Chapter 2

That evening, hours passed after Ethan picked up our daughter, yet they never showed up.

No matter how many times I reached out through the mind-link, Ethan blocked me.

Terrified, I was about to rush out into the night to search for them.

The moment I pulled open the front door, Ethan was standing on the porch.

His face was thunderous.

Tina wasn't with him. Before I could ask, his hand came down hard across my face.

The crack echoed through the foyer.

"Sarah Miller! Here I thought you were finally being reasonable, and you pull this behind my back? Using our daughter to target Lydia? How low can you sink?"

I didn't know what had happened, but it wasn't hard to guess. Lydia was playing the victim again.

"I didn't do anything."

Ethan didn't believe a word.

"Where is my daughter?" I demanded.

He sneered. "When a pup misbehaves, she gets punished."

My heart dropped into my stomach.

Ethan glared at me with pure disgust.

To keep him calm, I held my tongue and apologized.

His expression softened slightly, and he demanded that I apologize to Lydia in person.

I went.

Lydia hid behind Ethan, trembling like a frightened doe.

In the end, I had to kneel in the pouring rain through the cold night before Ethan finally let it go.

Only after I brought my daughter back home did I learn what really happened.

I couldn't believe Lydia would stoop so low as to frame a little girl.

Tina told me through tears that Lydia was already in the car when Ethan picked her up.

Tina hadn't done anything, but Lydia suddenly cried out that she couldn't breathe, claiming she was having an allergic reaction.

Ethan immediately blamed Tina, convinced she had poisoned Lydia's drink.

Looking at my daughter's swollen, tear-streaked eyes, my heart broke.

In that moment, my desire to tear them both to shreds reached its peak.

After that night, Ethan stayed away to comfort Lydia, which gave me the peace I needed.

What I didn't expect was that when he returned, he brought Lydia along with his luggage.

"Lydia's old rental with Sam is filled with painful memories," Ethan announced bluntly. "Our estate is massive. One more person won't hurt."

It wasn't a request. It was an order.

I said nothing, merely staring at Lydia.

The surrounding pack members quickly gathered, whispering about how noble Alpha Brooks was for taking in his fallen brother's fiancée.

"Alpha Brooks has such honor," they praised.

"Sam was truly blessed to have a brother like him."

Even Lydia chimed in, wiping away fake tears. "Yes, I'm so grateful to Alpha Brooks. If it weren't for him, I don't know if I'd still be alive."

The moment she broke down, Ethan pulled her into his arms, holding her tight.

He seemed to have completely forgotten where he was. This was the Alpha's residence, and I was his Luna.

The onlookers went silent, shifting uncomfortably.

Realizing how it looked, Ethan quickly released Lydia. "Honey, take care of Ms. Hayes for now. I'm going to visit Sam's grave."

He stepped forward and kissed my forehead. "Thank you for understanding, honey."

That shut everyone up.

Nausea churned in my stomach, but I kept the gentle, submissive smile plastered on my face.

Ethan gave Lydia one last lingering look before heading out.

Once he was gone, Tina looked up at me. "Mom, does she really have to stay here? I hate her."

I didn't know how to explain our rebirth to a child.

When I first woke up in this life, Tina had clung to me, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Mom, I had a nightmare," she had cried. "Dad was with Auntie Lydia, and Dad killed us because of her. I'm so scared..."

It had taken hours to soothe her.

From that day on, she refused to go anywhere near Ethan.

Before Lydia showed up, our family was Ethan's entire world.

He used to fight rogues with his bare life to protect me. When a rogue once held a blade to my throat and asked him, "Only one of you walks out alive. Who do you choose?"

He hadn't hesitated for a single second. "Kill me. My Luna must live."

When I suffered complications giving birth to Tina, he had wept by my bed. "Honey, never again. No more pups."

That day, Ethan became a legend at the Healer's clinic. Everyone talked about the fierce Alpha who passed out from crying because his mate was in pain.