Fredrik’s voice lashed across the room like a cracking whip, carrying the pressure of an Alpha’s command.
"Enough! Stop this performance. Zora is sof-hearted person. The sight of those ugly scars on your body frightened her. She has been waking from nightmares every night."
"You enjoy acting so much? Then leave this territory and stop terrifying her."
He was waiting for me to break. Waiting for me to lower myself, to beg him with my own voice.
I looked at his face, twisted by anger, his aura heavy with dominance, and felt nothing at all. My heart was still, like a lake long gone cold.
I did not argue or even cry.
"I will leave now."
I picked up my suitcase and walked past him.
Fredrik’s eyes followed my back. When he saw me open the storage room door without a single ripple of emotion, his jaw tightened so hard the sound of his teeth grinding echoed faintly.
He chased after me and tore the suitcase from my grasp.
"You really think I will not touch you, Caylin?"
"Let us see which pack in this entire city would dare shelter you once you step outside that gate."
He lifted the suitcase high and smashed it onto the ground.
The impact split a corner apart. Something rolled out and slid across the floor.
An emerald brooch, glowing faintly under the light, set with diamonds that shimmered like captured moonlight.
The heirloom of the Rydell bloodline, given to me by Dante.
I bent to retrieve it, but a pale hand reached it first.
Zora’s eyes gleamed as she lifted it. "This is beautiful. Fredrik, I love it. May I wear it?"
She had already fastened it onto her chest before finishing her words.
That brooch was the only thing in this world that truly belonged to me.
Without hesitation, I reached out, my voice sharp and cold. "I have given up everything else. Not this. Give it back to me."
Zora flinched like a frightened rabbit and hid in Fredrik’s arms.
He pulled her close, a surge of Alpha fury rising from him.
"The jade bracelet you could give away. The ruby earrings you handed over without a word. But this useless item is suddenly forbidden? Zora likes it. Give it to her."
I parted my lips to refuse, but Zora’s gaze flickered. She unclasped the brooch.
"It is alright, Caylin. Here, I will return it."
Her eyes reddened instantly.
"You may make things difficult for me if you wish. Just please stop placing Fredrik in such a hard position."
"You have always loved wealth above all else, right? I will give you everything I own. I am not like you. All I want is Fredrik’s heart."
Tears filled her eyes, her face full of devotion and sincerity. As if I were truly nothing more than a greedy and shameless woman.
She extended the brooch toward me. Then her fingers loosened.
It fell onto the marble floor and shattered into pieces. Every drop of blood in my body turned cold.
Zora covered her mouth.
"Oh no, you did not catch it. What a pity. It was such fine emerald."
I stared at the broken fragments scattered across the ground, and the pain tore through my chest like claws ripping flesh.
I couldn’t hold back any longer. My hand rose and struck her across the face.
"Ah!"
She cried out and fell into Fredrik’s arms.
The next moment, a much harsher blow struck my cheek, burning like fire.
"You are seeking death, Caylin."
My vision darkened. My body lost balance and fell into the freezing pool beside us.
Zora’s cry pierced through the air.
"It hurts. It hurts so much, Fredrik."
He held her tightly. He watched me struggle and gasp in the icy water, and the only thing in his eyes was anger.
Edgar rushed over, his face turning pale.
"She cannot swim."
Fredrik stood at the edge of the pool, his voice carrying the weight of an Alpha decree.
"Anyone who helps her can leave this pack with her."
Freezing water rushed into my nose and mouth. Through the shifting surface, I saw Fredrik lower his head to Zora’s swollen cheek, gently blowing on it, his expression filled with care and pain.
Then he lifted her into his arms and carried her inside.
He didn’t look back. Not even once.
Strangely, my heart no longer ached. I only felt tired. Tired, and finished.
In the end, Edgar could not endure it. He ordered someone to pull me out.
I knelt beside the pool, coughing out icy water, my whole body trembling as if my bones were breaking apart.
"Let me take you to the healer."
I tightened the cloth around my shoulders, my teeth shaking. "Thank you, Edgar. I am fine."
I gathered my scattered belongings and limped toward the gate. "From now on, you don’t need to serve me, because I am no longer a future Luna of this pack."
Edgar hurried after me, panic in his voice. "Where will you go, Lady?"
"Anywhere. As long as it is far from him, anywhere will do."
The old butler stopped moving. In the cold wind, a heavy sigh escaped him.
The gates of the manor closed slowly behind me.
I stepped into the howling wind, my body trembling, but I did not turn back. Not toward that golden cage where I had lived for five winters and been trapped for five more.
My feet sank into the snow. I did not know how long I had been walking when my crystal communicator lit up.
A message from Dante.
[My Luna, I arrived early. Twenty minutes away. Are you ready?]
Snow fell heavily, and the wind cut into me like sharp blades.
I kept moving, shaking so badly I could barely control my body. My legs grew numb, each step like walking on blades.
Just as my sight blurred and my knees began to give way, a carriage rushed toward me from the opposite direction.
The tires screeched as it stopped just inches away.
The door opened.
"Caylin?"
A man jumped out and ran toward me, ignoring the storm.
He caught me as I collapsed. When he saw my soaked body, my skin pale with cold, his eyes turned red with fury.
He removed his coat and wrapped it around me, shielding me from the cold completely.
"Was it that beast Graywolf? Did he do this to you?"
His voice trembled with rage and pain. "I will tear apart anyone who dared harm you."
I leaned weakly against his chest, my face numb.
"I am sorry. The brooch you gave me. I couldn’t protect it. Zora destroyed it."
The image of the shattered heirloom made the guilt unbearable.
"It’s only an object. No matter its value, it is nothing compared to you. If you liked it, I will have another made."
Dante lifted me into his arms and placed me gently in the back seat.
He climbed in beside me, ordered the driver to raise the heat, then pulled me close. He removed my wet shoes and pressed my frozen feet between his warm hands.
"Don’t cry, sweetheart. I do not want my bride to arrive at her own ceremony with swollen eyes."
Only then did I realize tears had been falling.
I raised my hand to wipe them away, then suddenly froze.
My eyes widened. I pushed myself upright, nearly hitting the roof of the car.
I stared at him, whole, strong, completely unharmed.
"You were supposed to be weak and unable to move."
The black vehicle sped toward the airport, disappearing into the storm.
Meanwhile, inside the Graywolf manor, the air had turned heavy and suffocating.
Fredrik sat on the sofa, staring at the falling snow, his expression cold as stone.
His grip tightened around his crystal communicator until it creaked. At last, he typed a message and sent it.
[Had enough? Then come back inside. Remember this. There will not be a second chance.]
He waited. Keep waited. Until the sky darkened, but still no reply. Not even a sign of me at the gate.
He tore off his tie and threw the cup of tea offered by a servant onto the floor.
The clock showed eight in the evening.
It had been nearly four hours since he cast me into that frozen pool.
