Arminda POV:

The holding room was basically a glorified closet with a chair. I sat there shivering in my wet clothes until dawn broke. My ankle throbbed in time with my heartbeat.

Finally, the door opened. It wasn't Coleton. It was Charly.

She leaned against the doorframe, munching on an apple. Her "injured" leg seemed perfectly fine.

"Still here?" she smirked. "Coleton is busy with the lawyers. He wants to make sure you don't steal any pack secrets before he kicks you out."

"Just give me the papers, Charly," I said, standing up. "I want to go."

"In a minute. First, I need to check something in the library. You're coming with me. Coleton doesn't want you left unsupervised."

She grabbed my wrist and yanked me down the hall.

Inside the library, Charly walked straight to the display case that held the Pack's most prized possession: the Sacred Totem.

It was a delicate carving made from the bone of the First Alpha, inlaid with moonstones. It hummed with ancient magic, protecting the pack's borders.

Charly opened the case. She tossed the relic in the air and caught it like a tennis ball.

"Put that down," I said, my voice low. "That is not a toy. It connects us to the ancestors."

Charly turned, a wicked grin on her face. "Oh, look who's lecturing me. You're lucky you aren't in a cage right now."

"Put the Totem back, Charly."

"Make me."

She threw it high in the air. She made a show of trying to catch it, but her hands "slipped."

Crash.

The ancient bone hit the hardwood floor. It didn't just break; it shattered into a hundred pieces. The hum of magic in the room died instantly.

My breath caught in my throat. This was sacrilege. It was a crime against the pack's history.

Heavy footsteps pounded down the hallway.

"What was that noise?" Coleton burst into the room.

He saw the shards. His face went pale. "The Totem..."

"She did it!" Charly screamed immediately, pointing a manicured finger at me. "I caught her trying to steal it! We struggled, and she threw it on the ground! She said if she can't be part of the pack, she'll destroy it!"

Coleton turned to me slowly. His eyes were darkening, his wolf surfacing in a blind rage. A low growl vibrated in his chest-a sound that usually makes submissive wolves drop to their knees.

"You..." Coleton stepped toward me. "You destroyed my father's legacy out of spite?"

"I did not," I said calmly.

"Don't lie to me!" He roared. He grabbed me by the throat, pinning me against the bookshelf.

His grip was tight, cutting off my air. I could smell his fury-it smelled like burnt wood and ozone.

"I should kill you," he hissed. "For treason."

I clawed at his hand, but he was immovable. I looked into his eyes, searching for the man I saved. He wasn't there.

"Check..." I choked out.

"What?"

"Check... the crystal," I gasped, pointing to the corner of the ceiling.

In every room of the Alpha's mansion, there are Magic Recording Crystals. They are like security cameras, but they record essence and intent as well as image.

Coleton froze. He looked at the crystal, which was glowing faintly blue.

Charly's face dropped. "Coleton, wait, don't-"

Coleton released me. I slid to the floor, coughing. He walked to the wall and placed his hand on the activation rune.

A holographic projection flickered into the air. It showed Charly clearly tossing the relic, laughing, and letting it smash. It showed me standing by the door, horrified.

Silence filled the room.

Coleton stared at the image of his "Chosen Mate" desecrating his heritage.

I waited for the explosion. I waited for him to banish her.

Coleton turned to Charly. She was trembling, squeezing out fake tears.

"I... I was just curious," she sobbed. "I didn't mean to! My hands were slippery from the lotion! And Arminda scared me!"

Coleton's shoulders slumped. The rage vanished from his scent, replaced by weary resignation.

He walked over to Charly and took her hands.

"Are you hurt?" he asked softly. "Did the shards cut you?"

I stared at them, disbelief washing over me.

"No," Charly sniffled. "I'm just so sorry."

"It's okay," Coleton murmured, kissing her forehead. "It's just an object. We can get the Elders to repair it. Stop crying, Charly. It breaks my heart."

He looked over her shoulder at me. "Clean this mess up, Arminda. And be careful not to leave any dust."

He led Charly out of the room.

I sat on the floor among the ruins of the pack's history. I picked up a piece of the moonstone. It was cold and dead.

Just like my love for him.

Arminda POV:

After cleaning the library, I was sent to the kitchen to wait for the Alpha to sign my exit papers. I was thirsty, so I grabbed a glass of water from the counter.

Charly waltzed in, followed by a maid named Sarah. Charly spotted a bowl of leftover soup on the counter-lunch for the staff.

"I'm starving," Charly announced. She grabbed a spoon and took a sip directly from the pot.

She swallowed, then immediately dropped the spoon. It clattered loudly on the tiles.

"Ack! Ack!" She grabbed her throat, making choking noises. "Poison! It burns! Wolfsbane!"

"What?" I turned around. "Don't be ridiculous. There is no Wolfsbane in this kitchen."

"Help!" she screamed.

Sarah, the maid, pointed a shaking finger at me.

"I saw her!" Sarah cried, reciting her lines perfectly. "I saw Arminda put a purple powder in the pot! She said she hoped the Beta would choke on it!"

"Liar," I said, shocked.

Coleton appeared. It was like he had a radar for Charly's screams.

"Wolfsbane?" Coleton's face twisted in horror. Wolfsbane is a deadly neurotoxin to our kind. It causes paralysis and eventual heart failure.

"She poisoned me!" Charly writhed on the floor. "I can feel my heart stopping!"

Coleton didn't check her pulse. He didn't smell the soup. He lunged at me.

He grabbed a handful of my hair and dragged me to the counter where the pot of soup was simmering.

"You want to kill her?" he snarled. "Let's see how you like it."

He grabbed a ladle, filled it with the boiling hot broth, and forced it toward my mouth.

"No! It's just chicken and herbs!" I yelled.

