Chapter 6

My face went white, and I shook my head immediately. "Absolutely not."

Kyle's expression turned impatient instantly.

He narrowed his eyes and warned me, "Leora, you don't seem to understand what you've done wrong."

The second he said it, he waved a hand, and one of his subordinates rushed forward and forced me down onto the ground.

My knees slammed into the freezing deck, and pain shot through both legs.

A flicker of hesitation crossed Kyle's eyes, but his voice came out flat regardless. "You need to atone for everything you've done. Admit what you did, or stay on your knees until you do."

That was when I noticed Ilona give Owen a small nudge.

He took off running through the cabin, shouting for everyone to hear. "Everybody, come look! The homewrecker's finally on her knees apologizing! This she-wolf wrecked my family! She's horrible!"

Everyone started drifting out from the cabin and gathering on the deck, whispering among themselves.

Every curious glance landed on me until the weight of it pressed me down, and I couldn't even lift my head.

I heard someone murmur, "I think I saw her on social media. She really gets around."

"I heard her personal life's a mess, that she's been wrecking other she-wolves' families for ages. How shameless can you get?"

Phone after phone turned to capture my humiliated face.

I tried to turn away, but Kyle's subordinates held me in place, my face lit up under a wall of camera flashes.

I don't know how long it went on before plates and gnawed bones started raining down on me, until a silver fork grazed my skin and left a thin line of blood behind.

My skin burned with sudden, sharp pain, my blood turning restless and agitated beneath it, the ache unbearable.

I finally understood that if I didn't confess, I might actually die right there.

I squeezed my eyes shut, my voice coming out hoarse, humiliation burning through me.

"I'm sorry, Ilona. I'm sorry. I was wrong. I'm the other she-wolf. I shouldn't have destroyed your family..."

Owen threw his arms up and cheered, laughing as he ran circles around the deck. "The homewrecker finally admitted it!"

The gathered guests shoved their phones even closer to my face, trying to catch every last detail.

"That's more like it," Ilona said smugly.

My vision blurred, and the last things I saw before I lost consciousness completely were a sea of gleeful faces and Kyle's back as he walked away.

When I woke up again, I was in a hospital bed.

My phone buzzed twice. I opened the unread messages.

One was from the pack council.

[Ms. Thorne, your application to end your bond has been approved. Please come collect the papers at your earliest convenience.]

The other was from Kyle.

[Leora, tomorrow night at eight. The pack council office. Since you're so determined to sulk, let's just go ahead and finalize the severing of our mate bond. Ilona's throwing a fit over this whole thing right now, so the timing works out.]

[Whenever you come to your senses and decide you're willing to accept Ilona, I'll file to bond with you again.]

I couldn't help but laugh. Kyle had no idea I had already filed the bond-severing papers.

He probably thought I was still sulking, that one text from him would send me running back to beg for forgiveness and fall in line.

But I didn't care anymore.

I calmly turned off my phone and caught a ride straight to the pack council.

After I picked up the finalized papers, I used the money I'd earned from my odd jobs to buy a plane ticket out of the country.

I didn't know where I was headed, but I knew for certain I had to leave this place behind.

Wherever I ended up, it had to be better than staying anywhere near Kyle.