Chapter 4

Halfway down the stairs, Kael noticed me heading toward the guest room alone with my bag.

After a short pause, he told the kitchen staff, “Add two dishes Selene likes. Set three places.”

In the guest room, I opened my suitcase.

Every piece of clothing inside had been cut to shreds.

Only the documents hidden in the inner lining were still untouched.

My passport. My travel papers. The bond-severance agreement.

That was enough.

I gathered them up and turned toward the door, only to see Lyra standing there.

She held a black bottle in one hand and looked me over with open contempt.

“Selene, Kael gave me your room, your charm, and his heir. Yet you’re still here.”

“Is the Luna title really worth that much to you?”

“Half the upper packs are laughing at you, and you’re still pretending this house belongs to you.”

Then her smile turned sharp.

“But I suppose I understand. Your grandmother died last month. Now that she’s gone, you have no one left to stand behind you. Of course you’d cling to Kael like he was the last branch over a cliff.”

I said nothing.

That only made the look in her eyes sharper.

“Oh, right. There’s something else you should know.”

“The day you begged Kael to take you to the hospital so you could see your grandmother one last time, do you know why he refused?”

She lifted her phone.

“Because he had already promised to take me to watch the full moon over the coast.”

On the screen, they were kissing under the moonlight by the sea.

Before I even realized I had moved, I slapped the phone from her hand.

It skidded across the floor.

For the first time, the sweetness vanished from her face.

I grabbed her by the throat.

She stumbled back, and the black bottle slipped from her hand and shattered.

Gasoline.

The smell hit me at once.

Lyra’s eyes widened. Then, instead of backing away, she smiled.

“Let’s make a bet, Selene.”

Her voice dropped low.

“Let’s see who Kael chooses when it actually matters.”

Before I could stop her, she pulled out a lighter and flicked it open.

The gasoline caught fire at once.

Flames rushed across the floor, and smoke climbed fast.

I had only just left the pack healing center. My body had not recovered, and the smoke hit me so hard that my legs gave out almost immediately.

People started shouting outside.

Then I heard Kael.

“Selene!”

The attendants tried to stop him.

“Alpha, don’t go in yet. The fire gear is coming—”

“Move.”

He shoved past them and rushed inside.

Then he saw Lyra.

She coughed and reached out to him.

“Kael…”

He did not hesitate.

He crossed the room, lifted her into his arms, and turned back the way he had come.

He never looked at me.

Not once.

By the time the pack guards got the fire under control, I was already gone.

Not because anyone had come back for me.

While the house was in chaos, I dragged myself out through the rear corridor and left on my own.

Half an hour later, after he settled Lyra, Kael searched the whole house and found no trace of me.

That night, at the airport, I mailed one last envelope before boarding my flight to London.

Inside was the bond-severance agreement.

That morning, before leaving the healing center, I had slipped it into the stack of house papers Kael always signed without reading. After he signed, I added my own name.

Since he had never marked me, two signatures were enough.

By the time anyone found the agreement in his room, I would already be gone.

Just before boarding, my phone lit up with one last message from him.

No time for this childish game. Lyra has her birth check tomorrow at ten. Come with us. You should have your lungs checked too.

I looked at it for a long moment.

Then I turned off the phone and dropped it into the trash.

Kael Blackthorn, from tonight on, you and I are finished.