Seraphina POV

The confined space of my sedan felt like a tomb. Outside the windshield, the towering glass facade of Blackwood Enterprises loomed like a jagged tombstone against the gray sky. I gripped the steering wheel, my knuckles white, trying to breathe through the agonizing, icy claws of the Terminal Soul Wither tearing at my chest.

Before I could even turn the key in the ignition, my phone buzzed. Talia's name flashed on the screen.

I answered, pressing the phone to my ear.

"Alpha gives you two choices," Talia's voice clipped through the speaker, colder and sharper than it had been in the lobby. "One, you finish that document for Isabelle, and then you can leave. Two, if you refuse, the Blackwood Pack will officially declare your grandmother and uncle as enemies of our allies. I guarantee you, Omega, no Pack on this continent will dare harbor them. They will be hunted down as Rogues."

My heart plummeted into my stomach. The phone trembled against my cheek as a sickening mix of terror and pure, unadulterated rage boiled in my veins. Damien knew exactly where to strike. He was using the only family I had left to chain me to his cruelty.

I closed my eyes, swallowing the metallic taste of blood in my mouth. "Tell your Alpha I am sick," I replied, my voice eerily hollow. "I need a leave of absence."

I hung up before she could utter another word. It wasn't a lie-my soul was literally dying-but to Damien, it would just sound like a pathetic, cowardly excuse.

A sharp rap on my window made me jump.

A messenger stood on the sidewalk, wearing the new, bastardized livery of the Gray family. He didn't wait for me to roll down the window; he simply slipped a heavy parchment envelope under my windshield wiper and walked away.

I stepped out on my throbbing ankle, snatching the envelope. It was a formal summons from my father, Marcus Thorne. He was "notifying" me that I was required to attend a dinner tonight at Gray Manor to celebrate Jaxon's official alliance with Anjelica Carney.

There was no warmth in the elegant calligraphy, only cold exploitation. He despised me for being a wolfless disappointment, but the title of "Blackwood Alpha's Fated Mate" still held enough weight to decorate his vanity.

I stared at the wax seal-my mother's sacred white wolf crest, now tainted by Thorne's name. A freezing fire ignited in my gut. I wouldn't let these usurpers celebrate their stolen victories in my mother's sanctuary while I hid like a coward.

By the time I arrived at Gray Manor that evening, the air was already thick with the scent of expensive champagne and suffocating arrogance. I walked through the familiar grand doors, ignoring the blatant, sneering glares of the servants who used to bow to me.

"Thick skin," a shrill voice echoed from the grand staircase.

My half-sister, Zara Thorne, leaned against the mahogany banister in a lavish crimson gown, a malicious fake smile plastered on her face. "I thought a wolfless dumped by her Alpha would know to keep her tail tucked between her legs. I can't believe you actually had the nerve to show your face here."

I didn't flinch. I slowly looked around the foyer, my eyes settling on the massive oil portrait of my mother, Elara Gray, hanging above the mantel.

"My mother's power protects this manor," I said, my voice dead calm, cutting through the ambient noise of the party. "And you are just a parasite living inside it. You have no right to act high and mighty in front of me."

Zara's smug expression faltered, her face twisting in ugly, speechless fury. But a second later, her eyes darted toward the drawing room doors, and a wicked, knowing smirk returned to her lips.

The heavy oak doors opened.

Jaxon walked out, his arm wrapped intimately around the waist of Anjelica Carney. He looked powerful, polished, and entirely foreign to the boy who used to protect me. His eyes met mine, but there was absolutely no warmth in them. No recognition of the girl who had endured years of abuse just to keep him safe.

"Darling," Jax said smoothly to Anjelica, gesturing lazily toward Zara and me. "This is Zara, and Seraphina... my two sisters."

The casual grouping erased everything we had ever been to each other.

Anjelica offered a polite, diplomatic smile, opening her mouth to introduce herself.

"Don't," Jax interrupted her. His gaze locked onto mine, sharp and merciless like a blade. He spoke with the absolute, freezing authority of a warrior addressing a subordinate. "Seraphina. This is Anjelica, the future Luna of the Carney Pack. Call her 'Sister-in-law'."

