Chapter 4

I woke to a bone-deep cold, my vision swimming, shapes bleeding into one another.

All I could make out was a tall figure leaning in close, his hand reaching for the hem of my soaked dress.

Kael.

I didn’t think—I just reacted. I swung my hand up with the last of my strength and slapped him hard across the side of his face.

“Get away from me!”

His head snapped to the side. For a heartbeat, the Alpha rage in his eyes was bright enough to burn.

He grabbed my wrist in a bruising grip.

“You dare hit me?” His voice shook with barely contained fury. “How long are you planning to keep this up?”

“You let those lowlifes at the underground bars put their hands all over you, but when I touch you, you act like some saint?”

“There’s a big difference,” I said, staring straight at him. “At least they weren’t shoving me under ice water while they did it.”

His breathing hitched.

Just then, the door swung open.

Seraphine stood in the doorway wrapped in a blanket, cradling a bowl of steaming medicine. She looked weak, fragile, harmless.

“Kael…” Her voice was soft and trembly. “Why didn’t you call me to help? After such a harsh punishment, I was… really worried about her.”

She stepped inside, each step careful and measured. Her gaze dropped to his hand locked around my wrist, a flicker of quiet satisfaction glinting in her eyes before it was drowned in a sheen of tears.

“It was my fault,” she sniffed. “I shouldn’t have argued with her… I was so scared, I just… slipped and fell in.”

Her words were vague, as if she were taking the blame for me—while actually fishing for sympathy.

Kael’s grip tightened around my wrist.

I yanked my hand back and pushed myself up on the bed, fixing Seraphine with a cold stare. “That’s enough. You can stop the performance here.”

Her eyes filled instantly. “Sister, how can you say that? I just came to check on you…”

“I remember every word you said by the pool,” I cut her off. “If you ever joke about my mother’s blood again, I’ll make sure you won’t even be able to cry.”

Kael moved in front of her in a flash, shielding her from me. “Enough.”

He bit out each word. “Seraphine almost drowned and still came to check on you. This is how you treat your sister?”

Sister.

Hearing that word from his mouth was almost funny.

“If you hadn’t spoiled her rotten,” I said, “she wouldn’t dare take a fall and blame it on someone else.”

Kael’s patience snapped.

He reached for me again. “You’re going to apologize to her right now, and then you’re going to prepare for tomorrow’s bonding ceremony.”

I slipped out of his reach. “Your bonding ceremony has nothing to do with me.”

He froze. “What did you say?”

“Isn’t this what you’ve always wanted?” I looked at him, then at Seraphine. “A sweet, obedient Luna. The candidate’s right there—truly a match made in heaven.”

His face darkened. He lunged, hand shooting out for my arm. I stepped back.

That one step knocked into the bowl in Seraphine’s hands.

The hot medicine slipped from her fingers, the bowl tipping, liquid spraying.

In the next instant, Kael’s body moved on instinct. He surged toward her, arms wrapping around her, shielding her completely.

Scalding medicine splashed across his back.

The sharp scent of burned skin filled the room. His Alpha healing was still suppressed by the residual silver from the moon spring; this time, he couldn’t fully mask the pain. A rough, strangled sound tore from his throat.

Seraphine trembled in his arms, playing the part of the frightened girl perfectly. “Kael… are you okay?”

Throne burst into the room, drawn by the noise. His first reaction wasn’t to check on his Alpha. He shoved me back against the wall instead, blocking my path like I was some criminal.

More footsteps. Several guards filled the doorway, hands going to their weapons.

Seraphine peeked out from Kael’s embrace, only half her face visible. She pointed at me, her composure finally cracking as she shrieked:

“She’s a witch! Her eyes are cursed! Anyone she looks at ends up suffering—she almost got Kael killed just now!”

One of the guards had already drawn his gun.

Kael was breathing hard, sweat beading on his forehead from the pain burning down his back. He lifted a hand and shoved the gun aside, voice rough but unyielding. “Stand down. No one touches her.”

He turned his head and looked at me, his gaze like knives flaying my face. “What the hell are you trying to do? Whatever game you’re playing, tomorrow’s bonding ceremony will go on as planned.”

“Fine. Then get some rest,” I said flatly, and walked toward the door.

Seraphine lunged at me, unwilling to let it end there, clearly aiming to slap me.

Her hand lifted halfway, just high enough to meet my mismatched eyes.

Her arm froze midair. For two full seconds, she didn’t dare bring it down.

I didn’t spare her another glance. I opened the door and walked out.

This time, leaving that room, my chest wasn’t being ripped open like it had been in my last life.

No “What did I do wrong?” eating me alive.

No “Should I try one more time?” clinging to me like a ghost.

Only a clean, razor-edged certainty—

It was over.

From this moment on, between me and Silvermoon, between me and Kael, between me and that sacred damn Code, there was only one thing left to do: stay the hell away.

I went back to the guest room I’d been using, peeled off the still-damp dress, changed into my everyday clothes, picked up the Moonlight Estate crest, and slipped it into my pocket.

Everyone outside was busy fussing over the “bride-to-be,” preparing tomorrow’s ceremonial gown. No one had time to worry about me.

I left through the side door and got into the black car I’d booked in advance.

The door shut with a dull thud. The engine turned over, and the car rolled slowly off the estate grounds.

The driver glanced at me in the rearview mirror. “Miss, that place… they say it’s rough. Dangerous, even. You sure you want to go there?”

“Yes,” I said, looking down at the badge lying in my palm.

My mind flicked to the scene that would unfold at the altar tomorrow—Kael lifting the veil and seeing Seraphine standing there instead of the she-wolf he thought the Code had properly “corrected.”

He would be VERY pleased, I thought.