Chapter 3

Five years ago, when Dustin brought me back to the Delgado Pack, I tried to explain why I'd left him.

He stopped me.

"You don't have to explain. None of it matters anymore."

Back then, I thought he understood.

Only now did I realize he'd never believed me.

Not once.

"Dustin, let it go." Gabriella slipped her fingers through his. "Delia has always known how to put on a convincing act for men. How else do you think she made your uncle fall so hopelessly for her?"

She glanced at me, triumph gleaming openly in her eyes.

Dustin stared at me, his disappointment so heavy it bordered on disgust.

"There's a Moon Festival tomorrow night. I'm taking Gabriella. She's been learning the lyre."

He looked directly at me.

"Give her the Silverwood Lyre."

I stared at him in disbelief.

The Silverwood Lyre.

Five years ago, when I'd returned to him, Dustin had surrendered three fertile valleys and a silver mine to obtain it from an ancient northern clan.

It was said to have been carved centuries ago from the heartwood of a sacred moon tree. There was no other instrument like it in all the wolf territories.

I'd always considered it a symbol of our second beginning.

No one was allowed to touch it.

Once, a distant cousin of Dustin's had secretly taken it from my chamber.

Dustin banished her from the inner territory that very day.

Afterward, he'd warned the entire Delgado bloodline that anything belonging to me was untouchable.

And now he wanted me to hand that same lyre to Gabriella with my own hands.

My chest tightened until I could barely breathe.

But Dustin's expression left no room for argument.

Slowly, I nodded.

"Fine. I'll give it to her."

Dustin held my gaze for a long moment.

Then he wrapped an arm around Gabriella and led her away.

The stone walls of the Alpha's residence were thick, but they couldn't completely silence the broken moans and breathless sounds coming from the chamber next door.

I wasn't sad.

My stomach simply hurt worse than before.

Curled beneath the blankets, I watched the enchanted communication stone beside my bed begin to glow.

Les's voice emerged from it.

"Delia, everything is ready. I'll come for you in two days, exactly as promised."

I closed my fingers around the cold stone and shut my eyes.

Two days.

Two days until our bonding ceremony.

The next morning, I gave Gabriella the Silverwood Lyre.

She pulled it from its case immediately and swept her fingers across the strings.

A harsh, shrill sound tore through the residence.

Gabriella frowned.

Then she drew a small dagger from her belt and sliced through the strings one by one.

They snapped with sharp cracks.

I'd had those strings made by an elven craftsman specifically for the ancient instrument.

"These strings are terrible."

Gabriella tossed the dagger aside.

"I can't get a single decent note out of them."

She looked straight at me, a vicious smile curling her lips.

I gave her no reaction.

I simply turned and walked away.

As I passed Dustin's study, I heard voices inside.

One belonged to Dustin.

The other was his cousin.

"I heard you gave Gabriella the Blood Jade Bracelet and Delia's ruby earrings. Now you've made Delia give up the Silverwood Lyre too?"

A pause.

"Delia lost your child saving your life. Her parents died pulling you from that fire. After everything she's sacrificed for you, aren't you afraid she'll leave?"

My steps stopped.

Dustin's answer came through the door, careless and unconcerned.

"Leave?"

He gave a quiet scoff.

"She's an orphan. Where would she go?"

My fingers slowly curled.

"Besides, she needs to swallow that pathetic pride of hers and remember who's in charge. Once she learns her place and stops making trouble for Gabriella, I'll keep her beside me."

His cousin sighed.

"But aren't you afraid she'll finally give up on you?"

Dustin laughed.

The sound was filled with contempt, as though he'd just heard something absurd.

"Delia was raised to chase power. She'll cling to whichever wolf can give her the highest position."

"Why else would she have abandoned me and gone crawling to Marvin?"

His voice grew colder.

"Now I'm the Delgado heir. The strongest Alpha bloodline in the South will soon belong to me, and she's clinging to my side like a parasite."

"You really think she'd willingly walk away from that?"

His cousin hesitated.

"But what happened back then... won't you at least listen to her explanation?"

Silence followed.

Then Dustin answered.

"She's not worth it."

Cold swept through my entire body.

I couldn't stop trembling.

So he'd never understood.

All these years, Dustin had believed I'd abandoned him for power and status.

He believed I'd returned for exactly the same reason.

That was why he'd allowed me to remain beside him while grinding my dignity into the dirt.

Five years ago, Dustin buried my parents with full pack honors, put aside our old grievances, and told me he would give me a home.

But my parents had died pulling him from a burning stronghold.

And I'd spent two years inside Marvin's territory, pretending to stand at his side while secretly gathering proof of his forbidden alliances with rogue packs, his theft from the Delgado treasury, and his plans to overthrow the Alpha.

Piece by piece, I'd smuggled that evidence to Dustin.

That was the only reason he'd been able to challenge Marvin, destroy his support among the elders, and reclaim his place as heir.

And Dustin never knew.

The one who wasn't worth it had never been me.

It was Dustin Delgado.

My nails dug into my palms.

Blood slipped between my fingers, falling onto the stone floor one drop at a time.

I felt nothing.

Silently, I stepped backward and disappeared into the shadows of the corridor.

"Lady Delia!"

An elderly voice suddenly called from farther down the hall.