Chapter 3

"You've had this planned all along, haven't you." My voice was calm.

He leaned back against the headboard, completely at ease.

"Bella needs a title. I owe her that much. Besides, you've seen everything now."

"Seen you give the Luna's moonstone necklace to Bella?" I said with bitter irony.

"Stop fixating on these things." His tone was impatient. "If you want compensation, we can discuss it."

"Compensation?" I almost laughed. "How do you compensate for ten years?"

"Erin," he said slowly, "look at yourself. All these years—what have you done besides revolve around Liam and this house? There's been no passion between us for a long time."

He finally said what he truly thought.

"Is passion all there is to life?" I shot back.

Damian scoffed. "For me, yes."

"Bella is different. She makes me feel alive. Like there's still heat in my blood. She reminds me of when I was young. Bold enough to fight. To take. And to..."

He emphasized the words, "...to shield someone with my own body, right under a rogue's claws."

My heart plummeted.

That buried memory rose to the surface.

Ten years ago, at that gathering, the rogue wolves attacked without warning. Silver flashed and howls filled the air. The crowd shoved and scattered in panic; I was swept along, nearly knocked down.

Back then, I wasn't his Luna yet—just an observer hiding my identity in the crowd.

In the chaos, a dark shape lunged at me, reeking of blood.

A rogue.

Before I could react, a brutal force yanked me backward.

Damian.

He shielded me completely with his body. The instant the gunshot cracked, I heard his muffled grunt. Shrapnel from a silver-laced bullet grazed his right forearm. The acrid smell of burning flesh mixed with blood.

Silver poisoning was agony for any wolf—but he didn't let go. He just turned his head and growled at me: "Don't look back. Run!"

That was the moment I fell hopelessly in love with him.

"Remember?" Damian's voice dragged me back to the present. He traced the scar that hadn't faded in ten years. "I took a hit for you back then."

I said nothing.

That scar had made me go soft on him countless times over the decade.

He looked at me, his gaze clear and cruel. "But now, I don't want to anymore."

"...Don't want to what?"

He met my eyes directly. "I don't want to take even the most insignificant silver bullet for you—the you that exists now, with nothing left worth protecting."

A dull ache spread through my chest.

He smiled and added, "But if Bella were in danger, I would."

The air froze.

When pain reaches its peak, it becomes numbness.

I swallowed the sob rising in my throat. "Who you're willing to shield is your business."

He frowned, dissatisfied with my calm response. "Don't give me that look, Erin. It's pathetic."

I said, "I just see things clearly now. What about Liam?"

"He's my son." I refused to yield. "He's coming with me."

"He's the heir to Ravenhurst first!" Damian's voice turned sharp, raw with possessiveness. "He stays with me."

"With you?" I nearly laughed. "To learn what? How to buy your mistress a necklace on your anniversary while your wife gets the freebie?"

"At least I can give him status, power, the true laws of survival for our kind!"

He stepped closer, his presence oppressive. "What can he get from you? Learn how to become ordinary? Erin, you'd ruin him. Turn him into a mediocrity unworthy of the Ravenhurst name!"

Liam, my little sun. He crawled into my arms after nightmares. He'd whisper, "Does Daddy not like me?" He tried to make me laugh at every gathering Damian skipped.

And his father was now using the most contemptuous language to dismiss everything I meant as a mother.

I looked at this man who'd been arrogant for ten years yet knew nothing about me.

Ordinary.

Ten years of our bond, and he still hadn't discovered my true identity. He stubbornly believed I was just an ordinary Luna.

He could never imagine that his despised wife carried a name inherited through her mother's line—a name that held ancient power in the oldest wolf covenants.

At the Elder Council's round table, a single word from the Waldridge heir could grind Ravenhurst's foundations to dust.

"Damian," my voice was terrifyingly calm, "you're not taking Liam."

He laughed as if he'd heard the most absurd joke. "You? Erin, what do you have to fight me with? You have nothing."

I didn't argue. It wasn't time to show my hand. I'd let him savor his arrogance now—it would make his fall that much harder.

I turned and grasped the cold door handle.

"Damian." I didn't look back. My voice carried clearly. "You'll regret what you said today."

Behind me came his contemptuous scoff. "Regret? What could you possibly make me regret?"

I didn't answer. I walked out.