KIRA POV：

Every muscle in my body throbbed with a dull, persistent ache as I dragged myself up the grand staircase of the Carlisle estate.

The fever had receded, but the phantom weight of that stranger still seemed to press against my skin, cold and commanding.

Before I could even reach the bedroom, my phone vibrated violently against my palm.

I swiped the screen, and Willow’s frantic voice exploded through the receiver.Willow was my fiercely loyal best friend and confidante.

"Kira! Thank the Moon Goddess you are alive! How are you holding up?"

"Barely," I rasped, leaning against the banister to steady my shaking knees.

Hearing my hollow tone, Willow’s temper flared into a furious snarl. "Hayes Carlisle is a filthy piece of garbage! If he wanted out of the mating, he should have said so, instead of leaving you with a tainted glass like a coward. What kind of Alpha pulls a stunt like that?"

Yesterday marked two years of marriage. My husband messaged me about celebrating, but when I arrived all dressed up, he left me waiting. Then came that glass of juice—and a night of reckless chaos.

Was it really him behind this?I couldn't be certain, but I would find out who it was.

A bitter pang struck my chest, but I forced the ache down. "It is over now, Willow. I will handle it."

"You are too soft-hearted," she huffed. "If you need me, I will strap on my sharpest heels and take his head off. But wait... who was the guy from last night?"

I froze, an unsettling chill crawling down the back of my neck. "Wasn't it the discreet companion you hired for me?"

"I booked him, yes, but he called me at dawn furious because you never showed up at his lounge! Kira, who the hell did you spend the night with?"

The air vanished from my lungs, my mind spinning into freefall.

If that was not Willow’s contact, then who was the lethal Lycan that claimed me?

Before the panic could settle, the master bedroom door swung open.

Hayes stood in the doorway, damp hair clinging to his forehead, a single dark towel slung low on his hips as he looked down at me.

"What companion?" he demanded, his amber eyes narrowing with cold suspicion.

I pulled myself together, severed the call without a word, and pocketed my phone.

The man before me wore his usual mask of arrogant superiority, eyeing me as if I were nothing more than dust on his polished floors.

The only thing out of place was the swollen, bruised bite mark on the corner of his bottom lip.

A fresh mark from a frantic, breathless encounter with another woman.

A wave of profound revulsion churned in my stomach, far heavier than any lingering sorrow.

"Nothing," I murmured flatly, stepping toward the door.

Hayes frowned, his fingers shooting out to clamp around my wrist like a shackle. "What is with this attitude, Kira?"

He rarely spent the night here, and whenever he returned, I used to greet him with quiet warmth, ensuring everything was effortless for him.

I did not pull away. I only stared back at him with hollow, steady eyes. "Have I not always been like this? Obedient, quiet, maintaining your estate so you could focus entirely on climbing the pack hierarchy."

I paused, letting a faint, icy curve touch my lips. "Isn't that what you preferred? It certainly made it convenient for you to entertain your mistress without interference."

Hayes’s expression darkened. He let go of my wrist, adjusting the towel at his waist with unbothered arrogance. "I came back this morning because we need to talk."

I lifted my hand, slowly and deliberately rubbing the skin where his fingers had rested, wiping it clean as if scrubbing away a smear of grease.

"Ready to make her public?" I asked quietly.

His jaw tightened, a flash of defensiveness crossing his features. "You had someone look into her?"

The nervous edge in his voice made me want to laugh. "Did I need to? The front-page headlines of you flaunting her at the Pack Gala were everywhere by midnight. Anyone with eyes saw it."

Hayes studied my face. My voice was completely devoid of its former warmth, yet he seemed irritated by the calm detachment in my gaze.

He leaned against the frame, tossing out words meant to cut deep. "Clarisa is carrying my pup. Her early weeks are fragile, and making a public appearance with her was to keep her mind at ease."

My fingernails dug slightly into the fabric of my coat, but my pulse did not waver.

She was pregnant.

While I had spent two years maintaining an empty home and protecting his reputation, he had been busy planting his bloodline elsewhere.

Seeing the pallor in my cheeks, Hayes’s arrogant smirk returned. "It is not that I refused to touch you, Kira. It is simply that you are entirely too dull. No true Alpha wants a mate as tasteless as plain water."

The deliberate insult hung in the air, but the sting was gone, replaced by a crystalline clarity.

I had shrunk myself to fit his expectations, dulling my own claws and hiding my strength to play the obedient partner he demanded, and to him, it was merely boring.

I looked at him, my expression utterly serene.

"That works out well," I said softly. "Let us dissolve the bond and get the divorce papers drawn up. That way, you can give her and your pup a legitimate name."

