Chapter 3

I fought back, but my strength was nothing against theirs.

Two massive Beta guards pinned me to the table, locking my arms and legs down.

The icy metal of the surgical tools grazed my bare skin.

I could feel the baby inside me fluttering frantically against my womb, as if silently begging me to save it.

"Kael, please, don't do this," I sobbed, tears blinding me as I begged the man who had once promised me the world. "He's your baby too. Don't hurt him!"

He stood outside the operating room, his back to me, stiff and unyielding. "Do it."

The scalpel hovered over my skin, ready to slice.

Then, something snapped inside me. A wave of raw power surged through my veins.

My inner wolf, fueled by pure rage and desperation, roared to life. She ripped through the restraints, breaking free.

I threw off the two Betas and bolted out the door.

"Stop her!" Kael roared behind me.

I didn't look back. I had to escape, had to run as far as I could.

I headed for the Shadow Ravine, the forbidden zone. It was a dumping ground for rogues, a graveyard for outcast wolves.

It was said no one who crossed into it ever came back alive.

I skidded to a halt at the cliff's edge, a bottomless black abyss yawning behind me.

Kael caught up to me, with Lina hot on his heels, putting on a show of fake concern.

"Bella, come back," he barked with a crack of panic in his voice for the first time. "If you jump, the rogues will shred you. And if you go, I'll slaughter your entire pack!"

His eyes were bloodshot, burning with fury as he threatened me with the people I loved most.

I looked at him. A bitter laugh escaped my lips, tears streaming down my face. "Kael, did you ever actually love me?"

I waited, hoping for a yes. Even if he'd only loved me for a second, I'd take it.

He didn't say a word. Lina stepped up, a smug grin plastered on her face, and wrapped her arm around his.

"Oh, Bella, sweetie, stop embarrassing yourself," she said. "Alpha Kael only has eyes for me. He always has. You were just a stand-in because you smelled like me. A quick fix to get him through his rut."

A stand-in. A fix. Every sweet word, every gentle touch, all that love was meant for her. It was all because I smelled like her.

I was nothing but a pathetic, tragic joke.

My heart shattered into a million jagged pieces, leaving me utterly hollow. I pulled out the silver scalpel they'd meant to use to cut open my belly.

With Kael's horrified eyes locked on me, I pressed the blade to the imprint at the nape of my neck.

It was the ultimate claim, the unbreakable bond tying me to him for life, the very anchor of all my misery.

"No!" Kael lunged at me like a madman.

But he was too late. I shoved the blade deep into my neck, dragging it through flesh and muscle until it scraped bone.

Severing a mate imprint was a torture worse than death.

It felt like my very soul was being ripped out of my body, shred by shred.

My inner wolf let out one last, agonizing howl, then went dead silent.

"Here," I choked out, flashing him a broken smile. "You can have your imprint back."

Without a second thought, I stepped backward into the abyss. The wind roared past my ears.

I saw Kael coughing up blood before collapsing as the bond snapped violently.

I saw Lina's face and her victorious smile.

And I saw my unborn baby, the little boy I'd never gotten to hold, dissolve into a golden light, wrapping around me like a warm blanket.

He wasn't a bastard. He carried the legendary pure royal bloodline, a once-in-ten-thousand miracle. And his gift was healing.

I didn't die that day. Deep within the Shadow Ravine, I rose again.