The pen hovered over the document for a full three seconds before I pressed down hard enough to leave an indent in the desk beneath.

Avery Emerson signed with a sharp flourish across the dissolution of engagement papers. The ink bled slightly where my hand had trembled.

I was sliding the document into an envelope when the phone shattered the silence of my apartment.

"Miss Emerson," Charles' voice trembled. "You're needed at Mercy General immediately."

My blood turned to ice. The last time I'd been summoned like this, I'd woken up in a hospital bed with no memory of how I'd nearly bled to death in the snow. I hope this time it wouldn't be my family.

The hospital corridors blurred as I ran. Machines beeped behind half-open doors, the scent of antiseptic burning my nose. I rounded the corner to room 412-And froze. The entire Frostveil Pack leadership stood vigil around the hospital bed. My parents. The elders. Liam.

And in the center of it all, swaddled in white linens like some tragic heroine-Riley.

"Avery." Father's voice carried the weight of a disappointed alpha. "You kept us waiting."

My chest heaved. "I thought-"

"Obviously not thinking clearly, as usual," Mother cut in, her fingers stroking Riley's hair. The way she used to stroke mine, before.

Riley lifted her face-pale, perfect, with those crystal tears glistening just so. "Avery...I know I don't deserve your forgiveness after...after what I did."

The monitors beeped steadily. Too steady for someone supposedly sick.

Five years. Five years since I'd found the hunting knife hidden in her room, the one matching the wound that had nearly severed my femoral artery.

Five years since the tribunal had seen through her pretty lies and banished her. And now here she was, back in my mother's arms like no time had passed.

"Look at her, Avery," Mother whispered. "She's been living in some roach-infested apartment in the human district. Malnourished. Sick."

Her grip tightened on Riley's hand. "This is what your vengeance has wrought."

I nearly laughed. My vengeance? I was almost dying in my hospital bed when she was exiled.

It was Cain, Liam's wolf, who dominated it all, frantically trying to get back at the people who had hurt his mate. Liam stood stiffly by the window, his golden eyes tracking my every movement.

His jaw worked as Riley let out a delicate cough. He still cares for her, even after all these years. I know they were once together before I came into the picture, but isn't our mate bond and her betrayal enough for him to see me let go of his affection for her finally?

"And you? Do you also think I should let go of my 'vengeance'?" I decided to ask first. His answer would determine the next step to take.

I stared at him silently, hopefully. I hoped he would stand for me this time, at least his wolf should, but...

"Your mother is right..."

And that was my answer.

I let out a wry smile.

"If you want her welcomed back.." I said slowly. "Then I want the engagement dissolved."

The heart monitor skipped. Riley's eyes flashed with triumph before she buried her face in mother's shoulder.

"Don't be absurd," Father snapped.

"After everything she's suffered?" Mother clutched Riley closer. "You'd really deny her this?"

I met Liam's gaze. "You know what she is."

He stepped forward, his alpha energy making the air hum. "The engagement stands."

Riley made a wounded noise. "I never meant...that night in the snow...it was an accident-"

"Enough!" Father's command shook the walls. "Avery, this ends now. Riley has paid for her mistakes. Your childish grudges won't destroy this alliance."

Childish?

The scar on my thigh burned.

Mother reached for me with her free hand-the first time she'd voluntarily touched me since my return. "Please, Avery. For me."

The words lodged in my throat like shards of ice. Five years of searching, and she'd never once looked at me with half the tenderness she showed the girl who'd left me for dead.

Riley chose that moment to convulse into violent coughs. Mother gasped, cradling her as the machines erupted in alarm. Nurses rushed in-and in the chaos, as Riley was "stabilized," our eyes met.

Her lips curved, just for me.

Game on, sister.

I turned on my heel and walked out, the unsigned dissolution papers crumpled in my fist. Let them bring the viper back into their nest.

This time, I won't come back.

The hospital doors swung shut behind me with a satisfying click, cutting off my father's booming voice mid-threat. I didn't need to hear the rest - I knew the script by heart.

Disobedient daughter. Ungrateful heir. The Emerson family mantra.

Behind me, the door creaked open. I didn't need to turn to know it was Liam. His presence was like a storm at my back, electric and suffocating.

"Avery-" His voice was rough, conflicted. I kept walking.

Then, like clockwork, Riley's breathy whimper cut through the hallway. "Liam... my chest... it hurts..."

I didn't stop to watch him choose. Again. He chose Riley.

After the ward's door snapped closed, I turned and stared blankly at the closed door.

"He chose her over us." Lydia whimpered in both shock and pain. His tenderness with Riley must have been too much for her to bear.

