Chapter 2

His response was ice-cold. "It's done, Melody. You're out now. Why dig it up?"

My frail frame swayed, my heart squeezed tight, like it was bleeding out. Why dig it up? My pup was dead. I'd rotted in a cell for three years for nothing. And he thought I shouldn't care?

I was about to collapse when Ethan called my name, rushing toward me. But then his phone rang. "What? The pup's crying? I'm on my way."

My mind flashed back to when our pup was alive. Ethan loved him, but he was strict. "Wolves don't cry," he'd say, teaching our boy to tough it out. Even when he fell and bled, he'd hide his tears, thinking that's what it took to earn his dad's love.

But Zoe's pup? He got all of Ethan's softness, his indulgence, without trying.

I gripped the sofa arm, refusing to break in front of him. Ethan hesitated. "I've gotta step out for something. Rest up. Don't overthink it. Call me if you need me."

Rest? This wasn't my home anymore.

When the door shut, my world went dark.

After a while, I dragged myself to my pup's old room, desperate to hold onto something of him—his photo albums, anything. But the moment I opened the door, my hope crumbled. The room was empty. His messy drawings on the walls? Painted over. Every trace of my pup had been erased.

"Ethan," I whispered, my voice breaking, "how could you be so cruel?"

I slid down the wall, my screams echoing in the hollow room until I was too exhausted to cry. Numb, I wandered to the master bedroom, clinging to a shred of hope that he hadn't thrown out everything.

To my shock, the bedroom was untouched. My clothes still hung in the closet, exactly as I'd left them. Why erase our pup but keep my ghost lingering?

The question gnawed at me until I opened the bedside drawer and found an opened box of condoms.

It all clicked. This was their game. Him and Zoe, tangled up in our bed, surrounded by my things. It was a sick thrill, wasn't it? Laughing at the she-wolf they'd caged.

Nausea hit hard. I bolted to the bathroom, vomiting until the world spun. Weak and broken, I collapsed.

When I woke, it was morning. I was on that cursed bed, and Ethan stood over me, his deep eyes locked on mine. For a fleeting second, I swore I saw love flicker there.

The thought made me sick. "Why keep my stuff, Ethan? Why not let Zoe move in and take my place? Does sneaking around with her in my bed make it more exciting?"

His face darkened, like he wanted to snap but held back. "You know about Zoe?"

"I saw you. At the preschool. With your pup."

"We do have a pup," he said, his voice flat, emotionless.

My heart turned to ash.

I thought back to our first year bound together, when Ethan couldn't keep his hands off me. One night, after, I teased that we'd need a pup to tame him. He'd kissed my skin, marking me like a wolf claiming his territory. "Melody, I just feel like I can't love you enough. If I could, I'd make you part of me, forever mine."

The wolf who said he'd never love me enough had found someone else.

"Ethan, if it's come to this, why not break our bond? Why drag it out to hurt me?"

"Me, hurt you?" His jaw clenched, but he didn't lash out. "In a week, I'm up for a high court position. Everyone's watching. I can't have any scandals right now. After that, we'll... break the bond."

Of course. That's why he kept my things, why Zoe and her pup weren't here.

He hadn't changed one bit.