Chapter 4: The Humiliation (Amara’s POV)

I didn’t know how I made it through the next ten minutes.

My body moved on autopilot, shake this hand, smile at that face, nod along to words I couldn’t hear. My mother’s arm was looped through mine, a warm and steady presence, but even she couldn’t anchor me. Not when the room was spinning. Not when I could still feel his eyes on my back.

Damon.

I’d seen him. Across the room, on that worn leather couch, with her draped over him like a trophy. For one perfect second, our eyes had met, and I’d felt the bond roar to life between us, electric and undeniable and cruel.

The bathroom. I just had to make it to the bathroom. Then I could fall apart but the pack house was a labyrinth of old memories and new tortures, and every person who stopped me was another nail in the coffin of my composure.

“Amara! Look at you, all grown up!”

“Dr. Chen now, I heard! Your mother must be so proud.”

“Five years is a long time. Did you miss us?”

Did I miss you? I wanted to laugh. I’d missed one person. One person who had apparently not missed me back.

Maya stayed close, her hand a constant pressure on my lower back. She was running interference, steering me away from the worst of the crowd, her cheerful smile a mask for the fury I could smell rolling off her.

“You’re doing great,” she murmured under her breath. “Just a few more minutes, and we can get you out of here.”

But we didn’t get out because Valerie Cross was walking toward us. I’d seen her from across the room, but that was nothing compared to seeing her up close.

She was beautiful. I’d always known that. Even in high school, when she’d poured drinks on my head and called me mouse, I’d acknowledged that she was the kind of beautiful that made other girls feel small. Dark hair, dark eyes, sharp features. A body that curved in all the right places.

And she knew it.

She moved through the crowd like she owned it, which, I supposed, she did. She was the beta’s daughter. The pack princess. The woman who had stolen my mate while I was busy saving lives.

Her arm was linked through Damon’s.

He followed her like a ghost. His face was blank, unreadable, but his eyes, those golden eyes that had haunted my dreams for five years were fixed on me.

I couldn’t read them either and that scared me more than anything.

“Amara!” Valerie’s voice was warm, welcoming, fake. She released Damon’s arm and reached for my hands, clasping them in hers like we were old friends. Her grip was cold. “I’ve heard so much about you. The prodigal daughter returns!”

I forced a smile. “Valerie. It’s been a while.”

“Too long!” She laughed, a tinkling sound that didn’t reach her eyes. Her gaze swept over me, head to toe, cataloging. Judging. Dismissing. “You look so different. The city must agree with you.”

You look so different. The unspoken words hung in the air: You’re still not good enough.

My mother, bless her oblivious heart, beamed. “Amara’s done wonderfully. She’s a doctor now. A real doctor.”

“How impressive.” Valerie’s smile sharpened. She turned slightly, pulling Damon forward. “Have you met my boyfriend? Damon, this is Amara. She just got back from where was it again?”

“Chicago,” I said.

“Chicago.” Valerie nodded like she’d known all along. “Damon and I have been together for two years now. Isn’t that right, baby?”

She looked up at him. He looked down at her and said nothing.

The silence stretched, thin and brittle. Maya shifted beside me, her anger a living thing. My mother’s smile faltered. Even Valerie’s mask slipped for just a second, a flicker of something ugly crossing her face before she smoothed it away.

“Damon,” Valerie said, her voice sweet as poison. “Say hello to Amara.”

His jaw tightened. His hands, hanging at his sides, curled into fists.

“Hello, Amara.”

Three words and that was all but the way he said them, low and rough and broken made my wolf whimper.

I wanted to scream at him. I wanted to grab him by the shoulders and shake him until he explained. Why her? Why not me? Did you ever even think about me?

Instead, I smiled. The same smile I used when I told a family their loved one hadn’t made it. Professional. Controlled. Empty.

“It’s nice to see you again, Damon,” I said. “I’m glad you’re doing well.”

The lie tasted like blood.

Valerie didn’t let go of his arm. If anything, she held on tighter, her nails digging into the fabric of his shirt. She was staking her claim, right there in front of everyone, and Damon let her.

He stood there like a statue. Like a man made of stone and I hated him for it.

“Well,” I said, my voice miraculously steady, “I should go find my dad. It was nice to meet you, Valerie. Damon.”

I turned before anyone could respond. Before I could see the look on his face. Before I could do something unforgivable, like cry.

Maya followed me, her footsteps rapid and worried. “Amara”

“Bathroom,” I said. “Now.”

I made it to the downstairs bathroom, the small one off the library, the one nobody used and locked the door behind me.

And then I fell apart.

The tears came without warning, a tidal wave I couldn’t stop. I pressed both hands over my mouth to muffle the sounds, but they escaped anyway, ugly, gasping sobs that shook my entire body.

I slid down the wall until I was sitting on the cold tile floor, my knees drawn up to my chest, my forehead pressed against my knees.

He chose someone else.

I’d told myself I was prepared for that possibility. I’d spent five years imagining every version of this homecoming, including the worst one. But knowing something in your head and feeling it in your chest were two very different things.

The bond was still there. Still pulling. Still aching.

