In the bathroom, I shut the door fast and slid down the wall. The cold marble bit into my bare skin as I clutched his jacket to my chest. My breaths came in broken gasps. Shame crawled up my spine like fire. Tears fell hot and fast.
Outside, I heard Gwyneth’s fake cry.
“W‑Why would my sister do this?!”
Gareth’s voice followed, sharp and cold.
“The way she acts… like stripping in front of the whole pack means nothing. It’s something an innocent wolf like you will never understand, Lady Gwyneth.”
Then came the words that shattered me.
“I can’t believe a woman could act with so little respect for herself,” Gareth said. “Who undresses like that? For attention? Sympathy? A moment of praise?”
I stared at the floor.
“She’s always been an attention seeker,” he continued.
“Framing you. Acting like a… prostitute. Tonight proved it. No wolf with dignity would do something like that.”
The words were bullets.
One. After. Another.
He truly believed I wanted this. That I chose to be exposed like prey before a pack of hungry wolves. I once loved him more than the moon. I once believed the mate bond meant something. Now, I saw the truth.
Loving him had been the biggest mistake of my life.