Chapter 3

Before Rex could finish speaking, he grabbed the vase next to him and hurled it at me with force. The shards sliced into my arm, the pain sharp and immediate.

"Julianna, it’s just a torn wedding dress! You went after Buddy, Scarlet’s dog, with a vengeance! You should have respected its owner before you acted. If you dare touch the dog today, what’s to stop you from going after Scarlet next time?"

I couldn’t suppress the fury welling up inside me and shouted at him, my voice trembling with anger. "Do you even understand what this wedding dress means to me?"

He scoffed, his eyes full of disdain. "What meaning could it possibly hold? It was supposed to matter when you wore it to marry me. But now, I don’t want to marry you; I’ll marry someone else. It’s meaningless to you now. To others, you’re just the woman Rex Wallace discarded."

I stared at him numbly, devoid of warmth or emotion. Once, he had been so good to me. For my birthday gift, he would save for months, working late shifts as a Delta in the Crimson Fang Pack just to afford something special. When I had a high fever, he would sit by my bed, cooling me down with a cold compress, his rough hands gentle against my skin. How did things suddenly turn to this lack of love? How did the man who once treated me like his mate now treat me like an Omega he could discard without a second thought?

Numbly, I propped myself up from the floor. Scarlet pretended to help me, but as I raised my hand, she intentionally fell back, crying out as if in distress.

"Alpha Rex, please don’t! I was only trying to help her, why push me away? I don’t mind being pushed, but what about the baby—your child? If she has anger, aim it at me, but please don’t hurt the baby!"

I stared at her in disbelief, only to find myself suddenly yanked by my collar by large, rough hands.

"Julianna! I warned you before. Vent your anger at me, but leave Scarlet alone! She’s too innocent to handle this!"

"It seems you won’t learn your lesson until I teach you today!"

With that, he dragged me to the living room and kicked me hard in the back. I stumbled forward, collapsing on the floor as the pain in my knees intensified. Sweat beaded on my forehead.

"Apologize to Scarlet!" he barked, his Alpha tone reverberating through the room, forcing everyone to cower in submission.

I bit my lip hard, looking up at him defiantly. "What have I done wrong? Why must I apologize? You cheated on me for three years, faked your death to escape, and now you’ve returned with another woman, ruining the wedding dress my grandmother made for me. Why should I apologize?"

I roared in anger, but he raised his hand, ready to slap me. Ailani rushed over, falling to her knees to plead.

"Alpha Rex, you can’t hit her! Julianna did so much for you..."

Before Ailani could finish, Rex cut her off.

"Did for me? Those were just cheap tricks! Everyone knows she was after our family’s wealth! Now that I’m back, there’s no room for her in the Wallace estate!"

He snatched the ruined wedding dress, throwing it in my face with contempt. "Take your filthy things and get out!"

I struggled to lift myself off the floor, clutching the wedding dress my grandmother, a respected elder of the Moonstone Pack, had lovingly crafted for me. Tears fell on the fabric as I moved slowly toward the front door, my heart heavy with the weight of betrayal. The bond between us, once strong and unbreakable, now felt like a fragile thread, frayed and on the verge of snapping.

As I stepped out into the cool night air, my wolf stirred within me, a low growl of pain and defiance echoing in my mind. *He’s a fool,* she whispered, her voice a mix of sorrow and rage. *He’ll regret this.*

But in that moment, all I felt was the ache of a bond breaking, the echoes of a love that had once been everything to me.