Elfrieda POV:

The Grind Café was busy with humans and wolves alike. It was neutral territory, meaning violence was strictly forbidden by the Council. It was the only reason Janice felt safe enough to meet me.

She was sitting in a corner booth, wearing oversized sunglasses and sipping a latte. She didn't look injured. She looked smug.

I sat down opposite her. I didn't order anything.

"You look terrible, honey," Janice said, lowering her glasses. "The scar really ruins your aesthetic."

"Cut the crap, Janice," I said. "What do you want?"

She reached into her designer bag and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She slid it across the table.

It was a copy of their marriage license.

"I just wanted to make sure you knew your place," she said, her voice dripping with venom. "You are the placeholder. I am the wife. In the human world, and in his heart."

"You are a mistress using illegal pheromones to drug an Alpha," I countered calmly. "If the Council finds out, you'll be made Rogue."

Her eyes narrowed. "You think you're so smart. But you're nothing. You can't even shift. You're a genetic dead end. Jaxon hates touching you. He told me your skin feels cold."

"He didn't seem to mind when he was using me to secure his inheritance."

Janice’s face twisted in rage. She stood up, grabbing her hot coffee.

"You bitch!"

She splashed the steaming liquid directly onto me.

She aimed perfectly. The boiling coffee hit my healing arm.

"Agh!" I cried out.

The heat reacted with the silver residue still in my tissue. It felt like being branded with a hot iron. I jumped up, clutching my arm, knocking my chair over.

The café went silent.

"Oh my god! She attacked me!" Janice screamed, dropping the cup and shrinking back in a fake display of terror.

The door chimes jingled. Jaxon burst in. He must have been waiting in the car.

He saw me standing over Janice, my face twisted in pain, while Janice cowered.

"Elfrieda!"

The Alpha Voice hit me like a physical hammer. It forced my knees to buckle. I fell to the floor, gasping.

"What did you do?" Jaxon roared, rushing to Janice.

"She... she threatened to kill me," Janice sobbed, burying her face in his shirt. "She said she would finish what the chandelier started. She threw the table!"

It was such a blatant lie. The coffee was dripping off my arm. The cup was on her side of the table.

"Jaxon, look," I gasped, holding up my burned, stained arm. "She threw the coffee..."

"Silence!" Jaxon commanded.

The power of his order clamped my mouth shut. My vocal cords paralyzed. Tears of frustration streamed down my face.

He looked at me with pure disgust. "I knew you were jealous, Elfrieda. But violence? Against a human?"

He didn't even smell the lie. He was so deep under her spell, so blinded by his own arrogance.

"Is that how a Luna behaves?" he spat.

People in the café were whispering.

"Hey, buddy," a human man stood up. "The lady in the red threw the coffee. I saw it."

"Mind your business!" Jaxon snarled, his eyes flashing wolf-gold. The human sat back down, terrified by the primal aggression.

Jaxon turned back to me. "Get out of my sight. Go home. We will deal with your punishment later."

He put his arm around Janice and guided her out, cooing softly to her.

I sat on the floor of the café, coffee staining my clothes, my arm throbbing. The humiliation was absolute.

But as I sat there, something changed.

The sadness evaporated. The heartbreak turned into ice.

Deep in my chest, the silent wolf stirred. She didn't whimper this time. She didn't howl.

She growled.

It was a low, dangerous vibration that rattled my ribcage.

I stood up. I refused the napkins offered by a sympathetic waitress.

I walked out of the café. I wasn't going home to wait for punishment. I was done waiting.

Elfrieda POV:

I moved through the penthouse like a ghost. I had one hour before Jaxon returned from dropping Janice off.

I grabbed a black trash bag.

I opened the closet. The silk dresses he bought me? Trash. The shoes he insisted I wear? Trash. The photo albums of our "happy memories"? Trash.

I stripped the bed sheets where I had slept alone for three years. I threw them into the hallway.

I went to the safe. I took out my passport, my birth certificate, and the small velvet box containing my grandmother’s violin rosin. The only things that were truly mine.

I heard the elevator ding.

Jaxon walked in. He stopped, staring at the pile of garbage bags in the living room.

"What is this tantrum, Elfrieda?" he asked, loosening his tie. He looked exhausted. "I told you to go to your parents' house."

"I am," I said. I was wearing jeans and a leather jacket. My violin case was strapped to my back. "For good."

He laughed. It was a dry, incredulous sound. "Stop it. You can't leave. The wedding is in five days. The contract—"

"Burn the contract," I said.

He walked over, trying to use his physical presence to intimidate me. "You are being irrational. Look, I know today was... intense. I'll make it up to you."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a jewelry box. "I bought this. For you. To apologize."

He opened it. It was a diamond necklace. Heavy. Cold. Expensive.

"Put it on," he said.

"No."

"Elfrieda, put it on."

The door opened again. Janice walked in. She had a key. Of course she had a key.

"Oh, wow," she said, eyeing the diamonds. "Is that for me, baby?"

Jaxon froze. He looked between me and Janice.

"It's... it's an apology gift," Jaxon stammered.

Janice walked up to him and plucked the box from his hand. "It's beautiful. It will match my eyes perfectly."

She looked at me, daring me to speak.

Jaxon didn't take it back. He let her take it. He looked at me with a pleading expression, as if saying, Just let her have it, I'll buy you another one.

That was the moment. The final thread snapped.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a wad of cash—the allowance he gave me for "maintenance." I threw it in his face. The bills fluttered down like dead leaves.

"Keep your money," I said. "And keep your whore."

"Elfrieda!" Jaxon shouted, his face turning red. "Watch your mouth!"

"No, you watch yours," I stepped closer, my voice steady. "I, Elfrieda of the Tate Pack, reject you, Jaxon Tate, as my mate."

