Chapter 4
Vesper's POV
"I didn't film it." My voice stays flat.
"Don't give me that. Who else would have nothing better to do?" He snorts. "Here's what's going to happen. You get online right now and you put out a statement. You say you're the one who went past the closure, you're the one who brought the slope down, and you apologize to Delilah. You do that, or five years between us doesn't buy you a thing."
"And if I don't?"
"Then you can forget about coming home. Ever. I'll go to the Council and have you put on a psych hold." He's not bothering to hide the threat.
"Okay." I let out a small laugh.
That stops him cold. "What?"
"I said okay. Karl, let's sever the bond. Tomorrow morning, ten o'clock, out front of Pack Hall. We'll file the paperwork. I'll get out of the way. The spot's yours."
I hang up before he can say another word, and I block the number.
The next morning the snow has stopped.
Pack Hall sits dead center of the city, all gray-white stone, everything about it built to remind you who makes the rules.
I'm in a loose black coat. My face has no color in it, but I keep my back straight.
Karl and Delilah are already waiting when I reach the bottom of the steps.
And they're not alone. A crowd of wolves has turned out to watch, and a few independent reporters are standing there with phones and cameras up.
She wanted this. She put the word out so the whole pack could watch my name go down.
Karl's in full dress uniform, pressed sharp, brows pulled tight, his face dark enough that nobody's standing close to him.
Delilah is in the wheelchair with Buck pushing her, doing the thing where she looks like she might pass out any second.
He comes down the steps at me the second he sees me, voice low, teeth clenched.
"Vesper, do you really have to make it this ugly? Take the severance back. Put out an apology and we can forget this whole thing happened. And don't forget you're carrying my pup."
"Your pup?" I laugh in his face.
"Vesper." Delilah picks her moment perfectly, voice shaking, eyes already filling. "If you're doing this because of me, then I'll go. But don't use the pup like this. He really wants that pup."
The whispers start up around us right on cue.
Look how sweet she is. After everything, she's still looking out for that woman.
Right? She goes past the closure and brings a whole slope down on herself, and now she's holding a severance and a pup over Delta Karl's head. No shame at all.
Something pleased flickers behind Delilah's eyes while she listens to them turn on me.
Then she struggles up out of the wheelchair and limps toward me, hand out for my sleeve.
"Please. Just forgive him. This is all my fault."
Her fingers are inches from me when I say it. Three words, flat and cold. "Don't touch me."
I turn my shoulder, barely. That's all. I never lay a hand on her.
The next second she lets out a scream, goes over backward, and hits every single step on the way down the front of Pack Hall.
"Delilah!" Karl's head snaps around, eyes gone red, and the look he gives me could kill.
"You vicious bitch. You actually shoved her."
His arm comes around and he shoves me in the shoulder with everything he has.
I can't get out of the way. I go straight down, hard, onto the cold stone.
He's got Delilah up on her feet, blood running down her face, and he's turning back to keep tearing into me when his eyes land on my stomach. Flat. Everything in him stops at once.
He's just staring at me. His lips move, and nothing comes out.
"Vesper. Your... your stomach."
He shoves Delilah out of his arms and stumbles toward me, both hands stopping in midair, wanting to touch me and not daring to.
"Where's the pup? Where's our pup?"
