-Ember-
"Let me out. Let me OUT! I'll kill him!"
Ivy's rage explodes inside me like a grenade, so powerful that I have to bite my lip until I taste copper-penny blood just to keep from screaming. My vision blurs at the edges, turning crimson with fury as I stare at Tanner—the man who drugged me, who tried to violate me in the most intimate way possible, who's now standing in this office looking at me with such undisguised contempt it makes my skin physically burn.
"What the fuck is he doing here?" Stella demands, half-rising from her seat, her protective instinct radiating off her in waves. Her hand finds mine, squeezing so hard my fingers might break, but the pain grounds me.
Alpha Garret raises a hand, his expression carefully neutral in that practiced way that powerful men have when they're about to let someone off the hook. "Everyone, please remain calm. Tanner is here to formally address the situation."
Address the situation. Like we're discussing a minor inconvenience. Like he forgot to take out the trash or showed up late to a meeting, not drugged and attempted to rape me.
Tanner looks... different. Not remorseful, not even pretending to be. His eyes are cold—glacier cold—filled with hatred so intense it makes my skin crawl and my stomach twist into knots. His jaw is clenched tight enough to crack teeth, and the way he's looking at me—like I'm something disgusting he found on the bottom of his shoe—tells me everything I need to know. He blames me for his current predicament. He hates me for exposing him.
"He wants to kill us," Ivy snarls in my mind, her voice dripping with venom. "Look at his eyes. He's imagining all the ways he could make us suffer. He's picturing our blood on his hands."
"Ember," Tanner says, my name leaving his lips like he's spitting out poison. His voice is tight with barely controlled rage, his hands flexing at his sides like he's imagining them around my throat.
I stare at him, unable to form words through the haze of fear and anger swirling inside me. The hatred radiating from him is palpable, filling the room with a suffocating tension that makes it hard to breathe. My lungs feel like they're filling with concrete.
Bethany steps forward, her hand possessively on Tanner's arm, her perfectly manicured nails digging into his skin like she's marking her territory. Her smile is saccharine sweet, dripping with false sincerity. "We both want to apologize for any misunderstanding."
"Misunderstanding?" I finally find my voice, and it comes out as a dangerous whisper that doesn't sound like me at all. It sounds like Ivy, like the wolf inside me that's done being prey. "Is that what we're calling attempted rape now?"
The room goes deadly silent. I can practically hear everyone's heartbeats, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife. The word rape hangs in the air between us, ugly and raw and real.
"I was drunk," Tanner says through gritted teeth, his eyes boring into mine with such loathing that I have to resist the urge to step back. Every word seems to cost him, like he's being forced to swallow glass. "I made a terrible mistake. I never meant to hurt you."
"Liar. LIAR." Ivy's voice is pure venom in my mind, acidic enough to burn.
"Bullshit," I spit out, standing up so fast my head spins. My whole body is trembling, but not from fear—from rage so intense it feels like electricity crackling under my skin. "You drugged me with wolfsbane. You planned the whole thing, making sure Stella would be on patrol. That's not a mistake; that's premeditation."
Alpha Garret clears his throat, clearly uncomfortable with the direction this conversation is heading. His eyes dart nervously between me and his son. "Ember, I understand your anger. But Tanner has agreed to formally accept your rejection and to stay away from you."
"Oh, how generous of him," Stella mutters under her breath, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
I look from Tanner to Alpha Garret and back again, my mind racing. Something isn't adding up. This sudden capitulation despite the naked hatred in Tanner's eyes—there's more going on here. The pieces don't fit.
"Why now?" I ask, crossing my arms over my chest like armor. "What changed?"
Tanner and his father exchange a look that speaks volumes—a silent conversation that reeks of secrets and lies.
"I've had time to reflect," Tanner says, the words coming out mechanical and rehearsed, like he's reading from a script he hates. His hands are clenched into fists at his sides, knuckles white with strain. Every muscle in his body seems coiled, ready to spring. He looks like he'd rather tear my throat out than stand here talking to me.
He's lying. Something's scared him.
The realization hits me like a truck. Stella's earlier words... "He will kill you." Who is this mysterious "he" that has even Tanner backing down despite his obvious desire to hurt me?
"So that's it?" I ask, looking at Alpha Garret, heat rising in my cheeks. "He gets away with assault because he's your son? No consequences?"
Alpha Garret at least has the decency to look uncomfortable, shifting in his expensive leather chair. "Tanner will be temporarily removed from the pack while he... works on himself. He'll be sent to the Timber Ridge pack for six months to train under Alpha Marcus."
"A vacation," I say flatly, the words bitter on my tongue. "His punishment for drugging and assaulting me is a fucking vacation."
"It's not a vacation," Alpha Garret insists, his voice taking on that patronizing tone men use when they think women are being hysterical. "Marcus runs a tight ship. It will be intense training and—"
"Save it," I cut him off, surprising even myself with my boldness. Something has shifted inside me—some fundamental line has been crossed. I'm done being polite. Done being the good girl who smiles and nods and accepts whatever scraps of justice are thrown her way. "We all know this is just for show. Six months from now, everything will go back to normal, and Tanner will be right back here, doing exactly what he's always done."
Tanner's eyes flash with malice, a muscle twitching in his cheek as he struggles to maintain his composure. The look he gives me promises retribution, silently communicating that this isn't over. That I'll pay for this humiliation.
Bethany steps forward, her eyes flashing with that entitled rage I've come to expect from her, her perfect blowout bouncing with indignation. "You should be grateful. Tanner could have pressed charges against your friend for pulling a gun on him."
I laugh, the sound harsh and without humor, scraping my throat raw. "Please, by all means, let's take this to the Council. I'm sure they'd love to hear all about how the Alpha's son drugged and attempted to force-mark a she-wolf who had formally rejected him. Great PR for the pack."
