Chapter 2

Eliana's POV

The next morning, Dustin reached for me across the bed, his hand intending to cup my hip. I flinched away before I could stop myself. It was a small, almost imperceptible movement, but his inner wolf noticed. A low growl of confusion and displeasure rumbled in his chest, a sound I could feel more than hear.

*Is something wrong, my love?* his voice echoed in my mind through our Mind-Link.

I kept my back to him. *Just a bad dream.*

He didn't press. Instead, he nuzzled my neck, his voice turning smooth and persuasive. "I have a surprise for you tonight. Let's go to the cliffside restaurant. The one where we first met." He paused, letting the memory hang in the air between us. "I want to make it a special night."

A cold smile touched my lips. "That sounds perfect," I said, my voice hollow. "I have a surprise for you, too." The melted lump of moonstone was already wrapped in a small, plain box in my purse.

My mind drifted to last week. My birthday. Dustin had forgotten. He'd claimed there was an urgent pack matter, a rogue wolf attack near the northern border that required his immediate attention. He'd been gone all night. Now, I knew exactly which "rogue wolf" he had been "handling."

The bitterness was a physical taste in my mouth.

That evening, as we drove to the restaurant in his sleek black sports car, my eyes caught something on the floor mat of the passenger side. A single, long strand of bleached-blonde hair. Jami's.

I said nothing.

The restaurant was perched on a cliff overlooking the ocean, the waves crashing against the rocks below. It was beautiful, romantic, and the place where he had once promised me the world. It seemed a fitting place to end it.

Halfway through our appetizer, Dustin's brow furrowed. "Damn it," he muttered, tapping his temple. "The Mind-Link network is acting up again. Something about the server farm in the fourth quadrant. I need to make a call to the Gamma. I'll be right back."

It was a lie, of course. There was no server farm. The "Mind-Link network" was a convenient excuse he used for pack business, and now, for his affair.

The moment he was gone, I moved. I walked back to the car, my heels clicking on the pavement. His spare phone, the one he thought I didn't know about, was in the glove compartment. I knew the password: Jami's birthday.

The screen lit up, revealing a string of explicit text messages.

Jami: *Are you with her now? Is it as boring as you say?*

Dustin: *Painfully. I'll be with you soon. Wear the red dress. The one I like.*

A new message popped up as I watched. It was a picture from Jami. She was posing in a mirror, holding up a small, iconic blue box. A Tiffany's box. The caption read: *Can't wait for you to put this on me tonight, Alpha.*

My stomach churned. The physical revulsion was so strong, I felt like I was going to be sick. It wasn't just jealousy; it was my soul, my very wolf, rejecting the defilement of our sacred bond.

When Dustin returned to the table, his face was a mask of placid charm. "All sorted," he said with a smile.

I looked at him, truly looked at him, and saw a stranger. The nausea rose in my throat, hot and acidic.

"Are you alright?" he asked, his brow furrowing with what looked like concern. "You're pale."

"It must be the scallops," I lied, pushing my chair back. "I don't feel well."

I ran to the restroom and emptied the contents of my stomach into the pristine white toilet, my body convulsing with the poison of his betrayal.