“Landon, thank you.”
I raised my glass and looked at him earnestly. “Thank you for never giving up on me.”
Landon reached across the table and ruffled my hair, his tone indulgent.
“Silly girl. You don’t need to thank me. There’s still a long road ahead, and I’ll walk it with you.
I nodded, smiling through the warmth blooming in my chest.
Then his expression turned serious as he set his wine glass down.
“I’ve already had the bond–breaking deal drafted. Harper, don’t worry, I’ll make sure you’re completely free of that bastard Alpha.”
My fingers trembled slightly around the stem of the glass. I took a shaky breath.
“That’s… the best thing I’ve heard in a long time.”
No sooner had the words left my mouth than a sharp, shrill voice sliced through the air behind me
“Harper?”
I turned my head.
Mila stood at the entrance of the restaurant in head–to–toe designer brands, arms full of high–end shopping bags. Her lips curled into a mocking sneer as she strutted over in her stilettos.
“Wow, Harper. Took you no time at all to find yourself a sugar daddy Alpha.”
“No wonder all those videos about you online got mysteriously deleted. Not bad.”
She stopped beside our table, her voice dripping with spite.
I met her gaze with a cool smirk and let out a soft chuckle. “Not as capable as you, apparently. You crawled back from Mexico alive, didn’t you?”
“You think the things you’ve done can stay buried forever?”
Her face twitched, but she quickly plastered on her haughty expression again.
“Save the act, Harper. Who do you think you are? Just a cast–off Luna Carter didn’t want.”
Before I could respond, Landon casually tossed his napkin on the table and narrowed his eyes at
her.
Chapter 7
another woman
“And what exactly are you, then?” he said coldly. “You think you have the right to talk down to my
sister?”
Mila’s face twisted with rage, “Just you wait. I’ll get Carter here, and we’ll see how long you two disgusting cheaters can keep up this act!”
At this moment, the restaurant manager approached.
“Excuse me, miss,” he said politely. “This is a members–only establishment. Do you have a reservation?”
Mila blinked, caught off guard. Then her anger flared.
“What’s that supposed to mean? Are you trying to throw me out?!”
The manager maintained his professional tone. “I’m afraid if you don’t have a reservation
ask you
to leave. Please don’t disturb our other guests.”
Mila’s face turned a deep, ugly shade of red. She shot me a murderous glare before storming off, her heels clacking furiously against the marble.
“This isn’t over!” she hissed, then fled the restaurant.
I watched her retreating figure with a satisfied smile and let out a quiet laugh.
But Mila didn’t go far.
She stormed straight back to the pack house, slamming into Carter’s office in a fury.
“Carter, I just saw Harper with ”
She didn’t even finish the sentence before Carter’s hand shot out and wrapped around her throat.
She froze, eyes widening as she met his murderous stare.
“C–Carter, what are you doing?!”
She clawed at his wrist, struggling, panicking, gasping for air.
Right before she passed out, he released her throwing her violently to the floor.
She hit the ground hard, her body trembling from the impact. Tears welled up in her eyes.
“I’m Mila! How could you do this to me?!”
Carter didn’t answer.
Chapter 7
Instead, he opened a drawer, pulled out a thick envelope of photographs, and flung them in her
face.
The pictures scattered across the floor.
And Mila’s face went ghostly pale.
They were photos–intimate ones. Her with various men in Mexico, some in compromiting, graphic positions.
All of them sourced by a private investigator I had hired.
After selling confidential documents to Carter’s enemies, the Darkmoon Pack, Mila had take the money and fled to Alaska.
She spent months indulging herself before being passed around to Mexico, whe sh became the “wife” of a few small–time pack leaders in exchange for favors and comf
She didn’t escape.
She was discarded.
And she came back only because Carter’s pack had more power–and more money.
My investigation was airtight. Even the Darkmoon enemies had supplied evidence: videos, voice recordings, everything.
Carter’s expression twisted with disbelief, then fury.
