Chapter 4

“It’s nothing,” I answered calmly. “I was just in the hospital for two days. I wanted to catch up on any pack or alliance matters.”

That official-sounding answer made Viggo’s face harden instantly.

He reached out, snatched my phone, and unlocked it effortlessly with his own face.

He did it so naturally, as if it were his own property.

We both froze.

I remembered when I was deeply in love with him. I gave him everything.

I told him there should be no secrets between mates, so he could always look through my phone.

Back then, I thought that was the honesty a mate bond required.

Now, it just seemed foolish.

It seemed he remembered that too. A dark flush crept up his neck. He shoved the phone back at me.

“Don’t get any ideas about crossing the line.”

“Of course not,” I said, taking the phone, my voice flat. “I won’t interfere in the Alpha’s business.”

That only seemed to make him angrier.

Just then, Odette sensed the tension in the car and immediately threw herself into Viggo’s arms.

“Viggo, I feel the pup’s life force fluctuating,” she whined, guiding his hand to her stomach. “I think he misses his daddy.”

Viggo’s attention was instantly diverted. He gently stroked her belly.

I turned my head away, refusing to look at them.

When we arrived, Viggo carefully helped Odette out of the car, coddling her as he walked her to her room.

He casually called out to the butler.

“Make Odette something she likes, something to calm the pup.” He paused, then his voice dropped so low he probably thought I couldn't hear. “And the freshest roasted venison with moon wine.”

My feet froze for a second.

Roasted venison and moon wine. My old favorites.

Ever since we were first mated, whenever I was feeling down, he would have the chefs prepare those two things for me.

But what was he doing now? After everything he’d done, was this his idea of kindness? A pathetic attempt to prove he still cared?

After everything that had happened, how was I supposed to face him?

I dragged my heavy feet back to my room in the west wing.

The moment I pushed open the door, I froze.

My room had been ransacked. My suitcase was ripped open, its contents destroyed.

It was filthy, soaked in the foul, coppery stench of some kind of beast’s blood.

My dresses, torn to shreds. My jewelry, crushed underfoot. Even my undergarments, stained and defiled.

Luckily, the token from my birth father was well-hidden and hadn’t been found.

I was about to start cleaning up the mess and leave quietly when the door was pushed open.

Odette walked in, her eyes filled with smug mockery.

“You’re so stubborn. So shameless. After all that, you still won’t step down and leave on your own?”

She walked right up to me, her voice soft but laced with venom.

“By the way, do you know why Viggo couldn’t make it back when your mother died three months ago?”

My entire body went rigid.

“Because he was with me. On a private island,” Odette purred. “He said your mother was sick for years. A waste of pack resources, he called it. Trying to save her.”

“Shut up!”

I couldn’t hold back anymore. I slapped her across the face.

The sharp crack echoed in the room.

Odette clutched her cheek. Instead of getting angry, she burst into crazed laughter.

“Hahaha! Finally lost your temper, did you?”

She pulled several high-concentration, silver-dust fire-starters from her pocket, mixed with wolfsbane crystals.

“Thank you for the life force you gave me, Nyxia. Not only can I control this energy now, but Viggo also gave me access to all the pack vaults. Since you won’t leave willingly, I’ll just add a little more fire.”

“What are you doing?” I realized the danger and tried to stop her.

But it was too late.

Odette hurled the silver-dust fire-starters.

A massive explosion engulfed the entire room.

A large section of the west wing collapsed. Greenish flames, laced with silver, shot into the sky.

Huge chunks of stone and burning beams rained down from above.

I was pinned under a collapsed wall. Blood streamed from a gash on my head, and my vision blurred.

“Help! Viggo!” Odette’s scream came from the other side of the rubble.

Seconds later, I heard familiar footsteps.

Viggo charged into the ruins.

He tore apart a slab of stone with his bare hands and lifted Odette from the debris.

“It’s okay, I’m here,” he soothed her gently.

Then, he turned and looked in my direction.

Our eyes met across the ruins.

I saw the panic bloom in his gaze. The hesitation. It lasted only a second.

He was probably sure my constitution was strong enough to survive a fire. But he underestimated how deadly silver-laced wolfsbane fire is to a crippled wolf.

Then he set his jaw, turned his back on me, and carried Odette from the flames.

He abandoned me to the fire and smoke.

Just as darkness was taking me, the life inside me suddenly surged, shielding me from a fatal blow.

The agony of the mate bond vanished.

I unleashed a surprising burst of strength and shoved the wreckage off my body.

It's... my pups! They were protecting me!

I crawled toward a secret passage that only I knew, and pulled myself out, inch by painful inch.

The silver-laced smoke burned my weakened wolf, but I bit down hard on my own arm, forcing myself to keep crawling, to get out.

When I finally collapsed outside the estate, covered in blood, I was smiling with pure freedom.

The guards sent to get me arrived quickly, helping me onto the waiting private plane.

Just as the plane took off, Viggo’s voice roared in my mind, furious, with an unmistakable tremor of panic.

Nyxia! Where are you?! Get back here NOW. You will apologize to Odette for this stunt!

I closed my eyes and severed the mind link, cutting off all contact.

I motioned for the guards to erase every trace of my scent from the territory.

The plane climbed into the clouds. I watched out the window as the estate shrank to a tiny speck of light below.

Viggo and I… we were over.

For good.

——

Shortly after my plane pierced the clouds…

Outside the emergency room of the pup-rearing center, Viggo was pacing.

Odette was inside, receiving emergency care.

Unable to reach me, he’d crushed his phone in a fit of rage. He snarled at his guards, “Nyxia is being infuriating! Odette is pregnant, she’s been terrified, and what does her Luna do? Instead of helping, she runs off to throw a childish tantrum!”

As the words left his mouth, the pack’s head Healer, just back from a trip, hurried down the corridor, a stack of medical files in his arms.

Seeing Viggo, the Healer’s face lit up. “Alpha! Perfect timing! I assume you’re here for Luna Nyxia’s follow-up appointment? It should be right around this time. After all, she’s carrying twins!”

The corridor fell deathly silent.

Viggo froze.

The raw fury on his face drained away, leaving it a ghostly white.