Kat POV:

I retreated to the shadows, watching. Alex cornered Aria against the stone wall near the wine cellar. He thought the oak barrels hid them.

His nostrils flared.

"You smell intoxicating," I heard him growl through enhanced hearing. "Like sugar and heat."

"Is the 'Luna' watching?" Aria giggled.

"Forget her," Alex sneered. "She's a broken vessel. A useless human. Once you give me this son, I'll buy you a collar of pure gold. You'll be the real queen."

I gripped my champagne glass until it cracked. A shard sliced my palm.

Blood welled up.

My blood had always smelled strange. Sweet. Like honey and ozone. Like the air right before a lightning strike.

The scent drifted. Heads turned. Wolves stopped eating.

Aria pulled back, face twisting. "Ugh! What is that smell? It's overpowering!"

She marched toward me. The crowd parted.

"You!" Aria pointed. "You're ruining the mood. Leaking that... stench."

She grabbed a bottle from a waiter. "Clean it up. Pour this for me. Now."

She wanted me to serve her.

I looked at my bleeding hand. The blood sizzled slightly on the stone floor.

"No," I whispered.

"Excuse me?" Aria's eyes widened. "I am carrying the Alpha's heir! You will submit!"

She stepped forward to shove me.

Instinct took over. Not wolf, but something older. A wave of pressure exploded from my body. Sharp, like ice needles.

Aria shrieked, stumbling back as if physically pushed. She crashed into the champagne tower.

Crash!

Glass exploded. Aria fell, screaming, though the shards barely grazed her.

"Aria!"

Alex moved with blurring speed, scooping her up. He checked her frantically.

"Are you hurt?"

"She pushed me!" Aria sobbed. "She tried to kill the baby!"

Alex turned to me, eyes glowing a furious, demonic red.

I stood there, bleeding. His mate.

But he looked at me with hatred.

"SUBMIT!"

The Alpha Command slammed into me like a freight train.

My knees buckled, hitting the stone with a sickening crack. Head forced down. Lungs seized.

"You are pathetic," Alex spat. "You attack a pregnant female? A defenseless Omega?"

"I... didn't..." I gasped.

"Silence!" he roared. "Get out of my sight. Go to the infirmary. Stay there."

The Command released me just enough to move. I scrambled up, humiliation burning hotter than my hand.

I ran.

At the infirmary, I ran cold water over the cut. Through the window, I saw the courtyard.

Alex sat on a bench, Aria on his lap. He held an ice pack to her ankle—where there wasn't even a scratch.

He lowered his head and licked her skin.

A grooming gesture. Only for mates.

I slid down the wall. The tears finally came. Cold tears.

"I accept it," I whispered. "I accept that I am nothing to you."

My phone vibrated.

Donato: The bird is ready to fly. Hangar 4. 48 hours.

I wiped my eyes. 48 hours.

Kat POV:

For the next week, Alex was a ghost.

On Tuesday, I walked to the Forest Gallery. An ancient structure built into living trees, where Alex and I had exchanged private vows.

I found desecration.

Alex was there. Aria was wearing his white dress shirt—the one he wore at our wedding.

"Oh, look at this one," Aria laughed, pointing at the portrait of Alex's great-grandmother. "She looks like a man. So ugly."

She poked the canvas.

"Careful," Alex said, lazy, amused.

"I bet I'll look much better up there," Aria twirled. "When will you take my portrait, Alex?"

"Soon."

I stepped out. "You have no right to be here."

Aria jumped. Her elbow knocked the frame. The heavy painting crashed.

Snap.

"My finger! It hurts!" she wailed. A tiny splinter. A single drop of blood.

Alex was at her side instantly, panic-stricken. "Let me see!"

I stared at the torn portrait on the floor.

"You broke it," I said, trembling. "You let her destroy our history."

Alex snarled. "Watch your mouth! She is injured because you snuck up on us! You released that... pressure again!"

"She pricked her finger on a frame she knocked over!"

