Janine's POV

The instant I used his pet name, his shoulders eased as though nothing in the world could possibly be wrong. His wolf responded to my tone, misreading my calm for forgiveness.

He drifted closer, eyes softening, and bent to brush his lips over mine. I turned just enough that his kiss landed on my cheek instead.

“I’m exhausted,” I murmured, tugging the quilt up to my chin. “Today drained the life out of me.”

For a split second irritation flashed across his face, but he smoothed it away with a practiced smile. “Then sleep. You need it.”

His phone vibrated on the nightstand. He snatched it up immediately, and the tightness in his jaw vanished, replaced by a grin that was too bright, too eager. His thumbs flew over the screen.

Within seconds he sprang to his feet, pulling on his shirt in a rush. “An issue came up with the pack corporation,” he said without meeting my eyes. “I’ll be gone for a while.”

“Sure,” I replied evenly. “No rush. Stay as long as you need.”

That finally made him look at me. He blinked, clearly caught off guard. I used to argue every time he vanished late at night, accused him of choosing work over me. Tonight I was handing him permission to disappear.

His phone buzzed again, breaking the moment. He shook his head as if dismissing a strange thought and hurried toward the door.

“Love you,” he muttered.

“And I despise you,” I whispered once he was gone.

—

By dawn, it was obvious he never came back. I assumed he had slept in Avery’s arms, her scent clinging to his skin instead of mine. Surprisingly, it didn’t even hurt anymore.

I dressed and made my way to the healer’s wing for the appointment I had arranged the night before.

Sitting on the narrow infirmary bed, staring at the sterile white walls, my chest tightened until it felt as though my wolf were clawing at my ribs.

Was I really about to erase another life?

The healer, a gentle middle-aged she-wolf, stood beside me. “Janine, are you certain about this?”

I tried to answer, but my voice deserted me. My palm slid over my stomach on instinct. Tommy’s face rose in my mind—his grin when he shifted halfway for the first time, the way he used to wrap his tiny arms around my neck and call me Mama.

The tears came fast and hot.

“I can’t,” I whispered hoarsely. “I can’t do it. I don’t want to go through with this.”

She nodded with quiet understanding. “That’s all right. There’s no pressure here. Leave when you’re ready.”

This pup was mine. A piece of me, a fragment of Tommy returned to the world. No matter how rotten my life had become, I wouldn’t sacrifice another child to their cruelty.

I stepped into the hallway, mind spinning, and that was when I heard it—laughter. Familiar. Intimate.

I looked up.

Lester and Avery were strolling out of the prenatal ward together, wrapped in their own little universe. His hand rested possessively on the curve of her lower back as he murmured something that made her giggle.

My blood iced over.

Her fingers were splayed protectively over her belly.

She was with child.

They spotted me before I could retreat. Color drained from Avery’s face.

“Janine!” she hurried over, eyes shimmering with false worry. “I—I only came for a routine check. Lester just offered to accompany me.”

“Don’t apologize,” Lester cut in softly, placing his hand over hers. His gaze was full of tenderness—an expression I hadn’t seen directed at me in years. “You’ve done nothing wrong.”

I forced my lips into a smile. “You’re right. She hasn’t done anything wrong at all.”

Both of them stared at me, stunned. I used to bristle whenever they stood too close, used to question everything. Lester always brushed me off, telling me I was insecure, imagining things about my own sister.

“She’s married. I’m married. We’re just friends now,” he had insisted countless times.

Now he said calmly, “We’ll talk later, Janine. I’ll take Avery home first.”

I didn’t argue. I simply stepped past them. “Please,” I said lightly, “don’t hurry.”

Then I added over my shoulder, “Congratulations on your pregnancy, Avery.”

The shock on their faces was almost satisfying.

—

Whatever instincts he had left must have been screaming, because Lester returned home much earlier than usual that night.

“You’re back already,” I remarked without lifting my gaze from the book resting in my hands.

“I finished up fast,” he said brightly. “I wanted to spend the evening with my beautiful mate.”

He leaned down for a kiss. Again, I turned slightly, and his lips brushed my cheek.

He lingered, studying me. I pretended to read, my eyes sliding uselessly over the same line.

“It feels like we’ve been drifting,” he said gently. “I might take some days off so we can reconnect.”

I shrugged. “You’ve been busy running the pack. I get it.”

