“Eleanor, are you okay? Did she hurt you?”

Dylan teleported to her side in a flash.

He helped her stand up and gently touched her face, as if those small wounds might leave a scar on a werewolf.

The way he looked at me was completely different.

“How dare you hit her? Have you lost your mind?”

Dylan was angry.

“Because she destroyed my shawl. On purpose.”

Dylan frowned. “It’s just a shawl. Why do you have to do this?”

“Just a shawl? Don’t you remember? It was my mother-wolf’s most cherished possession. You have lost your mind after Eleanor came back, Dylan.”

Dylan froze. Maybe he had finally remembered what that shawl meant to me.

We had been mates for 3 years, and I had never spoken to him like this.

He cleared his throat and said, “But Eleanor didn’t mean it. She already offered to buy that shawl. The shawl is ruined now. Stop being unreasonable.”

He pulled out a checkbook, scribbled a number and tossed the check at me.

“Is this enough?”

The check landed at my feet. I didn’t pick it up.

Dylan glanced at me, then wrote another check and threw it down too.

“Enough now? How much do you want?”

He looked at me like we were negotiating a business deal.

When I still didn’t move, he wrote a third check. This one was for $1 million. Before he could drop it, I took it from his hand.

“Fine, you two enjoy yourselves.”

I turned to leave.

Tomorrow, our mate bond would disappear. There was no point in wasting my time here.

But before I could step out, Dylan grabbed my wrist.

“The money is for the shawl. But you hit Eleanor. You need to apologize to her.”

“What did you say?”

“Apologize to Eleanor. Now.”

“And if I don’t?” I could feel my tears in my eyes.

“Then I’ll destroy every business your father-wolf left behind.”

I looked at him.

He really felt like a stranger, or even an enemy.

My father-wolf had trusted him with his entire business when he died. And now? He had taken it all and was threatening to burn it down for Eleanor.

I didn’t say a word.

Eleanor stepped forward.

“A Luna who can’t apologize for her own mistake? What would the pack think if they knew?” She pushed hard against my back.

My wound split open again. I crumpled to my knees.

Eleanor pressed her hand to my head, forcing it down.

“This is how you should beg for forgiveness. Understand?”

He said, “Let it go, Eleanor.”

For a second, Dylan looked nervous. He reached out to help me up, but I stood on my own.

I said nothing. I just walked out.

As I left the apartment, I heard Eleanor talk to Dylan.

“She scratched my face! What if it scars? It hurts so bad…”

His voice was soft when he replied, “It won’t. I’ll find the best healer in the whole world for you.”

I got in my car and hit the gas. A tear slipped out, but I wiped it away fast, as if I was erasing every sweet memory I had ever shared with Dylan.

Dylan didn’t call me or come home.

I waited for him until the morning of our 3-year mate bond. I went to see the Southern witch alone.

I watched as she cast the spell. I could almost feel that our mate bond was being destroyed. The mark on my wrist vanished.

I touched the skin where the mark was, it was completely gone, as if that mark had never existed at all. Just like our mate bond.

It was over.

From now on, Dylan means nothing to me.