"She is delicate!" Alex roared. "Unlike you!"

He scooped her up. "We're going to the hospital. Now."

I followed. Like watching a car crash.

At the hospital, Dr. Evans rushed around.

"She's anemic," the doctor lied, eyes darting to Alex. "Stress... shock... she needs a transfusion to stabilize the pregnancy."

"Take mine," Alex said, rolling up his sleeve.

"Alex, no," I stepped forward. "You just shifted for the full moon two days ago. Your blood count is low. Giving blood now could weaken your wolf for weeks."

An Alpha's blood is the pack's life force. Giving it casually when weakened was dangerous.

Alex looked at me with disdain. "I would give every drop to save my child. Something you clearly don't understand."

He extended his arm. "Do it."

As the dark, rich Alpha blood flowed into the tube, I felt the last thread of hope snap.

He was draining his life force for a lie.

I watched Aria. She wasn't pale. She was watching me through half-closed eyelids, a triumphant smirk on her lips. She was showing me she could bleed the Alpha dry, and he would thank her.

Alex's eyes drooped. "Save... the baby..." he mumbled, passing out.

My phone buzzed.

Donato: The pilot is waiting. Code: White Wolf. Go now.

I looked at Alex one last time. "Goodbye, Alexander."

He didn't hear me. He was too busy dying for another woman.

I stood in the corner of the hospital room. Alex stirred, looking gray.

"Kat?" he croaked.

"I'm here." My voice sounded distant.

"I have to go," he tried to sit up. "The West Coast inspection. The investors..."

"You can't fly," I said flatly. "You'll pass out."

"I have to. Private jet."

I knew the truth. He was taking Aria to the secret cabin at Lake Tahoe. A romantic getaway for her "trauma."

"Fine."

He squinted, trying to tap into our bond.

Kat... are you okay? You feel... quiet.

I put up a mirror, reflecting his own emptiness.

I am fine, Alpha.

He flinched at the formal title.

"Sir," a guard poked his head in. "Ms. Aria is asking for you."

Alex ripped the IV tape off. "I'm coming."

He stumbled out without a glance.

I drove back to the Pack House. I packed cash, my passport, a locket.

Then, the cleaning crew arrived. Humans hired by Donato.

"Ma'am," the lead cleaner nodded. "Industrial grade enzyme spray. Breaks down biological markers. Scent, hair, skin cells."

"Do it," I said. "Everything."

I watched them spray the bed, the carpets. The chemical smell was acrid, like a swimming pool mixed with lemons.

I went to the computer. Katarina De Luca. Delete.

My records. Bank accounts. Access codes. Gone.

The front door slammed. Alex was back.

I rushed down. He was in the kitchen, shoving raw steaks into a cooler.

"Forgot supplies," he muttered. "Special diet for her. Iron."

He grabbed a bottle of whiskey, then paused, phone to his ear. "Yes, baby, I'm coming. Don't cry."

He hung up and looked at me. He sniffed the air, frowning. "Why does it smell like bleach in here?"

"I'm deep cleaning," I said, my voice steady. "Nesting instinct. I wanted the house spotless for... the twins."

His face softened, ego stroked. He interpreted my erasure of self as service to his mistress's offspring.

"Good," he breathed. "You're a good Luna, Kat. We'll... we'll talk when I get back."

There is nothing to fix.

He walked out. The heavy oak slammed shut.

He didn't notice I wasn't wearing my ring.

I picked up my bag. I walked out, leaving the keys on the table.

Freedom smelled like jet fuel and cold air.

Kat POV:

The sedan turned left, toward the Assembly Grounds.

"Donato," I said to the driver. "The plan was the hangar."

"Change of plans, Luna. Alpha Alexander issued a summons. If you aren't at the Gathering, he sends trackers."

My phone buzzed. Donato: Endure one last hour. Necessary for the signature.

When we arrived, the Assembly Grounds vibrated with three hundred wolves.

"There she is," a voice sneered.

I walked through the crowd in my black trousers.