Even now, with tears streaming down my face and my heart in pieces, I could feel him. The warmth of his presence. The shape of his soul, just on the other side of the pack house.

He was close and he wasn’t mine.

Mate, my wolf keened. Mate, mate, mate.

She didn’t understand. She couldn’t understand. All she knew was that the other half of her soul was near, and she couldn’t reach him. The mark on his neck was a barrier she couldn’t cross, a wall she couldn’t break through.

But she kept trying. She kept pulling. I wrapped my arms around myself and rocked back and forth, trying to soothe her. Trying to soothe myself. It didn’t work. Nothing worked.

You were supposed to wait, I thought, even though it wasn’t fair. Even though I’d been the one to leave. I waited for you. Every single day, I waited.

A knock on the door made me jolt.

“Amara?” Maya’s voice, muffled through the wood. “Are you okay? Do you need me to come in?”

I opened my mouth to say yes, yes, please, come in, hold me together but before I could speak, another voice cut through.

“I’ll handle it.”

My blood turned to ice.

Valerie.

There was a brief exchange, Maya’s protest, sharp and angry, and Valerie’s response, too quiet for me to hear. Then footsteps retreating and then the bathroom door opened.

I hadn’t locked it properly. In my haste, in my grief, I’d just pulled it shut. And now Valerie stood in the doorway, silhouetted against the dim light of the library, looking down at me like I was something she’d scraped off her shoe.

She stepped inside and closed the door behind her. The bathroom was small. Too small for two people. Too small for the fury radiating off her in waves.

“Get up,” she said.

I didn’t move.

“I said get up.”

Something in her voice made my wolf bristle. Not fear, never fear but a warning. Danger, my wolf whispered. She’s dangerous.

Slowly, I pushed myself to my feet. My legs were unsteady, my face was tear-stained, and I knew I looked exactly as pathetic as I felt.

But I met Valerie’s eyes anyway.

“Congratulations,” she said, her voice flat. “You put on quite a show out there. The wounded doe. The tragic heroine, returning home to find her true love stolen.” She tilted her head. “It was almost convincing.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t.” Valerie stepped closer. The air between us crackled with tension. “Don’t insult my intelligence. I saw the way you looked at him. I saw the way he looked at you.” Her eyes narrowed. “And I felt the bond.”

My heart stopped.

“I know you’re his mate,” she said coldly.

The words hung in the air, heavy and damning.

I opened my mouth. Closed it. What was there to say? She was right. The bond was real, and she knew it. Every wolf in that room had probably felt it the moment our eyes met.

Valerie smiled. It was not a nice smile.

“You think I didn’t know?” She laughed, soft and bitter. “I’ve known about you since the day we got together. He told me. Eventually.” Her jaw tightened. “After I had to drag it out of him.”

He told her. The thought made my stomach turn. He’d sat with this woman, this stranger, and talked about me? About us?

“But here’s the thing, Amara.” Valerie stepped closer. Close enough that I could smell her perfume, something floral and expensive and entirely wrong. “He chose me.”

She lifted her chin, showing off the mark. Two small scars, faded but permanent. A brand that said mine.

“And he didn’t choose you.”

The words were knives. Each one slid between my ribs and twisted.

“I’m not here to fight you,” I said, and my voice only shook a little. “I came home to see my family. That’s all.”

“Liar.” Valerie’s eyes flashed. “You came home for him. And now you’ve seen him. You’ve seen us. So here’s what’s going to happen.” She pointed a finger at my chest, sharp as a claw. “You’re going to stay away from him. You’re not going to talk to him. You’re not going to look at him. You’re going to pretend he doesn’t exist.”

“And if I don’t?”

Something dark flickered across Valerie’s face. “Then I’ll make your life very, very difficult. And trust me, I have the power to do that. Your parents are pack. Your mother’s healing circle? I can make sure she’s ostracized. Your father’s workshop? I can make sure his contracts dry up.” She smiled again. “You’re not the only one who can play the long game, Doctor.”

My blood ran cold. She meant it. Every word.

“You’re threatening my family,” I said slowly.

“I’m protecting what’s mine.” Valerie stepped back, smoothing her dress. The mask was back in place, sweet, charming, harmless. “Stay away from Damon. Or everyone you love will pay the price.”

She reached for the door handle, then paused.

“Oh, and Amara?” She looked over her shoulder, her dark eyes glittering. “Welcome home.”

The door clicked shut behind her. I stood in the empty bathroom, surrounded by the echo of her threats, and felt something inside me harden.

Fear? Yes.

But also something else.

Anger.

My wolf lifted her head. Not whining this time. Growling.

I looked at myself in the mirror. Tear-streaked face. Red-rimmed eyes. A woman who had just been torn apart and threatened in the span of ten minutes.

But I was still standing and Valerie Cross had just made a very dangerous mistake. She’d underestimated me. I washed my face. Fixed my makeup. Took three deep breaths then I opened the bathroom door and walked back into the lion’s den.

Maya was waiting for me, her face pale with worry. “What did she say? What did she do?”

I took Maya’s hand. Squeezed it.

“She declared war,” I said quietly. “And I’m going to win.”