The word divorce caught him off guard, his brows twitching in brief surprise.

Then, he let out a harsh, mocking bark of laughter. "Still playing hard to get, Kira? How many of these childish games have you tried over the past two years? You think threatening to leave will make me chase you?"

He looked at me with open condescension, entirely convinced of his own indispensability.

"You worship the ground I walk on. You would never survive a day outside this pack without me."

A faint smile ghosted across my face, cold and pitying.

When his early ventures crumbled and his standing in the pack hit rock bottom, I had emptied every reserve I had to help him rebuild his foundation.

He had offered marriage as a calculated debt of gratitude, and I had foolishly believed loyalty could foster love.

Now, his hands were stained with betrayal, and continuing to care would be nothing short of degradation.

"Have your pack lawyers draft the separation agreement," I said, my voice steady as stone. "Whatever terms you set, I will sign."

I didn't wait for his answer. Walking right past him into the room, I began packing my luggage, ready to get out of here.

KIRA POV：

I dragged my suitcase toward the front door without looking back. The cool morning air on my face helped to clear some of the fog in my head.

Hayes caught up to me, blocking my path, his face a dark cloud. "You cannot leave right now."

I stared at him coldly. "You wanted a divorce. I agreed. What more do you want?"

"The divorce can happen, but not today." He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "You have to attend the pack banquet tonight."

I let out a bitter, humorless laugh. "The pack banquet? You want me to show up covered in marks, play the devoted Luna, and watch you parade your mistress around the council?"

His eyes darkened, but impatience quickly took over. "Do not make this difficult, Kira. This is bigger than our grievances. This is about the entire Carlisle Pack."

He stepped closer, his voice dropping to a tense, urgent whisper. "My father’s health is failing, and he is finalizing his succession will with the pack elders. Aiden Beaumont arrived in Blackwood Creek overnight. As the pureblooded heir born to the first Luna, his return threatens everything I have built."

Aiden Beaumont. The name sent a jolt through my memory. The cold, untouchable prodigy from my youth, the rival who had bested me at every turn.

"The elders are already scrutinizing my legitimacy because of my mother's bloodline," Hayes continued, his jaw working with suppressed bitterness. "I need the Knox Pack's backing, but I cannot walk into the council as an unstable Alpha discarding his Luna right before the will is sealed. The elders demand stability. They need to see a united front."

So that was his desperate scheme. He needed Clarisa's pedigree to secure political power, yet he needed me, his legal Luna, to maintain the illusion of an honorable leader before the council.

"So you want me to play the docile clown for your ambition, and once you secure the Alpha seat, you toss me away like garbage?" My voice cut like dry ice.

Hayes exhaled, attempting to smooth over his tone. "Kira, be realistic. We have been mated for two years. I provided you with status and comfort. If you stand by me tonight and appease the elders, I will double the financial settlement in the rejection agreement."

Money. He truly believed everything—loyalty, dignity, sacrifice—could be bought off.

Looking at his anxious, self-serving face, I did not waste my breath on grief or hollow questions. The man who had once stood by me was long dead, replaced by a calculating coward.

I leveled a cold, detached gaze at him, my chin lifted in unyielding defiance.

"One condition," I stated, my voice steady as iron. "I will stand at your side tonight. I will play the devoted Luna and give the elders the united front you need to survive Aiden's arrival. But the second the banquet concludes, we stand before the council elders and execute the formal rejection. You sign the release, and I walk away with full independence."

Hayes blinked, visibly caught off guard by my absolute composure.

A smug, patronizing relief washed over his features. "Fair enough. Between an Alpha and an Omega, there are boundaries dictated by blood. A true Alpha fighting for supreme command needs a fierce partner by his side, not someone fragile. I knew you would be reasonable and understand your place."

The deep-seated arrogance of the werewolf hierarchy bled through every word. To him, my calm detachment was merely an Omega bowing to the inevitable weight of an Alpha's decree.

"Then it is settled," I said, stepping back toward the house without sparing him another glance.

He thought he had won. He believed I was resigned to being discarded quietly once his seat was secured.

He had no idea that tonight's banquet would not be his coronation—it would be his execution.

Back in my room, I shut the door firmly and let the icy silence settle around me.

I pulled out my phone and dialed Willow.

"Willow, I need your lab contacts right now," I said, my voice dangerously calm. "I need an urgent forensic screen on the glass left in that lounge. There was a synthetic heat-inducer in my system last night, and I want the exact chemical trace and batch registry."

I needed to know precisely whose poisoned hand had tried to destroy me.

Tonight was the beginning of the end.