Chapter 4

Liora POV:

Kade's face, a mask of annoyance just a second before, shifted to stunned surprise. He hadn't expected this. He had expected a weeping, pleading Omega, not this storm of fury breaking down his door.

Jace and Finn scrambled to their feet, the atmosphere in the room instantly charged, thick with tension.

I ignored them. My world had narrowed to the man standing before me. I took a step into the room, then another. The sharp click of my heels on the polished hardwood floor sounded like a war drum in the sudden silence.

With every step, a memory flashed, sharp and cruel.

*The two of us, kissing for the first time by the moonlit waterfall. His vow to always protect me, to cherish the unique scent of 'rainforest' that was mine alone.*

Now, I could smell her on him. The cloyingly sweet scent of vanilla that belonged to Selena clung to his skin, a sickening perfume of his betrayal.

*My first shift, the agony of my bones breaking and reforming. I'd lost control, my wolf wild with pain, and he had been the one to hold me, his own body a shield, his warmth calming the raging beast within me.*

Now, his eyes held nothing but cold calculation. He looked at me as if I were a stranger, a problem to be managed.

*The day he'd given me the silver chain with his family's crest. "This is for my future Luna," he'd said, his voice thick with emotion. "Our names will be written in the pack's history, together."*

Now, my eyes fell on the Alpha-candidate pin on his chest, and I understood. Every promise, every whispered word of love, had been in service to that piece of metal, to securing his power.

The memories didn't just hurt; they fueled me. They were the kindling for the inferno of my rage, forging my broken heart into something hard and sharp.

I stopped directly in front of him, so close I could see my own tear-streaked reflection in his wide, shocked eyes. The weak, pathetic Omega he thought he knew.

His brow furrowed, and he lowered his voice to a harsh whisper. "Liora, don't make a scene. We can talk about this later." He was trying to command me, to reassert his control. It was the Alpha way.

A laugh escaped my lips, a broken, watery sound dripping with scorn. "Later? There is no later, Kade."

*Tear him apart! Make him pay for his lies!* Lyra's rage was a perfect mirror of my own.

I raised my hand. He flinched slightly, expecting a slap. Jace, behind him, actually let out a small, relieved sigh, as if to say, *See? Predictable.*

But I didn't strike him.

Instead, I gently cupped his cheek, my touch as soft as a lover's caress. He froze, his expression turning to one of confusion. He thought this was me breaking, that I was about to beg.

My fingers traced the line of his jaw, a path they knew so well. But then they drifted lower, coming to rest on the pulse fluttering in his throat. I applied the slightest pressure, just enough for him to feel it.

My eyes, when they met his, were no longer filled with tears. They were as cold and sharp as chips of ice.

"I came here to get back what's mine," I said, my voice dropping to a deadly whisper. "And then, to cut you out of my life like the cancer you are."