"It was expected." I replied, trying to hide my disappointment.

"But still..."

"It's for the best. We weren't meant to be." I cut off Lydia's haunting whines.

"... It's high time we let go." I added in a whisper, taking a sharp breath. I swallowed hard when I heard Lydia's mournful howls.

I'm sorry.

I walked to my car and contacted my best friend Savannah.

"You're actually doing it?" Savannah's voice crackled through my phone, equal parts shocked and thrilled. "Finally ditching that gilded cage?"

I tightened my grip on the steering wheel, my wolf Lydia restless beneath my skin.

"If I stay, I'll either kill Riley or become her."

"Meet me at Platinum Heights in twenty."

The luxury apartment complex gleamed under the afternoon sun, all floor-to-ceiling windows and sleek modern lines. Savannah was already waiting outside, her dark curls bouncing as she waved me over.

"Took you long enough." She teased, throwing an arm around my shoulders. "Now let's go find you a penthouse worthy of a runaway alpha heiress."

We'd barely stepped into the lobby when we heard a familiar saccharine voice dripped with false surprise. "Oh my god. Avery Emerson?"

Rachel. Riley's favorite sycophant-a social climber with more plastic in her face than the agency's furniture. She leaned against the reception desk, her designer dress probably costing more than the security guard's annual salary.

Her lip curled in a smirk. "Slumming it without Daddy's credit cards, Avery?"

Savannah's grip on my arm tightened. "Ignore the rabid chihuahua."

But Rachel slithered closer, her perfume choking the air. "Riley told me all about your little tantrum. Honestly, it's pathetic. She's sick, and you're still jealous because-"

"Because Liam actually prefers his mate over the psycho who tried to gut her?" Savannah finished sweetly.

"Shocking." Rachel mocked with a fake gasp.

I tuned out their bickering and slid my bank card across the marble counter. The receptionist swiped it, frowned, then swiped again.

"I'm sorry, Miss Emerson. This card has been... declined."

Rachel's loud laugh could shatter glass. "Oops. Guess Daddy finally cut you off!" She twirled a curl around her finger. "Want me to call Riley? Maybe she'll lend you some cash because it seems like you really need it at the moment."

Savannah looked ready to shift and rip her throat out. I caught her wrist-then pulled the matte black card from my wallet's hidden slot.

The receptionist's eyes bulged. The embossed silver crest-a wolf's head crowned with thorns-glinted under the lights.

The manager materialized out of thin air, bowing slightly. "Miss Emerson, our apologies. We have the Skyview Penthouse reserved for VIP clients. Allow me to show you immediately."

Rachel's jaw dropped. "What-what is that?"

Savannah snatched the card before I could stop her, squinting at the embossed silver wolf insignia. "Holy shit. Is this-"

"None of your business," I said in a playful tone, grabbing it back.

Rachel lunged forward. "Let me see that-"

The manager stepped between us, his polite smile frozen. "I'm afraid unauthorized persons aren't permitted beyond this point."

"Unauthorized?" Rachel shrieked. "Do you know who my boyfriend is?"

The manager didn't blink. "Precisely. And I'd say the same thing even if he showed up in person."

Rachel's jaw dropped as shame hit her.

Savannah's cackle echoed through the lobby as the elevator doors closed on Rachel's furious face.

As the door closed, Savannah hissed, "Since when do you have that?"

I stared at the ascending floor numbers, my pulse steady for the first time in days. "Since I stopped playing by my father's rules."

The doors opened to a sprawling penthouse, all glass and gleaming surfaces, and the city stretched out beneath us like a kingdom.

Savannah whistled. "Damn. Remind me never to bet against you."

I walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows, watching the sunset paint the sky in hues of fire. Somewhere out there, my father was freezing my accounts. Liam was probably comforting Riley.

My heart still ached, but not that much. What I couldn't see was-somewhere across the city, in a penthouse even taller than mine, a phone lit up with a notification.

Black Card #0721 activated.

A shadowed figure smiled.

"Finally."

The penthouse was finally quiet. After hours of unpacking and arranging furniture-most of which Savannah had insisted on "testing" by dramatically flopping onto-I was left alone with the city lights twinkling beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Lydia stretched beneath my skin, restless but content.

"Freedom." She whispered.

"Okay, spill." Savannah plopped onto the marble kitchen island, swinging her legs like a child. She pointed at the black card I'd left on the counter. "That thing just made the snobbiest real estate manager in the city bow like you were royalty. Who the hell gave it to you?"

I shrugged, pouring myself a glass of wine. "Just a friend."

