Ava POV:

'Extraction complete. Your mother is safe.'

Ethan's voice was the only thing keeping me upright. I stood outside Chloe’s luxury apartment door. The hallway reeked of artificial lavender and lies.

I pounded on the door. It swung open, revealing Chloe Preston in 'my' silk robe.

"Here to beg, Ava? Or did you come to clean my toilet?"

"I'm here to give you this," I said, handing her my resignation.

Chloe laughed, a high-pitched, grating sound. "Oh, honey. You don't get it. Liam’s been trying to get rid of you for months."

She leaned in, whispering. "Do you know why he never marked you? Why you never felt that 'snap'?"

I stiffened. "We were waiting for the ceremony."

"Because he never registered you," Chloe giggled. "I checked the Council records. Liam Vanderbilt has no mate listed. Your 'bond' has zero legal standing. You were just... a convenience."

The world tilted. If he never registered it... if he blocked the bond... I wasn't a rejected mate. I was nothing. A ghost.

A jagged laugh bubbled up in my throat. "Thank you, Chloe."

"Excuse me?"

"Thank you for setting me free."

I walked away, ignoring her confusion. I took the elevator up to the penthouse I shared with Liam.

The scent of him—sandalwood and rain—hit me like a physical blow. It used to make me weak. Now, it made me want to retch.

I grabbed a trash bag. I didn't pack clothes. I pulled out everything that carried his scent and smashed our framed photo against the wall.

The front door beeped. Liam walked in, Chloe trailing him.

"What the hell are you doing?" Liam barked.

"Cleaning."

He tossed a small box onto the bed. "Stop being dramatic. I brought you a gift. Since you're no longer a Gamma, you need to learn your place."

Inside lay a leather collar embedded with dull silver studs. A suppressor collar. Slave gear.

"Put it on," Liam commanded. "It will keep your wolf docile around Chloe."

"You want me to wear this?"

"It suits you," Chloe chimed in, touching her diamond necklace.

I walked to the balcony door. The wind whipped my hair.

"Ava, don't you dare," Liam warned. "I command you to stop!"

He threw the Alpha Command at me again.

This time, the pressure shattered against a wall of white heat rising from my chest. My inner wolf didn't cower. She stood up and snarled.

I looked Liam dead in the eye and threw the collar off the balcony. We watched it plummet forty stories.

"Oops."

Liam froze. "How did you... you defied a direct command."

"Maybe you're not as strong as you think."

Chloe pulled out her phone. "Liam, look at her! She's out of control! Show her!"

She tapped the screen. A holographic projection sprang up. A memory recording. Liam and Chloe. Tangled in sheets. The sounds of their pleasure filled the room, obscene and loud.

"See?" Chloe sneered. "He never touched you like that. You're frigid, Ava."

My stomach lurched. Not jealousy. Revulsion. My wolf gagged. The invisible thread connecting my heart to Liam suddenly pulled tight.

'SNAP.'

I felt it break. A physical pain, like a rib cracking. But then... silence. The constant, nagging need for him was gone.

I vomited right onto the Persian rug.

"Disgusting," Liam curled his lip.

I wiped my mouth and stood up. I felt light. Empty. Dangerous.

"I'm leaving," I said. "And Liam? Pray we never meet again."

Ava POV:

The rain felt like a baptism. I walked out of the Vanderbilt Tower with nothing but the clothes on my back and a black leather notebook tucked into my jacket.

That notebook contained the formula for a rapid-healing serum for Wolfsbane poisoning.

My phone buzzed.

NOTICE OF BANISHMENT:

'Ava Mitchell. Rank: Beta. Status: Rogue.'

I was officially a Rogue. Feral. Dangerous. Shoot on sight.

As I stepped onto the sidewalk, a rotten egg smashed against my shoulder.

"Traitor!"

A mob of low-ranking wolves blocked the exit.

"You sold us out!" a woman yelled, throwing a handful of gray powder.

Silver dust. It hit my cheek, sizzling like acid. I hissed.

"Get out of our territory!"

I looked up at the penthouse balcony. Liam was watching, whiskey in hand. He wanted to break me so I would crawl back.

'Never.'

I straightened my spine, ignoring the burning. I let a fraction of my aura leak out. Cold. Ancient. Terrifying.

The mob fell silent. They smelled a predator.

I walked through the crowd, and they parted.

Once around the corner, I pulled out a burner phone. "Nyx."

"Identity confirmed," a distorted voice answered. "Status?"

"I am Rogue. Initiate Protocol: Scorched Earth."

"Copy. We are accessing the Vanderbilt servers. Evidence of Chloe’s embezzlement will be encrypted. When do we release?"

"Wait until the engagement party."

"Transportation is waiting at sector four."

I headed toward the subway. But a black SUV screeched to a halt, blocking my path.

Liam.

He got out, ignoring the rain. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Away from you."

He grabbed my arm. His grip was bruising. He leaned in, sniffing my neck. "You smell... different. Where is the scent of misery?"

"Let go, Liam."

"You have something of mine," he growled. "Chloe says the research files are missing. You took them."

"They are my files."

"You created them on company time. Hand them over, Ava. Or I will have the Enforcers strip search you right here."

Ava POV:

Passersby stared but did nothing. Just another domestic dispute.

"I don't have them," I lied, guarding my inner pocket.

"Liar," Liam snarled.

He shoved me against the wet brick wall. His hands roamed over my body, rough and invasive. A violation of power.

"Stop!"

He pinned my wrists. "I own you, Ava. Until you leave the city limits, you are subject to my laws."

He reached into my jacket and pulled out the notebook.

"Here it is," he smirked. "The cure. Chloe will be very pleased."

"She can't even read those formulas!" I screamed. "She'll kill someone!"

"She has you," Liam said, eyes gleaming. "You're going to write the paper for her. You're going to simplify the data."

"I'd rather die."

"That can be arranged."

Something snapped.

I lunged forward and sank my teeth into his forearm. I tasted the hot, metallic tang of Alpha blood.

"Ahhh!" Liam roared, shaking me off.

He looked at the bleeding bite mark in shock. A Beta shouldn't be able to pierce an Alpha's skin.

"You bitch."

He backhanded me.

The blow sent me sprawling into a muddy puddle. Vision swimming. Blood in my mouth.

Before I could get up, he dragged me by the hair toward the SUV.

He drove back to the Vanderbilt Tower, dragging me down to the basement labs.

Chloe was waiting at the main terminal.

"Did you get it?"

Liam threw the notebook on the desk. "Fix the data. Ava is going to help."

"I don't need help," Chloe pouted. "But... oops."

A red alert flashed. DATABASE DELETED.

"What did you do?" Liam asked.

"I tried to transfer the files, but Ava put a virus in the system!" Chloe cried. "She wiped the servers!"

It was a lie. I could see the `DELETE '.'` command line. She was incompetent.

"I didn't—"

Liam grabbed my throat and slammed me against the glass wall.

"You destroy my legacy?" His eyes were fully black.

He opened the chemical storage room door—a glass box filled with volatile solvents. He threw me inside.

"You stay in there until you recreate the data," he ordered. "If not done by midnight..."

He turned to Chloe. "Let's go."

"Liam," I banged on the glass. "The ventilation is off! Chloe cut the power! The fumes—"

"Think about that next time you try to sabotage my mate," he said coldly.

He locked the door.