Kieran paused.

In two years, every time I had appeared before him I'd been vivid and striking and completely put-together.

He had never seen me like this.

He frowned and stepped toward me quickly, reaching out as if to help me up. "What happened? How are you this injured?"

"Don't touch me." I stepped back and nearly fell.

Kieran's expression hardened. His Alpha dominance radiated off him. "Seraphina. What are you doing? Over a few burned pages?"

He looked at the charred manuscript in my arms, uncomprehending. "You didn't even flinch when you donated things worth a fortune. But now you're risking your life for scorched paper?"

I laughed. It came out loud, and then the tears followed — one after another, dropping onto the blackened parchment.

I raised my head and looked straight into his eyes.

"Brother-in-law." I said it slowly, watching the color drain from his face. "You don't understand. You'll never understand. Stay out of my business from now on."

Kieran went rigid. His eyes narrowed and turned a dangerous shade of red.

"Seraphina—" His voice dropped to something close to a threat.

A scream cut him off. It came from the hall entrance — Melody's voice.

We both turned. Flames were erupting from the entrance to the charity hall.

"Help!" Melody stumbled out of the fire, her dress scorched through in several places. She ran, sobbing, and threw herself at Kieran.

Kieran caught her instantly, pulling off his suit jacket to drape around her.

"You're safe. I'm here." His voice went warm and soft in a way that had been completely absent when he spoke to me.

Melody cried beautifully. "I only went back in to get the necklace — the first thing you ever gave me. I couldn't stand the thought of it burning... I had no idea there'd be a fire..."

She looked up at him, all helpless devotion.

The hall staff came running, faces white with panic. "Alpha! The fire started near the furnace area — there's no way that furnace should have spread like this — and the suppression system malfunctioned—"

Kieran's expression changed. He turned slowly, and his gaze landed on me.

His Alpha dominance crashed down over me like a wave. "Did you start this fire?"

I stared at him. "What?"

"Were you jealous of Melody?" He walked toward me, each step deliberate. "Jealous enough to try to kill her?"

I opened my mouth. Nothing came out.

"Pull the security footage. Now." Kieran's voice was ice.

Staff scrambled back. Minutes later, a tablet was placed in Kieran's hands.

On the screen, my silver wolf form was clearly visible near the furnace, and then the fire spreading out of control.

Every gaze in the crowd swung toward me. Condemnation, all of it.

Melody was still tucked against Kieran, her shoulders shaking — but I caught her eyes, darting up to check my reaction. The triumph in them was unmistakable.

"I didn't—" My voice came out barely above a whisper.

"The evidence is right there." He cut me off. "What are you trying to argue?"

His voice was without feeling. "Enforcement team. Take Seraphina to the silver holding cell to await Alpha Council judgment."

The enforcers came for me immediately. Cold silver cuffs locked around my wrists, burning through to the bone.

Kieran watched without moving.

As they turned me away, I saw Melody lean back into his arms. Smiling at me.

The Alpha Council sentenced me to ten days in the silver holding cell.

I sat in the corner, every wound suppressed by the silver, unable to close. My wolf was completely neutralized — I couldn't even attempt a shift.

On the third day, the guard rotation changed. The new guard arrived with a smile.

"Miss Seraphina. Someone sent you a gift." He pressed play on a recording.

"Melody..." Kieran's quickened breath made my whole body go still.

"Do you love me?" A woman's voice, soft and coy.

"I love you." His voice was different — a tenderness I had never once heard from him. "There's only you. Forever."

"What about my sister?" Melody pressed, playful. "Don't think I don't know you spent two years with her. She's so beautiful. You couldn't have fallen for her, could you?"

"Just someone to warm my bed." Then the sound of fabric, and shallow, muffled breathing. "You're the only one I've ever loved. Forever."

Just someone to warm my bed.

My heart was punctured a thousand times over.

I covered my ears. But the sound bled through anyway.

Those tender whispers. Those intimate words. All the things he had never once said to me.

The recording played on loop. Twenty-four hours without stopping.

I curled in the corner and listened to that man speak the most gentle words in his gentlest voice, saying the cruelest things.

On the seventh day, I started bleeding from my nose.

Silver poisoning symptoms. The guard saw it and smiled. "Three more days. Hang in there, Miss Seraphina."

I closed my eyes and thought of the message on my phone. The exit permit had been approved. The potion that severed the pack bond had fully taken effect. I was a free rogue now.

That thought kept me alive.

On the tenth day, the cell door opened.

"You're free to go." The enforcer's voice was flat.

I stood. My legs barely held me. But I held myself up and walked out of that cell, one step at a time.

Sunlight hit my skin. It had no warmth.

Emily was waiting outside, and she wrapped her arms around me the moment she saw me.

She had been in Europe for years. The moment she heard about the silver cell, she had come straight back.

She looked at me, and her eyes went red.

I had once been vivid and brilliant — the most beautiful, most sought-after she-wolf in the entire southern territory.

Now I was covered in wounds and my clothes were rags.

"I'm sorry. This is all my fault." Her voice cracked.

"At the full moon gathering, I made that bet because I knew Kieran had just been left by his ex, and I wanted him to forget her completely." Emily was crying now. "I never thought... that she'd turn out to be Melody."

I patted her on the back. "It's not your fault. I'm leaving. I'm leaving this territory for good."

Emily looked like she wanted to say something. But she didn't. She just nodded, and drove me home to pick up my things.

My bag was light. I didn't want to take anything. A few changes of clothes, my passport, and the plane ticket to the northern territory.

I carried the bag downstairs and stopped at the front door.

I reached into my bag and pulled out a small box.

Inside was a timed explosive.

Emily drew a sharp breath. "Sera?"

I set the timer. Ten minutes — more than enough time to get clear. I hit the trigger and placed the device on the entry table.

"Let's go."

Five minutes down the road, I heard the explosion behind us.

The estate came down in a burst of fire and smoke, the dust and rubble swallowing everything from the past.

Emily gripped the steering wheel, her knuckles white. "Sera... I'm sorry. I really am so sorry."

I leaned against the window, watching the scenery blur past, and forced my mouth into a smile. "Don't be. I'm this beautiful — every Alpha I meet from now on is only going to be stronger and love me more."

Emily cried harder.

The car reached the airport.

I lifted my hand in a small wave, turned, and walked toward the security line without looking back.

Emily watched me disappear into the crowd. Then she sank to the ground and sobbed.

For a long time.

Finally, she couldn't hold it in any longer. She drove straight to the Frost Pack council hall.

Emily's eyes were swollen and raw. She looked at Kieran, and the tears fell again.

"You finally drove her out." Her voice was shaking. "Are you satisfied now?"

The council hall went quiet. Kieran was silent for several seconds.

Then he spoke. His voice came out as if something had rusted in his throat.

"Who did you say left?"