Chapter 4

The maid's voice shook. "Rheal… she can't stand strong smells, and the air in these apartments is stale. She suffered from terrible nightmares. I'd hear her calling out names… I just wanted to wash the smell of stale blood from her things before she returned…"

The color drained from Aiden's face.

This was the room he had assigned her. She never said a word about any of it.

He had no idea she was tormented every night. What names? Whose names?

"What names?" his voice was low and dangerous.

"Marcus, Vincent, and... and Kane..." The omega's voice grew quieter. "She also says 'I'm sorry,' over and over..."

I saw Aiden's hands begin to shake.

Marcus—the political rival he'd ordered me to assassinate three years ago.

Vincent—the pack traitor who threatened his position two years ago.

Kane—the former Beta who tried to overthrow him last year.

They were all obstacles he had personally ordered me to remove. Wolves I had personally killed.

He never knew about my nightmares.

He never knew the weight of the sins I carried for him.

"What else do you know?" Aiden advanced on the omega, his eyes flashing.

The omega was terrified. "I... I don't know anything else... I just wash her clothes and brew her calming tonic..."

She scrambled to get away, but her feet got tangled in a pile of clothes.

Clink.

Something small fell to the floor.

A wolf fang necklace, gleaming faintly in the dim light.

Aiden's eyes went wide.

It was the token he gave me when he secured his claim as Alpha.

Made from a fang he lost during his first shift, carved with the Silver Moon sigil.

It was supposed to represent his trust... his promise.

He knelt, his hand trembling as he reached for it.

The fang was still smooth, as if it held the last of my warmth.

"This is mine," Aiden snarled, his voice dangerously low. "Where did you get it? Did you steal it from her?!"

He lunged forward, grabbing the omega by her collar and yanking her up. His eyes were feral.

"No! No!" the omega sobbed, hysterical. "Rhea gave it to me! She... she said she didn't need it anymore..."

Aiden went rigid, his grip slackening as if the strength had been stolen from his body.

The omega crumpled to the floor, crying into her hands.

"She gave it to me the night she left... said it was a keepsake... I was going to give it back when she returned... I didn't steal it... She said she didn't need it anymore."

Didn't need it anymore.

The words were a blade twisting in his gut.

I watched his face drain of all color, a bitter storm brewing inside me.

I had worn that necklace for ten years.

I never took it off, not even to sleep or bathe.

It was the only thing he had ever given me.

The proof, I had thought, of his love.

But before I left on this last mission, I finally understood.

It was never a promise. It was a collar. A mark of ownership for his most loyal pet.

The Red Fang Pack had started countless border wars with us, and rumors said their Alpha was in league with a witch, all to absorb other packs.

They took Gianna to bait Aiden, and to eliminate his greatest threat: me.

Since I was about to die for him—for the woman he loved—the necklace was meaningless.

He wouldn't need his obedient pet anymore.

Aiden's hand shook as he picked up the necklace, clenching it in his fist.

"She... she really said that?" he rasped.

The omega nodded. "She also said... from now on, she was going to do what she wanted... and never live for anyone else again..."

Aiden staggered backward.

He stared at the fang in his hand, a hurricane gathering in his eyes.

Didn't need it?

The woman who would crawl back to him no matter how broken she was, the woman who treasured his slightest praise, had casually given his only gift to a maid?

It could only mean one thing.

A clean break.

Even if she came back alive, she had no intention of ever coming back to him.

No wonder she had someone spread the news of her death.

"Fine," Aiden laughed, a horrifying sound, twisted with the raw fury of betrayal. "Just fine."

He squeezed the fang so hard its sharp tip pierced his palm, and blood dripped between his fingers.

"Rhea," he snarled, his voice a guttural growl. "How dare you."