The woman he had loved–the one he thought had suffered for him–had been living in luxury the entire time.
Mila scrambled to gather the photos, her voice trembling.
“They’re lies! All of them! Doctored photos, twisted evidence–it’s not real! Carter, please, you have to believe me. I was set up!”
Carter said nothing. He simply picked up a recording device and pressed play.
Mila’s voice echoed through the room, crystal clear.
“I risked everything to steal this–Carter’s company secrets, the weak points in the pack’s defense. If you want it, you pay extra.”
“I betrayed him. If I don’t get eighty million for this, the deal’s off.”
Chapter
Mila’s eyes widened in horror.
She’d been recorded. She never even saw it coming.
She thought she’d covered every track.
Carter sneered. “Still want to lie? I’ve got a flash drive, too.‘
“It’s full of your little escapades abroad. Videos of you laughing at me. Mocking me. Whoring
around.”
“Wanna watch it together? Relive your glory days?”
Mila staggered back, voice shaking. “I didn’t. It’s not me! It’s fake!”
Carter grabbed her by the hair, dragging her up until their faces were inches apart. His eyes were
bloodshot.
“Because of you,” he snarled, “I killed my own child.”
“Because of you, I tortured Harper–the only person who ever stayed by my side.”
“You deserve to die, Mila.”
He barked an order.
Warriors rushed into the room, seized her struggling form, and hoisted her up–just as they had once done to me.
She screamed in terror. “Carter! No! Please! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”
Carter watched coldly, silent as they tied the ropes,
“You always loved watching others hang, didn’t you?”
His eyes darkened.
“Let’s see how it feels.”
The ropes tightened. Mila was holsted inch by inch. Desperation replaced her vanity as she thrashed wildly.
Less than half a day passed before she finally snapped.
Her screams turned venomous.
“Serves you right, Carter! You got played like a damn fool, and you’re still here acting like some
Chapter 7
tragic romantic hero!”
“You really think treating me like this is going to move Harper? She’s already moved on! She’s been with someone else for a long time!”
Carter froze, caught off guard by the direct blow.
“You’re lying!” he roared. “Don’t you dare slander Harper!”
But Mila only laughed–high, manic, unhinged.
“You idiot! Only Harper ever saw value in you.”
“And now? She’s gone. She’s never coming back.”
“You’re nothing, Carter. You’ll never be loved again!”
His face twisted in rage. “Shut up!”
He turned and shouted to a maid. “Bring me the silver whip!”
Mila’s face drained of color. She thrashed in her bindings, screaming hysterically.
“You wouldn’t! Carter, you monster! You-”
He raised the whip.
The crack echoed like thunder.
The lashes came fast, brutal, and unrelenting.
Mila’s screams tore through the room, raw and piercing–then broke into hoarse gasps, then sobs, and finally, silence.
She hung there, limp.
Carter was panting, his body shaking with fury.
“Alpha,” a voice called.
It was a mald.
She handed him a sealed envelope.
“It as a legal dispatch from the Werewolf Council.”
Carter’s eyes narrowed. He tore it open with trembling fingers.
Chapter 7
Inside was a single sheet of paper.
Bold black letters stared back at him like a death sentence.
Bond–Breaking Deal.
From across the room, a hoarse, mocking laugh rang out from Mila’s broken throat.
“Carter… look at you now. Harper doesn’t want you anymore!”
“Serves you right!”
The paper slipped slightly in Carter’s hand.
His knuckles whitened. His eyes went red.
He spun around, grabbing the whip again, rage flaring to a fever pitch.
“Shut up, Mila! SHUT UP!”
The next lash cracked across her back like lightning.
Her screams didn’t even sound human, raw with agony, but still, she forced out the words through gritted teeth.
“You… you can beat me all you want… but it won’t change a thing… she doesn’t want you anymore‘
Carter didn’t stop until his arm gave out–until he collapsed to the floor, breathless.
And Mila–she had long since fallen unconscious, blood dripping from her wounds, her body utterly broken.
