Tears slid hot and fast.
I sat close. She gripped my sleeve. I kept my voice level. “You are not dying. I will not let you. I sent teams to find the best healers. Price does not matter.”
“I do not want to die.”
She pressed her face to my chest and shook. I held her. My hand moved on her back because that is what you do when someone you once loved is scared.
But my head would not stop playing the other film. A back full of scars. Jessica’s scars.
I almost asked the question. Did you do it. But her breathing slowed.
She fell asleep holding my shirt like a child who had outrun a storm.
I eased her hand free and stepped into the hall and mindlinked my Beta.
Kain picked up my link on the first pulse. “Orders, Alpha?”
“Bury the launch story,” I said. “Use every contact. Dump money on it. I do not want Suzette’s name in any feed.”
“Yes, Alpha. But one problem. Outlets are already running with Jessica being the Scentress.”
“Suppress that too.”
Kain went quiet. Then, “But what about the man who backed Jessica?”
Johan’s POV
The more I thought about that man who stepped in for Jessica at the launch, the hotter my blood boiled.
He wasn’t from any pack I knew.
His scent was different. Not one of those smug alphas who strutted around the Moon Council meetings thinking they owned the damn world.
No, this guy was something else.
I reached out through the pack link. “Kain. You find anything about that man yet?”
Kain’s voice came back, tight. “So far, Alpha, nothing. Even the registry for visiting wolves in the eastern domain doesn’t show any trace of him.”
I cursed under my breath, punching the wall hard enough to send cracks through the plaster.
Jessica had always revolved around me. Her life, her focus, her damn heartbeat had all belonged to me.
She didn’t have time for anyone else. Not for parties, not for the Moon Galas, not for some mysterious hero to show up and play savior.
So why him? Why now?
I dragged in a sharp breath. “Keep searching. If you can’t find him through the Council records, use the packs in the outskirts. Ask the rogue trackers, the street packs, anyone who owes us favors. I want his scent, his name, his lineage-everything!”
“Yes, Alpha.”
“And as for those Luna Council wives gossiping about the launch? Send a word to their Alphas. Tell them the Alpha of Vale commands silence. They don’t want my wolves knocking on their borders at night.”
No one challenged the Alpha King of the East. Not in this lifetime.
Still, the image of that stranger standing in front of Jessica disturbed my mind like a ghost I couldn’t shake.
I turned toward the infirmary room. Suzette lay there, pale and fragile, her breathing shallow.
I called a nurse over. “Watch her closely. She’s your Luna. Don’t leave her side.”
“Yes, Alpha.” The nurse bowed her head.
I looked at Lydia, slumped in the chair, still gripping her daughter’s hand in her sleep.
I sighed. No matter how much I hated this, Suzette’s sickness tied me down.
Jessica’s POV
I must’ve slept through the whole afternoon, maybe the whole damn day.
When I finally woke up, my stomach was growling louder than my wolf.
I stretched, sore everywhere. And for a second, the way that man claimed me flashed through my mind.
I shook my head fast, trying to push it away.
I wasn’t going to think about him. Not now. Not ever.
I reached for my phone on the nightstand.
When the screen lit up, I half-expected to see Johan’s name.
Nothing. No calls. No texts.
But of course, when it came to Suzette, I didn’t exist.
Part of me didn’t even want to go back to this forsaken house, but my things were still here.
I’d deal with the toxic air for a few more days, then I’d be gone.
After all, I already made up my mind. I’d join Seer Renee’s Healer Circle. I’d train, and I’d live mateless. No more love. No more pain.
I was about to toss my phone aside when a message popped up.
It was from the Dark Spirit Healer.
“You made such a scene at the press conference, but there’s not a single word about it in the news today.”
My heart stopped. That couldn’t be right.
I opened the news apps, scrolling fast, one after another. Nothing. No headlines, no trending tags, no clips.
Just a single post from LunaPharma’s official account saying the launch would be rescheduled.
Everything I did was gone. Like it never happened.
I smiled bitterly. Johan had erased it because I didn’t hand the credit to his precious mate.
Another message from the Spirit Healer appeared.
“All the videos from the conference are archived with the High Council. If you want to sue the Halloway women, I can help.”
I laughed quietly. This creature was acting weird. Why would he help me? He was the man who I’d begged ten years ago to save Johan’s life. The one who wore the green serpent mask.
I’d paid a price no wolf should ever pay. My soul-bone, my ability to shift. I’d barely survived that deal.
I wasn’t stupid enough to call him again. I still wanted to live.
“I’ll handle this myself,” I muttered, tossing my phone onto the bed.
Then I heard the front door opening.
I straightened my clothes and opened my bedroom door. Johan walked in like he owned the place. Well, he did. His scent filled the air, the same mix of pine and iron that once made my wolf roll over in comfort.
Now it just made my stomach twist.
Seeing him now was like looking at a stranger wearing a face I used to love.
“Alpha,” I said in a flat voice. “You came here to make me apologize to your Luna for yesterday, didn’t you?”
He stopped, studying me. “Jessica, you shouldn’t have gone to that event. I told you it would only hurt you.”
I gave a short laugh. “If I hadn’t gone, I’d still be living a lie, thinking I meant something to you.”
I didn’t want to cry. I didn’t want to look weak. So I stood tall, even if my heart was tearing apart.
He sighed, rubbing his neck. “What Suzette did back then was wrong. But she was jealous. Your father favored you, and she snapped. She was young. You were both pups still learning control.”
My eyes snapped up to his. “Pups? I was eighteen. She was your age. You call that pups? She didn’t ‘snap,’ Johan. She tortured me.”
His jaw tightened. “If she hadn’t done that, if you hadn’t ended up in front of me that night, would we have ever met? Would you have lived the life you have now? I already signed over the villa to you. It’s worth a hundred million. Isn’t that enough to make up for the past?”
He tossed a folder onto the table. The papers slid across and brushed my cheek, slicing it like a paper cut. I gasped as blood spilled down, the sting sharp and sudden.
Even though the wound was small, it still cut deep, both in flesh and spirit.
I stared at him, heart numb. “You think you can buy forgiveness?”
Johan’s tone softened, almost pleading. “Jessica, get dressed. Go to the High Council. Retrieve the footage. Destroy it in front of me. Do that, and we’ll put all this behind us. I’ll marry you.”
Jessica’s POV
There was a time when I’d catch a small fever after going on a hunt with him and he’d already be panicking, calling the healers even after midnight when they were resting.
But now, I was bleeding right in front of him, and he didn’t even blink.
I laughed under my breath, cold and shaky.
My wolf healed the shallow slit, but the wound inside my chest stayed raw. “Do you even hear yourself, Johan?”
He looked annoyed, not guilty. “Jessica-“
“You knew I wanted to marry you, but you never brought it up once in ten years. And now you’re offering it because you want me to retract the evidence against Suzette?” I shook my head, hard. “Sorry, Alpha. I dn’t want to be your mistress.”
Johan’s face hardened. His scent thickened, heavy with dominance and frustration. “So, you regret falling in love with me?”
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