My hands shook as I re-uploaded the files.

The physician's signature. Scanned. High-resolution.

Submitted.

Five minutes later, my phone buzzed again.

Application Rejected.

Rejected by: Seraphina.

Reason: Attachments do not meet pack financial standards. Resubmit. Warning: Fraudulent attempts to acquire pack funds will be punished.

I completely fell apart.

The doctor was still in surgery. How could I get a detailed financial breakdown of every single drug?

I messaged Seraphina.

"Please, just approve the funds. My dad is dying."

"Seraphina, please, I'll do anything."

"I'm on my knees begging you, save my dad."

Three minutes later, she replied with a single smiley face emoji.

Then, a text.

"Clara, I'm just helping you adjust to the pack's rules. Kaelan hates it when people bring their poor, greedy habits into the pack. You should be thanking me."

My hands were shaking.

My entire body was shaking.

The red light above the operating room was still on.

The doctor said if we waited another hour, if the gene repair serum wasn't administered, it would be too late.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and activated the mate bond.

It was my last hope.

Through the bond, I pushed all my desperation, my pain, my fear.

Save him, I screamed in my mind. Please, save my father.

From the other end of the bond, I heard faint sounds.

Music, laughter, the clinking of glasses. He was at some party.

I waited. Ten minutes. Twenty. Half an hour.

Finally, an emotion came back through the bond. He was drunk. Annoyed. And beneath it all, disgusted.

"Seraphina already checked your account. Your father just got his budget approved last week. Follow the damn rules. Stop lying about your father's life to get money. Don't bother me!"

Just that. Then, silence. He slammed the bond shut.

In that exact moment, the light above the operating room went out.

The doctor pushed the door open and took off his mask. His eyes were full of regret.

"I'm sorry, Miss Miller. We did everything we could."

He paused, his voice soft. "If the money for the medicine had been approved just an hour sooner..."

I hit the cold floor.

My father was dead.

Because of a smiley face emoji. A "budget overrun."

Because Kaelan said, "Stop lying about your father's life to get money."

The mate bond in my chest, the connection that once felt warm and safe, was now frozen solid.

I felt nothing.

No love. No affection. No attachment.

Just a dead silence.

It seemed my tears had already run dry.

Three days later, after the funeral, I went back to the apartment and mechanically handled the arrangements.

My phone rang.

A text from Kaelan: Why aren't you answering my calls? There's an important dinner tomorrow. Have a dress ready.

I stared at the message and didn't reply.

I opened social media, hoping to see a single message of comfort.

The first post on my feed was from Seraphina.

A photo: the view of the New York City skyline from Kaelan’s private helicopter.

The city lights glittered below.

The caption read: "Unlike some people who only know how to beg for money. Total buzzkill. #BlessedBeta #AlphaLife"

Posted: Three days ago. 8:37 PM.

The exact time I was on my knees outside the clinic, begging for that $50,000.

The exact time my father was fighting for his life on the operating table.

She was joyriding in a helicopter, paid for by the pack, laughing at my desperation.

I liked the post.

My phone immediately rang. Kaelan. I didn't answer.

He texted: Why did you like Seraphina's post? What are you trying to do?

I opened her post again.

In the comments, I typed:

“Was the view nice from a private helicopter? The one bought with the $50k that could have saved my father's life? Hope you two bastards rot in hell together.”

Sent.

Kaelan’s calls became frantic.

I blocked his number. Then I blocked Seraphina.

And every other pack member who treated me like a leech.

I turned off my phone.

My world finally went silent.

I stood in the bedroom of the penthouse apartment and started to pack.

I had lived here for three years, but I owned almost nothing.

In the massive walk-in closet, one wall was all Kaelan.

Armani. Brioni. Tom Ford.

Each one worth a small fortune.

