Chapter 3

Before Cain could say a word, Evan walked in through the side door of the command room. He noticed the cracked glass and Cain holding his face, pausing for a moment.

Then his gaze shifted to the silver bullet embedded in the glass. The bullet aimed straight at my forehead with a cold, metallic glint.

"Lucas," he called out in a low voice.

Lucas Reed followed right behind, dressed in a dark shirt. His expression was colder than usual.

He walked over to the silver glass and bent down to inspect the bullet. When his fingertips brushed the edge of the silver glass, he sucked in a sharp breath as a red mark instantly burned into his skin.

"It's stuck too deep," Lucas said calmly, straightening up. "We'll have to replace the whole glass."

Evan stayed silent. He reached out, pressing his fingertips against the crack in the glass right beside the bullet.

The silver glass seared his skin, turning his fingers red, but he didn't flinch. He tried to dig the bullet out, but it didn't move an inch.

His gaze darkened, his cold, gray eyes swirling with chill. He withdrew his hand and turned to Cain, his voice low and rough. "Who fired this bullet?"

Blood was still seeping from Cain's cheek. He slowly lowered his hand from his face, meeting Evan's gaze with his usual smirk, but this time it was colder and more dangerous than ever. "No idea. Maybe one of your men fired by mistake."

The two of them stared at each other for three seconds, the air thick with tension.

Suddenly, Evan spun around and slammed his fist into the silver glass. The impact made the whole panel shake, and I instinctively stepped back, my heart pounding.

With each slam, the silver glass burned his knuckles, blood seeping from his skin, but he kept going until the spiderweb cracks spread further. Only then did he finally stop.

He fixed his gaze on the new crack for a couple of seconds, then turned and walked out. The door slammed shut behind him.

Lucas left right after him, while Cain was stopped at the door by two guards, his voice growing faint.

I stood alone behind the silver glass, with light pouring down from above. I watched as cracks spiderwebbed across the surface, the newest one a result of his relentless punches.

My hands shook uncontrollably. It wasn't until my fingertips made contact with the glass, sensing its icy chill and subtle vibration, that I became aware my legs were trembling, too.

I clenched my fist and slammed it hard against the glass. The first blow sent only a faint tremor through it, so I struck again, twisting my wrist to find the crack and driving my fist along the fracture with all my might.

My fingertips touched the edge of the glass, and a burst of burning pain exploded, like a red-hot iron pressed into my flesh. White and red marks instantly bloomed across the back of my hand, and the acrid scent of scorched skin filled the air.

I didn't stop. Alternating hands, I kept pounding the glass. Blood seeped from my palms and stained the surface, making the cracks look more savage.

With one more hit, the glass would shatter completely.

Suddenly, the door to the Hidden Chamber slammed open, and Cain rushed in.

I had no clue how he got past the code lock and the guards, but suddenly he was right in front of me. His deep amber eyes went straight to my bleeding hands. Then he wrapped his arms around me, holding me tight.

The Mate Bond scent crashed over me, ten times stronger than when the glass separated us. My inner wolf lost control instantly. A wave of heat shot up from the base of my spine, so hot that I couldn't open my eyes.

His chest, his arms, and his breath were all burning hot.

"Let me go," I said.

"No." Cain's answer was one word with no excuses or explanations. His arms only tightened, my blood smearing his clothes. I fought to break free, but he didn't move at all.

Waves of Mate Bond heat crashed over me, each surge stronger than the last. The pain in my hands faded, drowned out by the restless, chaotic emotions tangled up in the bond.

"Cain," I called out.

"I said, no," he replied.

Lucas walked in. His brows knit tight as he saw us. He reached out, trying to pry Cain off me.

As soon as Cain let go of me, he whipped around and smashed his fist into Lucas's shoulder.

Lucas stumbled, slamming hard into the doorframe.

Cain didn't chase after him.

"Get out," Cain growled toward the doorway. "Before I change my mind."

Lucas looked up at me, and I caught the question in his eyes. I shut mine, and he turned and left.

"I knew from the start you were deliberately getting close to me," Cain whispered in my ear. "The moment you stepped into that ball three years ago, I could tell right away."

My breath stopped right away.

"The Montgomeries' daughter," he went on, "in that blue dress, standing at the entrance with your eyes scanning the crowd. You were not like a naive newcomer, but as if you were searching for something specific."