He frowned. He knew that wasn’t me. I had begged him countless times to step away from his Alpha duties just to be with me.

“What’s wrong, Janine?” he asked quietly. “Why are you acting like this?”

Janine's POV

I didn’t lift my eyes from the page when I answered him. “Nothing is wrong.”

“Is this about seeing Avery and me at the healer’s wing today?” he pressed. “I’ve already explained more than once that—”

I cut him off before he could pour out another rehearsed lie. “I told you I’m fine. You and my sister are close—best friends, soulmates, whatever you want to call it. It doesn’t concern me anymore. So if you don’t mind, I’d like to finish this chapter. It’s finally getting good.”

His jaw tightened, irritation flaring in his amber eyes. Without another word, he rose and stalked into the bathroom, the door clicking shut behind him.

I slid off the bed and headed for the kitchen, my wolf pacing restlessly inside my chest. Once there, I leaned against the counter, drawing in slow breaths to keep myself from breaking apart.

Heavy footsteps approached behind me.

“You’ve been off all day, Janine,” Lester said sharply. “If you’ve got something to say, say it.”

I turned around with deliberate calm. “I already did. I’m fine. You don’t need to babysit me. Why don’t you go worry about Avery and her pup instead?”

The air shifted instantly. His eyes darkened. “What is that supposed to imply?”

I shrugged lightly, pushing away from the counter. “Only that you seem far more invested in her well-being than mine.”

His temper snapped like a frayed leash. “You’re doing it again! She’s your sister, for the Moon’s sake. Stop acting like a jealous little cub—”

“I’m not jealous,” I said with a hollow laugh. “You two are perfect for each other.”

“Enough!” he snarled.

His hand lashed out. I was thrown backward, my spine slamming into the edge of the counter so hard I saw sparks. The breath was ripped from my lungs, and I crumpled to the floor, my belly striking the tiles with a sickening thud.

“I’ve got pack business tonight,” he muttered coldly. “Don’t wait up.”

The front door crashed shut, leaving the manor echoing with silence.

Pain radiated through my abdomen as I lay there, shock slowly giving way to terror. My hands slid to my stomach, and when I felt the warmth soaking through my clothes, I knew.

Blood.

“No… please, no…” I sobbed, struggling to sit up as the room swam. My fingers fumbled for my phone, dialing his number through tears.

It rang.

Once.

Twice.

Finally, he answered.

“R-Lester—”

“Call me again when you’re done acting like a brat,” he snapped, then cut the line.

I stared at the dark screen in disbelief. I tried again. His phone was already off.

The pain sharpened, ripping through me. I screamed and dialed emergency services with trembling hands. I couldn’t lose another child. I wouldn’t.

As darkness crept in at the edges of my vision, a single thought burned through me:

If this baby dies, Lester will suffer twice as much.

Then everything went black.

—

When I opened my eyes, harsh white lights glared down at me. The scent of antiseptic filled the air. A healer stood beside the bed, her expression gentle but heavy.

“Ms. Blackward, you’re awake.”

Fragments rushed back—the shove, the fall, the blood.

“My baby…” I whispered, panic clawing at my chest.

Her face softened, and she took my hand. “I’m very sorry. You miscarried.”

The scream that tore from me was animal, raw, echoing down the sterile hallways. My heart splintered into nothing. Tommy was gone. Now this child too. Both stolen from me by the same man.

I cried until my throat burned and my eyes were swollen shut, until even my wolf lay curled in silent agony. I stared blankly at the ceiling afterward, wishing the Moon Goddess had taken me instead.

The door creaked open.

“Janine.”

The voice was deep, cool, unfamiliar in this room of grief.

I forced my eyes open and found Killian Romano standing there—Avery’s mate—his steel-gray gaze unreadable.

I said nothing. I had no strength left for words.

He moved closer and took the chair beside my bed. “I heard what happened. I’m sorry.”

His presence only reminded me of her—of everything I’d lost. I turned my face away.

“Avery isn’t here,” I said hoarsely.

His eyes hardened. “I didn’t come for that cheating bitch.”

I stared at him in shock. “You know?”

He nodded once. “Since last week.”

“And me?” I asked.

“Just a few days,” I answered quietly.

“That’s why I’m here,” he said, his gaze drilling into mine.

