Annis POV:

I didn't make it to the state line.

The Enforcers blew the tires out three miles from the border. I was dragged back to the Pack Hospital, not as a Luna, but as a prisoner.

The hospital smelled of antiseptic and fear. They threw me onto a gurney and strapped my wrists down.

Dominick stormed in. He looked frantic, but not for me.

"Chastity is hemorrhaging," he said, voice tight. "Her body is rejecting the pregnancy."

"And that concerns me why?" I asked, voice hoarse.

"She needs a transfusion," Dominick said. "O-Negative. Rare. Like you."

I laughed. A hysterical, broken sound. "You want my blood? To save your mistress and her bastard?"

"Watch your mouth," he hissed, leaning over me. His amber eyes swirled with black. "You poisoned her with that bracelet. This is your mess to fix."

"I didn't poison her! She threw it!"

"The doctors found traces of Wolfsbane on her skin!"

"She put it there herself!"

He grabbed my chin. "I don't care. You are going to give her your blood. As much as she needs."

I looked at the IV lines. I was anemic from the suppressants. My heart was already struggling. A massive draw could be fatal.

"It will kill me, Dom," I whispered. "My wolf is too weak to regenerate that fast."

He hesitated. For a split second, I saw doubt.

But a nurse ran in. "Alpha! Her heart rate is dropping!"

The hesitation vanished. "Do it," he ordered the doctor. "Hook her up."

"Wait!" I shouted. "I have a condition!"

Dominick paused. "You are in no position to bargain."

"I want a rejection," I said clearly. "I will give you my blood. I will save her. But in exchange, you accept my rejection. Tonight. Officially."

He stared at me, a cruel smirk curling his lips. "You want to be a Rogue? A wolfless cripple alone in the world? You won't last a day."

"That is my choice. Deal or no deal?"

"Fine," he scoffed. "If you survive, you can have your freedom. You're useless to me anyway."

The doctor inserted the needle.

It hurt more than it should have. I watched the dark red liquid flow through the tube.

Coldness spread through my limbs. My vision blurred.

Be strong, a tiny voice whispered. My wolf. We are the White Wolf. Our blood is life. But this is too much.

The machine beeped. One pint. Two.

"Alpha, her levels are critical," the doctor warned, looking at my monitor. "Her pressure is bottoming out. We have to stop."

From the next room, Chastity moaned. "Dom... save the baby..."

"Keep going," Dominick's voice came through the open door. "Take what you need. Don't stop until Chastity is stable."

He was killing me. He knew it, and he didn't care.

I closed my eyes. I focused on the moon outside the window.

Moon Goddess, I prayed. If I die tonight, curse him. Let him feel every ounce of my pain.

I felt my heart stutter. The room spun.

I didn't fight it. I let go.

The monitor flatlined.

"She's crashing! Code Blue!"

I heard boots running. Shouting. But it sounded like I was underwater.

Then, nothing.

Annis POV:

I woke up to the smell of bleach and dust.

I was alive. Unfortunately.

I was in a recovery room-no, a storage closet converted into a holding cell.

I tried to sit up, but my head swam. My arm was bruised black and blue.

Haven? I projected the thought, praying the Mind-Link still worked.

Annis! His voice exploded in my head. I'm at the border. I'm coming to burn that place to the ground.

No, I replied weakly. Not yet. I need my papers. If I run now, he hunts me as a fugitive. I need to leave legally.

The door opened. Dominick walked in. Fresh suit. Clean hair. He didn't look like a man who had almost murdered his wife.

"You're awake," he said flatly.

"Did she live?"

"Yes. She is glowing. The doctor said your blood worked miracles. Faster than anything he's seen."

He frowned, puzzling over it. He didn't know White Wolf blood was practically ambrosia.

"Where is my rejection letter?"

He threw a manila envelope onto the bed. "Signed. You are no longer Reyes. You have one hour to vacate."

I opened it. My hands shook, but I signed. Snap.

The pack link-the mental web connecting me to him-vanished. The silence was deafening. And beautiful.

"Good," I said.

