Eliana POV

The sun rose the next morning with an indifference that felt cruel, climbing the sky as if my world hadn't shattered the night before.

I walked to the training grounds, my body feeling brittle, every step a conscious effort against the gravity of my grief. Jax was there, laughing with a group of Betas. The sound was vibrant and carefree until he saw me.

His laughter cut off abruptly. He closed the distance between us, his expression smoothing into a mask of practiced concern.

"Eliana," he said, reaching out to touch my shoulder. "About last night... Catalina was just startled. Are you okay?"

I stepped back, letting his hand fall into empty air. The electricity that should have been there was gone, replaced by a cold void.

"I'm fine, Alpha Jax."

He flinched at the title as if I had struck him. "Don't call me that. We're still... friends. I'll make sure people treat you right."

"Friends don't drown friends," I said flatly.

He frowned, annoyance flickering behind his eyes. "You're being dramatic. I have a duty to the pack. Catalina is strong. She can help us grow. You... you haven't even shifted."

"I understand," I said. And I did. I understood that his ambition was far heavier than his heart.

I walked away. I didn't look back.

Over the next week, I became a ghost in my own home. I changed my training schedule to avoid him. I ate in the kitchen standing up instead of sitting in the dining hall.

But I couldn't escape the changes.

Catalina's scent—a cloying, artificial rose that stung the nose—began to permeate the pack house. I saw her things in Jax's room. A silk scarf strangled the back of his chair. Her boots kicked off carelessly by his door.

One afternoon, I passed the common room. Catalina was sitting on Jax's lap, whispering in his ear. When she saw me, her fingers tightened on the nape of his neck, her nails digging in slightly—a silent claim.

Jax looked up, saw me, and for a second, regret flashed across his face. Then Catalina giggled, a sharp, tinkling sound, and his attention snapped back to her.

I went to my room and opened my drawer. Inside was a small wooden wolf Jax had carved for my tenth birthday. It was crude, the ears uneven and the snout too long, but it had been my most prized possession.

I took it to the pack's lost and found box in the hallway and dropped it in.

The hollow *thud* sounded final.

At the pack meeting that Friday, Catalina stood beside Jax. She adjusted his collar, brushing imaginary dust off his shoulder with a possessive smirk.

"They look perfect together," a Beta female whispered near me.

"Ideally suited," another agreed. "Eliana would have been a liability."

I stood in the shadows, silent. I felt nothing. No anger. No jealousy. Just a profound, exhausting numbness that settled in my bones like frost.

Jax glanced at me during his speech. I didn't look away. I didn't smile. I just stared, my face a blank canvas.

He faltered mid-sentence, losing his place for a moment. Catalina touched his arm, grounding him, and he continued.

Later, in the hallway, he cornered me. "Why are you acting like this? I'm doing what's best for everyone."

"I haven't done anything, Jax," I said softly. "I'm just existing."

"You threw away the wolf," he accused, his voice tight. "I saw it in the bin."

"It was just clutter," I replied, my voice devoid of the warmth he was used to. "I'm decluttering my life."

Eliana POV

Attendance at the monthly gala was not a request; it was a mandate.

I anchored myself in the shadowed corner of the ballroom, clutching a glass of lukewarm water like a lifeline. From my vantage point, I watched Catalina hold court. I hated to admit it, but she was radiant—a diamond designed to draw blood. She knew exactly how to play the game.

It didn't take long for her to find her target.

She spotted me and glided across the floor, her entourage of sycophantic Omegas trailing in her wake like a silk train.

"Eliana," she purred, her voice dripping with faux concern. "You look... tired. You really should rest more. It must be exhausting, standing on the sidelines watching us live."

"I'm fine, Catalina," I said, my voice tight as I turned to retreat.

She grabbed my arm. Her manicured nails didn't just rest there; they dug into my skin, sharp enough to draw a flinch.

"Jax told me everything, you know," she whispered, leaning in close. "How he pitied you. How he waited for you to shift, but you were just... broken."

My stomach turned, acid rising in my throat. "Excuse me."

I pulled away, stumbling slightly as I fled toward the terrace doors. The night air was cool, a sharp contrast to the suffocating heat of the ballroom.

