Chapter 4

Halfway through dinner, the door swung open.

Kael stepped inside—and locked eyes with Caden, sitting beside me.

He didn't look angry. He looked relieved.

"Aria, thank God you moved quickly."

I stared at him, baffled.

Then Sable's voice rang out behind him.

"Kael, you told me Caden was in here, completing a Bonding Rite with Aria? How could you come up with a lie like that?"

Her voice cracked as she pressed a hand to her stomach.

"Is this because you don't want my pup? Are you trying to trick me into thinking another man is taking Aria as his mate?"

The room erupted in whispers.

Before anyone could ask another question, Kael grabbed Sable by the arm and pulled her outside.

Only then did I think to check my phone.

[Aria, Sable's unexpectedly pregnant and her condition is unstable. I can't make it to the family gathering. Ask Caden to stand in for me.]

[I'm sorry. It won't happen again. I love you.]

I stared at the screen for a long moment. Then I set my phone facedown.

Beside me, Caden didn't so much as change expression. He simply picked up another shrimp and placed it on my plate.

"You like shrimp. Eat some more."

I put down my chopsticks. "The pup she's carrying…"

Caden nearly choked on his drink. "Has absolutely nothing to do with me! I've never touched her. Not once."

I couldn't help laughing at his panic. "Easy, Caden. Don't look so terrified."

He studied my face, trying to work out whether I was teasing. "I'm serious, Aria. I don't want you getting the wrong idea."

"I believe you."

And I did.

For once, I was sitting beside a man who didn't make me question every word he said.

Upstairs, dinner went on warm and easy. Caden's relatives welcomed me without hesitation, and no one treated me as an inconvenience they had to tolerate.

Downstairs, Kael and Sable were still arguing. Their voices rose and fell through the floorboards, tangled in accusations and old grievances.

For the first time, I had no desire to listen. I didn't care what they said to each other, whose feelings had been hurt, or who would end up comforting whom.

Their mess was no longer mine to clean up.

After dinner, I gathered my documents and headed for the door. Caden called after me.

"Wait. Have some tea with me first."

I turned back.

He hesitated. "The tea you drink when you officially acknowledge your mate's family. I want to meet your mother properly, even if she's no longer here."

I froze. My eyes stung before I could stop them.

"Okay," I whispered.

For three years, I'd asked Kael to drink that tea with me.

We'd scheduled the Bonding Rite ten separate times, yet he'd never once agreed to the simple gesture that would have made me feel accepted as his mate.

There was always an excuse. The most common was that my mother had died recently, and completing the rite during a period of mourning would bring bad luck.

"We'll do the tea ceremony later, Aria. There's no need to rush."

But there was always another reason to wait. Another promise that never became anything real.

My mother had loved me my entire life. She would never have wanted me to spend it begging someone else to honor me.

Perhaps, in her own way, she'd been trying to protect me all along.

Caden poured the tea himself and set the cup in front of me.

He didn't ask me to smile or tell me to stop crying. He simply sat beside me until I was ready to drink.

We had barely driven out of the courtyard when Kael's car swung across the road, blocking our way.

Sable sat in the passenger seat, glaring at me with open hatred.

Kael climbed out, his face dark. "Aria, you've gone too far. Get out and apologize to Sable."

I stared at him through the window. "What?"

"Those posts online. Why did you publish them?" His voice grew harsher. "Everyone is attacking Sable now. She's carrying a pup. You could at least show her some consideration."

So the post had finally gone viral.

Yesterday, I'd told the truth about what happened at the pack hall—how Sable had disrupted my ceremony, how Kael had abandoned me for her, how my mother's memorial ribbons had ended up torn across the floor.

I'd named no one who hadn't already been there. I hadn't exaggerated a single detail.

"I told people exactly what happened," I said. "Nothing more, nothing less."

"I already told you I'd handle it. Why couldn't you wait?"

I let out a cold laugh. "Kael, we've been together three years. Tell me—how many times have you ever stood up for me in public?"

He said nothing.

"You don't have to defend me. I stopped expecting that a long time ago. But you don't get to stop me from speaking for myself."

I held his gaze. "The post stays up. And I'm not apologizing."

Kael's brows drew together. His wolf stirred beneath his skin, sharpening his scent with anger. He slammed his fist against the car window.

"Aria, what happened to you?"

His voice carried something past anger now—disappointment, as if I'd betrayed him by refusing to behave the way he expected.

"I'm so disappointed in you."

A faint ache settled in my chest.

Once, those words would have sent me scrambling to prove myself.

I would have apologized, pleaded with him to understand, promised to do better.

Now all I felt was tired.

Caden reached for his phone. "Hello? I'd like to report a vehicle deliberately blocking the road. It's preventing us from leaving, and the driver has just struck our car."

Kael stepped back, his expression shifting as he realized Caden wasn't going to be intimidated.

For a moment, he looked at me as if he were seeing a stranger. Then he straightened his jacket.

"Fine. This morning's Bonding Rite is canceled."

He spoke as though he were still the one making the decisions.

"When you're ready to delete that post and apologize to Sable, we'll reschedule. Until then, don't expect me to complete the rite with you."

He got back into his car and drove away.

I watched him go without a word.

He still thought our future was something he could hold over my head, something he could grant or withhold whenever I displeased him.

He had no idea I'd already chosen another path.

By the time the pack registry office neared closing, Kael still hadn't heard from me.

An unfamiliar unease crept into his chest. He tried to dismiss it, but his wolf wouldn't settle.

Finally, he called me. "Aria, have you decided to apologize?"

The moment the call connected, he heard a commotion on the other end—footsteps, voices, a steady stream of congratulations.

Then a stranger spoke.

"Hello, is this Kael? I'm calling from the pack registry office. This woman just completed her registration and left her phone here. Could you please—"

Kael went utterly still. The rest of the sentence dissolved beneath the roaring in his ears.

All the color drained from his face.