Chapter 3 Cracks in the armor

MIRA**

I seriously considered running her over with my car.

"Get away from my car, Delilah."

She didn't move. Instead, she examined her perfectly manicured nails like she had all the time in the world. "We need to talk, sister."

"We're not sisters. We never were."

"True. Sisters don't sleep with each other's husbands." She laughed at her own joke. "Oh wait, I guess some do."

My hands clenched into fists. "What do you want?"

"I want to make sure we understand each other." She pushed off from the car and walked toward me. "You're leaving tonight. You won't contact Kade ever again. You won't tell anyone in the pack what happened. And most importantly, you won't come back."

"Don't worry. I have no intention of staying in this hellhole."

"Good. Because if you do try to cause trouble..." Her eyes flashed yellow as her wolf surfaced. "I'll make your life even more miserable than it already is."

"You've already taken everything from me. What else could you possibly do?"

Delilah smiled slowly. "Oh, Mira. You still don't get it, do you? I didn't take anything from you. None of this was ever yours to begin with."

"What are you talking about?"

"Did you really think it was a coincidence that I showed up here three years ago? That your father just happened to remarry my mother? That I just happened to move into the pack right when you and Kade got married?"

My stomach dropped. "What did you do?"

"I planned it. All of it." She started circling me like a predator. "I knew Kade was my true mate before you ever met him. I felt the bond the moment I turned eighteen. But he was already engaged to you by then. Your father owed his father a debt, and you were the payment."

I shook my head. "You're lying."

"Am I? Ask yourself this, why would an Alpha as powerful as Kade marry someone as weak and powerless as you? Out of love?" She laughed. "Please. It was a business arrangement. Nothing more."

"If you knew he was your mate, why didn't you just tell him?"

"Because I needed him to choose me. I needed you to see that even when he was married to you, even when he'd made vows, he still wanted me more." Her smile turned vicious. "I wanted to break you completely before I took what was mine."

"You're insane."

"No, I'm smart. Do you know how easy it was to manipulate you? To play the loving sister while slowly seducing your husband? You trusted me with everything. Every insecurity, every fear, every weakness. And I used them all against you."

I thought back to all the times Delilah had been there for me. The late-night talks where I'd confided in her about my marriage problems. The way she'd encouraged me to give Kade space when he started becoming distant. The times she'd offered to "talk to him" on my behalf.

She'd been sabotaging me from the beginning.

"Why?" I whispered. "Why go through all this trouble? You could've just told him you were his true mate and been done with it."

"Where's the fun in that?" Delilah tilted her head. "Besides, you needed to be punished."

"Punished? For what?"

"For having everything I didn't. A father who loved you. A pack that accepted you. Do you know what it was like growing up in my pack? My father was a drunk who gambled away everything we had. My mother married your father just to escape poverty. And you... you got to live in luxury while I had nothing."

"That's not my fault!"

"Maybe not. But it felt good to take it all away from you anyway." She stepped closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. "And the best part? Kade doesn't even know I planned this. He thinks our love was destiny. He has no idea I've been manipulating both of you from day one."

I stared at her, seeing her clearly for the first time. This wasn't just about being true mates. This was about revenge. About jealousy. About a twisted need to destroy me.

"You're sick," I said. "And one day, Kade will see you for what you really are."

"By then, it won't matter. I'll be his Luna. I'll have his child. I'll have everything." She patted her still-flat stomach. "Did he tell you? Three months pregnant. A boy. The future Alpha."

The words were meant to hurt me. And they did.

But I had a secret of my own.

"Congratulations," I said flatly.

Delilah frowned, like she'd expected more of a reaction. "That's it? No tears? No begging?"

"What do you want me to say? You won. You got what you wanted."

"I want you to hurt the way I hurt. I want you to feel what it's like to have nothing."

"Well, mission accomplished. Can I leave now?"

She studied me for a long moment, then stepped aside. "Go. Run away like the pathetic little wolf you are. But remember—if you ever come back, if you ever try to reclaim anything from this pack, I'll destroy you."

I got into my car without another word. As I drove away, I looked in the rearview mirror. Delilah was still standing there, watching me leave with a triumphant smile.

But she didn't know the truth.

She didn't know that I was carrying Kade's child too. A child that could challenge her son's claim to the Alpha position.

I should tell him, I thought. I should go back and tell Kade that I'm pregnant.

But then what? He'd already made his choice. He'd chosen Delilah and their child over me. Would knowing about my baby change anything?

No. It would just give them another thing to take from me.

I drove through the night, not stopping until I crossed the state line. My phone kept buzzing with messages from pack members asking what happened, but I ignored them all.

Around dawn, I pulled into a rest stop to check Beth's note. Moonstone Pack, Silver Falls. Ask for Maya.

I plugged the address into my GPS. Eight more hours of driving.

As I merged back onto the highway, my phone rang. Unknown number.

I almost didn't answer. But something made me pick up.

"Hello?"

"Is this Mira Blackwood?" A male voice, deep and commanding.

"Who's asking?"

"My name is Zane Darkmore. I'm the Alpha King of the North American werewolf council."

I nearly drove off the road.

The Alpha King. The most powerful wolf in the country. Why was he calling me?

"How did you get this number?"

"I have my sources. I'm calling because I have a proposition for you."

"I'm not interested in any propositions right now."

"Not even one that would give you everything you need to destroy the people who betrayed you?"

My heart skipped a beat. "What are you talking about?"

"I know what happened tonight, Mira. I know about Kade and Delilah. I know about the cancelled ceremony. And I know you're pregnant."

My blood turned to ice. "How…"

"Like I said, I have my sources. And I'm prepared to offer you something no one else can."

"What's that?"

"Power. Protection. And revenge."

I pulled over to the side of the road, my hands shaking. "Why would the Alpha King care about any of this?"

"Because Kade has something I want. And you're going to help me get it."

"I don't understand."

"You will. Meet me in three days at the Grand Hotel in Silver Falls. Room 1407. Come alone."

"And if I don't?"

"Then you'll spend the rest of your life running. Hiding. Wondering what could have been." His voice softened slightly. "But if you do come, I promise you this—they'll regret ever crossing you."

The line went dead.

I sat there in my car, watching the sun rise over the highway, and made a decision.

I was done being weak. Done being the victim.

If the Alpha King wanted to help me get revenge, then I was going to take him up on that offer.

Kade and Delilah thought they'd won.

But the game had only just begun.