Two days later, the wound on my back had just started to heal.

Maya was throwing me a farewell party at the Nightfall Club.

"You've changed your flight three times. Tomorrow, you are getting on that plane to France." She raised her glass. "To freedom!"

"To freedom."

We clinked glasses and I downed the drink. The alcohol made my head spin.

"I'm going to the restroom."

On my way, I passed the VIP booths.

A familiar laugh came from Booth 101.

I stopped.

It was Killian's voice.

"Alpha Killian, you finally got away," a man laughed. "Is that Freya girl finally gone?"

"She should have known her place and left sooner," another voice chimed in. It was Vivian’s brother. "A half-breed wolf like her doesn't deserve to be Killian's Luna. Only my sister is worthy."

Then, I heard Killian's voice.

"A wolf of her breeding?" I heard Killian's cold, sharp voice. "She's good for one thing: warming a bed. To mate her would be to poison the pack's bloodline."

The booth erupted in laughter.

"Hahaha! Alpha, you're brutal!"

"Still, five years is a hell of a run for a plaything, right?"

I leaned against the wall, blood rushing to my head.

Five years.

For five years, that’s all I was. A tool. A body to use for his pleasure. A toy to be humiliated.

So all his attempts to stop me from leaving… were they just so he could sleep with me one more time?

I turned and walked away. I couldn't listen to another word.

Outside the club, the night air hit my face.

I took a deep breath.

It was almost over.

Tomorrow, I'd be on a plane to France.

"Hey, miss. Wait up."

A group of ragged, filthy men stepped out of the shadows.

Rogues. The lowest of the low.

"Well, well, if it isn't Alpha Killian's little leftover," the leader said, showing a row of yellow teeth. He twirled a dagger in his hand. "Heard you're an unmarked prize."

I instantly tensed, taking a step back. "Who sent you?"

"So, you wanted to be a Luna?" he sneered, closing in. "We'll make you a rogue's whore. Let's see if your precious Alpha still wants you after a dozen of us have left our scent all over you."

Vivian. This was her doing.

Fear coiled around me like a snake, but I was out of options.

When his grimy hand reached for my collar, I was no longer the meek secretary.

I am a wolf. Even with a tainted bloodline, I will not be prey.

"Get off!"

I pulled the silver knife I always carried from my purse and plunged it into his shoulder.

"Aaargh!" His scream tore through the night.

I used a moment of chaos to break free, running for the light at the end of the alley.

Just as I burst out of the alley, a figure blocked my path.

Vivian.

She saw me, covered in blood, holding a bloody silver knife. A flicker of panic crossed her face before it vanished.

The next second, she let out a bloodcurdling scream, then crumpled to the ground.

"Freya, no! Please! I didn't mean to make you angry!"

She crumpled to the ground, clutching her perfectly fine stomach, tears instantly welling in her eyes.

Killian was there in a flash, summoned by her cry.

He caught Vivian, then his head snapped up to look at me.

He saw the bloody knife in my hand, my torn clothes, my wild eyes. In a single, damning heartbeat, he chose his side.

"Freya!"

His roar was like thunder.

I tried desperately to explain. "Killian, it's not what you think! She sent them—"

"Shut up!"

He wouldn't listen. He didn't want to listen.

He only trusted what he saw: his fragile fiancée, trembling on the ground, and me, looking like a crazed killer with a weapon.

"Jealousy has made you a monster!" he roared, his voice thick with rage. "You dare attack your future Luna? You tried to KILL her?!"

I stared at the face so close to mine.

The face I had once loved, once worshipped. Now it was twisted into a monster's snarl.

I stopped struggling.

I stopped explaining. I stopped crying.

I just stared at him, like he was a complete stranger.

"Killian," I said softly, my voice holding a dead quiet that startled him. "Is this really how you see me?"

He flinched, his grip loosening for a second.

But then, from behind him, came Vivian's weak moan. "Killian… I'm in so much pain… My spirit is about to shatter… Call my brother…"

The last trace of doubt in Killian's eyes vanished.

He shoved me away, and I fell hard onto the ground.

Then he turned, scooped Vivian into his arms, and gave me his back.

"Get out," he snarled, without turning around. "You are banished. If I see your face in this territory again, I will kill you myself."

The rain started to pour.

Cold water washed over the blood and grime on my body, washing away my last bit of attachment to this city.

I climbed to my feet and watched Killian carry Vivian to his stretch limousine.

The taillights disappeared quickly into the rain.

This time, he didn't look back. Not once.

...

Three hours later, at the international airport.

I had changed into a clean black trench coat and sunglasses, hiding my swollen eyes and bruised face.

The final boarding call for a flight to a neutral European country echoed through the terminal.

I stood by a trash can, holding a phone and a necklace.

The necklace was simple: a silver ring on a chain. A casual birthday gift from him five years ago. I had worn it like a promise. Now I saw it for what it was. A leash.

It was just a joke.

I unclasped the necklace. The cedar scent that I had been so careful not to wash off, his scent, still lingered.

"Goodbye."

My fingers uncurled.

The silver ring glinted one last time under the harsh airport lights, then disappeared into the trash. Gone.

Next, the phone.

I opened my contacts and my finger hovered over the pinned name: "My Alpha."

Without hesitating, I hit delete.

Then the entire contact list. Everyone connected to the Blackwood family. Wiped clean.

I pulled out the SIM card, snapped it in two, and dropped the pieces into the trash.

After all that, I felt the massive weight that had been crushing my chest for five years finally lift.

It left a hollow ache, a gaping wound where my heart used to be. But for the first time in five years, I could breathe. The air was mine. My life was my own.

"Miss, it's time to board," a gate agent said.

I nodded, grabbed my single suitcase, and walked toward the security gate.

It was a gateway to a new life.

The plane taxied down the runway and took off into the clouds.

I sat by the window.

I watched the glittering city shrink below me, becoming a cluster of tiny lights before being swallowed by the clouds.

My youth, my love, my blood, and my tears were all buried there.

And so was the man named Killian Blackwood.

Tears streamed silently down my face, but I didn't wipe them away.

This was the last time I would ever cry for him.

Then the words rose from deep within my soul, a final, severing vow.

"I, Freya, do hereby reject you, Killian Blackwood, as my mate. The bond between us is broken. From this day forward, you are nothing to me."