Chapter 1

My husband Ethan Voss, Beta of the Voss Pack, brought his female assistant into our bed.

When I caught them, he barely flinched.

"Selene is gentle and unassuming. And she's my Gamma-ranked aide. Why can't you just accept her?"

Ten years together. I swallowed my inner wolf's howl and paid him off to disappear.

Then my phone buzzed.

My mother's surgery had been forcibly halted. Every asset I owned had been frozen.

I rushed to the hospital with an emergency specialist I'd managed to reach — only to find the parking garage sealed off by dozens of Ethan's supercars.

"Rowan." His voice was lazy, almost amused. "You always loved throwing money at problems. Why not hire someone to move the cars?"

I stared at him, fury clawing up my throat.

"My mother handed you her research patents. That's the only reason the Voss family empire ever rose to what it is. And this is how you repay her?"

Ethan tilted his head and leaned back into Selene's arms. She laughed, soft and sweet.

"A hundred thousand per car, sweetheart. Better start dialing. Oh — and hurry. Dad's running out of time on that operating table."

I sent the message I had hoped never to send.

【Dr. Ashford is under deliberate threat. Requesting immediate Pack Command support. Sending location now.】

I kept my eyes locked on Ethan as I hit send.

"Is this because I paid for Selene's relocation years ago?"

He smiled and pulled her closer, his expression perfectly innocent.

"Baby, I already told you. You can pay to move the cars."

The hospital was at least thirty minutes away.

Every second here was another second bleeding from my mother's life.

Her heart condition was rare. In the entire pack, only two surgeons could perform this procedure.

Ethan had already neutralized the first one.

Now he had trapped the last along with me in this garage, playing games for his new lover's entertainment.

I tightened my fist. "You froze everything I own. You know I have no money. You're not stalling me, Ethan. You're killing her."

Laughter rippled through the crowd surrounding us.

"She can't even scrape together pocket change now."

"Mess with Selene, mess with everything Ethan holds dear."

In the middle of it all, Selene looked at me with quiet triumph, her fingers laced through Ethan's.

She raised their joined hands slowly, a wordless declaration of ownership.

Watching them, I felt something hollow open in my chest.

Once, he had held my hands with that same reverence when he made his vows to me.

I never imagined that one day, the man I loved would drive my mother toward death just to shield the person he was sleeping with.

I bit down until I tasted blood.

The specialist beside me reached for his card — and was immediately shoved against a car and pinned down by Ethan's men.

Then my phone rang.

"Ms. Ashford, is the surgeon still not here? Your mother is fading. We need her on the table now."

I stared at the garage exit. The specialist was being held against a car. Supercars sealed every lane.

Without moving them, I wasn't going anywhere.

The call had barely ended when Ethan's voice drifted behind me, soft as a caress.

"Baby. A hundred thousand per car. I already said so."

My whole body shook.

I squeezed my phone, knuckles white.

But there were too many of them. Force would only make this worse.

The taste of blood spread across my tongue. I reached up and unclipped my cufflinks.

The first year of our startup, we'd been crammed into a tiny apartment.

He had pressed them into my hands with red-rimmed eyes, whispering that once he inherited the Voss family empire he'd give me everything the world had to offer.

He had. And then he'd become someone else entirely.

Next, I unclasped my watch.

The Voss family empire had built its legacy on horology. On our bonding day, Ethan had knelt through the night in the Pack Hall to receive this heirloom.

It was because of that gesture — that proof of devotion — that his friends and Pack elders had never once looked down on me.

Finally, I pulled the bonding ring from my finger and threw it at his feet.

"Is this enough?!"

Ethan glanced down. Something shifted in his eyes, and he opened his mouth —

But before he could speak, Selene let out a small, perfectly timed laugh.

She looked at me with just the right degree of mock-surprise.

"Rowan," she said, "these pieces… they're replicas, aren't they? Did someone con you?"