"Uh-huh." She snatched the card, flipping it over to examine the embossed silver wolf insignia. Her eyes widened. "Avery. This is a Blackthorne Group card."

I nearly choked on my drink. "What?"

"Don't play dumb." She waved it like evidence in court. "The Blackthorne Group owns half the city's luxury properties, not to mention their overseas holdings. No one knows who actually runs it, but rumor says even the Alpha King's court doesn't mess with them."

She leaned in, grinning. "So. Who's your mystery benefactor?"

I plucked the card from her fingers and tucked it back into my wallet. "Just an old friend I helped with an investment years ago. He owed me a favor."

Savannah's smirk told me she wasn't buying it.

"Now that you're done with Liam..." She said, wiggling her eyebrows, "...this mysterious benefactor of yours sounds like prime rebound material."

I sighed, twisting the black card between my fingers. "I'm not looking for anyone right now."

"Oh, please." She leaned in, her vanilla perfume sharpening as her wolf stirred with curiosity. "Don't tell me you're still hung up on that backstabbing Alpha."

My fingers stilled. "Of course not."

The lie tasted bitter on my tongue. Savannah's knowing look cut deeper than any alpha command. She opened her mouth-Then her phone buzzed violently across the marble countertop.

"Ugh," she groaned, grabbing it with a snarl. "Work emergency."

The elevator doors slid open as she jabbed the button.

"This conversation..." She pointed at me with the ofending device. "... isn't over, Emerson."

The moment the doors closed, my shoulders slumped. The penthouse echoed with the silence of truths left unspoken.

Lydia whined in my chest, equally torn between pride and heartache. Some rebellions, it seemed, couldn't be solved with black cards and penthouses.

My eyes fell on the black card again. If there were anyone else I could call family, it would be Marcus. I met him in the orphanage when we were both young. He was my safe place in a world that had abandoned us both. I always took him as a reliable brother, but sometimes it felt more than that. I wanted him to be the first to see Lydia.

I still remember the moment I first saw his wolf, Ragnar. It was midnight in the orphanage courtyard-moonlight silvering the edges of his massive blackwolf form, those golden eyes burning brighter than any fire. He moved like a shadow given teeth, powerful enough to tear the world apart, yet gentle when his muzzle nudged my trembling fingers.

That night, I ached for my own wolf to rise. I wanted Lydia to emerge-wanted Marcus to be the first to see her, to recognize the other half of my soul the way I'd recognized the wild, beautiful truth of him.

But we were torn apart before my first shift. We didn't meet each other again until five years ago. Marcus had given me this card five years ago, right after the tribunal exiled Riley.

"If you ever need out.." He'd said, his dark eyes unreadable. "...use it. No questions asked."

I hadn't used it. Not even when Liam hesitated. Not even when my parents looked at Riley like she was their real daughter. Until today.

The bathwater was scalding, just how I liked it. Steam curled around me as I sank deeper, trying to wash away the lingering scent of hospital antiseptic and betrayal.

What now? I could rebuild. Start my own company. Cut ties completely. My fingers hovered over my phone. Marcus's number was still there, buried under years of unspoken words. Would he even answer? The last time we'd spoken, I'd told him I was staying with the Emersons.

That I had to make it work with Liam. His reply had been a single text: "Then I hope he's worth it."

I never responded.

Until now, I didn't understand what stopped me from doing that. The doorbell rang. Lydia's ears pricked.

Liam.

I wrapped myself in a silk robe, water dripping onto the heated floors as I padded to the door. The security screen showed a familiar broad-shouldered silhouette.

Of course he'd find me. Alpha tracking instincts and all that.

I yanked the door open. "What part of 'dissolution of engagement' was unclear?"

Liam stood there, his usually impeccable hair tousled, ice-blue eyes burning. "We need to talk."

I rolled my eyes and moved to slam the door. His hand shot out, fingers wrapping around my wrist with that infuriating alpha strength.

"We're still mates, Avery!" He growled. The mate bond flared between us, hot and demanding, trying to coax my submission but I didn't succumb to it.

I couldn't afford to do this time.

"Not for long!" I snarled.

"Don't you dare!" He warned like he knew what I was about to do. I pushed him away, prying my wrist off his tight hold.

Behind him, the elevator dinged again. Riley stepped out, clutching her chest like she might collapse.

"Liam, I told you-I shouldn't-" She saw me and gasped. "Avery! Thank goodness you're safe!"

I stared between them.

"Are you kidding me?" My voice dripped venom. "Couldn't even give me five minutes before bringing your little shadow along? Or is this a demonstration of how you literally can't function without clinging to each other?"