Wendy's POV

When I got home, I sank into the bathtub, hoping to scrub away every trace of him, but his scent clung to me, as if it had been seared into my skin. No matter how hard I tried, it wouldn’t come off.

“Wendy, this is your third bath already,” Cassie reminded me, her voice tinged with concern.

I gave up the struggle and curled up in bed, but the faint remnants of his scent still lingered in the air, making my face burn with heat.

Though faint, it was undeniable. My over-sensitive sense of smell betrayed me.

Damn it!

When Melina and Nel finally returned home, I stepped out to meet them. Melina had brought pizza, fries, and soda for dinner, announcing with barely contained excitement that she had landed a better job.

Feigning surprise, I congratulated her with as much sincerity as I could muster, and we hugged, closing the distance between us.

Then Nelly shared her news. Her school had made a mistake. The expulsion notice had been meant for another student with a similar name. The expulsion notice they had given her was meant for another student with a similar name. It was st a mistake, she assured us they had identified the wrong person.

All of it sounded great until I knew the truth.

It was all because of that damnable man.

After dinner, I once again took to my computer, delving into everything I could find about Henry. The deeper I dug, the more I realized, the wealth he commanded was staggering, beyond anything I could have imagined.

“He’s even richer and more powerful than we thought,” Cassie said softly.

I didn’t deny her words, but even so, I was shaken to my core.

At only twenty-six, he was said to be worth trillions. It was almost impossible to comprehend.

Unfathomable. His empire extended across industries including finance, entertainment, banking, mining. The list seemed endless.

I shut my laptop with a resentful thud, naively thinking he had been merely some ordinary nouveau riche.

How foolish of me.

No wonder he could effortlessly strip Melina of her job, threaten Nelly with expulsion, and manipulate her school. The school itself was one of his philanthropic projects.

Cassie, ever attuned to the bond between mates, found herself impressed, but I was left utterly drained.

It meant that no matter where I ran, within the human world or within Pack society, there would be no escape. If he desired, I was always within his grasp.

I stretched out on the bed, seeking solace, and pulled the heart-shaped necklace from beneath my pillow. It carried memories of Adian.

He was my first love.

He had been my beacon during those golden years of my youth, my sanctuary when my father’s pack had fallen. It was Adian who brought my brother and me back to his pack, defying the judgment of everyone to declare me to be his destined Luna.

I couldn’t bear the thought of him shouldering such heavy scrutiny alone. For his sake, I had made the choice to leave.

We had struck a promise, one that etched itself into the corner of my heart.

We were supposed to meet under the stars at our secret place on the night of my eighteenth birthday.

I never showed up. Worse still, another devil had found and bound me in his shadow.

I had become a stranger to myself, reduced to a person who bartered her dignity for survival. The courage to face Adian fled my grasp. He deserved a better choice.

I shed tears for the innocence and sweetness that was lost in those stolen years. Then, as if summoned by my despair, a message from Henry surfaced on my phone screen.

I had labeled his contact as ‘The Devil.’

Henry: [Come see me tomorrow. You have the keycard. Get yourself ready.]

I threw my phone aside in anger. There was no way I was going.

Cassie longed to see Henry, but out of respect for my feelings. That bond between us kept her silent, though I understood her unspoken desire.

I couldn’t force myself. I refused to see him, tomorrow or any day after.

The following day, I threw myself into a job hunt and managed to secure two interviews.

By day four, after exhausting every possible avenue and being met only with rejection, I wandered the streets, despondent.

It came as no surprise. Without a college degree, securing a well-paid office job was a pipe dream.

I had taken a leave of absence from university after my brother went missing. I couldn’t afford the tuition anymore, and I had spent all my time trying to uncover what had happened in that final battle.

However, living among humans, isolated from other wolves, I had no network to rely on. My world had become a dead end of silence.

Pulling my coat tighter against the wind, I resolved to walk home. Behind me, the honk of a car’s horn, a quick double beep, broke through the noise of the street.

I didn’t turn around. It wasn’t as though I was wandering into traffic. Suddenly, strong arms encircled me, dragging me backward.

A scream tore from me.

It was Henry.

