Chapter 2
“You think you can walk out after blaming Jade? Feed Sky his medicine. You fail him, you hurt Jade, and I’m left to comfort her? Do your duty as his mother for once!”
Dean shoved the bowl of medicine into Stella’s hands.
Sky piped up instantly:
“Yeah! It’s Mom’s fault I got hurt. Auntie Jade cares so much about me, so why can’t my own mom feed me?”
Father and son, united in their attack, pushing her toward humiliation.
Even numb as she was, Stella’s chest still trembled.
But then clarity came.
She shoved the bowl back.
“What wolf law says a mother must force-feed medicine to her son?”
This life, she had no illusions left.
The bowl slipped, almost shattering, but Jade caught it just in time.
“Stella must have her reasons, Sky. She’s your mother. She does love you.”
She turned the bowl toward Stella again, only to twist her body and stumble forward.
The boiling medicine splashed across Stella’s body, the bowl smashing to shards.
Jade fell, dragging Stella’s hand down into the glass. Splinters cut deep, blood blooming across her palm.
Before Stella could speak, Jade whimpered:
“Ah! Stella, why did you trip me? What did I do to upset you? I’m sorry.”
Stella’s pain sharpened her clarity.
“You were nowhere near me. How could I trip you?”
But Dean’s voice cut like a whip:
“Enough! You neglect your son, and now you lash out at Jade?”
On the floor, Stella’s palm bled freely, shards embedded deep.
Dean hesitated only for a moment—before Jade’s cry pierced the room.
“Dean, my hand! It’s cut, it hurts!”
At once, Dean scooped her up, rushing for the door, stepping blindly on Stella’s outstretched hand.
She pulled herself free, shaking, watching Sky chase after them both, crying for the Pack Doctor.
Jade’s hand bore only the lightest cut—yet she was treated as if she’d been struck down.
Stella’s palm was shredded, but her wolf soul was frozen numb.
Pain? She’d lived with worse. Two lifetimes had carved her hollow.
Staggering to her feet, clutching her hand, Stella turned—
The door burst open. Pack guards filed in.
“Luna Stella,” one announced coldly, “Alpha Dean commands us to watch you. He says you’re to clean up every shard—by hand.”
Stella refused to pick up the shards—yet the pack guards seized her wrists and forced her bloody hands down into the pile of broken porcelain.
Agony tore through her palm. She had no strength left to resist, so she picked the shards one by one.
Their edges were as sharp as knives, cutting into skin already torn, layer upon layer of wounds spilling fresh blood.
By the time she finished, her hands were drenched crimson. Her breaths came ragged, sharp with pain.
“Alpha Dean says once you’re done, fetch new medicine for young master Sky,” one guard added coldly. “If his condition worsens, he won’t spare you.”
At that moment, Stella’s ears rang with static. Inside her chest, her wolf curled weak and trembling, whimpering under the weight of her suffering.
Her phone buzzed—a message from the pack lawyer she had entrusted. The Mate Bond Dissolution Contract had arrived.
Dragging her battered body, she staggered into the corridor. A medic gasped at the sight of her bleeding hands and tried to tend to her.
Nearby, two Pack Doctors gossiped:
“Did you see how Alpha Dean rushed Jade in? One tiny scratch and he summoned the best doctor in the entire hospital!”
“Luna must be so blessed. Not like that other woman—look at her hands, no one even here to help her. Pitiful.”
The words stabbed at Stella like needles.
Hiding the dissolution papers beneath the hospital forms, she entered the next room.
Jade glanced over, spotted Stella’s bandaged hands, and immediately feigned distress:
“Alpha Dean, Stella’s wounds look far worse than mine. You should check on her. I’m only a little hurt—you should care for her instead…”
Dean frowned at Stella’s hands, almost stepping closer—
Until Jade interjected sweetly, “Her injury must hurt terribly. She endured it so long; it can’t be an act. Dean, please, go see her. I’m fine—just a little numb.”
Her words, seemingly kind, stopped Dean where he stood.
“Stella’s the boy’s mother. She wouldn’t fake illness while our son’s recovering.”
Stella had seen enough of Jade’s tricks. She said nothing, only handed Dean the papers.
“Before you leave, sign the hospital forms.”
“Forms? For a check-up? Why so many papers?” Dean muttered, flipping through.
Just as he was about to look closer, Jade pouted:
“Dean, I’m hungry. Let’s eat.”
Her coaxing drowned out everything. Dean flipped to the last page and scribbled his name without a glance.
Stella tucked the signed document away, ready to leave, when Jade called out:
“Stella, come with us.”
Stella meant to refuse, but Jade grabbed her hand. The pain flared, forcing her to follow.
At the car, Dean swept Jade into the front seat.
“Jade, Stella hurt you. She should give up the front for you.”
Stella said nothing, climbing into the back.
