Ember POV:

The Pack House was quiet. Most wolves had passed out from the champagne or slinked off to their dens.

I stood in the center of my closet-sized room in the servants' quarters.

My phone pinged. 'WolfGram'.

Estelle had posted a photo. A pile of Julian's custom shirts scattered on the floor. Caption: Soaking in his scent. The Alpha's love is the only perfume I need. LunaLife Blessed.

I stared at the screen until my vision blurred. Those were the shirts I had washed and ironed for four years while he slept.

A wave of nausea hit me.

I grabbed a trash bag. I tore through the room. The dried flower from when we were ten? Trash. The hoodie I kept wrapped in plastic to preserve his scent? Trash.

I was scrubbing him out.

In our culture, scent is identity. To remove someone's scent is to declare them dead.

I hauled the bag to the dumpster. As I tossed it, a sleek black car pulled up.

Julian.

My heart did that stupid, traitorous flutter. He was disheveled, tie undone. Estelle was in the passenger seat, looking smug.

Julian stepped out. He sniffed the air and frowned.

"What are you doing, Ember?" He sounded bored. "Why do you smell like bleach?"

"Cleaning," I said flatly.

He flicked a black credit card at me. It hit my chest and fell into the dirt.

"Go buy something decent. Mandatory Pack Dinner tonight to solidify the hierarchy. I don't want you looking like a beggar. It reflects poorly on the Pack."

I looked at the card. "I'm not going."

Julian's eyes narrowed. The air shimmered with heat. The Alpha Command pressed down, forcing my knees to buckle.

"That wasn't a request, Omega," he growled. "You will attend. And you will show respect to your new Luna."

He got back in the car. Estelle blew me a kiss as they drove off.

The dinner was torture.

I wore a high-necked black thrift store dress. I sat at the far end of the table, near the kitchen doors.

The air smelled of roasted meat and hypocrisy.

"Did you smell her?" a Gamma whispered. "Smells like a hospital incinerator."

"Burnt toast," another snickered.

I gripped my fork until my knuckles turned white.

Splash.

Cold red wine soaked my shoulder. I jumped up.

Jeanette, Julian's younger sister, stood there with an empty glass and a cruel smirk.

"Oops," she said, voice dripping with fake sweetness. "My hand slipped. But honestly, Ember, that dress was ugly anyway. Let's see what's underneath."

Before I could blink, she shifted partially. Razor-sharp claws slashed down my back.

Riiip.

The fabric parted. The air hit my back.

Gasps echoed around the room. Then, dead silence.

I knew what they saw. The purple ridges. The melted skin.

"Oh my Goddess," someone gagged. "It's hideous."

"Monster."

Jeanette laughed. "See? I told you she was cursed. No wonder Julian rejected her. Who could bed that?"

Something snapped.

Crack!

I slapped Jeanette across the face. It was a solid connection that echoed off the high ceilings.

Jeanette stumbled back, holding her cheek, eyes wide. An Omega striking a high-ranking member?

"You bitch!" Jeanette shrieked.

"Julian!" Estelle screamed from the head of the table. She clutched her chest. "Oh god, the violence! My heart! Julian, I'm scared!"

Academy Award performance.

Boom.

A chair went flying. Julian was there in a blur.

He didn't look at his sister. He didn't look at my exposed back. He looked at Estelle, who was sobbing dry tears.

Then he turned to me. His eyes were pitch black.

"You dare?" he roared. "You dare attack my family? You dare upset my Luna?"

"She ripped my clothes!" I shouted, clutching the front of my torn dress. "She humiliated me!"

"You are a humiliation!" Julian bellowed. "Look at you! You are ugly inside and out. Jealous. Spiteful. Weak."

He scooped Estelle up.

"Get out of my sight," he spat. "If I see you near Estelle again, I will forget that we grew up together. I will treat you like a Rogue."

He carried her out. The Pack followed, parting around me like I was a leper.

I stood there in the ruins of my dress, wine mixing with the phantom pain of my scars.

I wasn't just an Omega anymore. I was a ghost in my own home.

Ember POV:

I didn't take the shuttle. I refused to sit in anything owned by the Copelands.

I walked.

Five miles to the territory edge. My suitcase wheels clattered loudly on the asphalt.

Snap.

Two figures emerged from the tree line. Eyes glowing with shifted vision.

I recognized them. Low-level enforcers. Thugs Estelle had been whispering to.

"Going somewhere, Scarface?" the bald one sneered.

"Let me pass," I said. "I'm leaving the Pack."

"Oh, we know," the second one circled behind me. "But the future Luna is... anxious. She wants a message delivered."

"A message?"

"That broken things should stay broken."

He lunged.

I dropped the suitcase and rolled. I wasn't a warrior, but pain teaches you to be quick.

