Chapter 3

Aiden Harrington’s brows knotted, his voice low and strained with barely contained fury.

“Serina, can you just stop making a scene?”

“I’ve explained it a hundred times—that kiss was an accident. Why are you still saying these childish things?”

I listened, then let out a quiet, hollow laugh.

Aiden, how arrogant must you be to think I couldn’t live without you?

Seeing my expression darken, he softened his tone.

“Get some rest first. We’ll sort this out soon.”

“I need to check on Lily at the infirmary. She can’t move well—she shouldn’t be alone.”

The front door clicked shut behind him. I rose, locked it from the inside, then climbed back into bed and pulled the covers tight around myself.

I didn’t sleep all night.

When dawn broke, my head felt heavy. Reaching for water, I accidentally knocked the silver bullet necklace off the bedside table.

I crouched to pick it up—and froze.

Etched faintly along one side of the pendant were the words: LOVE LILY.

Lily Ashford.

There was no mistaking whose necklace this really was.

I walked to the safe, opened it, and found my own necklace resting inside—its engraving simply an elegant S.

I stared at it for a long time. Then I laughed.

And kept laughing until my eyes burned with tears.

So Aiden had already given his heart to someone else.

I wiped my face dry, called the Mayfair Elders Syndicate, and canceled my application for a private cabin within clan territory.

Once the paperwork was finalized, I packed my belongings and checked into a roadside motel on the edge of Mayfair.

Aside from wrapping up my final duties with the Syndicate and spending hours at the shooting range, I lived in quiet solitude.

Aiden and Lily seemed to vanish from my life entirely.

For the first time in years, I felt peace.

Until Aiden called.

“Get to the Blackwood Mayfair Clan infirmary now! This is an Alpha’s direct order—you will not disobey!”

I didn’t want to go. But my official departure from the pack wasn’t complete yet. He was still my Alpha.

And I couldn’t refuse.

The moment I stepped onto the intensive care floor, I saw a crowd gathered in the hallway—faces grim, voices hushed.

Aiden spotted me instantly. His eyes flared with rage.

He stormed over and seized my arm in a crushing grip.

“Explain yourself! Why would you do this?”

“Don’t you know Lily’s been suffering severe psychological trauma ever since her father’s sacrifice? And you sent people to threaten her?!”

“Serina, when did you become so cruel?”

Pain shot through my arm as I tried to pull away, but his grip—forged by years of combat training—held like iron.

No one moved to intervene.

“It wasn’t me,” I said evenly. “I haven’t even seen her lately. And I had no idea she had any mental condition.”

Chloe Beaumont stepped forward, her voice sharp with accusation.

“You’re lying! If you didn’t know, why did you, as her legal guardian, forbid the medics from giving her sedatives?”

“If she’d taken her medication on schedule, she wouldn’t have been triggered like this! And now look—she’s nearly dead, and you’re still denying it!”

Only then did I notice Lily trembling behind Aiden, her face pale and tear-streaked.

“Lily?” I asked gently. “What’s wrong?”

At the sound of my voice, she flinched violently, clapped her hands over her ears, and shrieked:

“Stay away! Don’t hurt me! I’ll give Aiden back to you! I’ll give you everything back!”

She snatched the vase from her bedside table and hurled it at me.

I dodged too late.

The ceramic struck my forehead with a sickening crack. Blood streamed down my temple.

Aiden immediately shielded Lily with his body and barked at me, voice laced with venom:

“Get out! Don’t come near her again!”

I took a slow breath, pressed a hand to my bleeding wound, and turned without another word.

Through the narrow gap in the door, I watched him cradle Lily like something fragile and priceless, murmuring soft reassurances against her hair.

The others clustered around them, their faces full of concern.

I walked to the nurse’s station, where a medic cleaned and bandaged my forehead in silence.

Just as I finished, Aiden appeared. His expression remained stern—but his eyes flickered when he saw the gash.

“Lily’s unstable,” he said, voice stiff. “Her actions aren’t rational. You… should understand.”

I shook my head. “It’s fine. I won’t hold it against a patient. But as Alpha, you carry heavy responsibilities—yet you’re still splitting your focus to care for her. That must be exhausting.”

He blinked, clearly unprepared for my calm reply. The lecture he’d rehearsed died on his lips.

“You… understand, then,” he said slowly.

He reached toward my forehead—probably to inspect the wound—but I stepped back.

His hand hung in the air for a heartbeat before curling into a fist.

“Lily’s situation has nothing to do with me,” I said, meeting his gaze with steady clarity.

He countered instantly, Alpha certainty ringing in his voice:

“The evidence points straight to you! Do you really expect me to believe Lily would frame herself? She doesn’t have that kind of cunning!”

Looking at his unwavering conviction, I realized arguing was pointless.

I didn’t defend myself. Instead, I said quietly, “Aiden, we should—”

Before I could finish, Chloe rushed in, breathless.

“Alpha! It’s Lily—she’s having a breakdown! She hasn’t seen you in hours!”

Aiden’s face went white. Without hesitation, he spun on his heel and sprinted back toward the room.

I watched his retreating figure—the urgency in his stride, the fear in his posture—and whispered my farewell in silence.

Three days later, I was scheduled for my second memory-erasure ritual with the Mayfair Coven.

After that, every trace of them—of the pack, of Aiden, of Lily—would be sealed away forever.

I turned to leave the clinic.

But before I could take two steps, strong hands grabbed me from behind.

Pain exploded at the base of my skull.

Then—nothing.