Bethany's face pales beneath her flawless makeup, her perfectly glossed lips pressing into a thin line.
Alpha Garret stands up, his patience clearly wearing thin as he towers over his desk. "Enough. The decision has been made. Tanner will leave tomorrow for Timber Ridge. Ember, you are free to return to your cabin. I've assigned additional patrols in that area for your protection."
"My protection," I repeat, not bothering to hide my skepticism. "Right."
Tanner steps forward, his expression murderous as he invades my personal space. The scent of him—cologne mixed with rage—makes my stomach heave. "I need to do this properly." He takes a deep breath, his eyes locked on mine with such intense malice that it feels like a physical blow. "I, Tanner Bailey, future alpha of Silver Moon Pack, accept your rejection." Each word is spat out like venom.
I brace myself for the pain that's supposed to come with a severed mate bond, the ripping sensation that everyone describes—but nothing happens. Instead, Tanner suddenly doubles over, clutching at his chest like he's been stabbed. He falls to the floor with a heavy thud, his face contorted in agony as he gasps for breath, eyes bulging.
"Tanner!" Bethany shrieks, dropping to her knees beside him, her perfectly tailored skirt fanning out around her. She cradles his head in her lap, mascara-tinged tears already streaming down her face.
Alpha Garret rushes to his son's side, panic replacing his earlier composure. "What's happening? Tanner!"
I stand frozen, watching in shock as Tanner writhes on the floor, his breathing labored and shallow. This isn't normal. When a mate bond breaks, both parties are supposed to feel it—a sharp, intense pain that gradually fades. But I feel nothing. Not even a twinge. Just... emptiness where there should be pain.
Bethany's head snaps up, her eyes burning with hatred as she lunges toward me like a feral cat. "You witch! What did you do to him?" Her hand flies up, ready to strike me across the face.
In a flash, Stella catches Bethany's wrist mid-air, her grip visibly tight enough to make Bethany wince. The sound of bone grinding against bone fills the suddenly silent room.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Stella says, her voice deadly calm but laced with promise. The kind of promise that ends with blood and broken bones.
"Let go of me!" Bethany shrieks, trying to wrench her arm free. Her perfectly manicured nails claw at Stella's hand, leaving angry red scratches.
Alpha Garret's voice cuts through the chaos like a whip. "Bethany! That's enough." His tone leaves no room for argument, the Alpha command vibrating in the air. "No one is to lay a finger on Ember. She is Alpha protected, and anyone who does will face serious consequences."
Stella releases Bethany's wrist with a little shove that sends her stumbling back, nearly tripping over her designer heels.
"Alpha protected?" Bethany spits the words like they're poison, her pretty face twisted with rage. "She's nothing! Just a pathetic little orphan who—"
"I said ENOUGH!" Alpha Garret roars, his Alpha voice making the windows rattle and my bones vibrate. The force of it pushes against my chest like a physical blow.
Bethany's eyes fill with tears—the fake, manipulative kind that I've seen her use countless times before to get her way. "But look what she did to Tanner! She's hurting him somehow!" She gestures dramatically to where Tanner is still curled on the floor, though his breathing seems less labored now.
"I didn't do anything," I say, genuinely confused and a little freaked out. "I don't understand what's happening any more than you do."
Bethany's face contorts with rage, her perfect features twisting into something ugly. "Liar! You did something to him. Some kind of... of witch magic or something!"
I almost laugh at the absurdity of her accusation, hysteria bubbling up in my throat. "Witch magic? Are you serious right now?"
"You've always been jealous," Bethany continues, her voice rising hysterically, pointing a trembling finger at me. "Jealous that he chose me over you. That he never wanted you!"
"Let me at her," Ivy growls, clawing at my insides. "Just five seconds is all I need to rip that smug look off her face. To make her bleed."
"If he never wanted me," I say coolly, finding a strange calm in the eye of this emotional hurricane, "then why did he drug me and try to force-mark me three nights ago?"
The question lands like a grenade in the middle of the room. Boom.
Bethany's mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water, her perfect composure cracking. "He was drunk! He made a mistake!"
"A mistake?" Stella scoffs, crossing her arms over her chest. "Is that what the kids are calling premeditated assault these days? Interesting. I'll have to remember that next time I 'mistakenly' plant my fist in someone's face."
The office door suddenly swings open with enough force to bang against the wall, and Beta Richard—Bethany's father—strides in, his face a mask of concern. "What's going on here? I could hear the shouting from down the hall."
"Daddy!" Bethany wails, instantly transforming into a helpless damsel as she runs to her father. Tears stream down her face, smearing her perfect makeup into raccoon eyes. "It's Ember! She did something to Tanner! Look at him!"
Richard's eyes narrow as they land on me, cold and calculating, then shift to Tanner who's still on the floor, though his breathing seems to be evening out now, color returning to his face.
"What is the meaning of this?" Beta Richard demands, looking to Alpha Garret for answers, his voice dripping with authority.
Before the Alpha can respond, another figure appears in the doorway behind Beta Richard. Tall, broad-shouldered, with salt-and-pepper hair and a face I haven't seen in fifteen years. His presence fills the room instantly, commanding attention without saying a word. The air itself seems to change, becoming charged with a power that makes the hairs on my arms stand up.
"I want to know what the hell is going on here," the man says, his deep voice sending a shock of recognition through my system like I've been electrocuted.
I spin around, my heart stopping in my chest as I stare at the man I thought I'd never see again. The man who walked out of my life when I was just a child. The man whose face I see in my dreams and in the mirror.
"Daddy?" The word escapes my lips in a breathless whisper, small and vulnerable and achingly hopeful, like the little girl I once was—the little girl who waited by the window every night for years, praying he'd come home.