Everyone knows it, and I know it. It’s been proven over and over again. The way she looked at me, the way she stayed, the way she chose me every time...

So maybe, just maybe, she’ll come around.

Maybe she’ll hate me at first, maybe she’ll break, but in the end... she’ll understand why I did this.

That’s what I keep telling myself.

And the marriage to that so-called Monster Duke, Maddison’s idea, I’ve already convinced myself it’s for her own good, too. If Ashley gets thrown into a place like that, if she’s forced to face something worse... then she’ll see it, won’t she?

She’ll realize how good she had it with me.

She’ll remember.

And when she does... she’ll come back. She’ll ask me to take her back, to fix things, to...

...to...

Crash!

Before I can even finish that thought...

Bang.

The doors to the hall slam open so hard the sound cracks through the room like a gunshot. Every head snaps toward it at once, the air shifting instantly, tension slicing through the ceremony like a blade.

For a second, I thought she was here.

That this is it. That I got so lost in my own head, I didn’t even notice Ashley arriving.

But what walks in... isn’t her.

It’s them.

Two warriors looking pale as death, clothes torn, bodies shaking like they barely made it here in one piece. They stumble forward, reckless, desperate, like something’s chasing them even now. And before anyone can stop them, before I can even process what I’m seeing...

They drop.

Hard.

Their knees hit the ground with a dull thud, bodies collapsing forward as they bow low, almost slamming their foreheads against the floor.

"Alpha—!"

Their voices crack, raw, panicked, wrecked.

"Forgive us, please—!"

"Alpha Nathan... we—we’re sorry... we didn’t watch Miss Ashley properly... she... she..."

His voice breaks apart in his throat, teeth chattering so hard it’s almost pathetic. He can’t even get the words out.

And the moment I hear her name...

That same dread from last night crawls back up my spine.

Cold. Heavy. Suffocating.

My face hardens without me realizing it, everything in me going still and sharp.

"What happened?"

My voice comes out low, too low, laced with a growl I don’t bother to hide. Rage spikes fast, violent, coiling tight in my chest like it’s ready to snap. For a split second, I really do want to grab them by the throat and crush it until they stop stuttering and just say it.

But beneath that...

My wolf... It lets out this broken, aching sound.

Like it’s grieving.

And I don’t understand why.

"Speak!" I snap, the word cracking through the hall as my control starts slipping.

"Miss Ashley... she... she’s—"

He chokes on it again, shaking so badly it looks like he might collapse.

"She’s dead."

Then everything... Just stops.

It’s like something explodes inside my head, loud and blinding, and then there’s nothing but ringing silence. My body moves before I can think, one step back, then another, like I’ve been hit with something I can’t see.

My legs almost give out.

My chest feels hollow. Empty. Like something’s been ripped straight out of it and left nothing behind but a gaping void.

"No..."

The word barely leaves my mouth.

"What happened?!" This time I roar it.

My Alpha aura surges out violently, crushing down on them without restraint, forcing submission, forcing them to speak. The pressure is immediate and brutal; both of them coughed hard, one of them spitting blood as they slammed themselves lower, foreheads pressed to the floor.

"Forgive us—!"

They’re shaking. Breaking.

But it doesn’t help.

It doesn’t fix anything.

Because even as I stand there, towering over them, forcing them down... I don’t feel in control.

I feel worse.

Like something inside me is already collapsing... and I can’t stop it.

"Miss Ashley... she fell off the cliff... we searched all night, but..."

He doesn’t even get to finish.

His shaking hand reaches into his pocket and pulls something out, something small, torn, dirt-stained, and the second I see it, my world just... stops.

Cloth.

A torn piece of cloth.

And I know it.

I know it so damn well it makes my chest cave in.

Because I’m the one who bought it.

A long time ago, so long I almost forgot it even existed. But Ashley didn’t. She held onto it like it meant everything. Said it was our ’couple shirt’ because I had the same one. Made me laugh back then... I didn’t think she took it that seriously.

But she did.

She always did.

And now... That piece in his hand... the tear runs right through the part with our initials. The embroidery I remember so clearly, it feels like someone carved it into my skull.

There’s no mistaking it. No denying it.

That’s hers.

...That’s Ashley’s.

Something inside me snaps.

And before I even realize what’s happening.

All I see is red.

I snap.

The roar tears out of me so violently that the glass around me shatters, sharp cracks exploding through the hall as if the air itself can’t withstand it. My chest feels like it’s splitting open, rage surging so hard it drowns everything.

Rage... and something heavier sinks in my chest.

Sadness.

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

I was only supposed to teach her a lesson. Break her just enough to make things "fair" for Maddison, to prove we weren’t favoring Ashley, that she wasn’t untouchable. That we could drag her down just like anyone else if it meant keeping the balance.

I thought I could fix it after.

I thought I’d make it right.

So why...

Why the hell did it feel like that was the last time I’d ever see her?

No... no... this isn’t real...

Ashley can’t be dead.

She’s too sharp. Too stubborn. Too damn hard-headed to go down like that. I know her, I wouldn’t have even dared to pull something like this if I thought she’d actually break.

She doesn’t give up.

She fights.

So how the hell...

Unless...

My thoughts stutter, twist, turn on themselves.

She’s prideful. She wouldn’t just accept being thrown aside, humiliated, and discarded like she meant nothing. If she knew something, if she figured it out...

No... that’s impossible. Maddison told me she didn’t know. She reassured me.

...Right?

My head snaps up.

"Maddison..."

The name comes out rough, dragged through my teeth as something colder starts creeping in beneath the rage. A different kind of unease. Sharper. More dangerous.

Did she... say something?

Do something?

My gaze sweeps the entire hall, frantically searching...

But I can already feel my control slipping.

"Where’s Ashley?!"

The roar rips out of me, raw and feral, loud enough to shake the walls. My nails lengthening into claws, sharp and trembling, fur already pushing through my arms, my neck, and my control slipping, piece by piece.

I can hear the commotion around me, my people scrambling, ushering the media out, dragging them away before they see too much. Cameras are being shoved down, voices raised, chaos spreading through the hall, but it all sounds distant, muffled, like I’m underwater.

Because I can’t fucking focus on any of that.

I’m losing it.