I don’t know how long I lay on the floor.
The pain came in relentless waves, each one feeling as if a silver dagger were carving up my soul.
Cold sweat drenched my nightgown, and my body trembled uncontrollably.
This was it. The Mate Bond was breaking for good.
Gradually, the pain began to recede.
With a huge effort, I pushed myself up, leaning against the bedframe to sit.
The worst of it was over.
I checked my phone. It was 3:00 PM.
Twelve hours until my flight.
Just as I was about to get up, an unfamiliar mind-link signal punched through my shields. It wasn’t Rocco’s. It was his Beta, Marcus.
“Alpha, you have to get back here to handle the IPO! Now!” Marcus’s anxious voice rang in my head.
This was rare. Marcus was always so composed; he must have linked to me by mistake. “Alpha Damon of the Blackwood Pack arrives tomorrow! If we don’t secure this investment, the company is finished!”
Damon.
The name jolted me into full awareness.
My intended.
Sensing the unusual silence on my end, Marcus must have realized his mistake. “Luna?”
“I’m so sorry to disturb you. I can’t reach the Alpha, and it’s a real emergency…”
“He’s at the hospital,” I said calmly. “With Scarlett.”
“What? Now?” Marcus’s voice was incredulous. “The company is on the verge of bankruptcy, and he’s still—”
“You should contact him directly,” I said, cutting the link.
A few minutes later, I felt Rocco accept a link from Marcus.
Their conversation came through in fragmented pieces—our Mate Bond was breaking, but it wasn’t completely gone yet.
“Dammit, I know,” Rocco’s exhausted voice said. “Give me two hours.”
“Alpha, one more thing. Luna Caterina sent you an emergency distress call last night. Did you not receive it?”
There was a pause on the other end.
“I didn’t get an emergency message,” Rocco said coldly. “She’s probably just being dramatic.”
So he had gotten my call for help. He had just chosen to ignore it.
A bitter laugh escaped my lips.
I opened a mind-link of my own, contacting Rocco directly.
“You’d better have a damn good explanation, Caterina,” he snarled. “Why did you have Scarlett attacked?”
I froze. “What?”
“Don’t play innocent!” he roared. “Those Rogues were clearly after Scar. They’ve already confessed.”
“Rocco, I didn’t—”
“Enough!” he cut me off. “Caterina, I never knew you could be so vicious. Jealousy has made you unrecognizable!”
“I told you, I didn’t do it,” I said weakly. “I collapsed this morning. I called for your help. I honestly thought I was going to die.”
“Cut the act,” he sneered. “I’m tired of your games, Caterina.”
