Chapter 4

Every major supernatural community account was pushing the same story, using the same hashtags, as if someone had handed them a script.

I knew someone had.

Then I saw Selene's statement. Posted half an hour ago, already tens of thousands of likes.

"I know many of you are angry on my behalf, but please don't attack Aurelia Grey. She's clearly still hurting from the breakup. Kieran and I have known each other our entire lives, and sometimes it's hard for outsiders to understand a bond like that. She loved him — that's not a crime. Let's show compassion, not cruelty."

Perfect. Magnanimous. Merciful.

She'd wrapped herself in sainthood, then handed out the knives and let every comment section do the cutting for her.

"Selene is such a class act"

"Aurelia should be ashamed"

"Humans will never understand the fated mate bond"

I turned off the screen. My fingers were ice-cold, the tips numb.

That was when the door opened and Kieran walked in.

He stepped inside, caught sight of the suitcase at my feet, and faltered. His expression darkened, and he closed the distance in quick strides.

"Where do you think you're going, Lia?"

"I'd rather not give anyone more ammunition to accuse me of harassing you, Alpha Blackwood." I looked at him, ice in my voice. "I accept the breakup. I wish you and Selene a long and happy life together."

He studied me. Then he reached into his coat pocket, pulled out a bullet, and set it on the coffee table. The casing gleamed cold silver — pure silver, the hollow core filled with wolfsbane toxin. The kind of thing that could kill any wolf. Etched into the base was the Blackwood pack's crescent moon crest.

"That reporter who kept pressing about the timeline," Kieran's voice dropped low, "won't be asking any more questions."

My pupils contracted violently. "What do you mean?"

"I mean he had an accident during a full moon hunt." He unfastened his cufflinks with casual indifference, as though discussing the weather. "Lia, you know how it is. That was the price he had to pay."

Fear flooded through me like ice water, instant and total. "You killed someone over that?"

"I protect what's mine." His hand shot out, fingers gripping my chin, forcing me to look at him. Behind those golden irises, the wolf churned, his pupils narrowing to vertical slits. "You will always be mine, Lia. You're not going anywhere."

I tried to pull free. He held tighter. His tone shifted to something tender, the way you'd coax a disobedient pup. But his eyes sent a chill down my spine.

"So tell me — where are you planning to go, little wolf?"

"My mother set up a date for me." I clenched my teeth and held his gaze, watching his pupils contract. "I'm going to Portland. To meet a man who actually wants to marry me."

His fingers dug into my jaw. "Say that again."

"You heard me."

"You think I'd let you go?" His voice sank, and the full weight of his Alpha dominance rolled over me like a crushing wave, the air itself trembling under the pressure. "You think I'd let another man touch you?"

"You don't get a vote —"

"Any man you want, I can make disappear." He leaned closer, his breath ghosting across my face, the scent of pine and wildfire so thick it was suffocating. "Before you've even learned his name, I can erase him from this earth. Do you understand me?"

My heart hammered against my ribs. "Kieran —"

"From the border to the coastline, this entire territory is under my control. Every pack. Every wolf. One phone call is all it takes, Lia."

"You can't —"

"I can do whatever I want." His thumb traced my lower lip, slow and deliberate, like he was outlining the contours of something that belonged to him. "And right now, I want you to stay put."

He kissed me.

Brutal. Forceful. Punishing.

I shoved against his chest, but he didn't move an inch. He just kept kissing me, as though he could brand me with this kiss alone — no teeth required, just enough to make me forget everything.

When he finally let go, I tasted blood.

"Tomorrow," he said, wiping the blood from the corner of my lip with his thumb, the gesture almost tender, "I'll come by. I'll explain things about Selene."

"It's too late —"

"It's too late when I say it's too late." He stepped back. "Get some rest, little wolf. You look exhausted."

The pet name sounded as cold coming from his mouth as that silver bullet on the table.

He reached the door and stopped, glancing back at me over his shoulder.

"Don't make me come looking for you, Lia. If I have to hunt you down, you won't like what happens."

The door closed behind him.

I stood there, my lips still swollen, the taste of blood lingering on my tongue.

My legs gave out. I slid down against the side of the bed until I was sitting on the floor.

I wasn't his mate. I wasn't even his mistress.

I was his property. Prey locked inside his territory — treated with tenderness as long as I stayed in the cage. The moment I tried to escape, he'd kill.

My phone was in my hand before I even realized I'd reached for it.

I called my mother.

She picked up on the first ring. "Lia? Sweetheart, are you alright?"

"Mom." My voice broke. "I need your help."

"What's wrong?"

"I need to get out of Seattle. Tonight, if possible. But Kieran — he won't let me go. He'll track my scent, my phone. He'll know wherever I am."

Silence on the other end.

"Mom?"

"There is a way." Her voice went very quiet. "But it means calling on the family's resources — something I always hoped you'd never need."

"What resources?"

"I'll contact Ronan," she said at last. "He can get you out clean — mask your scent, leave no trace. But Lia — once you go down this road, there's no turning back. You'll become part of that world. Do you understand?"

"Who's Ronan?"

"Your brother." She let out a long, slow breath. "Your half-brother, on your father's side."

"My father's —"

"Your biological father was Connor Ashwood, the former Alpha of the Ashwood pack. He was killed when you were two — taken down in a challenge. Before he died, he made Ronan swear an oath: to protect you when the time came."

Connor Ashwood.

The name echoed through my mind. The Ashwood pack — a northern bloodline every bit as powerful as the Blackwoods.

"You're saying I'm —"

"Connor's daughter. Yes." My mother's voice softened. "We kept you away from that life. Changed your name, suppressed your wolf with herbs, hid you. But if Kieran Blackwood won't let go… Ronan can get you out."

"Then call him, Mom. Whatever it takes to get me out of here."

"Are you sure?"

"Mom, he threatened to kill anyone I try to be with. Today he had a reporter 'meet with an accident' just for asking questions. He's out of his mind."

"Alright." Every trace of hesitation vanished from her voice. "Stay safe, baby. I'll reach out to Ronan right now."

The line went dead.

I set the phone down. The silver bullet still sat on the coffee table. Light caught the crescent moon crest, glinting quietly.

I looked away, wrapped my arms around myself, and curled slowly into the corner of the couch.