chapter 2

Catherine came back to the Stormclaw Pack's Alpha Manor with the smell of disinfectant clinging to her clothes. The house was dim, and she didn't bother turning on the lights. She just sank into the couch and sat there in the darkness.

At midnight, headlights cut through the darkness and swept across the living room windows.

The butler opened the front door, and Edward walked in. He flicked on the lights and immediately spotted Katherine sitting there in the silence.

He looked away and started loosening his tie as he headed for the stairs.

"Edward," Catherine called out to him.

He didn't stop walking.

Catherine's fingers curled into tight fists, and her nails dug into her palms. After a long moment, she lifted her head and looked at his retreating back. She forced a smile onto her face.

"Let's break the mate bond."

Edward finally stopped and turned around. His figure was backlit, and his shadow fell over her with an almost crushing weight.

Catherine traced every line of his face with her eyes. This was the man she'd loved for ten years. Ten years of loving him, and all it had earned her was his disgust and a body full of scars.

She couldn't keep holding him back anymore. And honestly, she didn't have much time left anyway.

"You seriously can't go one day without causing problems, can you?" His voice was cold.

He thought she was playing games, playing hard to get.

Catherine stood up and pulled out their mate contract from her purse—the one they'd sworn under the full moon.

Her hand brushed against the bottle of painkillers inside, and she paused for just a second.

Then, she quietly closed her purse tight and set it down on the side table.

She walked over to Edward and held the contract out to him.

Catherine worked to hide everything she felt. "You want Jane as your Luna, don't you? Then swear to the Moon Goddess and reject me. Tear up this contract."

She forced a smile across her face. "I'm setting you free."

If she'd known he loved Jane, she never would have agreed to this bond in the first place.

All of it had been her delusion. Her one-sided love.

Edward took the unbinding agreement from her hand.

Starting this ritual would cause massive pain to both their wolf souls, and it could leave permanent damage.

His tongue pressed against his cheek, and he slapped the contract against her shoulder.

He leaned in close, and his eyes were ice. His Alpha presence crushed down on her lungs and made it hard to breathe. "You want to break our mate bond so you can run straight to your old flame Leon and become Luna of Thornhowl Pack, is that it?"

Catherine froze. Her lips pressed into a thin line, and she spoke quietly. "I never wanted to be Luna of Thornhowl Pack."

Edward didn't say anything. He just stared at her with cold eyes.

Three years ago, Stormclaw Pack had been ambushed by Thornhowl Pack, and his father had taken a silver dagger through the chest on the battlefield. He'd nearly died.

Edward had needed support more than ever, and this woman who claimed to love him had thrown five words at him—"We need to break up"—and then she'd walked away with Leon.

Later, he'd heard the rumors. She and Leon, the Thornhowl Pack Alpha, had been a perfect couple.

And Leon was the one who'd driven that silver blade into his father's chest.

His father had been so good to Katherine.

She was just a woman who'd do anything to get what she wanted. What wouldn't she do?

He didn't know what Catherine had said to her father, but whatever it was had made him force Edward into the mate bond on his deathbed.

"Get out." Edward's eyes were ice-cold.

He turned to leave, but Catherine threw her arms out and blocked his path. "You like Jane, don't you? I'm giving you what you want!"

"Yeah, I like Jane." Edward's gaze bore into her, and his lips curved into something cruel. "So I'm going to announce her as my Luna at the next Harvest Festival. In front of every pack member. I'll make her the rightful Luna of Stormclaw Pack."

His eyes narrowed. "But not now. Stop testing my patience."

The bathroom door slammed. Edward stepped under the shower, and cold water poured down. His jaw was tight, and his hands formed fists.

Catherine slowly sank to her knees. She picked up the crumpled contract from the floor.

Just then, her phone rang. On the other end, her mother Mary was crying.

Her father had been rushed to the Werewolf Alliance Hospital.

Catherine got there as fast as she could, and that was when her mother told her everything. Bloodmoon Pack had been ambushed by their sworn enemies. The financial losses were devastating. Her father had fought to protect their territory and had been critically injured. He was in the ICU now.

Edward's words suddenly came back to her. "So you can run straight to your old flame Leon."

He'd already known. He'd known Bloodmoon Pack was under attack. That was why he thought she'd betray him again without hesitation, that she'd go crawling to another powerful Alpha for protection because she had nowhere else to turn.

In his mind, she'd already sunk this low.