Chapter 2

After I left the ceremony, my whole body went rigid and shaking, and a sharp pain twisted through my stomach.

I gritted my teeth, pressed a hand against my gut, and forced myself out to the parking lot to grab my medication from the car.

But someone was already sitting in it.

Kyle sat behind the wheel, and Ilona sat in the passenger seat, while he gently buckled her seatbelt for her.

The second he saw me, every trace of that gentleness vanished from his face. He frowned at me like I was a problem he had to deal with.

"My stomach medicine's still in the car. I need to grab it," I said, pale as a sheet.

Ilona whipped her head around and demanded coldly, "Kyle, what is this? Why is that homewrecker's stuff in your car?"

Werewolves streamed past on every side, all staring at me with the same look of contempt, disgust, and hatred.

"My mate is in the car," Kyle said, his voice hard. "Watch what you say."

"Don't you dare bully my mommy! You homewrecker!" Owen rolled down the back window and screamed at me.

Mommy?

My heart shattered on the spot. Cold sweat slid down both my cheeks, mixing with tears until I could barely see straight.

A staff member came over to ask what was going on. Kyle answered flatly, "My mate's been through a shock. Please handle this."

Then, without so much as glancing at me again, he rolled up the window and drove off with Ilona and Owen.

The staff member rolled their eyes at me, clearly out of patience.

"Ma'am, you've disturbed the peace here and offended an important guest of ours. Please leave the premises immediately."

A few security wolves hauled me up by the arms and threw me out of the parking lot.

I was a wreck, in so much pain I didn't even have the strength to stand, so I curled up on the ground and let the time crawl by.

I spent the entire night out there like that.

Early the next morning, I caught a ride back to the Silver Vein Pack's territory to pick up the papers to end our mate bond.

But the second I reached the entrance, a group of wolves blocked my way.

"I'm sorry, you're not permitted inside."

Exhausted and half asleep on my feet, I frowned. "Let me through. I'm Alpha Kyle's legal mate. You can't turn me away."

The wolves exchanged a glance, then swarmed me all at once and pinned me down with rough hands. They searched me, stripped off my coat, and confiscated my phone.

Then they locked me in a small, windowless room.

"What are you planning to do to me?"

One of the wolves said flatly, "Someone's accused you of harming another wolf. You're being held in lawful custody until the tribunal convenes in two days."

The door slammed shut behind him.

The room was cold and pitch black, without so much as a chair. All I could do was sleep on the dusty floor.

No one brought me food, and there wasn't even clean water, just a cup of cloudy liquid mixed with who knows what.

My wounds had already started festering, oozing at the slightest touch. Every inch of me was bruised, black and purple, with nothing left untouched. The cramps in my stomach kept coming in waves, bad enough that I rolled on the floor in agony more than once, but no one so much as checked on me.

I was locked up for two whole days. By the time they let me out, I'd lost every drop of color in my face.

It wasn't until the third day that the she-wolf who handled my affairs finally bailed me out.

The moment I had the finished bond-severing papers in my hands, I went straight to find Kyle.

But when I got to our front door, the smart lock couldn't recognize my fingerprint anymore.

It kept blaring the same warning beep.

"Fingerprint not recognized. Possible intruder detected."

Days of anger and humiliation finally broke loose all at once.

I threw myself at the door, pounding and kicking at it like I'd lost my mind, until finally, it swung open with a heavy crack.

Kyle stood in front of me, his face dark, his voice sharp with reproach. "Leora Thorne! What's gotten into you? Ilona hasn't been doing well these past few days. I just got her to sleep. You're going to wake her up.

"You're clearly not in a stable state right now. Maybe you shouldn't come back for a while."

I smiled mockingly.

Ilona couldn't sleep well, and he was this worried. I'd been gone for days, and had he thought of me even once?

It didn't matter anymore anyway.

I looked at him, exhausted, and held out the papers I'd been gripping this whole time.

"Suit yourself. Just sign the papers."