Chapter 3

Chloe POV:

Kael froze, his golden eyes flickering with a mix of confusion and sudden, surging rage. He shook his head violently, like a man desperately trying to wake up from a drug-induced stupor.

My complete lack of resistance, my total acceptance of death, seemed to infuriate him more than any fierce argument ever could.

He threw me hard onto the cold wooden floor.

I coughed violently, rubbing my bruised throat while gasping for the stale air in the guest room.

"You think playing the victim is going to work?" Kael growled, his voice dripping with undisguised disgust.

He turned toward the hallway and barked an order:

"Warriors! Drag her out and throw her out the villa gates!"

At the Alpha's command, two massive Warriors immediately stepped into the room. Their faces were blank as they grabbed my arms in a death grip and dragged me out.

I was wearing nothing but a thin silk nightgown, my bare feet scraping against the hard stone steps.

The bitter winter wind howled outside, cutting into my skin like knives. A warm liquid trickled down my forehead. I reached up to touch it, and my palm came away stained with crimson blood.

It was from when Kael had thrown me, causing my head to hit the corner of the table.

Having lost my inner wolf, my supernatural healing ability was completely gone.

But the physical pain was not even a fraction of the agonizing tear in my chest.

My body trembled violently as I dragged my bare feet through the dead of night.

My hands were as numb as blocks of ice. I desperately wanted to find a patrol or use the mind-link to ask Seraphina for help.

But without my inner wolf, my mind-link was as dead and silent as my body heat.

I could only stumble down the mountain on foot.

I didn't know how long I had walked. Hypothermia began to set in, my vision blurred, and the shadows of the surrounding trees twisted into terrifying hallucinations—

Suddenly, the blinding glare of headlights pierced the darkness.

My frozen heart gave a weak thud, sparking a sliver of hope. I forced my stiff legs to speed up, wanting to go over and ask for help.

But when the tinted window rolled down, it revealed Kael's cold, sharp profile.

"Maya lost the baby," he said, his voice devoid of any warmth.

I stopped in my tracks, my trembling body swaying in the fierce wind.

"Just stay out here in the snow and freeze," Kael continued, not even glancing at my bleeding forehead. "Consider it a mild punishment for taking a life."

"The freezing hell you are suffering now is only a thousandth of what Maya went through. Consider it a mild punishment for murder!"

He rolled up the window and slammed on the gas.

The car sped away, kicking up a spray of dirty snow and mud that slapped against my freezing legs.

In my daze, I suddenly remembered that months ago, when I was lying alone on that cold operating table, losing my own child to the silver poison, my heart had shattered exactly like this.

He was devastated because Maya lost her child. But what about mine?

...

When I opened my eyes again, the harsh smell of medical alcohol and crushed herbs filled my nose. I was already lying in a bed at the Pack hospital.

I turned my head and met Seraphina's red, guilt-ridden eyes.

"Chloe, I'm so sorry. I had no idea that Rogue was so scheming, driving a wedge between you and Kael and making you suffer so much."

"But don't worry. I brought her here while Kael is away dealing with Pack business."

Seraphina stood up and waved toward the corridor.

A moment later, Maya, wearing a hospital gown, was brought in by the guards.

Her face was pale, clearly terrified by the former Luna's wrath.

When her eyes landed on me, a flash of pure hatred crossed them.

Seraphina stepped out to take a call, leaving just the two of us in the ward.

Without the former Luna present, Maya instantly dropped her frightened-rabbit act.

She glared at me viciously and hissed through gritted teeth, "Miss Chloe, what exactly are you trying to do?! I am Kael's chosen mate, and I will be his official Luna! It's so vicious of you to turn his mother against me!"

I raised my eyes to look at her, my gaze as cold and dead as ash.

"Tell me, Maya," I said softly, my tone steady. "Did a tiny trace of Wolfsbane really cause you to lose that baby?"

Maya's head snapped up, her pupils shrinking drastically in sheer panic.

"What... what do you mean?"

She took a step back, her hands hanging by her sides trembling uneasily.

Her acting was incredibly clumsy, full of chilling flaws. A wave of deep exhaustion instantly washed over me.

I propped myself up slightly, my gaze hardening with the cold, commanding authority that once belonged to a Luna. "Get out. If you take one more step closer, I will kill you."

Suddenly, Maya threw her entire body toward the hard tile floor, dropping heavily to her knees with a loud thud.

"Please, Chloe, the baby is already gone!" Maya screamed, her tears instantly bursting forth like a broken dam. "Please don't hurt me anymore! I didn't know my place!"

The next second, the heavy ward door was violently kicked open by Kael.