He paused for a moment. "I saw it all, but I never exposed you."

"Why?" My voice was rough and dry, barely squeezed out of my throat.

"Because I was willing, heart and soul," Cain said.

Those words hit me like a ton of bricks.

His arms loosened a bit, his forehead pressed against the top of my head. "You used me, and I knew it. I let you.

"You wanted to infiltrate the Hartleys, so I gave you the chance. You needed an engagement as cover, so I gave you my promise. You thought you were deceiving me, but I was never fooled."

"Then what do you want from me?" I asked.

He didn't answer.

His body suddenly went stiff. "He locked you in here. He set this up while I was away."

The Mate Bond heat turned sharp and wild. His hands gripped my waist so hard that my bones ached, and my breathing grew heavy and chaotic.

"Cain," I called out.

"He touched you," Cain said through gritted teeth.

"Cain, let me explain," I begged.

But he wouldn't listen. At that moment, he was completely mad. His hand reached for my back. The Mate Bond heat made my thoughts a mess in flames. My voice broke as I called his name again.

The crash of the silver bullet shattering the glass echoed through the room, the whole panel bursting apart from the impact.

Evan stood amid the wreckage on the other side, his face cold as ice.

I tore myself away from Cain, crunching over the shattered glass as I bolted straight for Evan.

He threw his coat around me, wrapping me up tight. His hand steadied my shaking shoulders. Blood kept leaking from my palms, seeping right through the inside of his coat. He glanced down at the mess without saying a word.

Cain came over, glass crunching under his boots, and somehow, he had a gun in his hand, pointed right at Evan.

Blood still dripped from the cut on his cheek, and his deep, amber eyes burned with a wildness I'd never seen in him before.

Evan's guards flooded in from both sides. One of them hauled a heavy suppression weapon. The metallic clatter of its locks echoed through the room.

"Cain." Evan's voice came from above me, calm and steady. "Put the gun down."

"Give her back to me," Cain growled.

"She was never yours," Evan shot back.

Cain's finger twitched, and the gun fired again, not at Evan, but at the guard lugging the heavy weapon. The bullet slammed into the guard's shoulder, and he collapsed instantly, the weapon hitting the floor with a thunderous crash.

Cain immediately swung the gun back toward Evan. The two of them were locked in a tense standoff.

I was trapped between them with Evan's grip on my shoulder iron-tight.

The sound of the gun clattering to the floor only registered in my mind a moment later.

First came Cain's muffled groan and then the hard thud of his body hitting the ground. The silver glass shards beneath him crackled softly.

That sound was all I could hear, growing louder and clearer in my head, until everything went black.

*****

When I woke up, I caught the sound of hushed voices outside. It was Evan and Lucas. I kept my eyes closed, listening in silence.

"This was your setup from the start," Lucas said, his voice icier than ever. "The Montgomeries' daughter from that ball three years ago."

"She was the perfect pawn," Evan replied, voice flat. "Cain was drawn to her. He'd never kill her or let her go. He'd lose control over her and let his guard down for her.

"An Alpha shackled by a bond is as good as useless to me."

"So you made sure she got close to Cain," Lucas said.

"I only gave her the chance to get close," Evan said coolly. "Her hatred did the rest. She thought she was using Cain, but every step she took was already within my plan."

I clenched my fingers inside his coat, my nails digging into the scabs on my palms.

My three years of biding the time, getting close, keeping the engagement, and enduring it were all his scheme from beginning to end.

From the very first step I took into that ballroom, I'd already walked straight into his trap.

The door swung open, and Evan walked in. He took a seat by the bed, sitting there in silence, waiting for me to wake up. I slowly opened my eyes and met his gaze head-on.

"You heard everything," he said. It wasn't a question.

"I heard it all," I answered, my voice so steady that it barely sounded like me. "I'm a pawn and a tool, right?"

"Yes." He didn't deny it. "You were the best leverage I had over Cain. The Mate Bond chained him up and made him lose control. He'd do anything for you and make fatal mistakes."

"So these past three years—" I started.

"But," he interrupted, "I feel the Mate Bond with you, too."

I locked eyes with him.

"I knew from the moment I first saw you," he continued, his voice calm.

"You knew," I repeated, hatred boiling up inside me. "But you still made me a piece in your scheme and forced me to get close to your brother, using the Mate Bond as your ticket to the Alpha's power."