Chapter 3

Evelyn’s POV 

The ranking members scattered like startled birds the moment Alexander stepped fully into the room. One after another, they muttered hasty apologies—”Sorry, ma’am, Alpha, we didn’t mean…” —before fleeing down the hallway, tails practically between their legs. 

Alexander’s gaze remained fixed on me. 

I smirked. So now he notices me, after three whole days of pretending I was invisible. Three days of walking past me like I was furniture, of not coming home at all, of letting his scent mingle with hers while I lay alone in our bed. 

How typical. 

And the worst part was that the foolish part of me still wavered because of him. Despite everything—the betrayal, the humiliation, the cold nights—I could still feel that stubborn, foolish pull toward the man who had once looked at me as though I was his entire world. 

I turned away, heading toward the exit without a word. My heels clicked sharply on the marble floor, each step a deliberate attempt to put distance between us. 

He caught up in three long strides, his hand closing around my wrist—not hard, but firm enough to stop me. “Evelyn.” 

I didn’t look at him. “Let go.” 

“What was that?” His voice was low. “Saying you took my first time? That you used me? In front of the pack?”

I finally met his eyes. “I said what they were already thinking. You don’t like hearing the truth?” 

He released my wrist, but the tension between us only thickened. “You’re acting like I’ve abandoned you.” 

What else was I supposed to call it? Three days, no talk, no phone calls, nothing. Abandonment was even an understatement.  

I let out a short, bitter laugh. “Three days ago, you left our bed to go to her. You didn’t come home for three nights. No calls, no text, nothing.” 

His jaw tightened. “I was negotiating a supply deal with Crimson Ridge. It ran late. You know how these things go.” 

I tilted my head, voice flat. “The post Scarlett uploaded last night showed a hand in the background—your watch, your cufflink. You were with her last night. Not negotiating.” 

His expression darkened. “You’re spying on her social media now?” 

“I wasn’t looking for her. I just happened to see it. Just like everyone else in the pack saw it.” 

He exhaled sharply through his nose. “If you still want to live properly with me, Evelyn, you need to put away this suspicious attitude. It’s exhausting.” 

I stared at him, the words sinking in like cold steel. “It’s you who doesn’t want to live properly anymore. Your heart is already with another woman.” 

His eyes flashed. “You’re being unreasonable.” 

Before I could respond, he grabbed my arm—not roughly— and steered me toward the parking lot. I didn’t resist. There was no point in making a scene in front of the pack house. 

He opened the passenger door of his SUV and waited until I was inside before slamming it shut. He climbed in, started the engine, and pulled out of the lot with controlled fury. 

“If you feel neglected,” he said through gritted teeth, “say it directly. Don’t throw around words like ‘divorce.’ It damages the image of the pack. The company. Everything we’ve built.” 

I looked out the window at the passing trees. Of course. Image. Reputation. That was always what mattered most to him. 

Not me. 

That was exactly why he’d rather cheat than divorce. A divorce would be public. Messy. A scandal.

Cheating? That could be hidden, managed, explained away as “pack business.” 

But he doesn’t know. He doesn’t know how much it hurts me, and it makes me wonder if he even loved me at all from the start. It makes me wonder why he even bothered to fight the council for us. 

I remembered the night it happened. Our marriage was still young. 

I had been nothing but an orphan omega in their eyes—weak, unimportant, a liability. Alexander had stood in front of the elders, unyielding. “She is my mate. I choose her. I will not be told who I can love.” He’d won. He’d brought me home. He’d marked me under the moon and promised me forever. 

The memory twisted in my chest like a blade. The beauty of that moment made the present hurt more. 

I didn’t want him to see the sheen in my eyes, so I reached for the glove compartment, pretending to look for tissues. 

My fingers brushed something hard and plastic. 

I pulled it out. 

A condom packet. Unopened. Tucked neatly behind the tissue box. 

My heart turned to ice. 

I stared at it for a long moment, then closed the compartment with a soft click. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t need to. 

Alexander hadn’t noticed that I’d seen the condom. He would have started with his mountains of explanations if he did, and I was tired of all that, so I didn’t bother him about it. 

The silence stretched heavily between us as we drove home. 

When we stepped inside the house, I didn’t wait for him. 

I went straight upstairs and changed into my nightclothes, as I did, my mind kept lingering on the condom. It couldn’t have been for me. We don’t use protection because I have been trying for a pup. And yet, all this time, I still hadn’t conceived. So who else? Who else if not Scarlett?

I didn’t even know how to feel anymore. I was tired of getting angry, tired of confronting him about Scarlett. It felt pointless now. Now that the divorce application was in review. Soon, I would be a free woman. I wouldn’t have to complain anymore, so it’s better to just let it go. 

I finished and slipped into bed, laying on my side, facing the window, back to the door.

Later, the mattress dipped as he climbed in behind me. His arm slid around my waist, pulling me against his chest. His lips brushed the back of my neck—soft, as if testing the waters. 

I didn’t move.

He sighed against my hair. “You’re still angry.” 

I said nothing. I didn’t feel like giving him an answer, because if I said what I had on my mind, none of us would sleep tonight. 

After a long moment, he spoke again, voice quieter. “Let me make it up to you. This weekend—just the two of us. No pack business, no meetings. We can go somewhere quiet. Like we used to.” 

I stared at the moonlit curtains. 

One month. 

Thirty days until the divorce was final.

If I wanted a peaceful exit, I couldn’t give him reason to fight it. Not yet.

“Alright,” I said evenly. 

