the snow.

I turned and saw who it was, and laughed bitterly.

"Did you come to save me? Too bad you're a little late."

He pulled me tight against his chest, his voice low and rough in my ear, thick with restrained grief.

"Eleanor, I owe you my life. I won't let you throw yours away like this. Come with me. No one will ever get the chance to hurt you again."

-

Half a month later, Theodore came looking for me, carrying Marlene's newborn pup.

He pushed the door open to find nothing but cold, empty silence inside.

His stomach dropped.

A second later, Leonard burst in, face drained of color.

"Alpha, the healer says Luna's father passed away half a month ago. And Luna... is missing."