Alex sat on the dais. Aria was next to him on a velvet-draped chair.

"You're late," Alex growled. "Sit."

He pointed to a chair below the dais. A demotion.

I sat.

"Brothers and Sisters!" Alex's voice boomed. "Tonight, a new era!"

Aria stood up.

"We have received a blessing," Alex announced. "Aria is carrying not just one heir, but two! Twin Alpha males!"

The crowd erupted.

I looked at Aria. She glanced at a young Gamma guard near the exit. He nodded. Staged.

"Kat," Alex’s voice cut through. "Congratulate the mother of your pack's future."

The cruelty took my breath away.

I stood up. "I wish the pack exactly what it deserves."

Alex frowned. "Good. Aria needs space. The Master Suite will be renovated."

"I am moving out," I interrupted.

"What?"

"I am moving to the East Wing guest quarters," I lied. "To give the mother space."

Aria gasped dramatically. "Oh! Her negative energy!"

"Go," Alex barked. "Get out of my sight."

I walked away. No one stopped me.

Donato was in the administrative building.

"Did he take the bait?"

"He thinks I'm moving to the guest wing."

Donato slid a stack of documents across the desk. "The 'Asset Liquidation and Familial Restructuring' agreement for the southern acquisition."

He flipped to a page buried in the middle. "I've structured it as a liability release. It separates his personal assets from the new corporate entity to protect the deal."

"He won't read the fine print?"

"Alex reads headers, not clauses," Donato scoffed. "He trusts the lawyers, and the lawyers answer to me."

Alex strode in, smelling of Aria.

"Father," Alex nodded. "Is this necessary now?"

"The deal expires at midnight," Donato said sternly. "Sign the liability release so we can secure the borders."

Alex sighed, loosening his tie. He glanced at me. "Still here?"

"Leaving," I said.

He picked up the pen.

"This protects my assets?" Alex asked.

"It severs your personal liability entirely," Donato answered, eyes meeting mine.

Alex scrawled his signature. Alexander De Luca, Alpha.

"Done." He dropped the pen. "Aria is waiting."

He walked right past me. My wolf stirred, a weak, painful flutter.

He didn't look at me. He walked out.

Donato picked up the paper. "It is done. Technically, 'liability' refers to 'spousal obligations' in paragraph 4, subsection C."

He opened a safe. Passport. Bonds.

"You are officially a Rogue, Katarina. Kate Blanchet."

"Why help me?"

"Because a wolf who chooses a whore over his true mate is destined to ruin the pack."

I had one stop left. The external hard drive with my grandmother’s research.

I slipped into the kitchen. Alex was there.

"Kat?" He looked exhausted. "I saw the light on."

He walked to the counter. "You were making my dinner?"

He assumed I was still serving him.

My tablet on the counter pinged.

Alex snatched it. "Private investigator? Who are you investigating?"

He tapped the screen. Donato's report.

Subject: Aria Miller. Medical Status: Non-gravid.

Notes: Falsified ultrasounds. Black market purchases.

Alex stared. His face went pale.

"This is fake," he whispered.

"Look at the dates, Alex. Look at the bank transfers."

He scrolled. Then he stopped. "Wait. This account number... this is the shell company I set up for her 'allowance'. You doctored the beneficiary name to look like a forger."

"What? No, that's the real recipient!"

"Aria told me you'd try this," Alex said, his voice dropping dangerously low. "She said you were paying hackers to frame her. She warned me."

He slammed the tablet face down. Screen cracked.

"Lies!" he roared. "She carries my sons! I felt them!"

"You felt what you wanted to feel!"

"Get out!" he screamed.

He grabbed the raw steak with a bare hand, claws extending.

"I'm going, Alex."

I walked to the sink and flipped the garbage disposal switch. I grabbed the expensive Wagyu beef—his dinner—and dropped it into the grinding jaws.

Grrr-crunch-squelch.

"I'm not cooking for you tonight," I said. "Or ever again."

I grabbed the drive and walked out.