Seraphina POV

The silence following Jax's command was absolute. Sister-in-law. The title felt like a physical blow, but the Terminal Soul Wither had already hollowed out my chest so thoroughly that there was nothing left to bruise.

Zara seized the dead air, stepping forward with a triumphant, venomous smile. "What right does a wolfless have to stand here?" she sneered, looking me up and down. "A pathetic Omega who can't even keep her own Fated Mate. Where were you when Alpha Damien threw that moonlight fireworks festival for Isabelle Vance? Oh, right. You aren't even fit to warm his bed."

She raised her voice, ensuring the entire room heard. "Isabelle is a fierce warrior, a glory meant to stand beside an Alpha. And you? You are just a stain on our bloodline. A soon-to-be-discarded piece of trash."

I looked at Zara. I looked at Jax, whose face remained an impassive mask of stone. The last flickering ember of hope I held for this 'family' quietly extinguished.

I walked over to the console table beneath my mother's portrait and gently set down the bouquet of white lilies I had brought.

"My last name is Gray," I said, my voice eerily calm, carrying through the grand foyer. "Not Thorne. My future, for better or worse, no longer has anything to do with this usurped manor."

I turned on my heel and walked out.

As I pushed through the heavy oak doors, they didn't latch completely. My father's furious growl bled into the night air. "The useless bitch is finally gone." A pause. "Since she's a dead end, you're up, Zara. Blackwood won't be tied to a wolfless forever. I'll find an opportunity for you to catch his eye."

Through the narrow gap, I saw Zara stiffen. She didn't look thrilled by the prospect of an Alpha; instead, her eyes darted toward Jax with a sickening, resentful longing.

I let the door click shut, severing myself from their twisted games.

By midnight, I was standing in a cramped, clean studio apartment in the neutral human zone. It cost the last of my meager savings, but it was mine. I pulled out my phone, blocking Talia and deleting Damien's number. I left only one encrypted email active for the Alpha Council's legal documents.

My final trip to Crestfall Manor took less than ten minutes. I didn't touch the designer clothes or the jewelry Damien had bought for his 'trophy'. I only took my mother's star chart and the snow-wolf wool scarf my grandmother had knitted for me.

Standing in the foyer, I took one last look at the gilded cage. It was as cold and empty as my marriage. I stepped out and locked the door behind me.

Damien POV

The moment I stepped into Crestfall Manor, the oppressive darkness irritated me. There was no soft light glowing from the living room, no quiet rustle of pages turning.

Worse, the air was stale. Seraphina's unique scent-a delicate blend of rain-washed lilies and winter frost-was fading, barely a ghost in the grand hallway.

I frowned, loosening my tie as I took the stairs two at a time. It was the lunar phase, the scheduled night I was supposed to fulfill my duty and sire an heir. She knew the rules.

I pushed open the master bedroom doors. Empty.

Striding into the walk-in closet, I noticed the small, pathetic corner she occupied was entirely bare. Her few personal items were gone.

A cold smirk tugged at the corner of my mouth. I remembered her blatant insubordination at the office today. Throwing a tantrum? Running away to play the victim and beg for my attention? What a pathetic trick.

'She left!' Kael, my inner wolf, suddenly slammed against the confines of my mind, his roar vibrating with pure, unadulterated panic. 'Our Mate left, you arrogant fool! Go find her! Now!'

I gritted my teeth, forcefully shoving Kael's frantic instincts down. The Mate-bond was making him irrational. I interpreted the sudden tightness in my chest as mere annoyance at having my authority challenged.

"Let her cool off," I muttered to the empty room. "She'll come crawling back when she realizes she has nowhere else to go."

I turned my back on the fading scent of lilies and walked out, having more important Pack matters to attend to.

Seraphina POV

The morning sun filtering through the single, smudged window of my new apartment offered no warmth. My cramped studio smelled of dust and stale human air, completely devoid of the rich, earthy scents of a Pack. But worse than the unfamiliarity was the heavy, suffocating ache in my chest.

The Terminal Soul Wither was accelerating. A low-grade fever burned beneath my skin, and my limbs felt like they were filled with lead. The physical toll of severing a Fated Mate bond was dragging my wolfless body toward a quiet, inevitable end.

