Chapter 3
919 Words
Liam’s POV
The words didn’t register at first.
Thank you for giving me my life back.
Aurora stood across from me with tear-stained cheeks, but her voice stayed steady. No sobbing, no desperate pleas, no clutching at my sleeve. Just a quiet exhale that sounded like relief.
My stomach twisted. This wasn’t how rejection was supposed to go.
“You’re really just going to accept it?” I snapped, jaw tight.
“Yes.” She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, a small, sharp smile tugging at her lips. “You called this marriage a mistake. I’m done pretending it wasn’t.”
I dug my nails into my palms. She was playing some game, acting like the last three years meant nothing. My wolf stirred, restless, but I shoved the growl down.
“Do you even understand what comes next?” I lowered my voice. “The pack will turn on you. You’ll be homeless, stripped of every title. Just the convenient Luna we used and discarded.”
I waited for her to flinch. For that calm smile to crack.
It didn’t. Her eyes remained bright and steady, as if she’d pictured this moment a thousand times and welcomed it.
“Where’s the pen?” she asked, voice light.
Fury surged through me. I snatched the pen from the desk, plastic creaking under my grip, and shoved it toward her.
She signed without hesitation, the nib scratching across the paper in quick strokes. When she finished, she slid the documents back with steady hands.
“There.” Her tone was almost gentle. “I’ll go pack. It’s time I left your life.”
“You’ll regret this,” I called as she turned toward the door. “Once it’s final, you’re nothing to this pack. Nothing to me.”
She didn’t look back. The door clicked shut, leaving the room quiet. Her clean, cool scent still lingered faintly.
My wolf paced inside me. Who the hell did she think she was, walking away like that? After three years as Luna?
The agitation built until I couldn’t sit still. I grabbed my keys and drove off, tires crunching over gravel. Her calm face kept flashing in my mind no matter how hard I gripped the wheel. The mate bond still tugged faintly, a dull ache I tried to ignore. It shouldn’t still bother me.
By the time I reached Lucian’s estate on the outskirts of pack lands, my blood was still simmering. The guards waved me through with respectful nods. Inside his private lounge, the air was thick with bourbon, cigar smoke, and perfume. Lucian lounged on a velvet sofa like a king, a naked woman tucked under each arm, their laughter soft.
“Liam!” He grinned, raising a glass. “What brings you here looking like you want to rip someone’s throat out?”
I dropped into the nearest chair. “Clear the room.”
Lucian shooed the women away with a lazy wave. Once the door clicked shut, he leaned back, amusement fading into curiosity. “Spill it.”
“I’m getting a divorce,” I said flatly.
He blinked, then whistled low. “Wasn’t that the plan? Stabilize the pack with a temporary Luna, then reject her once things settled. So why do you look like s**t?”
“I hate how easily she accepted it,” I growled, fists tightening on my knees. “She smiled. Thanked me like I’d done her a favor. No begging, no tears. Just… relief.”
Lucian laughed, loud and mocking. “Of course she did. You never touched her. Never even looked at her unless the pack was watching. You kept her locked in that empty house while you were out with other women. Any smart female would run.”
“That changes nothing,” I hissed, leaning forward. “I want to punish her. I want that smile gone.”
Lucian’s grin faded. He studied me for a long moment. “Liam… let it go. Sign the papers and move on. You got what you wanted.”
“No.” The idea formed, dark and vicious, driven by my restless wolf. I met his eyes, voice low. “You’re good with women. Charismatic. Handsome when you try. Woo her. Make her fall for you. Get her into your bed. Then break her. Toss her aside.”
Silence stretched between us. Lucian stared at me like I’d lost my mind. “That’s f****d up, even for you. She’s still pack until the papers finalize. Going after your ex-Luna could blow back on all of us.”
“I’ll make it worth your while,” I said, ignoring the warning. “Name your price. Money, assets, whatever.”
Greed flickered in his eyes. “Fine. Ten percent stake in your company… and that new Cybertruck you’ve been bragging about.”
“You greedy bastard,” I muttered, but a cold smile curved my lips. The plan felt right.
“Deal,” he said, raising his glass in a mock toast. “Just make sure it’s clean. I want her destroyed from the inside out.”
Lucian laughed, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “You’re a sick son of a b***h, you know that?”
Maybe I was. But by the time this ended, Aurora wouldn’t just be homeless and mateless. She’d be broken, scarred, left with nothing but regret for walking away so easily.
And maybe then this gnawing emptiness in my chest would finally disappear.
- Writer
