ELENA

Sebastian Ashford. Dominic's older brother. First-born son. The one who was supposed to be Alpha until he stepped aside for Dominic.

Vivian's mate? Gone?

I should feel grief. Sebastian was kind to me, one of the few Ashfords who didn't treat me like an inferior Omega who'd somehow trapped their precious second son.

But all I can think is: Now there's nothing standing between Dominic and Vivian except me.

The funeral is exactly as awful as expected.

I've been at the Ashford estate for three days, helping coordinate everything while barely sleeping. When the service finally ends, all I want is to go home.

"Mrs. Ashford?" Martin, the pack driver, opens the car door for me. "Where to?"

"The loft, please."

I'm sliding into the backseat when the other door opens.

Dominic stands there, six-foot-three of raw Alpha power in a black suit. His grey eyes, the same shade as mine are rimmed with red.

He looks devastated but I'm certain it was not for his brother.

"Elena. Are you going home?"

"Yes."

Then I see who's standing behind him.

Vivian Ashford, widow of Sebastian, cradles their daughter Mira against her shoulder. The little girl is three, with dark curls and amber eyes.

Vivian looks exactly like what she is, a devastated widow. She's a Beta, strong and capable, the kind of wolf everyone loves.

I've never hated anyone in my life.

Until now.

"Mom and Dad are furious with Vivian," Dominic says carefully. "They're blaming her for the parasailing. I can't leave her there."

Mira lifts her head. "Uncle Dom? Can we go to Auntie Elena's house?"

The little girl has no idea what she's asking.

But Dominic does.

And so do I.

I look at my husband, this man I've loved since I was nineteen, when my brother Damien brought him home from Alpha training.

This man who married me to keep his true feelings hidden.

This man who's never touched me because he's saving himself for her.

"Vivian and Mira can stay in the guest room," I hear myself say.

Dominic's shoulders drop with relief. "Thank you."

"It's fine," I interrupt Vivian's protest. "You've just lost your mate. The least I can do is offer you a safe space."

The words taste like poison.

Mira scrambles into the car, her little legs kicking excitedly. "Auntie Elena has the best cookies!"

That's because I stress-bake at 2 AM when my husband is avoiding our bed.

Vivian slides in next, settling Mira between us.

Dominic leans into the car, his hand hovering near my face. Like he wants to touch me.

He doesn't.

"I'll come by later to check on you both," he says.

Both. Not all three.

Vivian and Mira.

The car pulls away. I catch Dominic's reflection in the side mirror, standing in the rain, watching us go. The longing on his face is so raw it could cut glass, but it wasn't for me.

"Elena?" Vivian's voice is hesitant. "Are you alright?"

I turn to her with my practiced smile. "I'm perfect. Just tired."

If only she knew that I was busy calculating my next move then she wouldn't have asked that dumb question.

I thought about my best friend Sage who is a divorce attorney. I could call her tonight, have papers drawn up by morning.

But then I remember: Dominic hasn't opened his birthday gift yet.

The one I gave him two days before Sebastian died.

The one containing the property deed to this loft and our divorce papers.

He'd signed both without reading, too distracted by everything else.

The car pulls up to my building in Pioneer Square. Martin helps Vivian and Mira out.

My phone buzzes.

A text from Sage: Papers are filed. Court date set for his birthday. Happy fucking divorce, babe.

A real smile exploded across my face.

"Elena?" Vivian is watching me. "You're smiling."

"Not at all upset about you staying," I say honestly. "In fact, I think this is going to work out perfectly."

We ride the elevator up. My loft takes up the entire top floor-floor-to-ceiling windows, exposed brick, an open kitchen where I've spent countless nights alone.

"Wow," Mira breathes, running to the windows.

Vivian follows her daughter, and I watch them silhouetted against the Seattle skyline.

Mother and daughter. Widow and orphan.

The two people my husband actually loves.

Living in my home.

"Vivian," I say. "Make yourself comfortable. I'll order dinner. Thai okay?"

"Perfect. Thank you." She turns to me, tears on her cheeks. "I don't know what I'd do without you. You're so kind. Dom is lucky to have you."

I nod, saying nothing, because in two weeks, Dominic Ashford is going to open his birthday present.

"Oh, before I forget," I say casually. "I need to step out for an hour. Pack business. Will you two be okay?"

"Of course."

I grab my coat and head for the door.

"Elena?" Vivian calls. "Where are you going?"

I pause, then turn back with my sweetest smile.

"To see my brother. It's been three years. I think it's time we talked."

ELENA.

