Chapter 3

"How long are you going to keep this damn game up?!"

The greenhouse metal sliding door slammed hard against the concrete wall.

We stayed locked in ice for six straight days.

For six days, I slept in the guest room. Aside from making meals for Hazel, I locked myself in this underground lab to extract medicinal herbs.

Derrick stood by the door, yanked his tie loose, and stormed over.

"You and Hazel skipped the bonfire ceremony. The pack elders spent six days asking where the Luna was." His voice was heavy with exhaustion and irritation. He stopped right at my workbench. "I will overlook the slap. Stop hiding down here. Pack your things and sleep in our bed tonight."

I kept my head down. My tweezers held the final leaf of a winter herb, sealing it into a vacuum bag.

Thirty hours left until the Gulfstream G650 touched down on the tarmac.

"I am not playing games. I am cataloging my personal samples." I snapped the metal lock shut.

Derrick scowled and grabbed my wrist, cutting off my movement.

His palm burned hot against my skin. It carried the familiar scent of my mate. Yet in my sight, the gold on his skin had grown pale and weak, losing its fierce heat.

"Valerie, we have been mated for four years. Are you really throwing this fit over a broken rock?"

He inhaled slowly, forcing his voice into that fake soothing tone he always used to make me yield.

"I already ordered a replacement from Zurich. I know you are angry, but I am the Alpha. I had to support our war widows at the ceremony. I booked a private island resort for the weekend. Next week, I will clear my schedule and take you and Hazel on vacation. Okay?"

Still handing down his pity like charity.

He had no idea. The Mate Severing Agreement carried the High Council's highest seal. The second I stepped past the territory line, our bond would snap.

My bags were already packed.

"Let go." I looked straight at him, eyes dead.

Before Derrick answered, hurried footsteps echoed outside.

"Derrick? Are you in there?"

Nadia hurried inside. The second she saw his hand on my wrist, she yanked her foot back like fire touched her, dropping into apologies.

"I'm sorry. Did I interrupt something?" She kept her head down. "Wyatt had nightmares all night. Someone told me the greenhouse had calming herbs. I just came for lavender oil..."

Derrick's fingers dropped from my wrist instantly.

"Why come down yourself? Have a maid fetch it." He turned to her, his voice softening without hesitation.

"I hate being a burden..." Nadia moved toward the side counters.

She bypassed the common herbs and walked straight toward the high-risk hazard zone, past the yellow warning tape.

"Do not touch those plants," I warned, cold and sharp.

Nadia flinched at my voice. Her hand shook, slamming her palm directly onto a silver-spotted leaf on the counter.

A harmless primer herb. Completely non-toxic.

Next second, Nadia let out a bloodcurdling scream.

"It burns! Help... Derrick!"

Her legs gave out. Her face went bone white, and she hit the floor in violent convulsions.

"Nadia!"

Derrick's eyes flared wide.

"What the hell did you do to her?!"

He lost all control. He glared at me with pure fury, lunging forward to grab her. As he rushed past, his elbow shoved me aside with brutal force.

I fell backward hard.

My body crashed straight into the heavy glass terrarium behind me.

The glass shattered. The acid-heavy stems of uncut wolfsbane snapped in two, splashing poisonous sap and sharp glass across my bare neck and back.

The acid ate straight into my flesh, sizzling and smoking. The pain stole the breath from my lungs. My limbs gave out completely. I couldn't push off the floor.

Two feet away, Derrick never spared me a glance.

"Hold on, Nadia! I'm getting you to the clinic!"

He scooped the woman up into his arms, panicked and breathless, sprinting straight through the heavy doors.

He left without looking back.

The heavy metal door slammed shut. The room fell into absolute silence.

I lay in the mud and glass, cold sweat soaking my hair.

Using my last ounce of will, I dragged the first-aid kit from under the counter with shaking hands. I pulled out a heavy nerve blocker and drove the needle straight into my thigh muscle.

The serum flooded my veins, locking down the pain before shock could claim me.

I grabbed a roll of medical gauze and bound my mangled, bloody back as tight as I could.

The hallway was dead empty when I walked out.

Derrick pulled every guard and enforcer to the clinic for her.

Good.

I moved fast to the guest room, grabbing the two suitcases packed days ago.

I pushed open the nursery door. Six-year-old Hazel sat quietly on the rug, working on a puzzle. The moment I walked in, she stood up and slipped her little backpack over her shoulders.

"Mommy, are we leaving now?" she whispered, looking at my pale face.

"Yes, baby. We are going to our new home." I knelt down and took her small hand with my clean right arm. "Our plane is waiting."

Dodging the house cameras, I put Hazel into the SUV parked behind the back gates.

I slammed the gas pedal to the floor. The SUV blew past the iron gates and never slowed down.

Forty minutes later, the private airstrip was howling with wind.

The twin engines of the Gulfstream G650 were already idling with a low rumble.

The pilot hurried down the steps and grabbed our bags. "Ms. Sterling, our flight path cleared every checkpoint. We are ready for takeoff."

I scooped Hazel into my arms and walked up the stairs.

The cabin door sealed shut. I stood by the small window, looking down at the dark, fading borders of the territory one last time.

The engines roared, lifting the jet into the air, piercing straight toward the thick cloud deck at thirty thousand feet.

The second the plane crossed the final boundary line in the sky, the bite mark on my neck flared white-hot.

Derrick's four-year-old mate mark felt like a branding iron, twisting, tearing, fracturing deep in my flesh.

It carried all the pain he ever gave me, cutting to the bone.

Hazel knew something was wrong. She reached out and hugged my waist.

I clenched my teeth, making no sound.

The jet broke through the clouds. The tearing pain at my neck died out in an instant.

The mate bond shattered completely.

The Valerie who loved him died right there, left behind in the past.