Third Person's POV
Caleb’s head snapped sharply to the side the instant Aria’s palm struck his cheek.
The crack of the slap rang through the cramped apartment like a whip across stone. A red mark immediately bloomed on his skin.
Aria stood before him trembling.
Her gray wolf eyes glowed faintly, the color deepened by fury and grief. Tears streamed down her face, and her lips—still bruised from the force of his kiss—quivered as she fought to steady her breathing.
For several long seconds, she said nothing.
She had to swallow the Wolfhart raging inside her chest before she could speak. Her wolf clawed beneath her skin, demanding blood, demanding justice.
What Caleb had done went far beyond cruelty.
It was humiliation.
Not only for her—but for her brother as well.
Her gaze flickered toward Marcus.
He was slumped against the floor, shoulders bowed, his head hanging low as if the weight of the world had finally crushed him. The proud young wolf who once carried himself with quiet confidence now looked utterly broken.
Caleb’s relentless torment had achieved exactly what it was meant to do.
And Aria had finally reached her limit.
“Get out.”
The words came out as a low growl, vibrating with the power of her wolf.
Caleb slowly turned his head back toward her.
His golden eyes locked onto the disgust burning in hers.
For a fraction of a second, something in his expression faltered.
Seeing that much hatred directed toward him clearly hurt.
But Aria no longer cared.
“Leave, Caleb Lutherford,” she said coldly, her voice shaking with fury. “You’ve already done more than enough damage. Tomorrow I will petition the Pack Council for a restraining decree. What you did today crossed every sacred boundary the Moon Goddess placed between mates.”
She pointed toward the door.
“So get out of my home.”
Caleb’s jaw tightened as he stepped closer.
His Alpha aura rolled outward like an invisible storm, pressing heavily against the room.
“I’ll give you two days,” he said in a low, dangerous voice. “Two days to think carefully.”
His eyes darkened.
“I am prepared to withdraw the charges. Clara and my mother are willing to settle this quietly before the council.”
He paused before revealing the price.
“But your brother must take responsibility. He will marry my sister. That is the only way to restore her honor before the pack.”
Then his gaze softened slightly as it fell on Aria.
“And you,” he continued quietly, “will return to me. Come back to your Alpha… and to your mate.”
For a moment Aria simply stared at him.
Then she laughed.
It was hollow. Bitter.
“Not happening.”
Her voice carried no hesitation.
“Neither my brother nor I will accept your disgusting offer. Marcus would never bind himself to a manipulative viper like your sister.”
Caleb’s temper flared instantly.
But Aria raised her hand sharply before he could speak.
“Don’t bother,” she cut him off.
“And as for me?” she added with icy calm. “I would rather walk this earth mate-less for the rest of my life than return to a man like you.”
Her voice dropped into a deadly whisper.
“Now walk out of this apartment before I throw you out myself.”
She pointed toward the door again.
“Tomorrow the council will receive my petition.”
Caleb’s eyes darkened dangerously.
“You’ll regret this,” he said coldly. “Both you and your brother will regret challenging your Alpha.”
Aria didn’t flinch.
“Do your worst, Mr. Lutherford.”
The two of them stared at each other in silence for several long seconds.
Then Caleb clenched his teeth and turned sharply toward the door.
His warriors followed him immediately, leaving Marcus collapsed on the floor.
The moment Caleb disappeared down the hallway, Aria rushed to her brother’s side.
---
Outside the building, Caleb stood rigid beneath the pale evening moon.
Every instinct within him screamed for him to turn around—to run back upstairs, tear down the door, and drag Aria back into his arms.
His wolf howled furiously inside his mind.
The distance between them felt wrong.
Unnatural.
Life without her had become unbearable.
The Alpha mansion that once felt alive now stood silent and hollow. Aria had been the one who filled its halls with warmth. Her scent had lingered in every room.
Without it, the place felt like a tomb.
And now everything was gone.
The hatred he had seen in her eyes earlier made one thing painfully clear.
He had already lost her.