He exhaled, relieved, and turned me gently onto my back. His mouth found mine—slow at first, then deeper, insistent. His hand slid under my nightgown, tracing the curve of my hip. 

I stiffed. My body recoiled. He felt dirty to me now—tainted by her scent, her touch, her presence. I wanted to shove him away, to scream that he had no right to touch me after everything. 

But he didn’t let up. His kiss turned forceful, possessive, the way it used to when we were newly mated and he couldn’t get enough of me. His tongue swept into my mouth, demanding a response.

I fought it for a moment—then, traitorously, my body remembered.

The old muscle memory surged through me like a tide I couldn’t hold back. Heat pooled low and slow in my belly, spreading through my veins as his tongue swept against mine.

I remembered how he used to undress me slowly—his hands mapping every curve of my body. How he’d trail open-mouthed kisses down my throat, across my collarbone, over the swell of my breasts until my back arched off the bed. How his fingers would tease and stroke between my thighs, coaxing me open, making me wet and desperate until I was trembling, begging without words.

I remembered the way he’d enter me—deep, deliberate thrusts that filled me completely, his body pinning mine, his mouth swallowing every moan until pleasure shattered through me in waves. How he’d drive into me harder, faster, until all I could do was cling to him, gasping his name like a prayer—Alexander, Alexander—over and over as I came apart beneath him.

My lips softened, parted. I deepened the kiss without thinking. 

He groaned softly, pleased. “There you are,” he murmured against my mouth. 

This was the first real kiss we’d shared in months. 

Then his phone buzzed on the nightstand. Again, I didn’t need to guess. I already knew exactly who had appeared at just the wrong moment. 

He broke away, reached for it, and glanced at the screen. The initials flashed in the dark: S.H.

Scarlett Hale. 

He sat up, already swinging his legs off the bed. “I need to take this.” 

He left the room without another word. The door clicked shut behind him, and the silence rushed in like cold water.

Veyra whined immediately, her presence sharp and restless in my mind.

*Enough, Evelyn! This disrespect has gone too far. He touches us, then runs to her the moment she calls. We should leave tonight. Pack what we need and walk out while he’s distracted.*

I closed my eyes, pulling the covers higher even though I wasn’t cold.

“I can’t,” I whispered. “A married she-wolf cannot leave her pack freely. We are bound by a blood pact. If I cross the city boundary without authorization, an alert will be triggered immediately—and Alexander will know. Only when the divorce is finalized will every bond be nullified.” 

It was a ridiculous rule. When I returned to the Kingdom, I would make sure my father abolished this restriction on the she-wolf’s freedom. 

Veyra growled low in my mind. *Ignore the damn rule! We are Lycan royalty, not some meek omega meant to be humiliated in her own bed.*

*I know,* I answered softly. *But if my escape were made public, it will disgrace the Kingdom.* A bitter smile curved my lips. *I’ve already disappointed my family once. How could I shame them again?* 

She fell silent for a long moment. Then, reluctantly, she yielded. 

I stared at the empty side of the bed where Alexander had been moments ago. Pray that he doesn’t provoke us again this month. Then I’ll live peacefully beside him, pretending to be a real couple. 

The illusion barely lasted a few days. 

By Saturday morning, Alexander stood in the kitchen, already dressed in a sharp suit, briefacase in hand. 

“There’s an emergency meeting at the capital. I have to go. I’ll be back Sunday night.” 

I poured myself coffee, calm. “I see.” 

He hesitated. “We’ll reschedule. Next weekend, I promise.” 

I gave a small nod. “Of course.” 

He kissed my forehead and left. 

I watched his car disappear down the drive. We hadn’t gone out together in weeks—not since Scarlett Hale appeared. 

However, his absence gave me time to pack. 

Not everything—just the things that mattered: my mother’s jewelry, the few books I’d bought from the kingdom, the small silver locket my father had given me before I left. I worked quietly, folding each item with care. I left some of them behind so as not to make Alexander notice my escape so soon. 

Everything he had ever given me, I separated and set aside to be returned. 

I was halfway through when the phone rang. 

I glanced at the caller ID. Alexander’s mother, Victoria Thorne—still the official Luna of Shadowfang Pack. I had married her son, but the title had never been transferred to me. She’d made sure of that. 

I answered. “Yes?” 

“Evelyn. Come to the estate immediately. We need to discuss the arrangements we agreed on last time.” 

I closed my eyes, a wave of exhaustion washing over me. I was in no mood for Victoria’s sharp tongue and her endless games—her way of twisting every word to remind me of my place.

“I’m busy today,” I said flatly.

Her voice sharpened. “You will come. As Luna, I order you. If you refuse, I will bring this before the committee and have you formally impeached for dereliction of duty.” 

Of course, she can summon me anyhow she likes, and I have no choice but to comply. 

I let out a slow breath. “I’ll be there in thirty minutes.” 

I hung up, changed into something simple and elegant, and drove to the Thorne estate. 

When I arrived, the front door was already open. Laughter drifted from the living room. 

I stepped inside. 

There, on the plush sofa, sat Alexander—jacket off, sleeves rolled up, relaxed in a way I hadn’t seen in months. Beside him was Scarlett Hale, legs tucked under her, head thrown back in laughter. She held a glass of wine, and his hand rested casually on the back of the couch behind her.

They looked like a couple.

Victoria Thorne stood near the fireplace, smiling warmly at them.

She turned when she saw me. “Evelyn. You’re late.”

Alexander’s gaze lifted. Surprise flickered across his face. 

I stood in the doorway, hands at my sides, feeling nothing but cold clarity. 

“This is your emergency meeting?”