Chapter 3

After leaving the banquet hall, I drove to the Alpha's estate on the edge of the forest.

It was the home Killian had prepared for us, our marital home, and the most secure residence in the pack's territory.

The basement housed a silver armory, the garage connected to a private patrol road, and the master bedroom on the top floor had floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the entire pack forest.

Killian had once promised that after the ceremony, this would be our shared home.

I pressed my finger against the biometric scanner of the access system.

[Access Denied.]

I tried again, and it was still denied.

The door was pulled open from the inside by someone else.

Zane, Killian's Beta, stood behind the door.

"Miss Freya."

I did not respond. I just looked past him into the house and realized the entire living room had been completely transformed.

My drafting table had been pushed into a corner and covered with a dust sheet. The sketches for my Luna gown were gone, replaced by a row of medicine bottles, a Healer's file, and a scent diffuser.

Above the fireplace, where the twin-wolf pack totem I'd designed to symbolize our union once hung, was now a watercolor of white irises. I had revised that totem seventeen times. Those were Daisy's favorite flowers.

Zane closed the door. "The Alpha ordered us to make some adjustments to the estate."

"Adjustments?"

"Miss Daisy is moving in tonight. The Healer said her wolf requires a quiet, secure environment."

Two subordinates were carrying my suitcases out of the master bedroom.

One of the suitcases wasn't latched properly, and a strip of moon-white satin I recognized slipped out, dragging across the floor.

That was the fabric I had specially picked out for the first full moon banquet after our wedding.

"Who gave you permission to touch my things?"

"It is the Alpha's order."

Zane softened his tone.

"It's only temporary. Miss Daisy suffered a shock and hasn't been sleeping well. The master bedroom is closest to the guard post, and the scent there is the most soothing."

"Then why has my access clearance been revoked as well?"

"It's frozen," he said, avoiding my gaze. "Temporarily. The Alpha was concerned you're emotionally unstable right now. He worried you might come back and start something with Daisy."

I let out a very short laugh.

So it turned out that in my own Mate's bridal home, I had become the danger they needed to guard against.

Zane picked up a velvet jewelry box from the coffee table.

"The Alpha asked me to pass this on to you."

I did not reach for it.

He opened the lid himself.

Inside lay a bracelet, with scattered crushed diamonds sparsely embedded along the white gold chain.

Expensive and flashy, it looked exactly like a dismissive consolation prize meant to get rid of someone.

But this was the kind of trinket an Alpha gave to a bedwarmer, not his future Luna.

I had seen it three times at the Pack's moon banquets, and every time, the woman wearing it stood behind the Alpha with her head bowed.

Zane lowered his voice. "The Alpha knows you were hurt today. Once Daisy's condition stabilizes, he will personally explain everything to you."

"Where is he now?"

"Accompanying Miss Daisy. She is undergoing an examination by the Healer."

"Being examined while wearing my gown?"

Zane did not answer.

I walked straight toward the corner and ripped the dust sheet off the drafting table. A pair of scissors was still resting on the fabric.

The totem on the Luna cape had not been fully stitched yet. The fringe on the edges was only half done. I had originally planned to wear it tonight to brand our relationship.

Now it was tossed in the corner like garbage.

I grabbed the scissors and slashed right through the remaining fabric.

Zane's expression changed drastically. "The Alpha really loved that design..."

"Then he can remake it himself."

I slammed the scissors onto the table and walked into the study.

Fortunately, the safe was still in its original spot.

The password had not changed. After opening it, I only took the things that belonged to me.

My passport, cash, the property deed for the clothing company, my old design sketches, and those original drawings my mother had forced me to sign with Daisy's name over the years. Finally, the thimble my grandmother left me.

I did not take a single thing Killian had given me.

Zane followed me all the way to the door, as if he felt uneasy.

"Freya, what are you doing?"

"Taking back my own things."

He paused. "Alpha Killian will not allow you to do this."

"That's not your call to make. Tell him to come and stop me himself."

Zane went silent.

He knew very well that Killian was busy playing the savior and would not come.

I shoved the documents into my bag and took one last look around this estate.

My fingerprints were no longer in the access system. The master bedroom no longer belonged to me. Even the wolf totem I had personally designed had been replaced.

What was there left for me to be attached to?

As I reached the door, a guard spoke up in a low voice.

"Should we report this to the Alpha?"

Zane's voice was even lower. "Report what? The Alpha definitely knows. She is just throwing a temper tantrum."

"Give her a couple of days. Once the Alpha coaxes her a bit, she'll come back on her own."

I pushed the door open and stepped into the night breeze.

The scent of the forest washed over me. This time, I wouldn't be back.