The air in the room grew heavy. The magic of the rejection bond swirled around us.

Jaxon stumbled back, clutching his chest. Even if he denied the bond, the rejection caused physical pain.

"You... you can't," he gasped. "The treaty..."

"I accept your rejection," he didn't say it. He refused to complete the ritual.

"It doesn't matter," I said. "We are done."

I pulled out my phone. I opened the email I had saved in my drafts folder.

To: The Royal Academy of Wolfen Arts, Oslo, Norway.

Subject: Scholarship Acceptance.

I accept.

I hit send.

"I'm leaving, Jaxon. I'm going to a place where music matters more than bloodlines. And you..." I looked at Janice, who was clasping the necklace, looking unsure for the first time. "You deserve each other."

"If you walk out that door," Jaxon threatened, his voice shaking, "you leave with nothing. No money. No status. You will be a nobody."

I hoisted my violin case higher on my shoulder.

"I'd rather be a nobody than be yours."

I walked out. I didn't look back.

As the elevator doors closed, I heard Jaxon roaring my name, smashing things in the apartment.

But for the first time in three years, the silence in my head was beautiful.

"We are less than strangers now," I whispered to the empty elevator.

My phone buzzed. A reply from Norway.

Welcome, Elfrieda. The Kline Royal Pack awaits you.

I stepped out into the cool night air. I was broken, scarred, and alone. But I was free.

Elfrieda POV:

The wind on the open sea was biting, whipping my hair across my face like a lash. I stood on the deck of the Tate Legacy, Jaxon's private yacht. He had insisted on this meeting. A "final negotiation," he called it. A chance to settle the terms of our separation civilly before the lawyers got involved.

I should have known better. Before I stepped onto the gangplank, I had activated the emergency beacon on my family crest necklace. It was a protocol Jamil and I established after the miscarriage—if I was ever cornered by Jaxon, they would know.

Jaxon stood by the railing, looking out at the dark, churning water. He held a glass of scotch, his knuckles white against the crystal. But he wasn't alone.

Janice emerged from the cabin. She was wearing a white cashmere coat that looked ridiculous on a boat. She held onto Jaxon’s arm as if the slight sway of the vessel might kill her.

"I thought this was a private meeting," I said, my voice fighting the wind.

"Janice is my partner," Jaxon said without turning around. "She has a right to be here. She is the future of this pack."

"She is a parasite," I spat.

Janice laughed. It was a brittle, ugly sound. She let go of Jaxon and walked toward me. The boat rocked, and she stumbled, but corrected herself with unnatural grace.

"You still don't get it, do you?" Janice whispered, close enough that only my wolf hearing could catch it over the roar of the engines. "I didn't just win his heart, Elfrieda. I rewired his brain."

I frowned. "What are you talking about?"

She smirked, glancing back to make sure Jaxon was out of earshot. "The tea he drinks every morning? The incense in his office? Witch hazel, wolfsbane extract, and a little drop of my own blood. It’s a love potion, sweetie. Old magic. He doesn't love me. He is addicted to me."

My blood ran cold. The use of magic to enslave a wolf's will was a capital offense under Council law.

"Jaxon!" I shouted, stepping forward. "She's drugging you! She's using blood magic!"

Jaxon turned, his face a mask of exhaustion and irritation. "Stop it, Elfrieda. Stop with the lies. It’s pathetic."

"Tell him, Janice!" I yelled.

Janice’s face shifted instantly. The smirk vanished, replaced by a look of sheer terror. She stumbled backward toward the low railing.

"No! Elfrieda, please put the knife down!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

I froze. "I don't have a knife."

"Don't kill me! My baby!" Janice shrieked.

She threw herself backward.

It was a performance worthy of an Oscar. She vaulted over the railing, her body hitting the dark water with a heavy splash.

"Janice!" Jaxon roared.

The sound tore from his throat, raw and terrified. He spun around, his eyes locking on me. There was no logic in his gaze, only the madness of a man whose addiction had just been threatened.

"You monster," he snarled.

"I didn't touch her!" I pleaded, backing away.

"She can't swim!" Jaxon yelled.

He didn't hesitate. He didn't check the security cameras. He didn't ask me what happened. He vaulted over the side, diving into the freezing ocean after her.

The yacht was on autopilot, cutting through the waves. The wake from the turn hit the hull hard. The boat lurched violently to the port side.

I lost my footing. I slid across the wet teak deck. My head slammed into a steel cleat with a sickening crack.

Stars exploded in my vision. Warm blood gushed down my forehead, blinding me. I tumbled over the edge.

The water was like a thousand knives stabbing my skin. The cold paralyzed my lungs instantly. I thrashed, trying to surface, but my heavy boots dragged me down.

I broke the surface, gasping for air, choking on saltwater.

"Help!" I screamed. "Jaxon!"

The yacht was drifting away. In the water, twenty yards from me, I saw them.

Jaxon had Janice in his arms. She was clinging to him, her head on his shoulder. She wasn't struggling. She was looking right at me.

Jaxon was treading water, strong and capable. He looked toward my voice. He saw me. He saw the blood streaming down my face, turning the water around me into a dark cloud that would attract sharks.

Our eyes locked.

For a second, I thought the bond would win. I thought the instinct to save his true mate would override the potion.

"Jaxon..." I gargled, sinking lower.

He turned his back on me.

He began swimming toward the emergency ladder on the yacht's swim platform, carrying Janice. He didn't look back. Not once.

He left me to the ocean.

My limbs grew heavy. The cold seeped into my marrow. My wolf let out one final, desolate whimper—a sound of a bond snapping not from rejection, but from death.

I stopped fighting. As the dark water closed over my head, I made a vow to the Moon Goddess.

If I survive this, I will burn his world to ash.

Then, everything went black.