*Jax always loved strong women.*

Catalina's voice invaded my head, bypassing my ears entirely. She had forced a Mind-Link connection, a violation that felt like a spike driven into my temples.

*He told me about the time he skipped your birthday to train with the warriors,* she continued, her mental voice echoing with cruel clarity. *He said he needed to be around real wolves.*

I froze, my hands gripping the stone railing. I remembered that birthday. Jax had told me he was sick with the flu.

*And that time you twisted your ankle?* Catalina continued, the venom in her thoughts seeping into my own mind. *He didn't carry you back because he was worried. He did it because his father was watching. He laughed about how heavy you were later.*

The air left my lungs. The memories I cherished—the moments I thought were irrefutable proof of his love—were being dismantled, brick by brick.

*He loves me, Eliana. He sacrificed his chance to study abroad just to be near my pack. He's been planning this for years.*

Tears pricked my eyes, hot and stinging, but I refused to let them fall. It was all a lie. The foundation of my entire life had been built on sand.

*Eliana?*

Jax's voice cut into the link, overlaying Catalina's torment.

*Where are you? Catalina is looking for you.*

A bitter laugh trapped itself in my chest. He had no idea she was mentally torturing me. Or perhaps, he simply didn't care enough to notice the difference.

I looked back through the glass doors. I saw Jax scanning the crowded room, his expression frantic, his eyes darting wildly.

Then, his gaze landed on Catalina.

Instantly, his face relaxed. The tension drained from his shoulders. He wasn't looking for me because he was worried *about* me. He was relieved because *she* was safe.

That was the truth I needed.

I severed the Mind-Link. It felt like slamming a heavy iron door, shutting out the noise, the lies, and the pain.

I looked at Jax one last time through the barrier of the glass. He wasn't the boy I loved. He was a stranger wearing a familiar face. A liar.

"Goodbye, Jax," I whispered to the cold glass, my breath fogging the surface for a fleeting second before fading away.

Eliana POV

I was zipping up the last of my duffel bags when Catalina walked into my room. She didn't knock.

"Leaving so soon?" she asked, leaning against the doorframe with a smug, satisfied tilt to her head.

"Get out," I said, yanking the zipper closed with finality.

"Jax is downstairs," she said, her voice dripping with mock sympathy. "He's worried about you. It's pathetic, really."

She walked toward me, her eyes flashing. "You need to understand something. He is mine. Even if you leave, you are a threat. Your scent... it still lingers on him."

"I rejected him," I said, my voice flat. "The bond is broken."

"Not enough," she hissed.

Then, she moved.

Her hand lashed out, shoving me hard.

I stumbled backward, my feet tangling in the plush rug. Gravity took over. I fell, my head cracking against the sharp corner of my silver-plated vanity table.

*Pain.*

White-hot, searing agony exploded in my skull. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air—acrid and metallic. Silver poisoning. For a wolf, it was instant, debilitating torture.

"Jax!" Catalina screamed, her voice pitching into a perfect, fake shriek of terror. "Help! Jax, help! Eliana fell!"

Thundering footsteps echoed in the hall. Jax burst into the room.

I was lying on the floor, blood pooling around my head, my vision swimming in dark spots. The silver was sizzling, burning its way into my bloodstream.

Jax looked at me.

Then he looked at Catalina, who was crouching in the corner, sobbing into her hands.

"She tried to attack me, Jax! She went crazy and then she slipped!"

Jax didn't check my pulse. He didn't notice the sick, sweet scent of burning skin rising from my temple. He rushed to Catalina.

"Are you hurt?" he asked frantically, scanning her body for injuries that didn't exist.

"I'm so scared," she wailed, burying her face in his chest.

I lay there, dying. And he was comforting her.

The last thread of hope in my heart snapped. It wasn't a loud noise. It was a quiet, final click.

"Get the pack doctor," Jax barked at a guard hovering in the hallway.

Then, he scooped Catalina up in his arms. "I'm taking you to my room. You're in shock."

He walked out.

He stepped over my legs to get out the door.

I closed my eyes. The pain was excruciating, but the clarity was absolute.

He didn't care. He never would.