Chapter 2

William watched the rage bloom in my eyes, shifting from hurt to fury. Finally, he opened his mouth, as if that could fix what was already broken.

“Don’t twist things into something they’re not,” he said, his tone sharp and defensive.

He looked at Quinn, then back at me.

“She was alone. Wandering the streets. I only took her in because she loved my brother so much. I pitied her—nothing more.”

“And what? One drink too many and you accidentally slept with her?” I snapped, my voice rising.

His lips parted. “I wasn’t thinking clearly. I—I thought she was you.”

I stared at him, stunned. But he wasn’t finished.

“It wasn’t intentional,” he continued, his voice cracking. “Just think of it as me… forcing myself on her. It’s all my fault. Every bit of it.”

Quinn’s eyes welled up with tears as she clung to his arm.

“Don’t say that, William! This isn’t your fault,” she cried, the picture of innocent guilt. “If anyone should be blamed, it’s me—for being stupid enough to jump into that river in the first place!”

I snapped. “Shut up!”

My voice echoed through the open space, stopping her fake sobs in their tracks.

“You don’t get to speak. This isn’t your business—it’s ours.”

I turned back to William, my blood boiling.

“You’re unbelievable. You waited until she was almost due to show me this? To rub it in my face like I’m nothing?”

“I’ve spent the past year tearing myself apart trying to find her, thinking she was dead. Comforting you. Nursing your mother like she was mine. And this—this—is how you repay me?”

“You’re despicable.”

When his older brother died, William’s mom collapsed from grief and ended up in the hospital. For over six months, I stayed by her side, practically living in that cold hospital room. I bathed her, fed her, watched over her night and day.

In her second month there, her organs started to fail. The hospital issued a critical notice. It was touch-and-go. I was terrified.

I called William all night. He didn’t answer. Not once.

I paced outside the operating room alone for hours, clutching my phone until my fingers went numb. And when he finally showed up the next morning, he reeked of whiskey—and there was a hickey on his neck.

A goddamn hickey.

He’d told me he was at a client banquet. He looked me in the eyes and lied.

Then he saw his mother and started sobbing—calling himself a bastard, slapping himself in front of me.

And I forgave him. Because I loved him. Because I was stupid.

I didn’t even realize Quinn was already back… already in his bed.

William said nothing now. Just stood there, head bowed, letting me pour it all out.

I pulled myself together and met his gaze with ice in my veins.

“You want to fix this?” I said, my voice low but clear. “Then get rid of the pup. Tell Quinn to leave.”

“Or I swear to the goddess, I will never forgive either of you.”

Quinn gasped like she’d been stabbed. She bolted toward the door—but William grabbed her wrist and pulled her behind him like a shield.

“Caroline, are you outta your mind?” he snapped. “The pup is almost full-term! You want her to abort it now?”

“You’re acting like some bitter woman—jealous that someone else can give me what you can’t!”

I blinked, stunned. “What… did you just say?”

“My brother is gone. You can’t have children,” he said, like it was some damning fact. “Do you want Ember Claw Pack to lose its only Alpha heir because of your insecurities?”

“You’re cruel, Caroline. And selfish. There’s a limit.”

His words hit me like a slap across the face. Each syllable was a poisoned dagger.

I laughed. A bitter, broken sound. Then tears came.

“Tell me something,” I whispered. “Why can’t I have a pup?”

He didn’t answer. He didn’t need to.

“You don’t remember?” I asked softly. “That day… You were an hour late. That was all it took. An hour.”

“Your mother was attacked. By a rogue. If you’d been there, William—if you’d shown up when I begged you to—I wouldn’t have had to jump in front of her. I wouldn’t have been stabbed three times by a Feral Wolf.”

I lifted my shirt slightly, revealing the scars along my abdomen.

“The Pack Doctor said I was lucky to survive. That if he hadn’t arrived in time, I would’ve died. And even if I lived, I’d never be able to shift again.”

“You cried at my bedside, remember? You held my hand and told me you didn’t care. You said we didn’t need children. That we could adopt. That you’d walk away from the Pack if the Council didn’t accept us.”

“You swore to protect me. To fight for me.”

“But now? Now I’m cruel? Selfish?” I shook my head, my voice trembling. “No, William. You’re the one who’s changed. You’re the one who betrayed everything we built.”

The man standing in front of me wasn’t my mate.

He was a stranger.