Chapter 3

"No one will ever dare steal what's yours."

That promise, warm with his breath, still echoed in my ears.

And now, he was so casually asking me to hand over this symbol of loyalty and love to the very woman who had stolen everything from me.

I looked at his entitled face.

The phantom pain of my life force being ripped out hit me again. My inner wolf let out a tearing wail.

Did he really think I'd just sit here and wait for his scraps after being trampled like this?

I met his demanding gaze, slowly raised my hands, and untied the red string. I handed him the pendant, still warm from my skin.

Jaxson took it. As his fingers brushed my icy skin, he frowned slightly.

But he didn't linger. He opened the door and disappeared down the hall.

The door clicked shut, cutting off Kira's sweet little "thank you."

I walked to the calendar by the bed, picked up a red marker, and drew a thick X over today's date.

Two days left until the Lycan Royal Guard came to take me home.

The next morning.

I went to the kitchen early, just like I had every day.

To suppress the lingering wolfsbane poison in his system, I had spent every morning for the past seven years personally extracting the antidote from wolfsbane and moonflowers.

It took a massive toll on my energy and inner wolf.

By the time the scalding herbal serum was ready, my face was dead pale.

I carried the tray toward the main house. As I passed the half-open door of his study, I heard voices.

It was Marco, Jaxson's Beta, sounding worried.

"Alpha, that was a crucial token between you two... Aren't you afraid the Luna will be heartbroken and actually leave you?"

A low, mocking laugh slipped through the crack of the door.

"Leave me? Where would she go?" Jaxson's voice dripped with arrogant certainty.

"I've spoiled her for seven years. She's just an amnesiac orphan with no past. If she leaves the Stonecrest pack, she won't even survive. Besides..."

He paused, his tone turning cold.

"Now that Kira is back, I have to pave the way for her. Giving Ayla the cold shoulder and taking her things is just to put her in her place. To teach her her place, so she doesn't try to compete with Kira. I know how to tame her. The moment I beckon, she'll crawl right back into my bed, just like always."

I stood outside the door, my breathing frozen.

Tame.

That was a word an Alpha used for wild beasts. And he used it on the mate he claimed to have loved for seven years.

I always thought I was the treasure he'd protect with his life.

Turns out, in his eyes, I was just a pet whose dignity could be stripped away at will, meant to come the second he called.

The tray tilted sharply in my hands.

The scalding medicine poured out, drenching the back of my hand and raising a glaring, red blister.

Normally, with werewolf healing, a burn like this would vanish in minutes.

But last night, my inner wolf had taken a lethal blow from all the betrayal and despair. Even my basic healing abilities were fading.

I stared blankly at my red, swollen hand, as if it belonged to someone else.

I carried the remaining medicine into the nearby bathroom and poured the antidote I had spent three hours making straight down the drain.

Every last drop.

When I walked out, I bumped right into Kira.

She was wearing my silk robe, the bone pendant resting on her pale neck.

"Ayla, you're still here," Kira stroked the pendant, smiling smugly.

"The Alpha energy in this is so pure. I wore it for one night and my wolf feels so much better." She sighed, pretending to be sympathetic. "By the way, Jaxson said the Alpha's healing aura in the master bedroom will help me recover. So I'm afraid you'll have to... move out for a while."

If it were the old me, I probably would have lunged at her and ripped her face off.

But I just nodded calmly.

"Okay."

Leaving Kira stunned, I walked back to the master bedroom and pulled out a beat-up canvas duffel bag.

It was the only luggage I had when I arrived at the Stonecrest pack seven years ago.

Every corner of this bedroom held memories of me and Jaxson making love.

But now, all of that was going to be smothered by another she-wolf's scent.

Bag in hand, I moved into the most isolated, foul-smelling storage room in the packhouse.

It had no windows. It never saw the sun.

As soon as I set my bag down, my phone buzzed.

My brother's text popped up: "Ayla, the Royal Witches' spell is active. Every scent and trace you've left on that territory is being erased completely. No one will be able to track you."

I leaned against the cold, damp wall and closed my eyes.

Soon.

Twelve hours left until I returned home as the supreme Lycan Princess.