Chapter 3

Three days passed in that damp cell. I was fed, but only when Martha could sneak a tray past the guards. The dampness was seeping into my bones, making my joints ache.

I spent the time meditating, trying to reach the wolf inside me. She was usually a quiet presence, a shadow in the back of my mind. But now, she was pacing. She was agitated.

*He is leaving,* she whispered to me on the morning of the fourth day.

I scrambled to the small, barred window that looked out onto the driveway.

A convoy of SUVs was idling in the driveway. Servants were loading suitcases-Elena's suitcases.

The door to my room unlocked. It wasn't Theo. It was the Pack Doctor, a weaselly man named Dr. Evans who had always been too eager to please the highest bidder.

"The Alpha requested I check on you before he departs," Dr. Evans said, not meeting my eyes.

"Departs?" I stood up, ignoring the dizziness that swayed me. "Where is he going?"

"Miss Elena... she has a condition," the doctor lied smoothly. I could smell the deception on him; it smelled like sour milk. "The baby is in a breech position. Very dangerous. She requires surgery at the human hospital in the city. It is the best facility in the state."

"That hospital is four hours away," I said. "And my due date is in two weeks."

"You are perfectly healthy, Luna Aria," he said dismissively. "The Alpha will return in a few days."

I pushed past him. I had to stop him.

I ran through the hallways, my bare feet slapping against the cold tile. I burst out the front door just as Theo was getting into the driver's seat of the lead car.

"Theo!" I screamed.

He froze, one foot inside the car. He looked back at me. I must have looked terrible-my hair matted, my dress wrinkled, dark circles under my eyes.

"Aria?" He stepped back out. "What are you doing out here?"

"You're leaving?" I walked down the steps, ignoring the stares of his warriors. "You're leaving your Mate weeks before she gives birth? To drive your ex-girlfriend to the city?"

"It's an emergency," Theo said, but his eyes darted away. "Elena needs special care."

"I need you!" I cried out. The desperation was raw. "My wolf is weak, Theo. The bond... it's hurting me. If you leave the territory, the distance will weaken me further. You know the laws of the Mate Bond. An Alpha must be near his pregnant Mate."

It was biology. The father's presence strengthened the mother and the pup. His absence left us vulnerable.

Theo looked at me, and for a second, I saw a flicker of the man I fell in love with. I saw the conflict. His hand twitched, reaching toward me. The Mate Bond was pulling at him, screaming at him to stay, to protect what was his.

"Theo?" Elena's voice drifted from inside the car. She sounded pained. "Oh god, it hurts... Theo, please..."

*The chemical scent of vanilla wafted from the open car door, hitting Theo like a drug.* The conflict in his eyes vanished, replaced by a glassy, compliant mask of duty.

"She needs me more right now, Aria," he said. "You are strong. You always have been."

He turned his back on me.

"If you get in that car," I said, my voice trembling but loud, "don't bother coming back."

He paused, his hand on the door. He didn't look at me. He got in.

The engine roared to life.

I stood there, shivering in the morning breeze, as the convoy pulled away. I focused on the invisible thread that connected our souls. As the distance between us grew, I felt the thread stretch. It grew thinner and thinner.

Usually, this would cause panic. But as I watched his taillights disappear around the bend, I didn't feel panic.

I felt the snap.

It wasn't a full rejection-we hadn't spoken the words. But emotionally, the connection severed. The warmth that usually flowed from him to me was gone.

I was truly alone.

I turned back to the house. The servants were looking at me with a mix of pity and contempt. An abandoned Mate was a bad omen.

"Get back to your room," Theo's mother, the former Luna, stepped out onto the porch. She was a tall, severe woman with silver hair and eyes like flint. She had never liked me. *She considered my quiet wolf a genetic defect.*

"I am going to the kitchen," I said. "I am hungry."

"You are going to your room," she spat. "And you will stay there. We have tolerated your jealousy long enough. Now that my son is gone, I will not have you roaming around causing trouble."

She signaled to two guards. "Escort her."

They grabbed my arms.

"Don't touch me!" I snarled.

But I was weak. The stress, the lack of food, and the distance from my Mate had drained my energy. They dragged me back to the servant's quarters and threw me in.

This time, I heard the heavy slide of a deadbolt.