Chapter 3: The Day I Stopped Begging

Noah laughed at my answer as though I had made another empty threat.

"You are always performing for attention," he said. "You have spent years clinging to Caden and treating Lydia like competition. But do you really think you're good enough to compare yourself to her?"

He tossed the family-link token at my feet.

"I don't care whether you pick it up," he said. "Lydia has been my sister in every way that mattered for years. If cutting the link means I no longer have to watch you compete with her, leave it there."

Caden's patience vanished as well. He caught my wrist and ordered me back to the old Hart house before I upset Lydia again.

I told him the collapse was connected to the construction he had approved, but he insisted another investigator could handle it and promised he would find me once Lydia's healer cleared her.

"You and I have the rest of our lives," he said. "Stop turning one difficult night into a reason to doubt me."

The damaged barrier shuddered again before I could answer. Power trapped in the displaced moonstones recoiled, and one wall of Moon Hall began to fall toward the crowd.

Caden released me with enough force to send me into a broken railing. Falling stone trapped my left leg. Before fragments pierced my skin, I saw my parents race toward Lydia as well. The four of them carried her behind the safety barrier without looking back to see whether I had escaped.

Pain surged up my leg, and darkness followed.

I woke in the Westvale infirmary with my leg braced. The healer told me that the patrol captain had pulled me from beneath the rubble. Caden and Noah had commandeered the pack's only air transport to take a frightened Lydia back to the Alpha residence that same night.

Caden had left a single message.

"Lydia fainted when she saw you bleeding. I took her home for treatment. Once your leg is stable, return to the old Hart house on your own."

"The pup is safe for now, but you can't afford to lose any more blood," the healer told me. If the stone had landed a little closer to my abdomen, the outcome would have been very different.

She moved to notify Caden. I stopped her and asked that my pregnancy record be sealed under Council confidentiality. I also refused to list a single member of my family as an emergency contact.

In the family mind-link, my parents and Noah were comforting Lydia. My father gave her a parcel of land beside the Alpha residence. My mother placed the Hart family's laurel jewelry in her care. Noah was busy running around to get her favorite dessert.

All three asked whether Lydia's chest still hurt. No one mentioned my injuries.

I left the family channel and asked a Council clerk to prepare the documents required to dissolve my mate contract and withdraw from Blackridge Pack. The office would close in three hours. I had to complete everything before Caden returned.

He contacted me almost immediately. Someone had clearly told him I had left the family link.

"Lydia fainted because she saw you hurt. Why did you leave the family channel and make everyone think she had done something wrong again?"

"I'm taking care of my own affairs."

"What affairs could you possibly have?"

Before I could answer, a Council clerk called from the other side of the room.

"Evelyn Hart, please report to the pack withdrawal desk and surrender your identity mark."

Caden went silent.

"You're leaving Blackridge?"