Chapter 1

Jake stared at my neck for a long time.

Of course he recognized the mark.

Five years ago, he had sunk his teeth into that spot in front of every member of the Blood Moon Pack.

He had held me afterward and told me that from that day on, wherever I went, he would always be able to find me.

Now, only the faint outlines of his bite remained.

“What did you use?”

“Medication to weaken the mark.”

He frowned.

“Who gave it to you?”

“The Alliance clinic.”

That seemed to ease his expression a little.

It was a licensed werewolf medical facility, not some underground operation that might get me killed.

At least he didn’t have to worry that I was hurting myself again to force him to give in.

He leaned back against his desk and tapped the ash from his cigar.

“You didn’t really need to go this far.”

I said nothing.

“Emily’s at an important point in her life right now.” He looked at me as though he were settling an internal dispute he was tired of hearing about. “She’s representing Blood Moon at the Alliance charity gala next month. The foundation is considering making her a youth ambassador.”

“You can’t keep throwing your title at her every time you see her.”

“I told you to stay out of anything that happens outside the pack house.”

I looked down at the document on his desk.

Declaration of Mate Bond Dissolution.

His signature was already on the last page, beside a dried smear of blood.

The document had been prepared a month ago.

The first time he handed it to me, I tore it to pieces.

The second time, I asked him whether the vows we had made before the Moon Goddess meant nothing to him.

Today was the third time.

I picked up the ceremonial blade from his desk, made a shallow cut across my palm, and pressed my blood beside his signature.

Pain shot through my fingers.

Almost at the same instant, Jake covered his own palm.

The mate bond between us was still intact. He had felt that brief sting.

He glanced down at his hand and finally straightened.

“Susan.”

I didn’t stop. Holding the pen, I carefully wrote out my name.

The blood oath only confirmed that we both intended to end the relationship.

Permanently severing the mark required further steps.

Jake knew that.

Whatever surprise he felt soon disappeared from his face.

He probably thought I had finally learned to back down as another way of getting his attention.

I pushed the document toward him.

“Don’t worry. I won’t bother her again.”

He didn’t take it.

“You’d better mean that.”

I pulled a tissue from the box and pressed it against the cut.

Jake watched me, his voice dropping.

“Because you know what happens if you start this again.”

My shoulders drew inward slightly.

My body remembered the fear faster than my mind could respond.

He had said the same thing last time.

That day, Emily had sent me a video.

She was sitting on the edge of my bed, wrapped in the blanket from my bedroom.

The camera swept across the nightstand.

My photograph was there. My books. The half-used tube of hand cream I kept beside the lamp.

She held a diamond necklace against her collarbone.

The necklace Jake had promised me for the anniversary of our mating ceremony.

“Tell me,” she asked with a smile, “doesn’t this look better on me?”

Near the end of the video, the bathroom door opened.

Jake’s voice came from somewhere beyond the frame.

“Emily. Put the phone down.”

He didn’t ask why she was in our bedroom.

He didn’t ask who she was messaging.

I posted the video on the pack’s private forum.

Within twenty minutes, an administrator deleted it.

My account was suspended.

The next day, Jake called for a committee hearing.

He accused me of posting edited private footage to deliberately damage another pack member’s reputation.

Emily sat beside him, her eyes red from crying.

She admitted she had been in the bedroom, but claimed she hadn’t felt well and Jake had simply let her rest there.

“I don’t know why Susan hates me so much.”

She wouldn’t even look up at me when she said it.

I asked them to examine the original video on her phone.

Jake refused.

“She’s already explained.”

The elder chairing the hearing glanced at him, then looked away.

No one wanted to openly challenge the Alpha who controlled the patrol teams, housing allocations, and the pack trust.

Not for me.

In the end, the committee ordered me to delete the footage and apologize to Emily. They also suspended my authority over the private forum and the events budget.

I stood in the middle of the meeting room, looking at Jake at the far end of the long table.