Chapter 2

The next day, I went to the Elder Council to dissolve the bond.

The clerk flipped through the bond registry for a long moment before he looked up at me as if he'd seen a ghost.

"This bond... doesn't actually need to be dissolved."

I froze. "What do you mean?"

He turned the registry around, pushed it toward me, and pointed to a blank spot at the bottom.

"Lu... A bond doesn't take effect until its record is sealed, and the one who took down the lantern has to seal it himself. Alpha Gideon filed the registration papers back then, but he never came back to seal it. Strictly speaking, this marriage... isn't valid."

He'd almost called me Luna, then swallowed the word.

Behind him, an apprentice scribe muttered, "I remember the day he filed it. He said something about not wanting anyone else's name on the bond record."

Someone else's name?

I stood there, my blood running cold.

At our bonding ceremony, he'd held my hand tight and wouldn't let go.

"We're going to be together forever." He'd looked earnest when he made that promise.

On our wedding night, he'd kissed me clumsily, his hot, rough fingers moving over every part of me.

"You're finally mine."

He'd buried his face in the curve of my neck and let out a satisfied sigh.

Had all of that been fake?

My fingers wouldn't stop shaking.

Fine.

Now I didn't even have to bother dissolving the bond.

I'd decided to cut ties with them and leave Mistbrook Valley for good. I only meant to go back to the villa to pack, but I ran into Gideon and Phoebe in the living room.

Gideon was carrying a wax-paper package and a cloth bag.

Phoebe walked beside him, looking up at him as she spoke, her eyes crinkled with laughter.

Watching them, I remembered the apprentice's words about someone else's name, and my mouth twisted.

"Evelyn!" Gideon called, stopping me.

Every trace of a smile left his face. He pressed his lips together, hesitating.

"The healer is already... preparing the medicine to end the pregnancy. For the next few days, don't go wandering around."

He put a hand on my shoulder.

"If you need anything, just tell me and I'll take care of it."

I was so angry I laughed, and my words came out like knives. "It's going to take a few days? I thought the Alpha would want to pour it down my throat today—"

"Evelyn!" His roar cut me off.

In all the time I'd known him, he'd never spoken to me with such fury.

My voice went cold too. "Are you putting me under house arrest?"

He snatched his hand back as if he'd been stung, then softened his tone. "I just want you safe."

Phoebe came over, wearing an innocent expression, and took his side. "Evelyn, there are rumors flying all over the pack, and Gideon's in a difficult position too. You're the Luna. Shouldn't you think about him a little?"

"That's no reason to lock me up!" I kept my eyes on Gideon, trying to see what he was thinking.

"Evelyn," he said, lowering his voice, a hint of pleading in it. "Don't make this hard on me."

His arm dropped limply to his side, his expression dark and unreadable.

All the light seemed to have gone out of his amber eyes.

The last time he'd looked this miserable was when I came home after the landslide.

He'd held me tight and said, "I thought I was going to lose you."

His warm breath had tickled my neck.

Back then, I really felt like we were one.

But now his pleading had become a weapon to control me.

After a long silence, he took off his black wool cloak and put it around my shoulders.

The movement was slow and gentle.

"Go rest. I'll roast a partridge for you."

From that day on, he kept me locked in my room.

For a while, I really thought I was going to miss my chance to leave.

Then one night, the villa caught fire without warning.