Chapter 3

Bryn POV:

While Harden stood frozen, staring down at the scattered pages by his shoes, I didn't waste another second. I grabbed my trench coat off the arm of the sofa, strode to the foyer, and pulled the heavy front door open without looking back.

Riding the private elevator down to the street level, I stepped out into the biting morning wind of Manhattan. I hailed a yellow cab at the intersection and gave the driver the address of the Pack Healer clinic. Before vanishing from their lives forever, I needed to see Grandma Vivienne one last time.

Twenty minutes later, the cab pulled up to the curb outside the clinic's glass entrance. A modified matte-black off-road SUV was already idling in the no-parking zone. Amir leaned against the driver's door, his ash-brown hair messy in the wind. The moment I stepped out of the cab, he straightened up and rushed over.

His dark brown eyes dropped to the dried blood on my forehead and the raw cut across the back of my hand. Pure fury twisted his features, and he slammed his fist into the steel door of his SUV, denting the metal.

"Did that bastard Alpha do this to you? I'm going in there to rip his throat out!"

I grabbed Amir's jacket sleeve, my voice low and carrying an undeniable command.

"Shut up, Amir. Don't make a scene here. Come inside with me to check on Grandma first."

Amir clenched his jaw, his chest heaving, before nodding stiffly. Together, we walked through the bright marble lobby of the clinic and took the elevator up to the VIP ward floor. Just as we stepped into the quiet corridor, Blair walked out of a lounge carrying a cup of artisanal coffee.

She froze when she saw me, then let out an exaggerated, shrill laugh.

"Well, well, isn't this our pathetic wolfless beggar who can't even heal a scratch? What's the matter, finally scared of being thrown onto the streets and came crawling back to beg?"

Her pale gray eyes raked over my trench coat with pure superiority. As an Alpha-blooded heiress of the White Pack, she deliberately released a weak wave of bloodline pressure, waiting to watch me tremble and embarrass myself in the hallway.

I rolled my eyes internally, not even bothering to lift my eyelids. To a purebred royal White Wolf, her pathetic aura felt like a Chihuahua yapping at my ankles.

Amir, however, snapped. He stepped in front of me, shielding my body as his eyes turned dark and murderous.

"Pack up your laughable arrogance, you idiot. You have no fucking clue who is standing in front of you!"

Blair stumbled half a step back under Amir's vicious glare, nearly spilling her coffee. Humiliation quickly flushed her cheeks, and she shrieked at the top of her lungs.

"How dare a lowly Rogue bark at me! She's nothing but a useless piece of trash my brother got tired of playing with!"

The inner wolf inside Amir went berserk. A low growl tore from his throat as he pointed a shaking finger right at Blair's nose, his voice grinding through his teeth.

"Trash? The blood flowing in her veins is something filthy mutts like you aren't even worthy to kneel and—"

Right as Amir was about to blurt out my identity as the princess of the supreme Rivers Pack, my hand shot out. My fingers clamped around his wrist like a steel vise, digging into his pulse point to cut him off.

I stepped around him and cast a freezing glance at Blair.

"My marriage isn't up for a barking dog to judge."

Grabbing Amir's arm, I dragged him straight down the corridor, leaving Blair stomping her feet and cursing behind us. When we reached an empty corner near the stairwell, I let go of his wrist and exhaled slowly.

"Listen to me," I said, keeping my voice firm. "Until the official Rejection ceremony is over, my White Wolf scent stays locked down. I won't allow any complications before I sever this bond."