The Nightshade Pack territory sits thirty miles outside Seattle, deep in the Cascade foothills where the forest grows thick and the humans rarely venture.

I haven't been here in three years.

Not since my brother Damien Alpha of Nightshade, my only living family told me that marrying Dominic Ashford would destroy me.

He'd been right.

The gate guards recognize my car immediately. Their eyes widen as I roll down the window.

"Luna Elena?" The younger one, Jackson, looks like he's seen a ghost.

"Just Elena now," I say softly. "Is my brother home?"

"Yes, ma'am. Should I call ahead?"

"No. I want to surprise him."

Jackson hesitates, glancing at his partner. Pack protocol says they should announce all visitors, even family.

But I'm not just family. I'm the Alpha's sister.

The gates swing open.

Driving through Nightshade territory feels like time-traveling. Everything is exactly as I left it three years ago, the training grounds where Damien taught me to fight, the pack house where we host gatherings, the forest trails where I used to run under full moons before my wolf learned what heartbreak felt like.

I park and sit for a moment, hands gripping the steering wheel.

Three years ago, Damien stood in this very driveway the night before my mating ceremony. He'd grabbed my shoulders, his gray eyes, identical to mine burning with intensity.

"Don't do this, Elena. He doesn't love you. He's using you."

"You don't know that. You're just being overprotective."

"I know Dominic Ashford. We trained together for five years. I know exactly what kind of wolf he is."

"Then why did you introduce us?"

"Because I thought he was my friend. I was wrong."

I'd pulled away from him, angry and hurt that he couldn't just be happy for me.

"I'm marrying him tomorrow, Damien. With or without your blessing."

"Then you're doing it without me."

He'd blocked my number that night. Cut off all pack bonds between Nightshade and the Ashfords. Made it clear that if I chose Dominic, I was choosing to leave my birth pack behind.

I'd walked down that aisle anyway.

Now I'm here to tell him he was right all along.

I get out of the car just as the front door opens.

Damien fills the doorway.

My brother is thirty-two, six-foot-four, built like he could tear down mountains with his bare hands. His dark hair is longer than I remember, pulled back from his face.

"Elena?"

My name sounds like a prayer and a curse and a question all at once.

"Hi, Damien."

For a long moment, we just stare at each other. Three years of silence stretching between us like a canyon.

Then his expression hardens, and I see the Alpha emerge.

"Did he hurt you?"

Straight to the point. That's Damien.

"Can I come in?"

He steps aside without a word. I walk into the house that smells like pine and woodsmoke.

The living room hasn't changed. Same leather furniture, same stone fireplace, same photographs on the mantel. Except one is missing, the picture of Damien and me at my high school graduation, both of us laughing at something our father said.

He removed it.

"Coffee?" Damien asks, his voice carefully neutral.

"Something stronger."

His eyebrows rise, but he doesn't comment. He pours two glasses of whiskey neat, the way our father taught us and hands me one.

We sit on opposite couches, "Three years," Damien says finally. "Not a single word. And now you show up at eleven o'clock at night."

"You blocked me."

"You chose him."

Fair enough.

I take a sip of whiskey. It burns going down, but it's a good burn. Clean and honest, unlike everything else in my life.

"Sebastian Ashford died five days ago," I say.

Damien's expression doesn't change. "I heard. Helicopter crash in Alaska."

"The funeral was today."

"Is that why you're here? You need pack support?"

"No. I'm here because I found out something about Dominic. About why he married me."

My brother leans forward, elbows on his knees, and I see the shift in his posture, "Tell me everything, Elena.'

So I do.

I told him about the conversation I overheard in New York. About Dominic's confession that he's been in love with Vivian since before she mated Sebastian.

I told him about the divorce papers I tricked Dominic into signing, hidden in a birthday gift with a property deed.

I tell him everything.

By the time I finish, Damien has drained his whiskey and poured another.

"I'm going to kill him." His voice is flat, factual. "I'm going to challenge him Alpha to Alpha and tear his throat out."

"No, you're not."

"Elena, he used you. For three years, he's been using you as a cover for his obsession with his brother's mate. That's." He stops, jaw clenching. "That's grounds for dissolution of bond based on fraud. You could take everything from him."

"I don't want everything. I just want out."

"And you think he'll just let you go? Once he realizes what he signed?"

"He won't have a choice. The court date is set for his birthday."

Damien studies me for a long moment. "You've changed."

"I had to."

"I didn't say it was bad." He sets down his glass. "But Elena, dissolving a bond, even one that was never completed, it's going to hurt. Your wolf is going to grieve."

"My wolf has been grieving for three years."