“For what?” I asked, a spark of curiosity piercing the fog of grief.

He leaned forward slightly. “To make you an offer.”

“What kind?”

His lips curved into a cold, dangerous smile. “Tell me, Luna… how would you feel about revenge?”

Janine's POV

“Revenge?” The word slipped from my lips as my pulse thundered through my ears.

Killian eased himself into the chair beside my bed, the silver-gray of his wolfish eyes sharpened into something cold and lethal.

“Exactly that,” he replied quietly. “Think about it, Janine. The two people who swore loyalty to you carved your heart out. Why should they walk away untouched?”

Something fierce stirred in me, a dark spark I hadn’t felt since the night Tommy was taken from me. This wasn’t despair—it was hunger. The kind that demanded blood.

Ignoring the ache still coiled through my body, I pushed myself upright. “So you want to make Avery pay,” I said slowly.

His lips curved, but there was no warmth there. “I gave her everything I had. She trampled it into the dirt. So yes, I want her to suffer. She may share your blood, but—”

“That doesn’t matter,” I cut in flatly. “Why come to me?”

A predatory gleam lit his gaze. “Because I don’t like winning alone. You’re essential to what I have planned.”

I folded my arms across my chest. “Then stop dancing around it. What’s your plan?”

“Become my mate,” Killian said, as casually as if he were asking me to share a drink.

—

Once I was discharged, I hailed a cab back to the pack manor. I checked my phone with a humorless smile—no missed calls, no messages, not even a token inquiry from Lester. Two days in the infirmary, and I might as well have vanished from the world.

My thoughts replayed Killian’s outrageous proposal. It was madness. I wanted revenge, yes—but not another hollow bond built on convenience and lies. I had turned him down immediately, even when he slipped me his number “just in case.”

There would be no case.

At least, that’s what I’d told myself.

Lester’s car wasn’t in the driveway when I arrived, but Avery’s sleek silver sedan was. That alone told me why my absence had gone unnoticed.

The manor door creaked open, and I froze as faint sounds drifted down the hall. My wolf bristled. I followed the noise toward the master chamber—our chamber, the place where I had once believed in forever.

The door was ajar.

What I saw inside shattered whatever restraint I had left.

Lester had Avery pressed against the bed, their attention so fully tangled in each other that they never sensed me. Clothes lay strewn across the floor like evidence at a crime scene.

I had always known they were crossing lines. But witnessing it—seeing how naturally they fit together—was a different kind of wound.

Tears burned behind my eyes as their voices reached me.

“I’ve missed you more than I can say,” Lester murmured.

Avery laughed softly. “Is that because your Luna isn’t enough for you?”

“She never was,” he breathed. “Once I claim my father’s Alpha seat, I’ll give you everything.”

That was the moment everything hollowed out inside me. The grief that had been gnawing at my heart didn’t disappear—it simply went numb, replaced by something sharper, colder, and far more lethal. My wolf, silent until then, rose to her feet within my soul, eyes burning with the same resolve settling into my bones.

I lifted my phone with hands that no longer shook. One picture. Then another. And another. Proof framed in silent flashes. When I was done, I didn’t confront them. I didn’t scream or cry. I just slipped back into the hallway, plucked Lester’s car keys from the console table like I’d done a thousand times before, and walked out of the house that had once been my sanctuary.

Behind the steering wheel, I let myself look at the images only once, just long enough to feel the betrayal solidify into resolve. Then I opened my messages and typed four words to Killian.

I accept your offer.

His response came before I could even lock the screen, the vibration in my palm almost mocking how ready he had been for this.

Killian: Good. This is where the real game begins.

I leaned my head back against the seat, a broken laugh slipping out. It felt like I had just bargained with a demon—but demons were exactly what I needed.

I drove straight to the law firm Killian had mentioned earlier.

The receptionist looked up with a polite pack-trained smile. “Good afternoon. How may I help you?”

“I’m here to see Jonathan Hayes,” I said evenly. “Killian Romano sent me.”

Recognition flickered across her face. “One moment, please.”

Minutes later, I was ushered into a sleek office where a tall man rose to greet me.

“Ms. Blackward,” he said, extending his hand. “I’m Jonathan Hayes. Please, sit. What brings you here today?”

I met his gaze without flinching.

“I want to sever my bond to Lester Campbell.”