Ella POV:

I fed the portrait of Arthur to the fire. It was the only way to keep from screaming.

The Mate Bond is supposed to be a warm tether. Right now? It felt like a sewer line, pumping their twisted satisfaction directly into my chest.

"Ella!"

The door banged open. Arthur, tuxedo-clad, eyes wild.

"Grandfather's birthday banquet. Twenty minutes. Why aren't you ready?"

"I'm not going," I said, staring into the flames.

"You are," he sneered. "Diana needs a servant. She doesn't know the customs. Wear something plain."

An hour later, I was a grey shadow in the ballroom. Diana, wearing my necklace and a shimmering red gown, clung to Arthur like a parasite.

"A toast!" Diana announced, voice shrill. "To the Alpha's recovery!"

Waiters passed around trays. Diana took a glass, then paused, eyes widening in fake panic. "Oh! My medication! Doctor said no alcohol. But it's bad luck to refuse..."

She extended the glass to me. "Ella, be a dear. Proxy?"

I stared at the amber liquid. Wolfsbane Whiskey. Laced with silver shavings. A flex for Alphas. Poison for an Omega.

"It has silver," I said. "I can't."

"Refusing your future Luna?" Arthur's voice dropped an octave.

"Arthur, it will hurt me."

"It's one drink. Don't be dramatic." He pushed the glass to my lips. "Drink."

The Command forced my jaw open. I swallowed.

Liquid fire. It tore down my throat and ate through my stomach lining.

"Good girl," Diana giggled.

I stumbled to the balcony, retching dryly against the stone railing. Inside, my wolf hearing picked up their voices over the jazz.

"You were hard on her," Diana cooed.

"She needs to learn," Arthur replied. "The wolf... it's restless. It wants you, but the old bond... it pulls. Hurting her quiets it."

He was torturing me to silence his conscience.

"Shame," Diana said. "Gavin had a tattoo over his heart. You just have that... 'E'."

"It's ugly," she added.

Glass shattered.

I peeked through the curtains. Arthur held a jagged shard of a champagne flute. He ripped open his shirt, exposing the 'E' brand over his heart.

"No," I whispered.

He drove the glass into his chest. He didn't just cut it; he carved it out. Blood soaked his white shirt, obliterating the mark.

"There," Arthur panted, eyes manic. "It's gone. I reject the past! I choose the blood!"

My knees hit the stone. The bond didn't just stretch; it screamed.

Ella POV:

I dragged myself back to the guest quarters, chewing on raw marigold leaves to neutralize the silver burning my gut.

Creak.

Diana stood in the doorway. Wearing my silk robe.

"You look terrible," she said. She released a puff of pheromones—territorial, aggressive.

"Get out."

"Arthur is parking the car. He'll be here in seconds."

She grabbed her own hair and yanked. Then she slapped herself. Hard.

"What are you doing?"

Footsteps thundered on the stairs. Diana dropped to the floor, curling into a ball.

"Please! Stop! I didn't mean to upset you!"

Arthur burst in. He saw Diana cowering. He saw me standing.

"She attacked me!" Diana sobbed. "She hit me, Arthur!"

Arthur didn't sniff the air for the lie. He just lunged.

His hand crushed my throat, lifting me off the floor.

"I warned you."

"Arthur... trap..." I choked.

"Silence!"

He threw me. I hit the wall, shoulder popping. He grabbed the back of my dress and hauled me down the hall like luggage.

"Arthur, please!" I screamed as my bare feet scraped the wood. "I'm sick! The silver!"

He threw me out the front door.

I hit the frozen pavement. The winter wind bit instantly.

"Arthur!" I scrambled up.

He stood in the doorway, a dark silhouette against the warmth.

"By the power of the Alpha," he intoned, "I banish you. Let the barrier recognize Ella Farmer as an intruder."

Blue electricity rippled across the property line.

I ran forward, but the invisible wall shocked me back into the snow.

"The Rogues..." I wept, teeth chattering. "They patrol the borders."

"Start running," Arthur said.

He slammed the door.

I curled into a ball, trying to Mind-Link.

Arthur, please.

Static. A solid wall of silence. He had blocked me.

Ella POV:

Beep. Beep.

I woke up to the white ceiling of the Pack Hospital.

"She's awake," Dr. Evans said.

"How?" I croaked.

"Patrol found you. Hypothermia. Silver toxicity." He paused. "Ella... you're pregnant. Four weeks."

The world tilted. A pup. Arthur's pup.

This was the trump card. No Alpha rejects his own blood.

"Give me the phone!"

I dialed.

"What?" Arthur's voice. Impatient.

"Arthur, don't hang up. I have news. Big news."

"I'm busy. Diana is having nightmares because of your attack."

"Arthur, listen! I'm pre—"

"Arthur?" Diana's voice, fake and groggy. "Is that her? I'm scared..."

"Shh," Arthur soothed her. Then to me: "Stop calling. You're lucky I let the patrol bring you in."

Click.

My cell phone buzzed. Unknown number.

A photo. Arthur in wolf form, sleeping. Diana's hand on his fur.

Caption: He doesn't want your mongrel. He told me so.

She knew.

"Dr. Evans," I said, voice hardening. "When can I leave?"

"Ella... your grandmother, Hertha. She heard you were missing. Her car... brakes failed on the ice. She's in the ICU."

I ripped the IV out. "Take me to her."

"We can't do much," Evans admitted, looking at the floor. "All the Senior Healers are gone."

"Where?"

"Alpha Arthur summoned them to the penthouse. Diana said she felt faint."

My vision turned red.