جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 8

Thea's POVHearing what I said, the innocent look on Ryder Jones' face froze."Thea Thornton, so now, you don't even believe your own brother or Talia, the person you trust the most? Maybe you should go to the Moon Goddess Temple to cleanse your soul. If you can't even trust your own family, how am I supposed to prove my innocence?"His golden eyes darkened like storm clouds before the rain. "If we don't even have the most basic trust between us, then maybe we really should dissolve our mate bond."Ryder didn't take my words seriously. He thought I was just throwing a tantrum. After all, everyone in the pack knew how much I loved him.I looked at him quietly, at the face I'd loved for five years. I asked softly, "Ryder, do you remember what today is?"He froze, his eyes flickering with uncertainty.I hadn't expected him to know either. I laughed quietly. "Today's my birthday and also our fifth anniversary since we became mates."Ryder's expression shifted. Just as he opened his

Thea's POVBefore I could finish speaking, Talia grabbed the glass of iced water from the table and hurled it at me. Freezing water splashed across my face and soaked into my clothes. It chilled my heart even more."Wake up, Thea! The one who was abandoned is you, not Vera!"As Vera's muffled sobs filled the room, Talia furiously grabbed my arm and dragged me into a room upstairs.I knew the room well. It was a laboratory Ryder had built especially for me as a place where I could work on my potions. Knowing how often I forgot to eat while working, he would personally bring me meals cooked exactly the way I liked. And he knew I was afraid of the dark, so he lined the walls with glowing moonstones…All those little acts of tenderness became part of our daily life. For a long time, I mistook them for love.But now, my laboratory was nothing but a prison, a hellhole used to confine me. Everything we had shared before had been completely erased."He only ever loved Vera as his fate

Third-Person POVRyder picked up the medical report with trembling hands. The moment he read the contents of the report, all the color drained from his face."Thea Thornton. Two weeks with pup. No sign of fetal life."He stared at the words, feeling a chill shoot up his spine all the way to his scalp. He nearly lost his footing. "She was… with pup? Then, the blood on the floor…"Zane stepped closer. The instant he read the report, his face turned just as pale.Hearing that, Talia froze. Her gaze dropped to the basement floor, where a large pool of dark red blood had yet to dry completely. Her lips trembled uncontrollably. She was the one who locked Thea in that basement. She was the one who killed an innocent unborn pup. And the person she had hurt wasn't just her best friend. Thea was also her mate's sister."I… I just panicked… The pup was missing. Who wouldn't panic? It's Thea's fault. Why didn't she tell us she was with pup?"Looking at the two grief-stricken wolves, Talia

Third-Person POVAt last, Vera revealed her true colors, dropping the kind, understanding act. Cradling her pup, she looked down at Talia. "You're just a stray wolf abandoned in the wilderness with no known bloodline. Besides an idiot like Thea who was willing to be your friend, who else would ever want anything to do with you?"The words were a huge blow to Talia. Her eyes turned crimson as she shifted into her wolf and charged at Vera once again.Zane, who was standing behind her, suddenly drew a bone dagger coated with a paralytic and plunged it into the back of Talia's shoulder. "Talia, I'm sorry. I can't let you hurt Vera and the pup."As darkness slowly swallowed her, Talia finally understood what Thea had meant all those times. Thea once told her, "Zane inherited too much of our dad's cowardice and fickleness. Talia, you must not act too emotionally."She finally understood why Thea opposed her rushing into forming a mate bond with Zane. Even on the night before the bondi