Chapter 4

MORRANA

Caius rushed inside like a madman, throwing the trailer door against the wall so hard that the thin frame shuddered. He crossed the room and grabbed me from the sofa, sending a sharp jolt through my injured side as I instinctively protected the fresh stitches beneath my clothes.

He pinned me against the trailer wall.

"Where the fuck is he?"

Caius's face was inches from mine, his breath hot and ragged as his hands tightened around my shoulders.

"Did you run out to meet that little lover of yours?"

I struggled to breathe beneath the weight of his anger. The look in his eyes was worse than pain... Jealousy.

"How many have touched you?" he demanded. "That fucking dishwasher? Those bastards in the alley?"

I swallowed hard and forced the words out through my dry throat.

"None of them touched me like that."

Something changed in his expression; for a brief second, I thought the fury had cracked, but the mask returned almost immediately.

His fingers shifted against my neck as he felt the frantic pulse underneath my skin.

"A mate's touch speeds up healing," he murmured, his voice quieter now. "The bed's big enough for both of us. You shouldn't be lying here hurting alone."

He reached for my hand and covered it with his, closing his fingers around mine.

"You should know what we are, Morrana." His forehead nearly touched mine. "What we are."

For a heartbeat, I wanted to lean into that warmth and believe the bond could somehow fix the shattered pieces of my body.

But then, a sharp, cloying scent cut through the air—sweet, expensive, and painfully familiar.

Cecilia's perfume.

The realization hit me like a physical blow. Skarre let out a low growl deep inside my chest, almost suffocating me.

The warmth turned to ash. With every ounce of strength I had left, I shoved his chest. "Get off me!" I gasped.

I pushed past him and stumbled toward the kitchen sink, my legs trembling beneath my weight as I desperately tried to put some distance between us.

I reached behind the cracked sugar jar and pulled out the pack of cigarettes my mother kept hidden there, slipping one between my fingers without lighting it.

"You smell like her," I said. My voice surprised me. It was calm. Too calm. "It's on your coat. It's on your hands. Maybe it's even on your mouth."

Caius went still.

"Morrana—"

"You made the rules, Caius," I interrupted, turning around to face him. "You're the one who said I can't have anyone else. You're the one who patrols my life like a warden."

I took a step toward him.

"Break up with her. Break up with Cecilia tonight. Do it, or admit that your rules are nothing but a lie to keep me caged."

His jaw clenched so tightly that a muscle ticked in his cheek.

"No," he said flatly.

The single word struck through the air like a blade, cutting somewhere deep within my soul.

"It's a political alliance," he continued. "The pack needs her family's backing. When war comes to this territory, you'll understand why things have to be this way."

I stared at him blankly.

"So that's it?"

I backed down a step, my spine hitting the edge of the sink again.

The desperation I'd been trying so hard to hold back finally slipped through the cracks.

"Then break up with her for a week." My voice barely a whisper. "A day. Or maybe an hour. Just once, come to me without her scent all over you."

Caius said nothing.

The cramped trailer seemed to grow smaller around us as the silence stretched between us. I watched his face, searching for anything that might tell me I'd reached him.

For a moment, I thought I saw regret.

Then, clearly and cruelly, he spoke. "I love her."

The world tilted under my feet, and everything inside me went quiet. The cigarette snapped between my fingers. Tobacco spilled onto the counter, but I barely noticed.

Skarre recoiled inside my mind, and for once, I didn't try to silence her. I simply stood there, staring at the man who had demanded that I belong to him while openly choosing someone else.

I understood then.

He didn't want a mate. He wanted ownership without responsibility.

I let my face go completely cold, wiping away every trace of hurt until I was nothing but a mask of ice.

I looked him dead in the eye. "Get out of my house, Alpha Caius Varro."

He stepped toward me, his hand reaching out. "Morrana, don't do this—"

"I said, get the fuck out."

He lingered for one agonizing second, his possessive gaze sweeping over my bruised face, until he turned and strode out, slamming the door behind him.

The moment the lock clicked, my knees gave out, and I collapsed against the base of the sink, sliding down the cabinets until I was curled on the floor. The tears I'd been holding back finally escaped.

Skarre curled into herself inside my mind, and I let her grieve with me. We stayed there until there was nothing left to say.

Eventually, I forced myself into the bathroom and turned on the shower. I stepped beneath the water, letting it run over my hair and clothes until the scent of Cecilia and the memory of Caius's presence finally faded beneath the clean smell of soap.

When I came out, I wrapped myself in an oversized towel and sat on the closed toilet lid.

I picked up a comb and slowly worked through my tangled hair, trying to focus on the simple movement because thinking about anything else hurt too much.

It was well after midnight when the front door finally opened.

Mom stepped inside, exhaustion written across her face after another day of double shifts. She barely had time to set down her purse before she saw me on the sofa, and her expression changed immediately.

"Oh my God, Morrana."

She hurried over, her eyes moving over the bandages, bruises, and cast.

"What happened to you? Who did this?"

I forced a smile. "I fell."

Her brows drew together.

"At school... I tripped over my boots and went down the stairs."

The lie tasted awful, but I couldn't tell her the truth: that the Alpha's son had turned out to be my fated joke, that he'd threatened to keep me trapped in the territory, or that the man I'd been forced to bond with had just told me he loved another woman.

My mother looked at me for a long moment. Then her shoulders lowered.

"You have to be more careful, sweetie."

She brushed a damp strand of hair away from my forehead.

"Mom." I caught her hand before she could pull away.

"I got acceptance letters."

She looked at me.

"From several werewolf academies outside the territory. I've been looking into jobs too. Waitressing jobs outside the pack pay almost twice what we make here."

I tightened my fingers around hers. "We could start over."

"Please. Let's leave the pack."

For a moment, she simply stared at me. Then she slowly pulled her hand away.

"I'll think about it, sweetie."

She walked toward her bedroom and closed the door.

A few moments later, I heard her sobbing through the thin walls.

I stared at the water-stained ceiling, knowing there was something else I could never tell her—the truth about my father's death.

Caius's father had sent him into a trap and covered up what happened afterward. My mother believed she'd lost her husband to war, but if I told her that the family ruling this territory had deliberately sent him to his death, whatever fragile strength she had left might finally break.

So I carried the truth alone.

I closed my eyes, trying to let the silence of the night numb the ache in my chest.

Deep in the night, the silence shattered, and I snapped awake in the pitch-black room. Before I could even draw a breath, a violent, tearing pain surged from deep within my belly.

"Skarre..."

She was already awake.

"Morrana."

Her voice sounded frightened.

Another wave hit, leaving me trembling against the sofa.

"S-Something is wrong," she whispered, her voice trembling. "Mate... something's wrong."