Selena’s POV
Lydia leaned in closer to Cole, her voice dropping. “But Cole… what if Selena finds out? Aren’t you worried about what she might do?”
Cole chuckled coldly and smugly. “Selena? Please. She’s nothing without me. She cut her pack off for me, and now she has no one. She’s powerless. If she dares misbehave, I’ll cast her out as a rogue where she belongs.”
Lydia giggled.
The gift box slipped from my hands, landing on the floor quietly, but neither of them noticed as they were moaning into each other’s mouths.
Lydia was there the night Nora had her first heart attack.
She stayed up with me at the healer’s clinic, brought me food when I forgot to eat. She told me Nora was the light in her life.
A bitter laugh caught in my throat as I remembered her words. “Nora lives on inside me.”
She hadn’t been lying.
Tears blurred my vision as I stumbled back, struggling to breathe. My wolf whimpered in agony. My world had shattered in a single moment.
I picked up the gift from the floor, tears running down my face as I walked out without making any sound.
By the time I reached the living room, my legs gave out, and I collapsed on the couch as I began sobbing.
The tears wouldn’t stop. My chest hurt, and my throat burned. That was when my phone buzzed.
It was a picture on Instagram, posted by Lydia.
It was a photo of Lydia smiling beside a man as his hand gently cradled her belly.
His face wasn’t visible, but I recognized that watch instantly. I had gotten it for Cole at our last year’s mating anniversary.
His hand cradled her belly affectionately. “Our little pup (kiss emoji)”
I stared at the screen until my eyes blurred.
That was my mate, and that was my daughter’s heart, beating inside my best friend’s chest, my mate’s mistress.
I smashed the gift box against the wall and screamed until my throat burned. My wolf howled in pain, thrashing inside me.
My stomach twisted. I ran to the bathroom and threw up until my throat stung.
I wanted to claw my skin off. I sat on the cold tile, shaking as tears ran down my face.
This was my fault. I should have read the contract. I should have checked what I was signing, but I had trusted Cole blindly.
My hands shook as I clenched my fists tightly.
Cole had called me a nobody. He thought I had nobody.
But he was so wrong.
I reached for my phone and dialed a number I swore never to call again.
“Hello, Father. I’m ready to marry whoever you want me to. Come and pick me up in five days, after I finalize my divorce.” I said, trying to keep my voice from shaking.
“Divorce? I thought you were hopelessly in love with Alpha Cole Hale. Why the sudden change of heart?”
“He killed my daughter,” I replied. “And I want him to pay.”
My father’s voice sharpened. “I warned you, Cole was never worthy of you. He doesn’t deserve the dirt under your feet.”
I released a bitter laugh. “I know that now. And he’ll know it too, soon enough.”
My father’s tone hardened. “Then come home, Selena. Your brothers have been waiting. And Cole will learn what it means to make an enemy of the Ashfords.”
A tear slipped down my cheek at the thought of my five brothers. They were overprotective, loud, and violent. But they had always loved me, and I had thrown them all away for Cole.
They warned me. All five of them.
They told me he was scum, and I screamed at them to shut up.
I slammed the door in my father’s face the day I chose Cole.
“Tell them I’m coming home,” I whispered.
I hung up and looked around the house one last time.
In five days, I would be gone, but I will make Cole pay.
He took my daughter’s heart to save his mistress. Now I’ll rip out his world, piece by piece. That wasn’t just a threat. It was a mother’s vow.
Cole would finally understand what happened when you crossed an Ashford.
Because my father wasn’t just any man. He was Magnus Ashford, the Alpha of the Silvercrest Pack, the most powerful pack in America.
