I found Rodriguez in his small room. He was packing, hands trembling.

"Lia," he wheezed. "I heard shouting."

"We're leaving, Papa," I said, grabbing an old oversized coat from a hook-Keith's coat-to cover my back. "Now."

"Where will we go?" he asked, coughing.

"Away."

I helped him up. 'He was light as a bird. Pack neglect had withered him away.'

We made our way to the courtyard. I had an old sedan, a rusted piece of junk.

I helped Rodriguez into the passenger seat. He was pale, sweating profusely.

"My chest..." he gasped, clutching his heart.

"Hold on, Papa."

I ran to the driver's side.

Damian was there. Leaning against the hood.

"Going somewhere?"

"Move, Damian," I said, panic rising. "Rodriguez is having a heart attack. I need to get him to a doctor."

Damian looked into the car. 'Zero concern.'

"That jacket," Damian said. "That's Keith's."

"I'm cold! My dress is torn!"

"Take it off," Damian commanded. 'His eyes darkened with twisted, possessive jealousy.' "You smell like another male. It's disgusting."

"Are you insane? He's dying!"

"Take. It. Off."

I ripped the jacket off and threw it on the ground, standing shivering, back exposed.

"Happy? Now get off my car."

Damian didn't move. He dangled my keys in front of my face.

"Hadley is shaken by your display," he said casually. "She needs a vehicle to go shopping tomorrow. She likes the vintage look of this scrap heap."

"You have ten luxury cars! Give me my keys!"

"No."

He threw the keys.

'They sailed through the air and landed with a 'plop' in the ornamental fountain.'

The water was black, filled with algae and sludge.

"If you want to leave," Cecil called from the porch, wine glass in hand, "you can swim for it."

Rodriguez groaned. His head slumped.

"Papa!"

I jumped into the fountain.

'Freezing. Stench of rot.' I gagged, wading through waist-deep sludge, feeling the bottom.

"Look at her," Cecil laughed. "A sewer rat in her natural habitat."

I found the keys. I waded out, dripping filth.

I ran to the car. "I got them, Papa!"

I jammed the key into the ignition.

Nothing.

I looked out the window.

Cecil stood there with a kitchen knife. She had slashed all four tires.

"Oops," she smiled. "Looks like you're stuck."

'My world stopped spinning.'

"Please," I begged, falling to my knees in front of Damian. 'Dignity was gone.' "Please. Use your car. Take him to the hospital. I'll be your slave. I'll never leave. Just save him!"

Damian looked down at me. Slime-covered, bleeding, crying.

"You should have thought of that before you embarrassed me," he said.

"He's dying!"

"Everyone dies, Ariana."

From the car, a long, rattling exhale.

Then... silence.

I scrambled to the passenger seat.

"Papa?"

I shook him. 'Dead weight.'

I placed my hand on his chest. Stillness.

I tried to push my 'Vitality' into him. I screamed internally for the White Wolf power.

'But I was drained. I had given it all to Damian.'

Rodriguez was dead.

I turned around.

Damian checked his watch. "Well, problem solved. No need for the hospital now."

'Something inside me snapped. Not a sound, but the breaking of the final chain.'

The White Wolf woke up. And she was screaming for blood.

The Pack Hospital was a joke, but protocol demanded the body be taken there.

I sat on a metal stool. Rodriguez lay on a gurney under a sheet.

Dr. Evans, a beta who had always looked down on me, clicked his pen.

"Cause of death: Heart failure," he muttered.

"He could have been saved," I said. 'My voice was robotic.' "If we had used the regeneration pod."

"The pods are for ranked wolves only," Evans said. "Not for gardeners."

The door banged open.

Damian strode in. 'He looked annoyed, as if death was an inconvenience to his schedule.'

"Are we done here?"

"Yes, Alpha," Evans bowed.

Damian looked at me. Wet, crusted with sludge, smelling terrible.

"Go clean yourself up," Damian ordered. "Hadley twisted her ankle walking down the stairs. She needs a massage."

I slowly turned my head.

"A massage?"

"Yes. You have good hands. It's the least you can do after upsetting her."

'My father lay dead five feet away, and he wanted me to massage his mistress.'

I stood up. I walked over to Damian.

"What?" he asked. "Don't get too close, you stink."

'Smack!'

I put every ounce of strength into the slap.

'It cracked like a gunshot.'

Damian's head snapped to the side. A red handprint blossomed.

Dr. Evans gasped.

Damian turned back. Shock morphed into murderous rage.

"You..." he growled. "You dare strike your Alpha?"

"You are a murderer," I said.

"He was old!" Damian roared.

He grabbed my wrist and slammed my hand down onto the metal medical tray.

"You need a lesson," he hissed. "You need to learn respect."

