Chapter 1

I left the restaurant and went straight back to the jeweler’s where I’d bought Adrian’s cuff links. Half an hour earlier, the saleswoman had congratulated me on our anniversary. The seal on the box was still intact, but now I asked her if the store would buy them back.

“They’re engraved, so I can only offer a reduced price.” She checked the order on her screen. “You paid eight thousand dollars. I can give you fifty-five hundred.”

“I’ll take it.”

She took the box. Behind me, Sienna laughed. “See? Told you she’d return them.”

Adrian stood outside the store with a handful of pack friends. One of them had his phone out, filming the saleswoman as she printed my receipt.

“Eight grand for the Luna title. That’s a hell of an investment.”

“If the alpha feels bad enough to buy her a car, she’ll make it back ten times over.”

I kept my eyes on the counter. Sienna came up beside me, ready to explain the con to her eager audience. “She’s too clever to ask for money outright. First she buys a gift, then she lets everyone see her get her feelings hurt. She returns it, Adrian feels guilty, and before you know it she’s got a house and a title.”

They laughed. I folded the receipt and slipped it into my purse beside the pregnancy report. I’d been clutching it so hard that one corner had curled.

The saleswoman looked from the receipt to my face. “I can hold the order until tomorrow if you need time to think.” She kept her voice low, but the room had gone quiet enough for Sienna to hear. “Why would she need time?” Sienna asked. “She’ll have him buying it back by dinner.” I told the saleswoman to process the return. She had seen me come in month after month to pay another installment. I hated that she was now watching people turn it into a joke. The receipt emerged from the printer, and Sienna reached for it before I could. I caught the paper first. It was my money, my purchase, and my decision to leave. I wasn’t giving her one more thing to display.

Adrian finally told them to knock it off. Then he caught my wrist.

“Evelyn, haven’t you made your point?” He pressed his card into my hand. “I said something I shouldn’t have. Go buy yourself whatever you want, and let’s stop making a scene.”

I stared at the card. In three years, I hadn’t even driven the car he’d offered me. Yet he thought a shopping trip would make me forget what he’d said in front of everyone.

“We’re done.” I laid the card on the counter.

Adrian’s grip loosened. Sienna clapped once, delighted. “And there it is. The present was the warm-up. Breaking up is how she gets you to announce she’s your future Luna in front of the whole pack.”

His expression cooled. “We’re already planning the ceremony, Evelyn. If you want to move it up, talk to me. Don’t threaten to leave.”

I pulled my wrist free. “I’m not threatening you. I don’t want to be with you anymore.”

“Fine.” He stepped aside, his jaw tight. “We’ll see how long that lasts.”

I walked out alone. My former boss, Mara, called just as I got into a cab.

“The wetland restoration team in Canada needs a new project lead. It’s a three-year posting, and you’d have to leave the day after tomorrow. I kept the opening you asked me about. Are you interested?”

Twice before, I’d turned down a job overseas for Adrian. He’d said our ceremony was coming soon and that he couldn’t bear to have an ocean between us.

This time I touched the report in my purse and gave Mara a clear answer. “I am.”

After we hung up, I booked a flight for two mornings later. I had forty-eight hours left in this city—and with Adrian.