Raine
And like a fool, I had protected her.
I had hidden the scars, disguised my doctor’s appointments as consulting business trips, and swallowed the bitter medicine of their neglect.
Only Kordell had ever known the truth, and he hadn’t even been told.
His keen tracking senses as my true mate had picked up the scent of hospital antiseptics and the sudden drop in my internal energy after the operation.
He had forced the truth out of me, screaming at the unfairness of it all.
The exhaustion finally won.
The heavy weight of four years of lies, the physical drain of the pregnancy, and the crushing brutality of his words pressed down on my shoulders.
I realized I didn’t have the strength to fight or argue anymore.
I didn’t have the breath to correct a man who had already convicted me in his mind.
Miguel reached into his bag and pulled out a thick stack of legal papers, slamming them down on top of the bed along with a sleek black pen.
“I want you out of my pack, out of my sight, and completely out of my life before the sun sets,” he sneered, tapping the documents.
“A full, uncontested divorce.
You sign everything over.
You take nothing from the pack funds, you claim no rights to the northern territory expansions, and you sign a non-disclosure agreement regarding anything you saw while playing the role of my wife.
Sign it, and you can leave right now.
If you don’t, I’ll have the guards drag you to the cells for what you did to Raina today.”
I didn’t argue.
I didn’t look at him.
I just wanted the nightmare to end.
I walked over to the big bed, picked up the black pen, and flipped to the final page.
My hand didn’t shake.
With a single, smooth motion, I signed my name along the dotted line, officially severing the legal ties that bound me to the Alpha of the Northern Pack.
I dropped the pen onto the paper in a slow movement.
Miguel snatched the documents up immediately, inspecting the signature as if he expected me to have tricked him.
Satisfied, he slid them back into his leather bag and zipped it shut.
He looked up at me one last time, his eyes entirely devoid of any lingering warmth from the night he had held me in the dark.
“The guards will ensure you’re out of the building in ten minutes,” he said, his voice entirely corporate, entirely detached.
“I don’t ever want to see your face again, Raine.
If you ever come near Raina, near my office, I will treat you as a hostile rogue.
You are dead to this family.”
He turned on his heel and walked out of the penthouse, the door slamming shut behind him for the final time.
Only when the click of the lock echoed through the apartment did the silence finally break me.
I walked slowly towards the closet and dragged my single suitcase out from the back.
My movements were numb as I packed only my worn-out jeans, my softest cotton t-shirts, and my old leather journals.
I left the expensive designer gowns hanging on their hangers.
I slid the diamond ring off my finger and set the velvet box squarely on the nightstand alongside my house keys.
I could feel the tiny, secret warmth of the life growing inside me, and a cold smile touched my lips.
He didn’t know about the kidney.
He didn’t know about the blood.
And he would never, ever know about his child.
I grabbed my suitcase and walked out into the afternoon light, leaving the ghost of Raine behind forever.
The cab ride to the airport was totally quiet.
The only sound was the hum of the tires on the road.
I stared out the window, watching the city where I had lived for the last three years fade away.
For the first time in forever, I felt like I could finally breathe, even though it still hurt.
Suddenly, my phone buzzed in my lap.
My heart jumped when I saw the screen.
It was my mother.
For a second, I felt a tiny bit of hope.
Did my sister, Raina, finally tell the truth?
Did she tell them what actually happened on the hill?
Did she tell them that I just tripped?
I swallowed hard and answered.
“Mother?”
”Raine, thank goodness you picked up,” she said.
But she didn’t sound sorry at all.
Instead, her voice was loud and bossy, the exact way she sounds whenever she wants me to fix her problems.
“You need to come back to the hospital right now.
Tell the cab to turn around.”
”I can’t do that, Mother,” I said, my voice completely flat.
“Miguel divorced me.
I’m leaving.”
”Oh, forget about the divorce for a second, Raine, this is important, it’s about your sister.” she snapped.
Just like that, she brushed off the fact that my entire marriage was ruined.
Only thing that concerns Raina is important, whatever has to do with me doesn’t bother her at all.
“The doctors just finished checking Raina after her fall.
Her back is fine, but they did some tests.
The sickness and the long coma caused a lot of damage.
She can never have children.” I sat frozen in the back of the seat.
“I…
I’m sorry to hear that.
But what does that have to do with me? Visit g.com for the full chapter.
Do I need to give her my eggs again?”
”Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it?” my mother said, like it was no big deal.
“Raina is completely heartbroken.
She can’t let the werewolf pack see her as weak.
They need a leader who can have babies, and Miguel needs a child to carry on his name.
So, Raina asked for you.
She wants you to be a surrogate.
She wants you to carry the baby for her and Miguel.”
The words made me freeze.
Did she just ask me to come back to the people that treated me like trash?
To do what?
To help them be a serogate?
It was so ridiculous I almost laughed out loud.
“She wants what?” I whispered.
“She wants you to carry their baby, Raine.
It’s the perfect plan,” my mother kept pushing, completely blind to how horrible she was being.
“You two are sisters, so the baby will look just like her.
You owe her this much, especially after trying to ruin her day today.
It’s the least you can do to fix things.”
I looked down at my lap.
My hand naturally rested on my stomach.
Inside me, Miguel’s actual baby was already growing.
My family was completely crazy.
For years, they took my identity, my blood, and my husband.
Now, after throwing me out like trash, they wanted my body again.
“No,” I said.
It was a short word, but it felt solid.
“What do you mean, no?
Raine, don’t be selfish…”
”I said no, Mother.” I cut her off.
Suddenly, I felt incredibly strong.
“Tell Raina she will have to find another way to look perfect.
I am done.
I have nothing left to give any of you.” Before she could scream at me, I hung up and turned off the phone.
I looked out the window as the cab pulled up to the airport and allow the last tear drop.
That’s the last tear that’ll ever drop because of them, I’ll make sure of it.