I reached into my pocket. Not for a weapon, but for my voice recorder. I clicked the button.

"Estelle sent you?" I shouted. "To attack a defenseless Pack member?"

"Estelle pays better than the Alpha," the thug laughed. "And she promised us rank upgrades."

Got you.

The second wolf tackled me. Gravel tore into my shoulder. He raised a boot to stomp on my hand.

"Get off her!"

Headlights blinded us. Julian's SUV screeched to a halt.

The thugs froze. The scent of angry Alpha hit us like a wave.

"Alpha!" They scrambled back, exposing their necks.

Julian stormed out. He looked at me on the ground, bleeding. For a second, I saw horror in his eyes.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"She... she attacked us!" the bald thug lied. "We thought she was a spy!"

I pulled myself up, spitting blood. "Liar!"

I held up the recorder.

"I have it here, Julian. They admitted it. Estelle sent them. She paid them to hurt me."

Julian stared at the device. He looked at the sweating thugs. Then at me.

"Give it to me," he said quietly.

I handed it to him. Finally. Finally, he will see.

Julian looked at the device. "Voice AI is getting very advanced these days, Ember. You think I'm stupid?"

Crunch.

He crushed the recorder in his fist. Plastic shattered.

I stared at the debris. "What? No. That was real!"

"Estelle is fragile right now," Julian said, voice devoid of emotion. "If she hears you're fabricating evidence to frame her, it could hurt the bond. It could hurt the Pack's stability."

"She hired hitmen!" I screamed. "You just destroyed the proof!"

"I will deal with these two for brawling," Julian dismissed the thugs with a wave. They scrambled away.

He turned back to me. "And you... you are causing chaos just by existing. Jeanette is already being sent to the border farms. Do you need to drag Estelle down too?"

"I didn't drag-"

"Stop." He held up a hand. "Just... go. If you are leaving, leave. I will not have my Pack's name dragged through the mud because of your jealousy."

My phone buzzed. A Mind-Link message from Estelle to Julian. I caught the bleed-over.

Julian, baby? I'm scared. The wind is howling... I need you.

Julian's face softened instantly. The hard Alpha vanished.

"I have to go."

He turned his back on me.

"Julian!" I called out. "If you drive away now... there is no coming back."

He paused at the car door.

"You're being dramatic, Ember. Go fix yourself up."

He slammed the door. Taillights faded into the dark.

I touched the scars on my back.

My inner wolf stood up, shook her fur, and turned her back on the direction he went.

Let him rot, she growled.

I picked up my suitcase. I didn't look back.

Ember POV:

I didn't leave that night. My shoulder was dislocated. I had popped it back in-a sickening clunk that nearly made me pass out-but I needed supplies.

I dragged myself to the Alpha's city penthouse. I had a key. I figured he would be at the Pack House.

I was wrong.

The elevator opened. Estelle was there.

She was lounging on the leather sofa in one of Julian's silk robes, drinking wine. The room reeked of her-artificial roses and vanilla masking something sour underneath.

But underneath that... Julian.

"You have some nerve," Estelle didn't look up from her phone.

"I need my medical bag," I rasped. "Then I'm gone."

"Good." She stood up. "This place is getting crowded."

Julian walked in from the bedroom. Shirtless, towel around his waist. Domestic. Belonging to her.

He stopped.

"I thought I told you to leave," he said wearily.

"I need my things."

I walked to the utility room.

"Wait," Julian said.

He opened the hall closet. He pulled out a white garment bag.

My heart stopped. The mating dress. The white silk gown I had bought four years ago.

"Take this trash with you," Julian said. He tossed the bag at my feet. "Estelle found it. She was upset that you kept old clothes in her closet."

I looked at the bag. Then at the kitchen trash can.

I picked up the bag. Walked to the bin. Unzipped it, pulled out the shimmering silk, and shoved it down on top of coffee grounds and eggshells.

"There," I said. "Problem solved."

Julian flinched. A tiny twitch.

"You're heartless," he muttered.

"I learned from the best."

I grabbed my medical bag. Estelle stepped in my path.

"Julian," she whined. "She's looking at me with those creepy eyes. I don't feel safe."

Julian sighed. He wrapped his arms around her waist, glaring at me.

"Ember, get out. You are upsetting my Mate."

"She's not your Mate," I said quietly. "And one day, you'll realize you're holding a snake."

Julian growled. A low, warning rumble.

"Get. Out."

I walked to the elevator. As the doors closed, I saw him turn her around and kiss her.

I didn't cry. I was done crying.

I went to the lobby. It was pouring rain.

I checked my phone. Flight cancelled due to storm. Next one in two days.

My bank account declined. Julian had cut me off.

I walked out into the rain. The water stung my burns.

Two days. I just had to survive two days.