Chapter 2

Lyla's POV

Kaden froze for a split second.

Then he bit down harder on Chloe's neck, his voice rough and urgent. "Of course it's you. She's NOTHING compared to you. Just someone to scratch an itch. Only you—only you can drive me this crazy."

In that moment, my heart stopped beating.

Not the pain of heartbreak, but a numbness—a hollow emptiness. Like someone had ripped my heart out, crushed it beneath their heel, then told me—see? It was worthless all along.

I turned and ran.

No confrontation. No tears. I bolted from the hall like I was running from a fire, jumped on my motorcycle, and slammed the throttle. My wolf howled inside me, nearly tearing through my chest, but I forced it down.

The engine's roar swallowed everything.

Wind sliced across my face like knives. The wind ripped the tears away before they could fall, leaving only a burning ache. I didn't know how long I rode—only that when I got back to the tattoo parlor, my hands were still shaking.

I pushed through the door and grabbed a bottle of whiskey from the fridge.

One bottle. Two bottles. Three—

I drank until everything blurred, then collapsed on the couch.

That night, I slept more soundly than I had in three years. No dreams. No dreams of him sneaking into my room in the middle of the night but making me stay silent. No dreams of him saying "I'll make it public tomorrow" only to break that promise again and again. No dreams of him calling out someone else's name in bed.

Because the worst had already happened.

The next morning, sunlight stabbed through my eyelids.

I sat up, surrounded by empty bottles. My head pounded, my mouth tasted like ash, but my mind felt clearer than it had in years.

I washed my face and rode to campus.

The administrative office was efficient—within an hour, they had all my transfer documents ready. But the last form needed a guardian's signature. In this city, my guardian was Kaden.

I stared at that blank line and felt the irony sink in.

Even leaving needs his fucking signature.

Clutching the papers, I rode back to the parlor. The moment I pushed open the door, I froze.

The place was destroyed.

My carefully designed tattoo sketches—ripped off the walls and shredded. Broken ink bottles everywhere. My workstation overturned, tattoo guns smashed to pieces. Even my collection of tattoo magazines—torn apart and scattered across the floor.

"You're finally back."

Chloe's voice drifted from inside.

She sat in my only intact chair, legs crossed, smiling smugly. Kaden stood beside her, expressionless, watching me.

"Lyla, I'm so sorry." Chloe's smile was anything but apologetic. "I want to open a flower shop here. Kaden said Shadow Pack properties can be reassigned. That's fine with you, right?"

My gaze swept across the ruins. Every sketch on that wall—I'd stayed up nights drawing those. Those imported inks—I'd saved for half a year to buy them.

"The pack has plenty of empty storefronts. There are plenty of others—pick one of those." Kaden's voice was cold. "Don't hold up Chloe's shop."

Pick one of those.

I remembered three years ago, when he gave me this place, he'd said, "Damn it, I didn't mean to... Call it my apology."

Back then, I thought he cared about me. Even just a little.

"Fine." My voice came out flat. "I'll pack up and go."

I crouched down and started gathering what was salvageable. There wasn't much left—most of it was destroyed.

Kaden stood there watching, seeming surprised. He probably didn't expect me to cooperate so easily.

"Lyla..." he started.

I ignored him, pulled the transfer documents from my bag, stood up, and held them out. "I need you to sign this."

"What?" Kaden frowned, reaching for the papers. Just as he was about to look—

"AH!"

Chloe suddenly screamed, clutching her finger. Tears instantly welled in her eyes.

"What happened?" Kaden immediately dropped the papers and rushed to her side.

"My hand..." Chloe held up her finger pitifully. A tiny cut with a bead of blood. "I accidentally touched one of the tattoo needles on the floor... It hurts so much..."

She looked at me, her eyes full of calculated hurt. "I'm sorry, Lyla. I didn't mean to..."

Kaden's face darkened instantly.

"THIS is how you clean up?" He glared at me, fury barely contained. "Leaving dangerous shit lying around? What if Chloe gets an infection?"

I looked at the wreckage on the floor and almost laughed.

Who destroyed my shop in the first place? And now he was blaming ME for the mess?

But I was tired. Too tired to explain. Too tired to argue.

"Sorry." My voice stayed flat. I pulled a tube of ointment from a drawer and handed it to him. "This works really well. I've been cut before too. It'll heal fast."

Kaden took the ointment, glanced at it, and his frown deepened.

"You're giving Chloe this knockoff crap?" He threw the tube straight into the trash. "She has sensitive skin. Are you TRYING to give her a reaction?"

"Kaden, it's okay..." Chloe tugged at his sleeve weakly. "Lyla meant well..."

"Meant well? Bullshit!" Kaden scoffed, then turned to support Chloe, his tone immediately softening. "Come on, I'm taking you to the hospital. Let a real doctor check this out. These kinds of wounds get infected easily."

He wrapped his arm around Chloe and headed for the door, leaving the transfer documents on the floor.

The door slammed shut. I was alone again.

I walked to the trash can and looked at the discarded ointment.

The packaging was worn, the text faded and blurred.

That was from three years ago. I'd just started learning to tattoo, clumsy and constantly cutting myself. One day Kaden noticed. Without a word, he pulled that tube from his pocket and tossed it to me.

"Stop being so careless," he'd said with a frown. "You're getting blood all over the place."

I'd been so touched. I treasured that tube like it was precious, using it sparingly just to make it last longer.

Now I realized—he just didn't want to explain my injuries to Seth.

I took a deep breath and kept packing.

There wasn't much I could take—everything fit in one cardboard box.

I lifted the box and headed for the door. Chloe suddenly blocked my way.