He grabbed a heavy silver scalpel from the tray. 'He didn't stab me, but he pressed the flat of the pure silver blade against the back of my hand, pinning me to the table.'

"AHHH!"

The scream ripped out of me. 'Silver burns werewolves like acid.' Liquid fire injected into my veins. The smell of searing flesh filled the room.

"Look at it!" Damian yelled.

I looked.

But I didn't just see the silver burn.

I saw the hundreds of tiny, faded white scars on my arm. 'Track marks from five years of needles.'

'Drain the blood. Save the Alpha.'

"Does it hurt?" Damian whispered, sadistic pleasure in his voice. "Good. Maybe this will remind you of your place."

I stopped screaming.

'The pain was blinding, but it cleared my mind completely.'

I looked at the silver. Then at Rodriguez.

'Pack Law says an Alpha can punish an insubordinate Omega.'

The Law protected him.

I didn't need a lawyer.

I needed a King.

"Get out," I whispered.

Damian released the pressure. He stepped back, straightening his suit.

"Tomorrow," he said, breathing heavily. "We will complete the Marking Ceremony. I don't care if you want it or not. You are property."

He walked out.

I stared at my burned hand.

I walked over to the phone on the wall. Dr. Evans cowered in the corner.

I dialed the number.

"We are here," Anderson's voice came through. "I felt your pain, Lia. I felt the silver."

"He's dead, Anderson," I said, devoid of emotion. "Rodriguez is dead."

'Silence on the other end. Terrifying silence.'

"I am at the gates," the Lycan King said. "And I am bringing hell with me."

I hung up. My hand throbbed, a deep, rhythmic pulse of agony.

The door swung open.

Hadley limped in, leaning on a nurse. She saw the burn, the dead body, and smirked.

But when Damian turned, her face crumpled into a mask of pain.

"Damian!" she wailed. "Is she hurting you? Oh god, the stress makes my injury worse!"

Damian rushed to her side. "It's okay, baby."

He glared at me. "You see? Your existence causes pain."

"I'm leaving," I said. "I'm taking my father's body."

"You aren't going anywhere until you've been punished properly," Damian growled. "Keith!"

Keith stepped in. He looked pale.

"Take her to the Dungeon," Damian commanded. "Lock her in the silver cell."

'The silver cell. It would kill me in my weakened state.'

Keith didn't move.

"Alpha..." Keith started. "She is grieving. The Code of Conduct-"

"I am the Code!" Damian roared. "Obey me."

Keith looked at me. Tears in his eyes.

"Run, Ariana," Keith whispered.

He threw himself at Damian.

'Suicide. A regular Warrior against an Alpha.'

I bolted.

I ran down the corridor, bare feet slapping tiles. I burst into the parking lot.

Rain.

I saw the hearse I had called pulling up.

"Over here!" I screamed.

A heavy weight slammed into my back.

I hit the asphalt. Damian flipped me over, straddling me, eyes glowing amber.

"You think a guard can stop me?" he hissed.

Enforcers dragged Keith out. His face was bloody. They threw him onto the pavement.

"Hold him," Damian ordered.

He stood up, keeping a foot on my chest.

"You defied a command," Damian said to Keith.

"She saved you!" Keith shouted. "Five years ago! I saw the White Wolf! It wasn't Hadley!"

"Lies!" Damian bellowed.

He pulled a heavy, silver-plated flashlight from his belt. He tossed it to Keith.

"Since you like to help traitors," Damian said. "Break your left hand. Now."

"No!" I screamed. "Damian, don't!"

"Silence, Omega!" Damian crushed the air from my lungs.

He turned his Alpha Command on Keith.

'"Do it."'

'The command rippled through the air like a shockwave.'

Keith whimpered. His body betrayed him. Muscles moved against his will.

He picked up the heavy flashlight.

"Please, Alpha," Keith begged.

'"Break it."'

Keith raised his arm. Face twisted in agony.

'CRACK.'

'The sound of bone snapping was louder than the rain.'

Keith screamed and collapsed.

I stopped struggling.

I looked at Damian. 'The man I had sacrificed my soul for.'

There was no love left. The bond snapped.

Damian looked down, expecting fear.

I laughed. A broken, dry sound.

"You are pathetic," I whispered.

"What did you say?"

"I said," I pushed his foot off and stood up. 'I didn't feel the rain anymore.' "You are a weak, blind, pathetic little boy."

"I am your Alpha! I am your Mate!"

I looked him dead in the eye.

"I, Ariana Morrison, reject you, Damian Crawford, as my mate."

'The words hung in the air.'

Damian staggered back, clutching his chest. The rejection from a fated mate causes physical pain-a tearing of the soul.

"You... you can't," he wheezed. "You can't reject me!"

"I just did."