Blood seemed to soak through my shoulder again. Dizzy, I felt tears—Father's scalding tears falling on my face. I was his son. I inherited his will. I had to—
"I, Kayden Blackwood, reject Layla Gray as my mate."
Tears. But this time not a hallucination. Real tears, rolling down my face. I stiffly raised my hand, wiped away the wetness.
From ten to twenty-seven, I'd obeyed Father. Even as I struggled inside, urging myself to resist, to rebel, to prove him wrong—"I'm your father! I wouldn't hurt you!"
That sentence had trapped me for half my life.
But Father, I've become just like you.
I covered my face with both hands. Tears and laughter spilled through my fingers together, like that mad man in my memory—clutching Mother's headstone, pathetically laughing and crying like a child who'd done something terribly wrong and could never make it right.
He really hadn't meant to hurt me. He just didn't know what love was anymore.
So what is love?
I didn't know either. But when I thought of love, I thought of her.
I leaned back in my chair, staring up at the brilliant chandelier in the ceiling's center. Beautiful lights. Gorgeous, expensive, fragile.
I stared at that brightness until my mind went blank.
Pack, grudges, agonizing promises—all of it faded. My eyes stung from the light, but my heart grew clear as my vision blurred. I remembered seeing that child.
In the hospital corridor. Layla holding Kai. I saw his black hair. I remembered those silver eyes that flashed by. No—most important was how she looked at Kai.
A mother's gaze. What a family looked like.
The family I'd never had.
But you hurt her again today, didn't you?
My wolf started questioning, slamming furiously against that transparent wall.
Yes. Again. I'm such a fucking idiot.
I'd seen her waver. Seen tears welling in her eyes. My Layla was about to give me a new chance—at least let me tell her how much I missed her, let me admit my mistakes. Maybe we could have had a new possibility. Success was one step away—
Then it was gone, Kayden.
My consciousness grew hazy with alcohol. Countless fragments of time with Layla flashed through my mind. When did I close my eyes?
I couldn't remember. Infinite exhaustion dragged me into darkness.
I don't know how long passed.
Urgent knocking. I frowned, waking from my hungover sleep, head still thick with fog.
"Come in." My voice came out hoarse. I checked my phone—twelve hours had passed.
Evan burst through the door, face white as a ghost. "Alpha!" He gasped, thrusting a tablet at me. "Something happened! Miss Gray... the news... It's everywhere!"
I took the tablet and saw the glaring red headline.
Then the whole world stopped.
"EXCLUSIVE! Famous Jewelry Designer Ella Ross Suspected of Multiple Affairs! Photos Exposed!"
