Aiden Sterling POV:

The drive to the Carlisle estate Lila chattered endlessly about our future. She was practically vibrating with joy.

As I pulled the car up to the grand gates of the Carlisle mansion, my encrypted pack phone rang. It was the Alpha CEO of H.Y. Corp. I gestured for Lila to go inside first. She obeyed with a sweet smile, stepping out of the car and waving before heading up the steps.

"Speak," I answered, my voice low and cold.

A mocking laugh came through the speaker. *"Alpha Sterling, I have to say, your sales director has some serious guts. She literally held a silver blade to my throat to force me to sign that treaty. I shot her with a silver bullet in retaliation. And you know what she did? She dug the silver bullet out of her own flesh right in front of me, without a flinch. I've never admired a woman more in my life. Tell me, is she still alive?"*

My pupils shrank to pinpricks. The world seemed to tilt on its axis. "What did you say?"

I hung up the phone, my heart pounding a frantic rhythm against my ribs. I immediately mind-linked my head tracker.

"Where is Kira?" I demanded, my voice cracking with an emotion I refused to name.

*"Alpha, Miss Kira returned to the villa briefly, packed a single suitcase, and left."*

I knew she would leave, but I didn't expect her to vanish so quickly. With a silver bullet wound, where could she possibly go?

"Did she say where she was heading?"

"No, Alpha. But... Miss Kira was picked up by a multi-million dollar luxury Bentley. The driver was a very handsome, powerful male. He looked incredibly wealthy."

A layer of absolute frost instantly covered my eyes. I slowly lowered my hand from my ear, my jaw clenching so hard my teeth ached.

She had just broken the bond, and a luxury car was already waiting for her? She had probably never loved me at all, which was why she could betray me and walk away so effortlessly.

Kira, you are unbelievable.

Kira Beaumont POV:

I was picked up by my eldest brother, Gideon, the Beta of the Beaumont Pack. He drove me straight to the most luxurious private estate in Silverwood City, the Beaumont Manor.

Gideon had to leave immediately for urgent pack business, completely unaware of my gunshot wound.

I lay on the massive, soft bed in my old room. Everything was exactly as I had left it years ago. But my body could no longer hold out. My face was ashen, cold sweat pouring down my forehead. The excruciating pain of the silver wound, combined with the devastating heartbreak of the Rejection, made it hard to breathe.

I lay there weakly, my long eyelashes fluttering as I closed my eyes. I couldn't understand how two people who had once loved each other could just fall apart so easily. Thinking back on the last four years, all the little moments, his gentle eyes that now belonged to someone else... it tore my heart to shreds.

I guess even the most passionate vows of a mate have an expiration date.

There was another reason I had been so determined to break the bond. I placed a trembling hand over my flat stomach. I was pregnant.

Aiden was too powerful, his reach too vast. I couldn't let him know about the pup. When I was shot, I had dug the bullet out myself without any anesthetics, terrified that the drugs would harm the baby growing inside me.

Thinking of the promise I had made to my grandfather, I finally accepted my fate. I was going to inherit the Beaumont Pack.