“You lunatic! What the hell are you doing?”

He tossed me into the car with infuriating ease, his movements clipped and authoritative. As he locked the doors, I yanked fruitlessly at the handle, realizing escape was futile.

His face was a mask of cold anger as he started the engine, driving off with merciless speed. He was shamelessly bold I couldn’t believe it.

“You stood me up,” he said, his voice low and controlled but seething beneath the surface.

He turned to look at me, his gaze sharp and unrelenting. If it were up to him, I had no doubt he had strangle me on the spot.

A man like Henry had probably never experienced rejection in his entire life.

It was then that the memory hit me. I finally remembered the message he had sent me just before I fell asleep that night.

Pretending to be unbothered, I spat back, “Oh, did I? Your message must have gone straight to my spam folder. I didn’t even notice.”

His foot slammed the brake, and the car skidded to a halt. The safety belt dug hard against my chest as I was flung back by the sudden stop.

Before I could make sense of what was happening, Henry unbuckled his seatbelt and loomed over me, his body a suffocating weight. Without hesitation, he crushed my lips with his.

It wasn’t a kiss. It was his punishment.

His teeth scraped mercilessly over my lips, forbidding any escape. The confines of the car, his overpowering strength, it all conspired to immobilize me. My resistance felt futile, a mere drop in the ocean of his dominance.

Soon, the fight drained from me, my body betraying me, growing fevered and helpless. My mind fogged into blankness.

When he finally released me, freedom to breathe felt like a mercy, and I gasped desperately for air.

“Get out,” he ordered, his voice sharp and venomous.

“You’re absolutely insane!” I screamed, fumbling for the door.

Without hesitating, I stepped out, but not before slamming the door, I leaned in and said, “Henry, I never want to see you again!”

His lips twisted into a mocking smirk. “Really? Let’s see if you still feel the same when you’re begging me tomorrow.”

Before I could respond, he tossed an envelope in my direction.

I slammed the car door with all the force I had.

His car peeled away without hesitation, the tires screeching faintly as he disappeared into the distance.

I stood frozen, watching his taillights fade into the night, my jaw clenched in fury.

A sharp ache pulsed through my swollen lips, a painful reminder of everything he had just done.

Cassie whimpered softly within me, her presence reflecting confusion.

She tried to reason with me. “Maybe he just wants to talk. You two can sit down and actually talk it out.”

She couldn't understand his relentless and inexplicable hostility. This wasn’t how mates were supposed to behave.

“Cassie,” I murmured, trying to soothe us both, “our first meeting on my eighteenth birthday proved it. Henry is an arrogant bastard.”

“I must have been cursed. The Moon Goddess bound me to someone so domineering and inconsiderate, it’s almost laughable.”

Part of me wondered if there had been some prior connection between Henry and me, something I had forgotten. But my certainty remained, my conscience was clean. I had done no harm nor caused suffering. If I bore a curse, it wasn’t of my own making.

Determined to leave, my resolve weakened as curiosity gnawed at me. I picked up the envelope he had so confidently discarded, his smirk haunting me.

What could possibly make him certain I would come to him?

Back home, I tore into it. As the contents fell out and caught the light, an insignia of the Riftwind Pack, I froze in shock.

It was a warrior’s badge. Etched upon it was a name.

Bruce.

Trembling, I rose from the chair and held the badge closer. Tears blurred my vision as I clutched it tighter.

It was unmistakable. It belonged to my brother.

Even the little "W" scratched into the edge, I had carved that myself with a pocketknife.

It had been the first year Bruce joined the Riftwind Pack. I was just a high school girl then, elated and brimming with pride when he returned home, showing me the badge alongside the promise of a brighter future.

Pressing the badge to my lips, I wept openly. "It's him. He’s still alive, Cassie! My brother is alive."

Cassie, ever the voice of caution, countered, "Wendy, you infuriated Henry today."

My trembling hands gripped the badge tighter. "I don’t care. I have to find Bruce. Whatever the cost."

“Even if Henry demands something unfathomable?”

Cassie gave a low growl. She already knew Henry wouldn’t make it easy. What she longed for above all was to be cherished by her mate.