Chapter 3

"This necklace suits you best," Jack said, clipping it around my neck. "Had to win it at the auction. You like it?"

He didn't even pause for my reaction.

"Got us a gondola for sunrise,” he added, still smiling. “7th anniversary. Just you, me, and the view."

***

Jack kept chatting the whole ride.

"Once this project's done, let's hit the islands. We'll try for a pup, start the nursery."

Right then, his phone buzzed. He checked the screen, froze.

I saw the shift in his face. I knew that look.

"It's fine," I said. "Go. I'll wait at the summit."

He didn't explain. Didn't need to.

At the mountaintop restaurant, champagne and desserts were already waiting. Fancy. Perfect. Hollow.

I pulled out my phone, bored. Opened social. There it was—Rose's latest post.

Photo: the Chief Healer medal, a tower of desserts, and a ridiculous bouquet of roses.

Caption: [I wouldn't be where I am today without your care and love. I'm so happy.]

The comments were blowing up.

[So envious!]

[Your mate treats you like royalty!]

[Beauty, brains, and love—you've got it all!]

But my gaze locked on a detail most missed.

A hand in the frame. His hand.

The ring on it? Same one I was wearing.

Jack's.

I called him.

"Calling Jack this late?" Rose answered, voice dripping sugar.

She laughed. "Give it up. He's with me tonight, celebrating. He's not coming back. Guess you just weren't enough to keep your mate. Pathetic."

"You're a mated wolf whoring after someone else's mate," I bit out, then slammed the call shut.

The stars were fading. Dawn stretched over the horizon.

I turned to the server. "Start the tram."

"Just you, ma'am?"

"Yeah. Just me."

The gondola rose, cutting through clouds.

Inside, the lights glowed soft over crisp white linen. Champagne chilled. Candles flickered.

Only the wind kept me company.

But his voice haunted the silence—

'Wyettta, I'll make you happy.'

'I'll protect you forever.'

'You're my one and only.'

Lies.

Every word, every touch—just part of the act.

Right before sunrise, I tried calling him one last time.

His phone was off.

I uploaded everything—my formula logs, test footage, voice memos. Set it to auto-drop on the pack network.

When it was done, I unlocked the gondola's safety latch.

Blocked the mind-link. Drank the witch's potion to sever the mate bond.

Closed my eyes.

And jumped—into a thousand-meter freefall, just as dawn cracked the sky.

***

Elsewhere.

Rose curled into Jack, eyes smoldering.

"I need to go," he muttered. "It's my anniversary with Wyettta. I promised her the sunrise."

Rose slid her arms around his waist. "Don't go. Stay with me."

Jack pulled back, jaw tight. "Not today."

The door burst open.

Tony, his lab assistant, stood there, pale and breathless. "Prof. Sterling—it's Wyettta. She jumped. Off the aerial tram."