Deep down Caleb knew that no matter what he did, winning back her love might be impossible.
But that didn’t mean he was willing to let her go.
He was selfish enough to admit that.
If forcing her to return was the only option left…
Then so be it.
He would break her resistance first.
Then he would mend the damage afterward.
Caleb trusted his sister completely.
To him, Clara was the victim.
And he would stop at nothing to punish the man who had hurt her.
Even if that meant turning the lives of those siblings into a living nightmare.
Anyone who made his sister cry deserved to suffer.
---
Back inside the apartment, Aria stayed beside Marcus for hours until his breathing finally steadied.
The next morning she sent a formal petition to the Pack Council, requesting a restraining decree against Caleb.
When the notice reached him later that day, fury burned through him like wildfire.
No one had the right to keep him away from the woman he loved.
But despite his rage, Caleb chose not to react immediately.
Instead, he waited.
He wanted Aria to break that decree herself.
To return to him willingly.
Weeks passed slowly.
Marcus’s mental state continued to deteriorate.
Nightmares haunted him almost every night. Sometimes he woke screaming, drenched in sweat. During the day he often sat silently for hours, staring into nothingness as if the world around him had faded away.
Aria brought a healer—an elder wolf skilled in mending wounded minds.
Marcus refused to speak to him.
Still, Aria refused to give up.
She fought tirelessly—for Marcus’s recovery and for justice.
But the situation only worsened.
During one of the council hearings, it became painfully clear that Marcus’s chances of winning the case were nearly nonexistent.
They had no evidence strong enough to disprove Clara’s accusations.
Aria’s hatred toward Caleb deepened even further when she discovered what he had done next.
He had bribed their advocate before the council.
A heavy pouch of gold had been enough to make the man abandon Marcus’s defense entirely.
Caleb’s influence and Alpha power were being used in the dirtiest possible ways.
He was determined to crush them.
But Aria refused to surrender.
She would fight until her last breath.
---
“Marcus?” she called softly one evening. “Where are you? Dinner is ready.”
Silence filled the apartment.
Her brows knit together.
Normally Marcus would at least answer.
“Marcus?” she called again as she walked toward his room.
Still nothing.
A strange unease crept into her chest.
She pushed the door open.
And the air vanished from her lungs.
Marcus lay on the floor.
Dark blood pooled beneath him, spreading across the wooden boards from deep wounds carved into both of his wrists.
“Marcus!”
Her scream shattered the silence.
She dropped to her knees beside him, tears flooding down her face.
“My brother… what have you done?” she sobbed, pressing trembling hands against his arms, desperately trying to stop the bleeding. “Stay with me… please stay with me.”
Her cries echoed down the hallway.
A neighbor rushed in after hearing the commotion.
Together they carried Marcus outside and hurried toward the nearest healers’ hall.
The healers rushed him immediately into the inner chamber.
Aria collapsed onto a bench outside, uncontrollable sobs shaking her body.
Her white blouse was soaked with Marcus’s blood.
Her trembling hands were stained crimson.
“You cannot leave me,” she whispered again and again. “Please don’t leave me…”
Hours crawled by.
She paced outside the chamber doors, whispering desperate prayers to the Moon Goddess.
Finally, after nearly two hours, a healer stepped out.
Aria rushed toward him immediately.
His expression was grim.
“Your brother remains in critical condition,” he said quietly. “We stopped the bleeding… but his spirit is fading. It is as though he has lost the will to live.”
Aria felt her knees weaken.
“The next twenty-four hours will be crucial,” the healer continued gently. “All you can do now… is pray.”
He walked away.
Aria remained standing there in silence.
That night she did not sleep.
She sat alone in the corridor, staring at the door of Marcus’s chamber while quiet tears slipped down her cheeks.
No one came to comfort her.
She faced everything alone.
The hours passed slowly.
And then, twenty-four hours later, the news she feared finally arrived.
The healer approached her quietly.
“I am very sorry, Miss Sinclair,” he said gently.
“Your brother has fallen into a coma.”