The other wall was lined with locked glass cabinets. They held jewelry and gowns stamped with the pack’s silver moon crest—treasures I wasn't allowed to touch. Seraphina held the only key. They were “mate accessories,” she’d explained, bought with pack funds to maintain the Alpha’s image.

Every time I attended a formal pack event, I had to request to borrow them.

"Clara, this Harry Winston diamond necklace is worth two million. Are you sure you can be trusted with it?"

"Clara, this Valentino gown is limited edition. Don't you dare get a wrinkle on it."

"Clara, remember, return this immediately after the event. This isn't your personal property. It's not like you humans could ever afford it."

The worst was six months ago, at the pack's winter gala.

I accidentally spilled a little red wine on a white Vera Wang gown.

In front of all the servants, Seraphina pointed to the laundry room.

"Get on your knees and scrub it clean. That dress costs a hundred thousand dollars. You and your dying father couldn't afford to replace it in a lifetime."

"Since you can't pay for it, you can work it off with your knees and your tears."

I knelt for three hours. My knees were bruised purple. My hands were raw from scrubbing.

The dress came clean. But my dignity was gone forever.

I opened the small corner of the closet that was mine.

A few T-shirts, washed so many times they were nearly white. A couple pairs of faded jeans.

And a Columbia University hoodie from three years ago.

The clothes I wore when I was a genius in genetic sciences. Now, they looked like a beggar's rags.

I changed into the hoodie and jeans.

The woman in the mirror was a ghost. Pale, dangerously thin, with dead eyes. So this was what it looked like to live on a pack’s charity.

I remembered my friends at school gossiping, wondering what it would be like to be with a supernatural. How you’d never have to worry about money again.

I never imagined it would be worse than just being a normal human.

I pulled out a worn-out suitcase and placed a few of my old textbooks inside.

I hadn't opened them in three years.

There was a yellowed photo of my father and me on the day of my PhD defense.

He was smiling so brightly, so proud.

"My daughter," he'd said. "She's going to cure all the genetic diseases one day."

Now he was dead.

He died right in front of me, a victim of the pack's cold financial system.

Finally, I gently placed my father's urn inside.

A simple white ceramic box. No decorations.

Seraphina had rejected my request for funeral expenses. I couldn't even afford a decent urn for him.

I closed the suitcase.

That was it.

Three years as an Alpha's mate, and this was all I had.

I dragged the suitcase downstairs.

The housekeeper, Margaret, stood at the bottom of the stairs, her eyes full of contempt.

"Running away again, Luna?" she sneered.

"The Alpha just called. He wants your cream of mushroom soup for dinner."

"He said it's the only thing you're good for—making something that costs the pack nothing and still manages to be a disappointment."

Cream of mushroom soup.

I had made it for three years.

Twice a week, without fail. Kaelan said it tasted just like his mother used to make.

I had studied countless recipes, practiced for hours, just to make him happy. Just so maybe he'd approve a little more of my father's medical bills.

Looking back, that affection was never for me.

It was for a woman who had been dead for a decade.

"He can make it himself," I said flatly.

Margaret's eyes widened. "What?"

"Or have Seraphina do it," I added. "She's so capable. I'm sure she can make soup."

"Luna, you can't talk to the Alpha that way—"

I ignored her and dragged my suitcase toward the front door.

"Luna! Come back! The Alpha will be furious!" Margaret shouted after me.

But I didn't stop.

The elevator doors opened, then closed.

I took one last look at the lobby.

Italian marble floors. Crystal chandeliers. A million-dollar painting on the wall that looked like spilled paint.

Three years ago, I thought this was paradise.

Now I knew it was a tomb.

The tomb of Clara Miller, a brilliant scientist. The tomb of a stupid girl who believed in love.

And the tomb of a pathetic creature who gave up everything for a few thousand dollars in medicine.

The main doors opened.

The New York sun hit my face, blinding me for a second.

I squinted and walked out onto the street, dragging my suitcase behind me.

The skyscraper at my back grew smaller and smaller.