I grabbed my bag.

I walked out of the hospital. The sunlight was blinding.

In the parking lot, paparazzi swarmed. Dominick was walking Chastity to the limo.

Chastity saw me. She smiled, linking her arm through Dominick's.

"Look, Dom," she said, pitching her voice for the cameras. "It's the ex. She looks terrible."

Dominick glanced at me. I was a ghost in sweatpants. Chastity was radiant, flushed with my blood.

He pulled out his phone. A second later, my phone pinged. A notification from the Pack's social media.

A photo of them. Caption: The Future is Secure. Alpha & Heir. NewLuna

Bile rose in my throat.

Five years ago, I lost my baby in a rogue attack. Dominick hadn't held my hand. He had stood over my hospital bed and asked, "Why were you so weak?"

Now, he paraded this.

"Annis!" Chastity called out. "Do you need a ride to the bus station? We have room."

She opened the back door. The scent hit me-artificial roses and vanilla, masking the rot underneath.

"Get in," Dominick said, checking his watch. "I don't want you loitering on my territory."

"I'd rather crawl."

"Get in the car."

The Command again.

My legs moved against my will. I climbed in, sitting opposite them.

"It must be hard," Chastity cooed, resting her head on Dominick's shoulder. "Knowing you were never really his mate. The Goddess makes mistakes."

"The Goddess makes no mistakes," I said quietly. "Only men do."

Dominick's jaw tightened. "One more word, Annis, and you walk."

I looked out the window. We were heading toward the Pack House. I needed my passport from the penthouse. Then, I would never see these monsters again.

Annis POV:

The penthouse was cold. It smelled of him-cedar and rain-a scent that used to be home, now just a trigger for nausea.

"Ten minutes," Dominick said. "The cleaners are coming to sanitize the room before Chastity moves in."

I went to the closet. Empty.

"I threw them out," Chastity said from the doorway, filing her nails. "Hideous rags."

"Where is my lockbox?" I demanded. "It was under the floorboard."

"Oh, that?" She pointed to the fireplace.

My blood froze.

A fire crackled in the hearth. In the center, my metal lockbox glowed red hot.

"My passport!" I screamed, lunging.

"Ah-ah," Chastity tutted, kicking a heavy chair in my path. I stumbled.

"Why?" I cried. "I saved your life!"

"Because," she whispered, stepping closer while Dominick was in the other room. "You're a loose end. As long as you're breathing, he might remember what the bond felt like. I can't have that."

She grabbed a heavy brass candle holder from the mantle. Infused with Wolfsbane oil.

"Time to finish this," she hissed.

She swung.

I ducked. The brass hit the wall.

Something inside me snapped.

The blood loss had flushed the suppressants. The White Wolf woke up.

Enough!

Power surged. I grabbed her wrist.

"You took everything," I snarled, my voice layering with the wolf's. "My husband. My dignity. My blood."

I shoved her.

She flew backward, crashing into the table with the lit Wolfsbane candles.

The candles toppled. The oil spilled onto the rug.

Whoosh.

Flames erupted. Thick, purple smoke filled the air.

I coughed, lungs seizing. Wolfsbane smoke is paralyzing to wolves. My legs gave out.

Chastity screamed. "Dom! Help! She's trying to kill me!"

Dominick burst in.

The room was an inferno. I was on the floor, paralyzed. Chastity was near the door, feigning a faint.

Dominick looked at me. Our eyes met.

"Dom..." I reached out. "Please..."

He looked at the fire. He looked at me. Then he looked at Chastity's stomach.

"My heir," he muttered.

He turned his back on me.

He scooped Chastity up and ran.

He left me to burn.

The betrayal hurt more than the fire. It seared my soul. The bond, the thin thread that still connected us, turned to ash.

Get up, my wolf commanded. We do not die for him.

With a scream of rage, I forced my paralyzed body to move. I crawled. The heat blistered my skin.

I reached the service elevator. I smashed the button.

As the doors closed, blocking out the flames, I made a vow.

Annis the weakling died in that fire. The White Wolf was born.