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My gaze darted to the two figures crunched beside Mira and Victor. It supplied the answers before I even asked.

“They’re werewolf doctors. They’ll take care of her. They’ll take care of your mess, too.” The dismissal in his tone was evident, and as much as I didn’t trust him and wanted to stay with Mira, I knew it would be foolish of me to stick around. But watching her lying almost lifeless scared me shitless, and I was faced with the realization of how deeply I cared for her and how any harm to her would completely tear me apart.

The police sirens chose that moment to go off again, and against my wishes and the protest of my wolf, I fled the scene after sending Victor a warning look. I needed to get home, too. I had business of my own to take care of.

******

“Lilith,” I roared the moment I stepped into the palace. My eyes were wild with rage, and everyone who came across me either gasped, paled like they just saw a ghost, or made a run for it.

I entered the bedroom to find her lounging on the sofa and sucking on a ball of grapes. Her eyes widened the moment they fell on me, a grape rolling down her parted lips. She jumped off the couch and ran to me. “Oh my God, baby. What happened to you? Are you okay?”

“Don’t you dare touch me,” I seethed as her fingers rose to cup my cheek.

She recoiled as though I had physically struck her. Tears welled up in her eyes, and her lips trembled as she spoke. “What is the matter? What did I do?”

“Enough with the pretense, Lilith. I can see right through you, and today, you crossed the fucking line.”

“Will you at least tell me what my offense was?”

“You tried to kill my mate.”

Every bit of fear and panic in her went away, and in its place was a stone-cold mask of hate. “You storm into our home and insult me because of that bitch who tried to manipulate you?”

I took a threatening step towards her. “Call her a bitch one more time, and I’ll have you out of this palace and at the mercy of all you have wronged.”

The threat was enough to shut her up. She probably did the math and figured it would be the whole palace. Her face fell, and a waterfall of tears opened in her eyes. “I can’t believe you let her get to you again. After everything we’ve been through, after all she put us through, after we lost our baby, you went right back into the arms of the same woman that tore us apart.”

I watched her exaggerated display with utter disgust, wondering why I never saw through her from the start.

“Was that why you’ve refused to touch me all these years? Was it because of her?” Lilith’s voice was reduced to low sobs.

A few years ago, the sound of her voice breaking was enough to have me running to her side and doing whatever it took to make her happy. This time, I simply didn’t care. If anything, the exaggerated fake display only irritated me more.

It was funny how I had been living with her all these years, and despite her excesses, I hoped she would magically change and become the sweet girl I used to know, but now I know that was never going to happen.

When Michael informed me about her little catfight with Mira at the cafe, I was disappointed, but I did not interfere. I chalked it up to jealousy and insecurity, apologized to those involved, and carried on with my business.

However, today’s event was one I couldn’t ignore. I couldn’t remember the last time I was that scared of losing someone in my life. Watching Mira lying like that while those men tried to abduct her scared the living shit out of me. The mere thought of anything happening to her was enough to send me into an overdrive and ready to destroy all who were involved.

It also wasn’t a coincidence that Lilith’s title was mentioned at the site of Mira’s abduction. If that wasn’t a dead giveaway, how fast I was able to tap into the mind link of the abductors was proof that they were members of my pack.

This decision was probably going to cost me over half of the support of my elders, and Lilith’s family would never forgive me for dishonoring them, but my mind was made up. This was my limit, and I didn’t care about the consequences. I didn’t even care enough to punish her. I just wanted her out of my life and out of my home as soon as possible.

I sucked in a deep breath, pinning Lilith with a hard glare. “I want a divorce.”

She blinked, her face the model picture of confusion and disbelief. Finally, she let out a dry laugh. “You almost got me for a minute, babe. Don’t prank me like that again.”

It was my turn to blink in disbelief. “I’m not joking, Lilith. I’m done. This is not the life I wanted for myself. You’re not the girl I married. You’ve turned into someone I can barely recognize. You hurt the people you’re supposed to protect, and now you’ve resorted to sending a troop after a woman who did nothing to you. I have tried. I stuck with you the whole time, hoping you’d return to being the girl I used to know. But that is clearly not going to happen, and I’m done.”

She was quiet for a moment, as though she was taking in my words and feeling a bit of remorse for her action, but the moment she lifted her eyes, I knew she was too far gone for remorse. “You love her.” It wasn’t a question. I didn’t need to answer. I also came to the shocking realization that I couldn’t deny it if an answer was needed.

Lilith let out a dark chuckle following my silence.

“I knew I should’ve killed her instead of planting those cheap ass pheromones on her.”

Her words knocked every bit of air from my lungs, and I could only gape with wide eyes. Mira didn’t try to seduce me that night? I threw an innocent girl in the dungeon and cast her into the world alone without anyone while the evil one stayed?

“Aw, are you feeling bad for your little mate? If you loved her so much, why were you so quick to believe the worst about her without giving her a chance to prove her innocence? All your pretentious preachings about reforming the community, yet you throw an Omega that was supposed to be in your care in the dungeon without giving her a chance to defend herself.”