Chapter 2

Back at the estate, the night should have ended with silence.

Instead it ended with Janet in Walter’s arms.

She clung to him in the foyer like the world would collapse if he let go. “I’m sorry,” she whispered loudly enough for me to hear. “I didn’t mean to ruin everything.”

Walter stroked her hair. “You didn’t. It’s handled.”

Handled by me.

I stood on the stairs, one hand on the railing, steadying myself against the lingering dizziness. The cut from earlier had left me tired in a way sleep never fixed.

Janet glanced up at me with wet lashes. “Melissa… I’m really grateful. You’re… you’re like a sister to me.”

Walter’s jaw tightened in warning—at me, not her—like he expected me to lash out and embarrass him.

I didn’t.

I walked down the stairs slowly. “Sisters don’t crawl into a married man’s arms,” I said, my voice calm.

Janet flinched as if slapped. Walter’s gaze snapped to mine.

“Enough,” he said.

It wasn’t a request. It was a lock clicking into place.

“I’m not raising my voice,” I replied. “I’m stating a boundary.”

Walter exhaled like I was exhausting. “She’s shaken. She’ll stay tonight.”

My stomach turned. “In our home.”

“In my home,” he corrected.

There it was. The hierarchy, spoken aloud.

Janet sniffed. “I can sleep in the guest room—”

Walter cut her off. “No. The guest wing is too far. You’ll sleep closer.”

Closer to him.

I stared at him. “Walter. I’m still recovering.”

His eyes flicked briefly to my abdomen, then away, uninterested. “You’re strong.”

I almost smiled at that. Not because it was kind.

Because it was useful.

Strong was the word men used when they wanted you to suffer quietly.

I turned toward the hallway. “I’ll take my medication.”

Behind me, Janet’s voice softened. “Walter… don’t be mad at Melissa. She’s just… emotional.”

Walter’s answer was gentle. “I know.”

Then, as if to prove it, he followed me—only to the laundry room.

He tossed a bundled sheet into my arms.

The scent hit me first.

Blood.

My blood.

The fabric was stiff where it had dried. My throat closed.

“Wash it properly,” Walter said. “Cold water. Don’t ruin it.”

I stared down at the red stain spreading like a memory. “You brought this to me.”

“You’re the one who knows how to clean things,” he said flatly. “And don’t make a scene. Janet’s already on edge.”

A laugh tried to escape my chest and died there.

I lifted my eyes. “You cut the bond earlier.”

Walter didn’t blink. “You were about to argue in front of the visiting pack.”

“So you punished me.”

“I managed you,” he corrected. “There’s a difference.”

My fingers tightened around the sheet until my knuckles hurt. “How many times do you think you get to do this?”

Walter’s mouth curved like he found me ridiculous. “Melissa, don’t dramatize. We have plenty of room for mistakes.”

Plenty.

He still thought there were plenty of chances left—ninety-nine, in fact—to sever that psychological bond.

But what he didn’t know was that whenever he fussed over his so-called “little sister he’d grown up with,” he would always, unconsciously, ignore the words I hadn’t finished saying.

Because I was insignificant.

Though a year ago, he would have remembered every single word I said.

I didn’t answer.

I went to the sink and ran cold water over the stain, watching red swirl away.

Behind me, Janet’s muffled sob drifted from the hallway.

Walter’s footsteps retreated toward her.

My chest tightened—not with heartbreak, not anymore, but with something colder.

Calculation.

Ninety-eight.

I whispered the number under my breath like a prayer I didn’t believe in.

Later, when the house finally quieted, I sat on the edge of my bed with a folder in my lap.

The Partner Dissolution Application.

Elder Council forms. Legal language. Pack law.

I didn’t submit it yet.

Not because I was unsure.

Because the bond still existed.

And I knew Walter.

He wouldn’t panic until he felt the leash slip.

I touched the faint line over my ribs where the bond lived, like a scar that hadn’t finished forming.

“One more,” I murmured. “Just one more.”

In the next room, Walter laughed softly at something Janet said.

The sound didn’t break me.

It just counted down.

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