Chapter 2

On the other end of the mind-link, Marcus said nothing.

The silence stretched for two full minutes.

Finally, his voice came through, quiet, guarded. "Fine. Whatever you say."

He cut the connection before I could respond.

I wanted to scream. Could someone please teach this man how to finish a conversation?

But at least he was safe. The knot in my chest loosened just a little.

I looked around the bedroom. On the nightstand sat a framed photo of the two of us, the one from our very first date, five years ago. It had been carefully preserved behind glass.

The whole room had been decorated to my taste.

We didn't look like a couple on the edge of falling apart.

I went downstairs with a head full of questions, and nearly ran into a familiar face in the living room.

"Aunt Vera?"

The name burst out of me before I could stop it. Aunt Vera had been our family's nanny for as long as I could remember. She had looked after all my needs growing up, my meals, my clothes, my daily life.

In this strange new world, seeing someone I knew felt like finding solid ground.

She was carrying grocery bags, and I took them from her hands. "Aunt Vera, let me make dinner tonight. I want to cook a proper candlelight dinner for Marcus."

Nothing a good meal couldn't fix, right? And it would give us a chance to actually sit down and talk.

But Aunt Vera's expression shifted. Something complicated flickered behind her eyes.

"Luna, the Alpha hasn't been feeling well lately. He really can't take any more of your... schemes."

Schemes?

Sure, my cooking wasn't good, but calling it a scheme was a bit much.

She opened her mouth to say more, but I waved her off. "It's settled. Even if it's terrible, he'll eat it. Just help me wash the vegetables, okay?"

While I cooked, I pried the story out of her, piece by piece.

Five years ago, Marcus's half-brother had inherited the Alpha title and immediately ordered every illegitimate heir with Alpha blood hunted down. Marcus was one of them.

He knew that being with me would only put me in danger, so he steeled himself and ended things between us.

But he hadn't counted on me defying my entire family to complete the mating ceremony with him. From that day on, I'd been by his side, living life on the run.

Marcus couldn't bear watching me suffer. He decided to stop running and challenge his brother head-on. My father, who had never thought much of this bastard son, quietly threw his support behind Marcus for my sake, providing elite fighters and funding.

Marcus didn't let him down. He defeated his brother and claimed the Alpha seat.

Under his leadership, the pack had thrived, grown so powerful it now dwarfed my father's own territory.

I couldn't help feeling a swell of pride. My taste in mates? Impeccable.

And running away with Marcus regardless of the consequences? Yeah, that sounded exactly like something I'd do.

But before I could bask in the satisfaction for more than three seconds, Aunt Vera dropped a bomb.

"Luna are you still in contact with that Ryder Hale boy?"

I was mid-chop. I didn't even look up. "Ryder Hale? Who's that?"

Aunt Vera froze. Her eyes darted sideways, and she suddenly looked like she wished she hadn't said anything.

"He's your boyfriend."

"My what?"

The knife slipped. The blade caught my finger, and blood ran down my finger onto the floor.

"Luna, your hand!"

Aunt Vera turned white and rushed for the first-aid kit, but I grabbed her arm. There was something far more urgent than a cut finger.

"Are you telling me I cheated?"

Aunt Vera gave two emphatic nods.

"He's an Arena fighter. You said you liked the way he was, young, fierce, full of raw energy. You've been insisting on dissolving the mate bond with Marcus for over a year now."

Footsteps at the front door. Aunt Vera snapped her mouth shut.

It was the first time I had seen Marcus five years older. The boyish softness was gone; his face had matured, his features sharper than before. He wore a dark tailored suit that fit him like it had been carved to his body.

They say money shapes a man. He was almost a different person from the man I'd known five years ago.

And this man was my mate. I swallowed hard.

"Welcome home. I made dinner —"

"Not hungry." He cut me off coldly.

If this had been five years ago, he would've begged to eat my cooking, bad as it was. But then I remembered: his mate had been cheating on him. Of course he wasn't going to waltz in with a smile.

At that moment, all I wanted was to crack open the skull of Future Mia and check if her brain had been replaced with sawdust.

Mia Sullivan, you had a powerful, handsome Alpha. Why would you throw him away for a younger guy?