Evelyn's POV:

"I wanted to end our bond."

The moment I said it, my stomach felt like it was stuffed with cold rocks. I clenched my fists so hard my nails dug into my skin, forcing myself not to pass out right there in front of everyone.

My husband, Alpha Theodore, froze with his fingers in mid-air as he adjusted his black cufflinks. He turned his head, those heavy Alpha eyes locking onto me, full of pressure and warning.

"Today was my brother Grayson’s funeral, Evelyn." His voice was sharp and cold, like ice stabbing straight through me. "And you picked this moment to pull something this disgusting just to get my attention?"

Disgusting. The word kept echoing in my head, over and over, making my eyes burn. Three years of marriage, and he never had sex with me. I used to stupidly think he just needed time, that he would warm up to me someday.

Three days earlier, I had found out the truth. I pushed open the study door and saw him gripping a photo, jerking off to it. My whole world shattered. The woman in that photo had curly blonde hair—it was Leah, the one crying at the grave right then—his brother’s wife. I was still breaking apart inside. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t even dare to ask him about it.

My husband was jerking off to his own brother’s wife.

Half an hour earlier, right after Grayson’s funeral ended, Theodore ignored everyone in the family and told the whole pack that he was bringing Leah and her son Luca into our pack, into our home.

And he knew damn well Leah got Grayson killed. She forced him to climb a cliff late at night to pick flowers for her—after he had worked all night, so tired he didn’t even shift into his wolf form before falling to his death.

He was willing to throw away his Alpha name for her. That was the last thing that broke me.

I took a deep breath, my eyes going past him, landing on the woman crying at the grave. Her curly blonde hair shined in the sunlight, her thin body looking weak and pitiful. Just like in the photo. We had grown up in the same orphanage. I knew Leah too well. She was not weak. Not even close.

I swallowed hard and said, "You knew why I was doing this."

"No, I didn’t! I would never be as cold and selfish as you!" Theodore growled. "For God’s sake, Grayson was my brother! He just died, and I promised to take care of his family. If I didn’t protect her, Leah would be ripped apart by rogue wolves!"

He paused, his eyes drifting past me without control, full of something twisted, looking at Leah. "You grew up with her. How could you have zero sympathy?"

Sympathy? Protecting his brother’s widow? Looking at him acting all noble, I almost laughed.

"Theodore, you should have stopped lying to yourself. Was it really just sympathy?" I asked. "You knew she killed Grayson!"

"It was an accident!" His voice shot up, cold and dangerous. "Leah made a mistake, but she already lost her husband. She deserved a second chance. Evelyn, why couldn’t you just be more tolerant?"

I stared at him like I didn’t even know who he was anymore. "Were you serious? If your idea of tolerance meant a wife ignoring her husband cheating, then let me tell you—I would never do that!"

"Cheating? Don’t be ridiculous, Evelyn!" He snapped.

He suddenly stepped closer. The pressure from him hit me like a wall. I couldn’t breathe. I stumbled back, my knees going weak under him.

"I regretted letting this look like some ‘equal’ talk and giving you the wrong idea." He looked down at me like I was nothing. "You really thought you had the right to stand there and bargain with me?"

He grabbed my chin hard, forcing me to look up at his cold, violent eyes.

"Now get out. Act like a proper Luna. Or the only thing waiting for you would be getting torn apart by rogue wolves outside."