The Handprint That Shattered My Bond.

I floored it to my best friend's place, where both of my ride-or-die she-wolves were waiting. The three of us grew up in the same gated community, thick as thieves, no secrets between us.

I slammed the dash cam onto the table, my jaw tight. "Lucian's cheating."

Emily, the youngest, gasped. "That jerk! I'm gonna hunt down that homewrecker and make her regret it!" She rolled up her sleeves, ready to storm out the door.

Grace grabbed Emily's collar, yanking her back, then turned to me, cool as ice. "Bond-breaking. I'll draft the papers."

Emily, still caught in Grace's grip, nodded fiercely. "Yeah, sever the bond with his sorry ass. I'll call Richard—he can send his security wolves to drag those two into an alley and beat the crap out of them."

My heart, heavy as it was, lifted a little. I looked at my she-wolves, gratitude washing over me. Grace is a sworn bachelorette, and Emily's bound to a CEO from a family just as wealthy as hers. Me? I was the one who ignored my parents' warnings and ran off to bond with Lucian, my college sweetheart. I believed our love—high school sweethearts to wedding bells—was the forever kind, unshakable.

Reality slapped me hard. Two years into bond, my mate's not only cheating but plotting to take my money to fund his mistress's life.

Lucian's got his lawyer buddy? Well, I've got my own. He's not getting a dime.

I grabbed Grace's hand. "Lucian wants to clean me out. I'm not just taking back our house—I want him to walk away with nothing."

Grace smirked. "Consider it done."

Emily pouted, poking my arm. "What about me? I'm not sitting this out. Let me at least go smack them around. I'm pissed."

I thought for a second. "Richard's a shareholder at the university, right? Can you get him to pull the security footage from Lucian's school? The mistress's daughter goes there. We might find something useful."

Just then, my phone buzzed. Lucian. "Hey, babe, you at the campsite yet?"

I swallowed the bile in my throat and played along. "Yeah, just got here."

"Have fun, don't rush back," he cooed, his voice all honey. I could hear the scratch of his pen grading papers in the background. "It's a slow week at school, so I'm just chilling. Miss you already."

Before, I would've felt bad for him, thinking how tough teaching was. I'd even buy him cars to cheer him up—his favorite toys. Now? His fake sweet talk just made me picture him smirking, probably thrilled he could sneak off with his sidepiece.

"Won't be back for a while," I said coldly. "I'm beat. Talk later." I hung up, keeping him in the dark so I could dig up more dirt.

I hired a private investigator, paying top dollar for round-the-clock surveillance on Lucian—photos, videos, anything I could get. Then I posted a fake update on X, editing old camping pics of me, Grace, and Emily, setting it so only Lucian could see. Sure enough, he commented: Have a blast, babe.

While we worked, I dug into Vanessa, the mistress. She's bound, has a daughter, but her mate's out of pack, wiring money to her and the pup every month from somewhere else.

Grace was combing through every cent I'd ever spent on Lucian—gifts, cars, you name it. Emily got the school's security footage from Richard and started scouring it for any clips tying Lucian to Vanessa's daughter, Chloe.

The three of us were a machine, holed up at Grace's place, working like our lives depended on it.

My phone rang again. Lucian. His voice was off, laced with something uneasy. "Babe, why didn't you take the BMW? And... where's the dash cam?"