Eliana POV:

A week later, I stood in front of the mirror. The bruise on my temple had faded to a sickly yellow, easily hidden by makeup. The ribs were still tender, wrapped tight in bandages beneath my dress.

Tonight was the graduation party. The Pack's Coming of Age ceremony.

"You don't have to go, sweetie," my mom said, leaning against my doorframe. Her eyes were sad. She and Dad had been furious when I came home bloody. They were already talking about transferring to the East Coast branch of the family business.

"I have to go," I said, applying a coat of red lipstick. "If I don't, they win. They'll think I'm hiding."

I wasn't hiding. I was saying goodbye.

The party was at the pack house. Bonfires roared in the backyard, sending sparks up into the night sky. The air smelled of roasted meat, beer, and shifting hormones.

When I walked in, the conversation died. Whispers followed me like smoke.

*That's her.*

*The reject.*

*Did she really push Catalina?*

I kept my head high. I grabbed a soda and stood by a tree, watching the wolves dance.

Jax was there, of course. He was sitting on a makeshift throne of hay bales, holding a beer. Catalina was in his lap. She was wearing a dress that looked suspiciously like the one I had pointed out to Jax in a magazine months ago.

He saw me. His eyes narrowed. He whispered something to Catalina, and she laughed.

Then, the games began.

"Truth or Dare!" someone shouted.

It was a pack tradition. But with an Alpha Heir involved, it was never just a game. It was a power play.

Catalina spun the bottle. It landed on her.

"Dare," she purred.

"I dare you..." a Gamma female giggled, "to kiss the strongest male here."

It was scripted. It was so obviously staged that it was pathetic.

Catalina stood up and sashayed over to Jax. But before she kissed him, she turned to look at me.

"Do you mind, Ellie?" she asked, her voice dripping with fake sweetness. "I mean, technically, you guys were... something. Once."

The circle went silent. Everyone waited for me to cry, to scream, to run.

I took a sip of my soda. "Why would I mind?" I said, my voice steady. "As an Omega, I have no right to interfere with an Alpha's choices. If he wants a Beta, that's his business."

The insult landed. Wolves cared about bloodlines. Calling his choice a downgrade was a slap in the face.

Jax stood up abruptly. The playful atmosphere vanished.

He released his pheromones.

It wasn't a command this time. It was pure, raw dominance. The scent of ozone and burnt wood flooded the clearing. It was an oppressive weight, designed to force submission.

Around me, wolves lowered their heads. Some of the younger ones dropped to their knees, baring their necks instinctively.

Jax glared at me, his eyes glowing amber. He wanted me to bow. He wanted me to break.

"You think you're clever," Jax growled, stepping over the people kneeling on the grass. "You think you're better than her?"

He grabbed Catalina by the waist and pulled her flush against him.

"She is strong," Jax announced to the pack. "She is a warrior. She is worthy of being a Luna." He looked at me with pure disdain. "You are nothing, Eliana. You are a broken vessel. You can't even shift."

He smashed his lips onto Catalina's.

It was aggressive, possessive, and performative.

The pack cheered, relieved that the Alpha's anger was directed at me and not them.

I felt the bond inside me scream. It was agonizing, like a hook being ripped out of my chest. But I didn't kneel.

I stood straight. My spine was steel.

The pheromones washed over me, trying to crush me, but I felt... detached. It was as if I was watching a movie of someone else's life.

Jax pulled away, breathless, expecting to see me on the ground, weeping.

Instead, I was checking my watch.

"Are you done?" I asked.

His amber eyes widened. The shock on his face was almost satisfying.

"Because I have packing to do," I continued. "Enjoy your Beta, Jax. I hope she's worth it."

I turned my back on the Alpha Heir. I walked away from the fire, into the dark.

My heart didn't hurt anymore. It was dead. And you can't kill something that's already dead.

*

Eliana POV:

I needed to breathe. The air near the bonfire had been thick with Jax's dominance, and it left a metallic taste in my mouth.

I ducked into the pack house, seeking the sanctuary of the guest bathroom. I just needed cold water on my face before I drove home.

As I passed the library, I heard voices.

"You were brutal out there, man."

It was Mason, Jax's Beta and best friend.

"She needed to learn her place," Jax's voice replied. He sounded bored. "She's been clinging to me since we were kids. It's suffocating."

I froze. I knew I should keep walking, but my feet were rooted to the spot.

"But Catalina?" Mason asked. "Really? I thought you said she was annoying."

"She is," Jax laughed, the sound tight. "But look at her, Mason. She's the captain of the swim team. She's got curves in the right places. She fits the image. Eliana... Eliana is just baggage."

I pressed my hand over my mouth to stifle a gasp.

"So, you're not actually rejecting Ellie?" Mason pressed.

"I don't need to," Jax scoffed. "Let her stew. She's too proud, but she's weak. Give it two weeks. Once she realizes she's nothing without the pack protection, she'll come crawling back. I can't make her Luna if she can't shift, but I'm not letting her go. She's mine to keep."

A chill went down my spine that had nothing to do with the temperature.

He wasn't just choosing someone else. He was hoarding me. He wanted the shiny new toy *and* the old comfort blanket.

"I intercepted her mail, by the way," Jax added casually. "That acceptance letter from NYU? I have it in my desk. She's not going anywhere."

Rage.