"Drink it!"

He squeezed my jaw so hard I thought the bone would snap. He forced my mouth open and poured the hot liquid down my throat.

I gagged, coughing and sputtering as the scalding soup burned my tongue and esophagus.

I swallowed it.

Coleton watched me, waiting for me to convulse. Waiting for the Wolfsbane symptoms.

I fell to my knees, clutching my stomach. It hurt because it was boiling hot, and because I hadn't eaten in twenty-four hours, but it wasn't poison.

"See?" I gasped, wiping broth from my chin. "I'm not dying."

Coleton looked at me, then at Charly, who was still rolling on the floor.

"She must have built up an immunity," Coleton rationalized, defying all medical logic. "Or she didn't put it in the whole pot, just Charly's bowl."

He kicked me in the ribs. Not hard enough to break them again, but hard enough to bruise.

"You are sick," he spat. "Get out of my sight."

He picked Charly up. "I'm taking you to the hospital. Stay with me, baby."

He threw a crumpled piece of paper at me. It was my signed exit form.

"Leave," he growled. "If you're still here when I get back, I'll kill you myself."

I grabbed the paper. I didn't look back. I ran.

I made it to the edge of the territory where a town taxi was waiting. I collapsed into the back seat.

"Airport," I rasped.

As the taxi sped away, I pulled out my phone. It was 8:00 PM. The party was starting.

I typed a message to Coleton.

"I, Arminda Morse, accept your rejection, Alpha Coleton Barron."

I hit send.

Then, I rolled down the window and threw the phone onto the highway.

I boarded the plane. As the wheels left the ground, I closed my eyes.

Goodbye, I told my wolf. We are free.

Coleton POV:

The bass of the music in the VIP club thumped against my chest, syncing with my heartbeat. The entire Blood Moon Pack was here, drinking, dancing, celebrating me.

I sat on the velvet throne in the center of the room, a glass of whiskey in my hand. Charly was on my lap, running her fingers through my hair.

"Happy birthday, Alpha," she purred, pressing a kiss to my jaw.

She handed me a small box. "Open it."

It was a pair of gold cufflinks, engraved with the pack crest.

"They're beautiful," I said, forcing a smile.

But I felt... wrong.

My wolf was pacing inside my mind. He had been agitated all day, scratching at the back of my skull. Mate. Where is Mate? he kept growling.

"Quiet," I told him mentally. "Charly is here."

Not Mate! he roared back.

I took a sip of whiskey to drown him out. I scanned the room. Where was Arminda? I had ordered her to be here. She needed to apologize. She needed to learn her place so we could... so we could go back to normal.

I missed her hands. I missed the way she smelled like vanilla and rain.

"Coleton?" Charly poked my cheek. "You're zoning out."

"I'm fine," I lied.

Then, it happened.

It wasn't a sound. It was a sensation.

It felt like a giant, invisible hand reached into my chest, grabbed my heart, and squeezed.

"Argh!" I gasped, dropping my glass. It shattered on the floor.

A sharp, searing pain shot through my soul. It was the feeling of a rope snapping under too much tension. It was the feeling of an anchor chain breaking, leaving the ship to drift into the storm.

NO! My wolf howled-a sound of pure, unadulterated agony.

I doubled over, clutching my chest. The room spun. The music sounded distorted, like it was underwater.

"Coleton! What's happening?" Jaydan rushed over.

"She..." I gasped, my eyes wide with terror. "She did it."

"Who?"

"Arminda," I wheezed. "The bond. It's gone."

I scrambled to my feet, shoving Charly off my lap. She landed on the floor with a squawk, but I didn't care.

I pulled out my phone. One new message.

I, Arminda Morse, accept your rejection...

The words burned into my retinas.

"No," I whispered. "No, no, no."

I tried to Mind-Link her.

Arminda! Answer me! Arminda!

Usually, a Mind-Link feels like a tunnel. Even if she was ignoring me, I could feel her presence at the other end.

Now? It was a dead wall. It was a void. Static. Nothing.

Panic, cold and sharp, flooded my veins.

"She cut the link," I shouted, my voice cracking. "She's gone!"

I ran. I sprinted out of the club, ignoring the confused shouts of my pack members. I jumped into my car and drove like a maniac back to the mansion.

I burst through the front door and ran up the stairs to the servants' quarters.

I kicked her door open.

"Arminda!"

The room was empty.

The bed was stripped. The closet was bare. The little potted plant she kept on the windowsill was gone.

But the worst part was the smell.

Or rather, the lack of it.

Her scent-that soothing, grounding scent of vanilla-was fading. It was stale.

She hadn't just left for the night. She had scrubbed the room. She had erased herself.

I fell to my knees in the center of the empty room. My wolf was thrashing, clawing at my insides, grieving the loss of the other half of his soul.

Jaydan appeared in the doorway, breathing hard.

"She's gone, Coleton," Jaydan said, his voice devoid of sympathy. "She finally left."

"Find her," I growled, looking up with wild eyes. "Track her."

"You rejected her," Jaydan said coldly. "You spent six months rejecting her. You chose Charly. Why do you care?"

Charly appeared behind Jaydan. She walked into the room, wrinkling her nose.

"Good riddance," she sneered. "Now we can turn this into a closet."

I looked at Charly.

For the first time in three years, the fog in my brain cleared for a split second.

I smelled her. Really smelled her.

Without the buffer of the Mate Bond to balance my senses, her scent was overwhelming. It was cloying. Artificial. Like rotting flowers covered in cheap perfume.

My stomach turned.

"Get out," I whispered.

"What?" Charly blinked.

"I said GET OUT!" I roared, my Alpha Voice shaking the window frames.

I buried my face in my hands. The void in my chest was growing, a black hole swallowing everything.

She accepted it. She actually accepted it.