Chapter 3

With Bree and I left alone, the room fell dead silent, the heavy atmosphere making the howling wind outside sound deafening.

Bree struggled to pull a faded document from under her pillow and handed it to me.

It was an official backup match drafted by the elders three years ago, naming her as Julian's secondary mate.

She said, "Nadia, believe what you want, but I never intended to steal your mate.

"Three years ago, the elders tried to match Julian and me, but he turned them down and chose you. I'll admit I never truly moved on, but I never wanted things to turn out like this.

"I'm asking you for one selfish favor: for the sake of all those years I helped cover up your relationship, forgive me. Last night was the last time, and it won't happen again.

"I'll move out. If you let me, we can still be friends, and Julian stays yours."

She sank back against the pillow, weak and spent, tears streaming down her face.

A wave of utter absurdity hit me. When pain hit a dead end, all that was left was a sick sense of humor.

A harsh sneer curled my lips. "So what, am I supposed to thank you for keeping my relationship alive?"

Bree's lips trembled as she reached for my hand. That was when I caught a glimpse of a silver band on her ring finger.

The metal had a distinct, matte-gray sheen that sent a cold jolt straight through me.

I recognized that ring instantly. After my mother passed, I had mixed a pinch of her ashes into pure silver, forging that simple band with my own hands.

The night Julian and I first sealed our bond, I slipped it onto his finger.

He had held me close and promised, "Nadia, I'm never taking this off. On the day we officially mark each other, I'll slip it onto your finger so your mom can look down from the Moon and know you're mated."

And now, it was sitting on Bree's finger.

My entire body began to shake. "Where did you get that ring?"

Bree shifted her eyes away, unable to utter a word. I snapped, throwing myself at her to tear the ring off her hand.

Bree hit the floor with a sharp scream. Julian crashed the door open; his eyes swept over her, slumped against the bedframe, then locked onto me, cold as winter rock.

"Nadia, have you lost your mind?" he snarled.

I didn't bother looking up. Crouching on the floor, I clutched the ring in my palm, trembling uncontrollably. "Humiliate me all you want, but keep your hands off my mother's things!"

Julian stepped over and looked down at me. Without hesitation, he smacked my hand away, sending the silver ring skittering across the floor with a sharp clatter.

"Enough of this, Nadia. Your mother couldn't survive the rejection; the bond broke, and she broke with it. That's on her, not on anyone else. You've got trauma, fine, but the entire pack doesn't revolve around your sob story. Now apologize to Bree," he barked.

His words sliced through me like a silver blade, striking the deepest, most raw wound in my heart.

I swallowed the pain in my chest, my eyes flashing with absolute conviction. "Not a chance."

Julian let out a cold laugh, picked up the ring, and turned sharply toward the weapons forge in the heart of the pack territory.

Panic seized me, and I sprinted after him. That facility housed the forge used to craft the pack's silver weapons, a place every werewolf feared down to their bones, somewhere the guards avoided if they could.

The blast furnace doors creaked open, throwing out a wall of scorching heat. Julian marched straight up to the fiery pit with the ring.

"Refusing to apologize? Fine. I hope you can live with the consequences," he said.

He was terrifyingly composed, as if he had planned this punishment all along.

I threw myself forward, but two guards grabbed my arms, pinning me in place.

"No. Stop! Julian, I'm sorry!" I screamed.

My cries fell on deaf ears. Through the raging flames of the furnace, I watched the silver band warp, melt, and dissolve into nothingness.