Chapter 3

When I walked to the master bedroom door, it was half open.

I froze on the spot like I'd been nailed there.

The sheets were a mess, Selena's small baby bump barely visible and doing nothing to stop her from hooking her legs around his waist, locking Ryan to the bed.

Selena was lying on her back, head on the pillow, hair spread out. One hand was curled around the back of his neck, the other digging into the muscles of his back, her nails biting deep into his skin.

She panted, voice hoarse and soft. "The baby's here... but I still want you."

I just stood there and watched.

Ryan thrust into her again and again, movements practiced and sure, not a flicker of hesitation, like spoiling her like this, satisfying her like this, was something he'd already done a hundred times.

Selena let out a long breath, the tension slowly melting from her face. Her legs tightened around his waist, pulling him deeper, a low, uncontrollable moan spilling from her throat.

"Deeper..." she whispered, a little whiny. "You've been so busy with training and the baby, I'm going crazy from how much you ignore me."

Ryan's voice was rough. "You're carrying my child. Of course I'm going to take care of you."

"Then... fuck me harder, so I know you still care," she lifted her head to kiss him, coaxing him softly.

There was a brief silence.

Ryan didn't answer.

He just bent down, then drove into her harder, faster, the headboard starting to thud against the wall.

A strangled moan slipped from Selena's throat. "Mm... Ryan... softer, I'm more sensitive there."

My brain went off with a bang.

My hand slipped off the doorknob. I felt like I'd been dropped into ice water and thrown straight onto a burning pyre at the same time.

I stared as that mouth that used to belong only to me now moved over another woman's body, again and again.

Suddenly I remembered a long time ago, the first time we really tangled together. His forehead was pressed to mine, his voice rough and low: "Ayla, you're the only woman I'll ever have."

Back in the guest room, I locked the door, slid down with my back against it.

Tears started falling with no warning.

I clamped a hand over my mouth, my shoulders shaking over and over.

That scene burned into my eyes like a brand. Even when I closed them, I could still see it—his head lowered, her head tilted back, his mouth, her hand.

"Ayla, you're the only woman I'll ever have."

Every word he'd said turned into a blade now, stabbing right back into the mouth that spoke them, then sinking straight into my heart.

I don't know how long I sat there before I finally dragged myself up, feeling completely hollowed out, and fell onto the guest bed.

That night, I never really slept—just drifted in and out, waking and dozing, with only one image looping in my head over and over: that bedside lamp, that bed, those two people.

The next morning, I was downstairs picking at breakfast.

Ryan came down, saw me immediately, and walked over to sit beside me.

"Ayla," he said, touching my hand, "I didn't pick you up last night because Selena couldn't be left alone."

I pulled my hand back in silence.

He frowned. "There was something with her. I had to be there."

He was about to say more, but Russell's voice cut in.

"Your ceremony with Selena is set. Two days from now. The whole pack will witness it."

"Father, I already—" Ryan lowered his voice.

"She's given you one child and has another in her belly," Russell cut him off. "Or would you rather stand up there with a low-rank stray wolf and let everyone laugh?"

I heard Ryan suck in a deep breath, like he was grinding his molars. A few seconds passed before he answered, his voice low:

"I got it…"

My fingers tightened around the fork, my chest clenching, like something heavy had been dropped on it.

Two days later was the ceremony.

I watched Ryan on stage take the crown and place it on Selena's head.

Applause and howls exploded around us.

I recalled a phrase he once uttered: "I will only crown you," finding it rather amusing.

When the ceremony ended, Selena came over to me smiling.

"Ayla, why are you sitting so far away? Come on, sit next to me." She grabbed me and dragged me to her side.

She leaned closer, lowered her voice. "This way you can clearly see who he belongs to."

"Ayla, you should be smart about this. Ryan needs a mate like me. You're just a stray wolf; stop dreaming."

I looked at her. "If you want him that badly, then be his mate properly. Soon enough, you'll have him all to yourself anyway."

She was just about to snap back when the crowd suddenly broke into chaos.

"Stop him!"

A thin man rushed in, eyes bloodshot, knife clutched in his hand as he screamed at us, "Give me back my child—!!"

He raised the knife and charged our way.

"My child!" Selena screamed, slamming into me as she tried to hide behind my back.

In an instant, everything went to hell.

Ryan instinctively threw his arm out to shield her, his other hand pushing the man.

The man was shoved half a step off, and the knife swung with him, jerking off its original path away from Selena and driving straight into my side instead.

I choked on a gasp, my whole body collapsing backward.

Right before I went down, I saw Ryan's back, braced solidly in front of Selena.

That image suddenly overlapped with another from long ago.

Back when I'd just been brought into Silvermoon, surrounded by wolves calling me "stray," someone drawing a blade.

The same back.

He'd stepped in front of me.

Later, Ryan had held me and said, "Ayla, I'll give you a home. As long as I'm alive, I'll always protect you."

My consciousness slid out from under me.

When I came to again, my side hurt so bad it felt like breathing might rip me open.

Ryan was at my bedside, holding my hand.

I cut straight to it: I told him I wanted the bond severed.

He froze, then said the ceremony with Selena was just for show, that I was his real mate.

I said I was tired, told him to leave.

He only threw out one line—"I'm not agreeing to sever the bond"—and walked out.

I went back to my room and started packing.

The door opened.

Russell stood there, a few photos in his hand. He tossed them onto the bed. "So you can see clearly what you'd be if you stayed."

I looked down.

It was Selena's birthday.

In the photos, she was holding Dennis, smiling, lit up under warm party lights.

Ryan stood beside her, head lowered, kissing her forehead.

"Let's go," Russell said flatly. "I'll make sure he never finds you."

When the car drove out of Silvermoon territory, I didn't look back.

I stared at the road ahead and said quietly:

"Ryan, we shall never meet again.."