Chapter 3

Sera's Point of View

We just stared to each other, both of us refusing to blink first.

Kade looked like hell—shirt hanging open, Lydia’s nails marks running down his chest, hair sticking up like he’d been electrocuted. Lips all puffy. There was no hiding what he'd just done. Hell, he looked proud of it.

And the worst part? He didn’t even bother with excuses. Not a word. Not an “I’m sorry,” not even some half-assed attempt at a lie. The fucking bastard just stood there, watching me come apart like it was a spectator sport.

My voice sounded like glass breaking. “Why?”

He shrugged. Seriously. Like I’d just asked if he wanted fries with that betrayal.

Tears burned their way down my cheeks, hot and humiliating. I turned to Lydia, hoping for, I don’t know, something less painful. “You’re my sister. My freaking sister. How could you—”

She laughed. Laughed. Like I was the punchline to the world’s dumbest joke. “Oh, Sera, you look so tragic when you cry. Your face goes all blotchy—did you know that?”

“Bitch--”

“We’re in love,” she announced, like she was accepting an award. She slid her hand across Kade’s chest, fingers curling like she owned him. “Real, wild, can’t-live-without-each-other love. Not that sad excuse for a relationship you two played at.”

I could barely get words out. “Sad excuse?”

She rolled her eyes, like I was too dense to function. “Come on, Sera. Did you really think a guy like him would settle for you?”

Kade stayed silent. Just stared, like he was waiting for me to dissolve into nothing.

I whispered, “You’re my sister.” Maybe if I said it enough, it’d click for her. Maybe she’d remember she used to give a damn.

“We share blood, sure. But that’s it. Dad knows it, the pack knows it, and deep down—so do you.”

My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. “How long?”

She tilted her head, all innocent. “How long what?”

I couldn’t even finish the question. The words just died in my throat.

"Fucking?" Kade spoke for the first time since I'd caught them, his voice casual. Detached. "Six months. Give or take."

Six months.

The floor dropped out from under me.

"Every time you were working those extra shifts Father made you take," Lydia added, examining her nails. "Every time you were cleaning up after pack dinners, or serving at events like tonight. We were together. In your bed, usually."

"My bed?" The words came out strangled.

"It's bigger than mine." She shrugged, smiling wider. "And there's something delicious about it, don't you think? Fucking your boyfriend in your sheets while you're out playing servant?"

I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think past the images flooding my mind.

"Tonight—" My voice cracked. "At the banquet. When Rorick grabbed me, when his mate threw wine on me, when everyone laughed—" I looked at Kade, begging him to remember. "I kept thinking about you. That I could survive it because you'd be waiting. Because you loved me."

Kade's jaw tightened, but his eyes stayed cold. "That was your mistake."

"What?"

He said it so simply. So matter-of-fact. "I told you what you wanted to hear. You were convenient. Available. Grateful for any scrap of attention."

Every word just twisted the knife a little deeper. Lydia just kept going, stepping right in front of me like she was blocking the last bit of sunlight. “You weren’t supposed to find out,” she said, all smug. “We were gonna let you down easy. Maybe after the mate bond ceremony. Save you a little face, at least.”

Mate bond? I just stared at her. “You’re—what?”

She just shrugged, leaning into Kade like she couldn’t get close enough.

“We’re in love,” she said, looking at him with admiration in her eyes. “Real love, Sera. The kind that doesn’t come from pity or convenience. You should’ve seen his face when he realized what he felt for me—like he finally woke up from a bad dream. You were the dream.”

“Sera.” Kade’s voice just sliced right through my chest. “Look at yourself. Really look.”

The last thing I wanted was to see whatever pathetic image he’d conjured up.

“You’re weak,” he said, almost like he was proud of it. “No wolf. No strength. No future. I’m gonna be Alpha. You think I can drag you along behind me like some wounded stray?”

“I thought you said none of that mattered—”

“I lied.” Didn’t even blink. Didn’t even care. “Of course it matters. Everything matters when you’re trying to lead. And you? You’re nothing.”

Lydia just cackled—no other word for it. “Did you actually believe him? Goddess, you’re sadder than I thought.”

“Stop—” My voice just snapped in half.

“Twenty-two, Sera. No wolf, no prospects, nothing. You’re defective. Broken. Even Father can barely look at you.”

“That’s not true—”

She gave me that look—one eyebrow up, like she’d just caught me stealing candy. “Isn’t it? When’s the last time he called you his daughter in front of anyone? When’s he ever introduced you to another Alpha? You’re the family embarrassment. The secret he keeps in the attic.”

Kade just slid his arm around Lydia’s waist, staking his claim right in front of me. Because of course he did.

“If you had any self-respect,” he said, voice low and mean, “you’d walk away. Stop groveling. Stop hanging on. Leave before you make this even worse for yourself.”

I just stared at him. The guy I’d loved. The one I’d handed my whole heart to, no take-backs. He looked at me like I was gum on his shoe.

“I don’t love you,” he said, slow, just to make sure it stung. “I never did. You were just practice. A placeholder until something better showed up.” He pulled Lydia closer, like they were starring in their own little victory parade. “And she did.”

Lydia grinned like she’d won the lottery. “If you really loved him, you’d let him go. Stop being selfish. Stop making this about you.”

“I’m not—”

“Oh, but you are.” She sliced the words clean. “You’re weak, you’re wolfless, you’re worthless. You’d ruin his shot at being Alpha. Is that what you want? To drag him down just because you can’t stand on your own?”

“Kade—” I turned to him, desperate, pathetic. Just wanting one crumb of the guy who used to make me feel like I was enough.

But his eyes were empty.

"We're done, Sera," he said flatly. "Accept it."

"Please—"

"Goddess, you're desperate." Lydia's lip curled in disgust. "Have some self-respect."

"Kade, please, just—"

"He doesn't want you!" Lydia's voice rose, sharp and final. "He never wanted you. You were convenient and easy and so goddamn grateful for any attention. You're nothing. Nothing."

The room spun. My vision blurred.

"Better this way," Kade said distantly. "Clean break."

My legs gave out.

I heard Lydia laugh—actually laugh—as I fell.

Then nothing. Everything wet black.

*******

Softness. Sheets. A pillow under my throbbing head.

My eyes opened slowly, lids heavy and swollen from crying. Everything burned—my throat raw, my chest aching like something had been carved out of it. The taste of salt and shame lingered on my tongue.

Dim lamplight. Unfamiliar walls. Not my room.

Panic spiked through the fog in my head. Where—

Then I saw him.

Someone sat beside the bed, hunched forward, elbows on knees. A silhouette in shadow.

As my vision cleared, sharpening through the blur of tears that wanted to come again, recognition hit like a fist to the gut.

Kade.

My heart didn't just stop—it shattered all over again. Fresh and brutal, like the first cut hadn't been deep enough.

He was watching me.

The same man who'd just destroyed me was sitting at my bedside like he had any right to be there.

"You're awake," he said quietly.

After everything—every cruel word, every vicious smile, every deliberate knife he'd twisted into my heart—he was here.

Why was he here?