Chapter 3

Over the next three days, I canceled the full-moon venue, the catering contract, and the floral order. Every refundable deposit went into my personal account. Then I began sorting through the life I'd built at Blackwood Manor, one object at a time.

The perfume Adrian had bought me, our framed photographs, and the crystal sculpture engraved with both our names went onto a resale app. The only things I planned to take were my mother's brooch, four medical textbooks, and one carry-on suitcase.

I also visited the pack bank and revoked the automatic authorization between my accounts and Adrian's. The banker asked three times whether I understood what I was giving up. In Black River, no woman expected to become Luna and voluntarily walked away from the Blackwood family's money. I withdrew only the wages I'd earned working as a medical data analyst. I didn't touch a cent that belonged to Adrian.

He came into my room just as I confirmed the sale of the vintage turntable he'd given me for my birthday.

“Are you short on cash?” He set a black credit card on the table. “Buy whatever research materials or clothes you want. Stop selling things. We still have to take our official bonding portrait after I finish Claire's follow-up appointments.”

He thought I was putting on a show so he would notice how upset I was.

I pushed the card back. “I don't need any of this, and we don't need the portrait.”

“Ivy.” His voice dropped, and Alpha pressure rolled across the room. It had once made every instinct in me want to lower my head. “I've told you before, taking care of Claire is a responsibility. You're my fated mate. You're the woman who will become my Luna. Don't throw away our future because you're angry.”

The mate pull warmed beneath my sternum when he moved closer, but instinct no longer stood a chance against the cold memory of an entire lifetime spent waiting for him.

“I'm not angry,” I said. “Take care of whoever you want.”

A soft cough came from the hall. Claire stood in the doorway in a silk robe, looking from one of us to the other with practiced regret.

“Is this because of me? Adrian, maybe I should go back to the recovery center.”

“You can't live alone right now.” Adrian immediately crossed the room and steadied her. “The manor has twenty-four-hour medical staff. We've known each other since we were kids. I'm not turning my back on you.”

As she leaned against his shoulder, her eyes moved past his arm to the table. The Blackwood family moonstone ring, custom-made for its future Luna, rested in an open velvet box.

“That's beautiful,” she murmured.

Adrian picked it up, apparently intending to hand it to me. At that exact moment, Claire pressed a hand to her chest and let her fingers tremble. He took her wrist to check her circulation and, without thinking, slid the ring onto her finger while asking whether she felt any numbness.

It fit perfectly.

Claire lifted her hand and made a show of noticing it for the first time. “Oh, God. I'm sorry. I shouldn't be touching something that belongs to Ivy.”

“Leave it on,” I said as I gathered the last of my files. “It suits you.”

Adrian's expression hardened. “That's your Luna ring.”

“It's only a ring. Keeping the patient calm is more important.” I repeated the excuse he had used on me so many times. “Don't make Claire feel guilty over nothing.”

For once, Adrian had nothing to say. Claire lowered her eyes and tucked her ringed hand into her sleeve.

That night, the institute sent my encrypted travel itinerary. I deleted the email after saving the ticket in a locked folder.

[Four days until departure.]

Adrian remained convinced that every canceled plan and empty shelf was bait, another attempt to make him look at me for longer than a minute. He didn't understand that I had already erased him from every plan I had for my future.