My phone buzzed on the cheap nightstand. The caller ID read Cassia Blackwood.

I stared at it, my chest tightening. Damien's younger sister had never called me unless she needed a scapegoat. Reluctantly, I swiped to answer.

"Seraphina," Cassia's voice dripped with the kind of careless entitlement only a spoiled Alpha's daughter possessed. "I need you at the training grounds at two o'clock. Gamma is throwing a fit about my missed quarterly assessments."

I closed my eyes, pressing a trembling hand to my feverish forehead. "Cassia, I don't live at the manor anymore. I have a medical appointment."

"Oh, please. What could a wolfless Omega possibly be busy with?" she scoffed, the disdain palpable through the speaker. "I was busy training with Isabelle. She's practically our Luna already, and she actually knows how to fight. Damien already mind-linked me his approval for you to take the reprimand. Consider it a favor. It's a good opportunity for you to make yourself useful and maybe win back a fraction of my brother's attention."

She hung up before I could reply.

I dropped the phone. Damien had mind-linked his approval. To him, my time, my dignity, and my very existence were just tools to manage his family's minor inconveniences.

I forced myself out of bed. I couldn't afford to care about Cassia's assessments. I needed to get to the neutral zone clinic before my body completely gave out.

The human medical clinic was a sterile, blindingly white building that reeked of bleach and rubbing alcohol. There were no Pack crests here, no Healers with warm hands and soothing auras. Just cold tiles and fluorescent lights that made my head throb violently.

Every step across the lobby felt like wading through wet cement. Black spots danced at the edges of my vision. The fever was spiking, turning the ambient noise of the waiting room into a muffled, underwater hum.

I reached out to grab the edge of the reception desk, but my fingers slipped. The floor rushed up to meet me.

Just as the cold tile struck my cheek, a familiar, panicked voice pierced through the ringing in my ears.

"Sera! Oh my goddess, Sera!"

Kira.

Before I could process why my best friend was here, the darkness swallowed me whole.

I woke up to the rhythmic beeping of a heart monitor. The harsh scent of antiseptic was still there, but beneath it was the comforting, sharp scent of pine and ozone-Kira's wolf.

I blinked against the harsh light, finding myself in a small, private clinic room. An IV dripped clear fluid into my arm.

Kira was pacing at the foot of the bed, her hands clenched into fists. When she saw my eyes open, she rushed to my side, her expression a volatile mix of profound relief and murderous rage.

"You look like a ghost, Sera," she breathed, gently brushing a strand of hair from my sweaty forehead. Then, her eyes flashed with the golden hue of her inner wolf. "I saw the news about the moonlight fireworks festival. I know what he did."

I swallowed hard, my throat feeling like sandpaper. "Kira, it's not-"

"Don't defend him!" Kira snapped, her voice trembling with fury. "I knew you were overworking yourself for that Pack, but this? He drove you to exhaustion, and for what? He's rejecting you to Mark that bitch?!"

I stared at her, realizing the massive gap in her understanding. She thought Damien had kicked me out to make room for Isabelle Vance. She didn't know about the Terminal Soul Wither, and I intended to keep it that way. If she knew the Mate-bond was literally killing me, she would march into Crestfall Manor and challenge an Alpha she couldn't beat.

"No, Kira," I said, my voice weak but steady. "Damien didn't kick me out. I left. I am the one asking for the Rejection."

Kira froze. The golden glow in her eyes vanished, replaced by pure, unadulterated shock. "You... you left him?"

"I'm done," I whispered, the truth feeling lighter than air. "I'm completely done with the Blackwoods."

A slow, brilliant smile spread across Kira's face. The pity in her eyes vanished, replaced by a fierce, protective pride.

"Good," she said firmly, grabbing my hand. "Because you are wasting your brilliant mind playing house for a man who doesn't see you. Caleb Vance is expanding Aegis Dynamics. He needs a lead strategist, and we both know what Elder Alistair used to say about your tactical scores."

My heart skipped a beat at the mention of Caleb Vance. The monitor beside me beeped a little faster as the ghosts of my past sacrifices suddenly crowded into the sterile room.