Chapter 4

• The silence on the line stretched for what felt like forever before Dr. Stuart finally spoke.
• "Evelyn Morgan. Three years of silence, and you call me in the middle of the night.”
• I gripped the phone tighter, my knuckles going white. Simone was watching me from across her small living room, her hands clasped together like she was praying.
• "I know I have no right to ask," I said, and my voice cracked despite my best efforts to keep it steady. "I walked away from everything. The program, the research, all of it. But I need to know if there's any chance I could come back.”
• "The neural interface project is in its final phase now." Her tone was measured and impossible to read. "We hit a wall about eight months ago. Sensory feedback degradation at the synaptic junction. No one on my team has been able to crack it.”
• My brain latched onto the problem like a lifeline, pulling up theories and research I'd shelved years ago. "The myelin sheath. You're losing signal integrity because synthetic coating can't replicate organic insulation patterns. The degradation would accelerate exponentially after initial breakdown.”
• There was a pause, and then she laughed. It was a warm sound, like she was surprised and genuine. "Ten seconds. My team took eight months to even identify the problem, and you just solved it in ten seconds without looking at a single data point.”
• "I've had time to think." The bitterness leaked into my voice before I could stop it. "Too much time.”
• "Then stop wasting more of it." Her voice sharpened with urgency. "I'll reinstate your position by morning. How soon can you be here?”
• I closed my eyes and calculated. One month to untangle myself from a marriage built on lies. One month to find evidence against Vanessa. One month to figure out how to break a mate bond that Damien would never willingly release.
• "Thirty days," I said. "I need to settle some things here first.”
• "Done. I'll send the paperwork tonight." She paused, and when she spoke again her voice was gentler. "Whatever you're running from, Evelyn, run fast. The offer is not going to be here forever, you know how competitive it can get.” Then the line went dead.
• Simone crashed into me with a hug so fierce it nearly knocked me off the couch. "You did it," she whispered against my hair. "You're getting out.”
• I held onto her and tried to let myself feel hope, but my wolf was already pacing with anxiety. Thirty days suddenly felt like both an eternity and nowhere near enough time.
• —
• I woke up the next morning with a strange kind of clarity.
• Damien was still asleep beside me, breathing deep and slow like a man without a single thing weighing on his conscience. I lay there watching him in the pale light that came through the curtains, looking at the face I'd loved since I was barely more than a girl, and I made myself think about things I'd spent years pushing out of my mind.
• He'd built Silvercrest from nothing, and I'd been right there beside him for all of it. I used to be so proud of what we'd accomplished together. But other memories were surfacing now, ones I'd shoved down because I hadn't wanted to see the pattern they made.
• There was another pack that had been competing with us for territory about two years back. Their Alpha had better resources, stronger wolves, and everyone thought he was going to come out on top. But just before the final negotiations, he ended up in a car accident. He was not dead, but hurt badly enough that he missed the deadline. Damien stepped in and took everything.
• I'd thought it was just luck at the time. Good timing that happened to work in our favor. But after what I knew, watching him lying here now, luck didn't seem like the right word anymore.
• I slipped out of bed without waking him and went downstairs to my study. The divorce papers, which was the mordern version of bond severance papers, were hidden in a secret compartment in my desk, and I pulled them out with hands that weren't shaking anymore. Simone had helped me put them together the night before. The terms were simple. I wasn't asking for anything except to be free.
• I heard footsteps on the stairs, and I made sure my face was calm by the time Damien appeared in the doorway. He still looked half-asleep, his hair a mess, his expression soft in a way that used to make me melt.
• "You're up early," he said, leaning against the doorframe.
• "I couldn't sleep." I turned to face him, the papers resting in my lap.
• “Why baby?” He drawled as he approached me with a mischievous look on his face. This would usually be the moment where I got down on my knees to give him a morning blowjob but I did not. He seemed to have noticed and a little concerned frown drew on his face.
• "Damien, there's something I want to ask you.” I cleared my throat as I prepared.
• “What is it? What's wrong?” He asked, his tone a little bit urgent.
• I looked up at him, at this man I'd given my whole life to, and I let tears fill my eyes. They weren't fake, not really. The grief behind them was real, even if the reason I was showing them wasn’t.
• "Do you really love me?" I asked. "After all this time, after everything we've been through together... am I truly the one you want?”
• His face softened, and he knelt down in front of me, taking my hands in his. I felt his wolf brush against mine through the bond, that familiar sensation that used to feel like home.
• "Where is this coming from?" he said gently. "Of course I love you. We've been together since we were kids. Thirteen years. The Moon Goddess herself put us together. Isn't that enough proof for you?”
• "Then prove it." My voice came out steadier than I expected. I pulled my hands away and held up the divorce papers. "If you're really sure that you'd never betray me, then sign these. Just to prove it. And I'll never doubt you again.”
• The tenderness disappeared from his face the second he saw the word at the top of the page. His jaw went tight, and something cold moved behind his eyes. I watched his wolf rise to the surface, a flicker of gold bleeding through.
• "What the fuck is this, Evelyn?”
• "If you really love me—“
• "Stop." He grabbed the papers out of my hands, and I could hear the growl building in his chest. "This is about that intern, isn't it? Haven't I given you everything? Haven't I treated you better than any Alpha treats his Luna?”
• "Damien, I'm just asking—“
• "You're asking me to prove myself to you like I'm some kind of suspect." His voice had gone cold, and I felt the weight of his dominance pressing against me. "You've gotten too comfortable. You've forgotten what trust means. And this?" He shook the papers at me. "This is the furthest thing from trust.”
• He didn't even look at the terms. He just tore the papers in half, then tore them again. He threw down on the floor and the pieces floated down to the floor around my feet.
• "Don't ever do something like this again." His voice was ice. "Do you understand me?”
• “I—“ I started to speak but he cut me off.
• “You're mine, Evelyn. You've been mine since we were children, and you'll stay mine until I decide otherwise. The only way you leave this marriage is in a body bag.”