Eliana POV:
The penthouse security system didn't beep when I placed my palm on the scanner. I had coded a backdoor entry for myself years ago, a "Skeleton Key" protocol that bypassed all alarms.
Dustin was so arrogant he hadn't even changed the locks.
I slipped into the hallway. The apartment was quiet. It was midday. Dustin should be at the office.
I moved silently toward the master bedroom. The air here smelled stale, heavy with the musk of mating. It made my stomach turn, but I pushed the nausea down.
I walked to the wall safe behind the painting. It was already open.
My heart stopped.
The safe was empty. Cash, deeds, and my mother's ring—all gone.
"Looking for this?"
I spun around.
Jami was standing in the doorway. She was wearing my silk robe. It hung loose on her frame. Around her neck, dangling on a cheap gold chain, was my mother's sapphire ring.
The blue stone pulsed faintly, reacting to my presence. It didn't belong to her. It was rejecting her.
"Take it off," I said, my voice low.
"Dustin gave it to me," Jami smirked, fingering the stone. "He said it's a family heirloom. Since I'm carrying the family now, it's mine. It helps the baby grow, he said."
"It's a conduit for runic magic, you idiot," I stepped forward. "It will burn you."
"Help!" Jami suddenly screamed. She threw herself backward, crashing into the dresser. "Dustin! She's attacking me with mind magic!"
The bathroom door slammed open. Dustin rushed out, a towel wrapped around his waist, water dripping from his chest.
"Eliana!" he roared.
"She tried to curse the baby!" Jami wailed, clutching the ring.
"I want my mother's ring, Dustin," I said, ignoring her theatrics. "Give it to me, and I leave."
"You leave when I say you leave!" Dustin marched toward me. "You break into my home? You threaten my mate?"
"She is wearing my inheritance!"
"She is the mother of my child!" Dustin grabbed Jami's shoulder to steady her. "The ring stays. It looks better on her anyway."
Jami grinned triumphantly. She yanked the chain. "See? It's mine."
But she pulled too hard. The ancient goblin silver was brittle. The chain snapped. The ring flew from her hand and hit the marble floor.
Crack.
The sound was sickening. The sapphire, which had survived three wars, shattered into three pieces.
I stared at the broken shards. My mother's legacy. My connection to my ancestors. Destroyed by a mistress's clumsiness.
A red haze filled my vision. I didn't think. I moved.
I slapped Jami. It was a solid, open-palmed strike that sent her spinning to the floor.
"You bitch!" Dustin shouted.
He didn't hesitate. He didn't hold back. He shoved me.
He used his full Alpha strength.
I flew backward. My head slammed into the corner of the nightstand.
The nightstand was made of pure silver.
Pain exploded in my skull. It wasn't just the impact; it was the burn. Silver against wolf skin is like acid. I felt my flesh sizzle.
I collapsed to the floor, blood pouring down the side of my face, blinding my left eye.
"Dustin..." I gasped. My healing factor wasn't kicking in. The silver poisoning was blocking it.
Dustin didn't look at me. He stepped over my legs—stepped over his wife of ten years—and knelt beside Jami.
"Are you okay, baby? Did she hurt the pup?" he cooed, checking Jami's cheek, which was merely red.
I lay there, watching my blood soak into the expensive white carpet I had picked out.
He didn't call a healer. He didn't check my pulse.
I reached out with a trembling hand and grabbed the largest shard of the sapphire. It cut my palm, mixing my blood with the stone's magic.
"Get out," Dustin growled, his back to me. "Before I kill you."
I dragged myself up. The room was spinning. I clutched the broken stone to my chest.
The bond didn't just break in that moment. It died. And from its corpse, something cold and terrible was born.