I had finally escaped the tomb.

Kaelan got back faster than I expected.

He must have seen my comment. He was furious.

He wasn't here to win me back. He was here to get justice for his loyal Beta. For the pack’s precious "money-keeper."

"Clara!"

Kaelan's roar hit me, carrying the full weight of his Alpha command.

The pressure washed over me, trying to force me to my knees.

Three years ago, that power would have made me tremble. Now, it just filled me with disgust.

I kept walking. The sound of rapid footsteps got closer, and then Kaelan was in front of me.

He was wearing a ten-thousand-dollar Armani suit, his face a mask of rage.

Behind him stood Seraphina, looking fragile and wronged.

Her eyes were red, as if I had bullied her.

"Apologize to Seraphina. Now!" Kaelan roared, pointing at me. "She works tirelessly for this pack! What right do you have to slander her? To accuse her of withholding money?"

I looked at them coldly.

"My money? It was life-or-death money."

"Kaelan, do you even know what happened three days ago?"

He frowned. "What?"

"Do you even know that Seraphina rejected my father’s life-saving funds, calling it a 'budget overrun'? Do you know I was on my knees on the cold clinic floor, begging, while my father died?"

Kaelan froze for a second, turning to look at Seraphina.

She immediately burst into tears.

"Kaelan, I was just following pack financial protocol!"

"It was fifty thousand dollars! That's several months over the limit for a human dependent. If I just approved it, how could I explain that to the Elders? I was afraid she was trying to sell it for cash!"

"How was I supposed to know it was so urgent? Clara never fills out the expense forms correctly!"

She sobbed, a picture of heartbroken innocence.

Kaelan's expression softened.

"Clara, you heard her. It was protocol. She was just doing her job."

"You can't attack her like this because of your own carelessness. Do you have any idea how much money this pack has already spent keeping your father alive?!"

"Your father is fine. Nothing is going to happen to him. But she is one of our pack's most loyal Betas. I will not let you slander her!"

I laughed. A bitter, empty sound.

"Slander?"

Annoyance flashed in Kaelan's eyes.

"That's enough, Clara! Stop making a scene! Seraphina has worked for me for years and never made a mistake! This is your fault for not following the rules!"

"Now, apologize. I'm done with this nonsense! Besides, your father is perfectly fine in the medical wing. What could possibly be wrong?"

I just stared at him.

This man. The Alpha who had once promised to protect me.

He didn't know what had happened. He didn't want to know.

"The application to sever our bond is in the study drawer," I said calmly. "You can go look."

"I already signed it."

Kaelan's face went pale. "What did you say?"

"I said, I'm severing our bond."

"Don't worry. I'm leaving with nothing. I haven't taken a single penny from your pack."

I picked up my suitcase handle to walk around them.

Kaelan grabbed my wrist. "You wouldn't dare! Don't you dare walk away from me!"

"I am your Alpha! You are my mate! You don't go anywhere without my permission!"

I ripped my arm from his grasp.

"Let go of me."

"Clara! What new trick is this? Is that suitcase full of pack supplies?!" he roared, and kicked my suitcase.

The cheap zipper burst. The case flew open, its contents spilling across the pavement.

Books, a photo, old clothes.

There was no stolen cash. No valuable pack property.

Just a simple, white ceramic box.

It rolled to a stop right at Kaelan's feet.

A faint scent of sandalwood and ash filled the air. The smell of death.

Kaelan's wolf blood gave him a sharp sense of smell.

He smelled death. He smelled grief and despair.

His face drained of all color. The rage, the suspicion—it all vanished, as if he’d been physically struck.

"What... what is this?" he asked, his voice trembling.

Seraphina saw the box and covered her mouth.

I bent down and carefully picked up the urn, gently brushing the dust from its surface.

"This is my dad," I said, my voice terrifyingly calm.

"You saved your fifty thousand dollars. Are you happy now, Alpha Kaelan?"