Chapter 3

Junie's POV

That's when the front door bursts open. It's Dad, back early.

I look at him, and something like hope lights up in me.

Dad's here. Dad's gonna save us.

But the second he sees Melody slumped by the door, he rushes straight to her and scoops her up into his arms.

"Maxwell, save Junie! Save us!" Mom lies on the floor, reaching out to him, desperate.

Dad looks at us. He hesitates for less than a second before he says it.

"Melody's pregnant, she needs treatment right now! Juliet, you're a witch, hold on and keep Junie safe. I'll get Melody somewhere safe and come right back for you!"

And then, without a second thought, he tucks Melody tight against his chest, smashes through the huge floor-to-ceiling window, and leaps out from the top floor.

The giant crystal chandelier comes crashing down, glass and sparks flying everywhere.

"No!"

At the last possible second, Mom throws herself over me and shields me with everything she has.

Glass slices open her back, and blood soaks through her clothes in an instant.

Pinned under Mom, I watch Dad disappear through the shattered window. I watch him leave us in the fire for another woman.

In that moment, I can't feel the heat of the flames at all. I just feel cold all over.

"Mom, is Dad coming back for us?"

Mom holds me tight, her bloody hand patting my back, soft and steady.

"We're done waiting, Junie. From now on, we don't wait for anyone."

The fire crew pulled us out.

When we wake up in the hospital burn unit, it's already the next afternoon. Mom's back is covered in a huge burn scar now, and my arm got cut up by the glass and wrapped in bandages.

Dad doesn't show up until that night. He's still wearing yesterday's shirt, except now there's a bright lipstick mark on the collar.

"How did you two end up such a mess?" He walks in, and instead of asking about our injuries, he frowns, his voice edged with blame. "Juliet, aren't you a witch? You couldn't even put up a basic frost shield? If you'd been quick enough to get out sooner, Junie wouldn't be hurt."

The man in front of me feels like a stranger now, and a scary one.

He's nothing like the man who used to make chicken soup with Mom in the kitchen, who used to carry me on his shoulders to the park to watch the fireworks.

That dad quietly died one day, and the person standing here now is just someone else wearing his skin.

Mom leans back against the hospital bed, watching him with a look so calm it's unsettling, then says quietly, "Maxwell, let's end the mate bond."

Dad freezes, then his face goes hard. "What are you throwing a fit about now? I told you, it was an emergency, Melody's pregnant! Can you not be this selfish for once?"

"Selfish?" Mom lets out a small laugh. "Right. I'm selfish. So let me go. I'll have the dissolution papers sent to your office tomorrow."

"Juliet!" Dad snaps completely, slamming a fist down on the cabinet by the bed. "You think the mate bond is a game? You break it whenever you feel like it? Fine. You want to act tough, then you can deal with the fallout yourself!"

He turns and orders the assistant behind him, "Cut off all her medical accounts and her cards. Let's see how long she lasts in here. Nobody pays a cent for her without my say-so."

Then he slams the door on his way out.

He thinks that's going to force Mom to back down, to swallow her pride and come apologize like she has a hundred times before.

But what he doesn't know is that this time, something in Mom has died for good.

A few days later, when Mom still hasn't come to apologize, Dad takes it even further.

At a press conference, a reporter brings up the old Tribunal case from a while back. Dad says, all serious, that he would never let someone off just because she's his mate, not when she bullied an innocent pregnant woman.

The second that noble little speech drops, the internet goes up in flames.

The comments tearing Mom apart come flooding in.

"Humans are just trash, she'd shove a pregnant woman?"

"Poor Maxwell, stuck with a viper like that, he should dump her already!"

Some of the more extreme werewolves even dig up our room number and splash reeking beast blood on our door. The hospital caves to the pressure and politely asks us to check out as soon as we can.

The afternoon we're getting ready to pack up and leave, Melody suddenly shows up in the room.

Maxwell isn't with her. Melody walks up to the bed, her eyes full of a winner's gloating. "Aw, Juliet, how'd you end up this pathetic?"