Chapter 3

Kelsey's POV

Angela's words painted images I didn't want to see.

When I stayed silent, she yanked her collar lower.

Fresh bite marks glistened with healing serum—marks Marcus shouldn't have given to anyone but his true mate.

My fangs pierced my cheek, blood drowning the bile rising in my throat.

I turned to zip up my duffel. Three years of life packed into thirty pounds.

Angela's rose-scented pheromones choked the walk-in closet as she drummed polished nails on gilded doors.

Beta Darcy scurried to take her fur coat, neck bared in submission to the higher-ranked wolf.

"Darcy," Angela sang, "that luggage looks expensive. Get her something... suitable."

The Beta threw a moldy canvas sack at my feet. "Use this."

Marcus' pine scent cut through the mildew stench from the adjacent bathroom.

His shower water pounded like gunshots.

The fading bond from our partial mating three months ago made morning sickness churn harder.

"Search the bag." Angela's fangs peeked beneath crimson lips.

I turned away, swallowing the ultrasound report. The ink tasted like ash.

Unmarked mates shouldn't conceive. With Marcus showering just beyond the bathroom door, discovery would be disastrous.

"What's the holdup?" Beta Darcy grabbed my shoulder with bronze claws, earth-stink breath in my face.

"Want to dig through my underwear?" I snapped.

"Disgusting," Angela fake-gagged.

Darcy shoved me toward the door. "Get moving!"

The walk to the mansion's entrance felt endless.

Darcy upended my sack, clothes scattering across marble floors.

Too bad she wouldn't find what really mattered—that ultrasound was dissolving in my stomach acid now.

My phone buzzed as I crouched to gather belongings.

Catherine's voice broke through, "Kels? You okay?"

Tears hit the floor before I could stop them.

Three years of humiliation hadn't broken me, but one familiar voice did.

"Catherine." My voice wavered.

"Why are you crying?"

"I... I have nowhere to go."

"Alpha Marcus rejected you?" Catherine sighed.

"Listen," Catherine rushed, "your brothers found me! Three blood brothers in Washington, cousins too. They're all looking for you."

"My family?"

I'd known I was an orphan but never sought my family.

Though I longed to belong to a Pack, since my parents abandoned me, I saw no need to search for them.

"Come back quickly. Your brother will take you to your Pack. I..."

The phone died.

I knelt frozen. Family? Real family?

"Making scenes again?"

Marcus' voice cut through my daze.

He stood dripping in a silk robe, gaze locked on my scattered thrift-store jeans. "In all your years here, I never restricted your access to Pack resources. Are you leaving with thrift-store clothes just to make my grandmother think I mistreated you?"

I clutched my dead phone, still processing Catherine's news. Once, I'd dreamed of being found by family, ending my loneliness.

Distracted, I ignored Marcus.

Angela limped out dramatically. "She insisted on that filthy sack! We tried to stop her..."

Darcy nodded eagerly. "Threw her clothes everywhere for attention."

The air grew tense. I stood frozen, listening to their slander.

Watching Marcus, I wondered what he'd say.

"Nothing to say?" His eyes glowed Alpha gold.

Predictable.

"Why bother?" I laughed bitterly. "They've scripted your truth already."

His jaw tightened. "What more do you want? You've had every luxury—"

"To be more than your glorified chef!" My claws unsheathed. "A real Luna leads. Protects. Not hides like some shameful secret!" I laughed bitterly. "You said I could use Pack resources. Did you mean for groceries and cooking?"

"Finished?"

"Not yet."

"Keep saying."

"Pay me and I'll keep talking."

Marcus's lips thinned. "So money-hungry, Kelsey. Greed will lead to your downfall. You're the most shameless woman I've met. Leave. I never want to see you again."

He walked away, his back as cold as ever.

I felt defeated, baffled by this biased man's judgment.

Angela raised a brow. "Leave Bladeclaw—never return."

Suddenly, a helicopter thundered overhead and landed boldly on the lawn.

Several tall, black-clad bodyguards strode toward me, their aura intimidating.

Marcus, hearing the helicopter, watched from the doorway as the guards approached me respectfully.

"Kelsey, we're here to take you away."