For the first time in my life, I didn't feel sadness or fear when it came to Jax. I felt pure, white-hot rage.

I didn't think. I kicked the door open.

Jax and Mason jumped. Jax was sitting on the edge of the mahogany desk, holding a crumpled envelope. *My* envelope.

"Eliana," Jax said, recovering quickly. He smirked. "Eavesdropping? That's rude."

"Give it to me," I said. My voice was low, vibrating with a growl I didn't know I possessed.

Jax dangled the letter between two fingers. "This? You don't need this. You belong here. With the pack. With me."

"I am not a toy, Jax. And I am certainly not yours."

I walked forward. Mason stepped aside, looking uncomfortable. He knew this was wrong.

Jax's eyes flashed. "I am your future Alpha. You do what I say."

"Give. Me. The. Letter."

"Sit down, Eliana!"

He used the Alpha Command again. It slammed into the room, rattling the windowpanes. Mason instantly dropped into a chair, his head bowed, forced to obey.

I felt the command hit me. It was like a physical wave. But this time... it felt different.

It felt like a suggestion, not an order.

I didn't sit.

I took another step.

Jax's smug expression faltered. He looked at Mason, who was incapacitated, then back at me, standing upright.

"How..." he whispered. "Why aren't you sitting?"

I didn't know. Maybe my wolf was finally waking up. Maybe I was just too angry to care about biology.

I snatched the letter from his hand. He was too stunned to stop me.

"You think you can break me?" I hissed, leaning into his face. "You just set me free."

Suddenly, a piercing scream echoed from outside.

"Rogue! Rogue at the perimeter!"

It was Catalina's voice.

Jax's head snapped toward the window. The instinct to protect the pack—and his precious fake girlfriend—overrode his confusion about me.

"Stay here," he ordered, though his voice lacked the command power this time.

He bolted out of the room, Mason scrambling to follow him.

I stood alone in the library, clutching my crumpled acceptance letter.

I looked out the window. There was no rogue. I could see Catalina near the tree line, checking her nails, waiting for her hero to arrive. Another lie. Another game.

I smoothed out the letter.

*New York University. Fall Semester.*

"Two weeks," he had said. He thought I'd be crawling back in two weeks.

I wouldn't be here in two days.

*

Eliana POV:

My room looked like a skeleton. The furniture was still there, but the soul of the room was gone. Boxes were taped shut, stacked by the door.

I had confirmed my enrollment online an hour ago. My parents, bless them, hadn't asked questions. When I told them I needed to leave immediately, Dad simply called the movers and Mom started looking for apartments in Manhattan. They were resigning from their positions in the pack council tomorrow morning.

We were becoming Rogues. Well, civilized Rogues. City wolves.

I stood in the center of the room with a bundle of sage and dried wolfsbane—just a tiny amount, enough to irritate the nose but not harm.

I lit it. The smoke curled up, acrid and bitter.

I walked around the room, wafting the smoke into every corner, over every piece of furniture I was leaving behind. It was an old ritual, usually used to cleanse a house of bad spirits.

I was using it to scrub my scent.

I didn't want Jax to walk in here and smell vanilla or lavender or whatever I smelled like to him. I wanted him to smell nothing. I wanted him to smell the void.

My phone buzzed on the floor. I picked it up.

It was a notification from Pack Net, our private social media app.

Jax Little posted a photo.

I shouldn't have looked. I really shouldn't have. But my thumb hovered, and I tapped it.

It was a selfie. Jax and Catalina. She was wearing a diamond necklace—a heavy, gaudy thing with the North Gate crest in the center.

The caption read: *My Queen. #FutureLuna #PowerCouple*

I touched my own neck. It was bare. Jax had never given me jewelry. He said it was dangerous for training, that it would get caught on things. He gave me practical gifts. Running shoes. Water bottles.

But for her? Diamonds.

He wasn't protecting me. He just didn't think I was worth decorating.

I scrolled down to the comments.

*She's so much hotter than the other one.*

*Finally, an Alpha female.*

*Bye bye, Omega Ellie.*

I felt a tear slide down my cheek. Just one. It was hot and angry.

"Okay," I whispered to the empty room. "You want me gone? I'm gone."

I sat down on the bare mattress. I closed my eyes and went inward, searching for the bond. It was a thick, golden cord in my mind, stretching out into the darkness, pulsating with a dull ache.

I couldn't cut it. Only a rejected mate or death could sever it completely. But I could bury it.

I imagined building a fortress around that cord. Stone by stone. Iron by iron. I poured all my pain, my humiliation, and my rage into the mortar.

*I don't feel you,* I chanted in my head. *I don't need you. You are a stranger.*

The pulsing slowed. The ache dulled until it was just a background hum, like white noise.

I opened my eyes. I felt lighter. Hollow, but lighter.

The door opened. My dad stood there, holding two suitcases.

"Ready, kiddo?" he asked gently.

"Yeah, Dad," I said. "I'm ready."

I grabbed my backpack. I didn't look back at the room. I didn't look back at the house.

We got into the car. As we drove past the "Welcome to North Gate" sign, I rolled down the window.

I took a deep breath of the cool night air, letting the scent of pine and earth fill my lungs one last time.

Then I exhaled.

I was leaving the territory. I was leaving the hierarchy. I was leaving the girl who waited for a boy to love her.

New York was waiting. And whoever I was going to become, she wouldn't be an Omega.

*