Chapter 3

Maya POV:

When Liam found me, I was standing frozen in the middle of the empty Diagon Alley set. He wrapped his arms around me from behind, his chin resting on my shoulder.

"There you are," he murmured, his deep voice vibrating through me. He nuzzled my neck, his powerful Alpha scent, a mix of winter air and pine, meant to soothe and claim. But it was tainted. "You feel tense. Are you feeling overwhelmed?"

His complete ignorance of what he'd just done was staggering. I turned in his arms to face him, forcing my expression to remain neutral.

"I was just thinking," I said, my voice quiet. I decided to test him, one last time. "Liam, what would the Moon Goddess do to an Alpha who was unfaithful to his fated Mate?"

His handsome face hardened. His golden eyes, the mark of his Alpha bloodline, flashed with righteous fury.

"That kind of scum would be cursed," he said, his tone absolute. "His wolf would turn on him. It would gnaw on his soul from the inside out for betraying the Goddess's most sacred gift. The bond itself would become a conduit for pain, not pleasure. It's the highest form of treason against our kind."

The hypocrisy was so profound, so complete, that a cold calm washed over me. He wasn't just a liar. He was a monster who believed his own righteousness.

Just then, his eyes lost focus for a second. A Mind-Link. His expression shifted from performative devotion to genuine urgency.

"I'm sorry, my love," he said, his voice tight. "That was Marc. A powerful Rogue has been spotted right at the edge of our territory. I have to go. Now."

He gave me a quick, hard kiss, a promise of a later I knew would never come for us. He sprinted away, his long legs eating up the pavement, the perfect Alpha rushing off to protect his pack.

But I knew where he was going.

I didn't go back to the pack shuttle. I walked out of the park's main entrance, hailed a human taxi, and said, "Follow that black, bulletproof SUV."

The driver gave me a strange look but did as I asked. Liam's car didn't head for the territory borders. It drove straight into the heart of the city, pulling up to a sleek, modern apartment building-a property I knew belonged to the Goldblood Pack's vast real estate portfolio.

I told the driver to park across the street and wait. I didn't have to wait long.

Ten minutes later, Liam and Ava walked out of the building. They were laughing. He had his arm slung casually around her shoulders. She looked up at him, her face glowing with triumph.

He backed her against the side of his car, shielded from the main street but in my full line of sight. His hands tangled in her hair, and he kissed her. It wasn't gentle or loving. It was deep, possessive, and hungry. A public claiming.

Then they got into the back of the SUV. The tinted windows hid them from view, but then the vehicle began to rock with a steady, unmistakable rhythm.

I sat there, in the back of a yellow cab, watching the symbol of my marriage, the powerful Alpha Liam Goldstein, take his pregnant mistress in broad daylight. The sacred, pure ceremony where we had pledged our souls to each other felt like a distant, laughable dream. My inner wolf, a creature of pure instinct and loyalty, was snarling, a low, murderous sound in the back of my mind. It wanted to be let out. It wanted to tear and rend.

The cab driver, a kind-faced human man who knew nothing of Mates or Alphas or broken vows, silently passed a box of tissues into the back seat. But I didn't cry. My heart felt like it had been turned to stone.