Alex POV:

Pain brings clarity.

As the throbbing in my head dulled to a rhythmic ache, I dragged myself upright. My hand left a crimson smear on the white stone. I didn't bother calling the pack doctor. He wouldn't come for "the help."

Limping, I made my way to Gavyn's study. I had two hours.

I sat at his massive mahogany desk, hands shaking as I drafted the Severance Papers.

I, Alex, hereby relinquish my position...

My eyes drifted to the drawer Gavyn always kept locked. Today, in his haste, he'd left the key in the lock.

I turned it.

Inside was a leather-bound journal. I flipped to a marked page from six years ago.

Entry 402:

The witch has completed the Bloodline Camouflage spell. Dark magic, but necessary. We will inject the serum into Alex daily. It masks her human scent, mimics Iliana's pheromones. My wolf is restless, but the scent tricks him. It tricks the pack. It will trick the pups. Alex believes she is taking vitamins. She is a fool, but a useful one.

I stared at the words. The "vitamins." The chemical lie that had been my life.

The front door slammed open downstairs. Laughter. They were back early.

Panic surged. I shoved the journal back, but my clumsy fingers knocked over a vase.

Crash.

"Who is in there?" Gavyn's voice roared. The Alpha Tone. It vibrated in my chest, demanding submission.

Gavyn appeared in the doorway, Iliana and the twins behind him. He sniffed the air, eyes narrowing.

"Blood," he growled. "Fresh blood. And... something else." He looked at the gash on my head, then at me. "Are you in heat?"

"What?"

"The scent," he snapped. "It's changing. You smell... sweet. Sickeningly sweet." He grabbed my arm, grip bruising. "Are you pregnant? Did you let some rogue touch you?"

"No!"

"We can't have a half-breed pollution in the pack house," Iliana said, voice dripping with fake concern.

"To the Healer. Now," Gavyn ordered.

He dragged me out. I struggled, pulling back.

"Let me go!"

In the scuffle, my leg brushed against the shattered remains of the vase.

Searing, white-hot agony shot up my calf. I screamed, a sound that tore my throat raw.

The vase wasn't ceramic. It was coated in silver dust—a security measure.

Silver burns wolves like acid. To a human, it's just cold metal.

Smoke rose from my calf. The flesh hissed.

Gavyn stopped. He looked at the wound. He looked at the smoke.

"Silver burns you?" His brow furrowed, genuine confusion warring with his anger. "That's impossible. You're latent. You shouldn't react like that."

He stared at me, a flicker of doubt in his eyes.

"Unless..." He shook his head, the thought dismissed as quickly as it came. "No. Just a weak body reacting to infection. You're hiding something, Alex."

He didn't care that I was burning. He threw me into the hallway. "Get yourself to the infirmary. Check for pregnancy. If you are breeding, you're out tonight."

I lay on the floor, clutching my leg. The silver poison sent veins of black up my shin. But beneath the pain, a sensation like cool water began to flow, fighting the fire.

I limped into the infirmary. The Healer, Marcus, sneered.

"Pregnancy test," I gasped. "Gavyn ordered it."

Marcus handed me a stick. No bandage for the leg.

I sat on the cold tile of the bathroom.

One line. Negative.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. The silver poison throbbed, but the ice in my veins was stronger. I wasn't pregnant. I was free.

Alex POV:

"Negative," I said, tossing the plastic stick onto the tray.

Marcus grunted and texted Gavyn. He didn't offer to clean the burn. The black veins had stopped spreading, halted by that strange internal coldness, but it looked gruesome.

"Get out," Marcus said.

I walked back to the main house. I found Gavyn in the living room, pouring a drink.

I slapped the Severance Papers on the table.

"What is this?"

"My resignation," I said steadily. "And the dissolution of our mating contract."

Gavyn laughed—a dry, humorless sound. "You can't resign, Alex. You are an Omega. You are property. You'll die within a week without the pack."

"I want the old cabin on the northern border," I said. "The abandoned one near the Rogue lands. Give me that, sign this, and I vanish."

Gavyn looked at me with amusement. "You want to live in a shack? Fine. If it shuts you up."

He scribbled his signature without reading a word. He threw the papers at me.

"Thirty days to vacate," he said. "Pack law."

"I want to leave now."

"No," he commanded. "The twins' birthday is next week. You will organize the party. Iliana doesn't know the vendors."

The audacity took my breath away.

"No."

The pressure dropped. The Alpha's Command.

"I said," Gavyn growled, eyes flashing red, "you will organize the party."

The weight hit my shoulders, forcing my knees to buckle. But then, that cool energy inside me pushed back. A shield of moonlight. The pressure vanished.

I stood up straight.

Gavyn blinked, confused. The Command should have floored me.

"I am not your servant anymore, Gavyn," I said softly.

I turned and walked toward the stairs.

"It's jealousy!" Gavyn yelled after me. "You're just jealous because Iliana is a true Luna and you are nothing!"

I went to the guest room and started packing.

As I worked, I did something instinctual. For years, I had poured my energy into this house. Nesting.

I closed my eyes. I found that thread of energy connecting me to the walls, the floor, the air.

And I cut it.

Immediately, the atmosphere shifted. The air went stale. The warmth evaporated.

Mind-Link: "Madam Alex? The boiler seems to have broken. The house is freezing." Sarah, the head maid.

Mind-Link: "I don't know, Sarah. Ask Iliana. She is the Luna now."

I blocked the link.

Downstairs, Kenneth started crying. A crash followed. Without my calming scent, the natural aggression of the wolf-blooded children was spiking.

"What is wrong with everyone today?" Iliana shrieked from the hallway.

I sat on my bed.

"I don't want those pups," I whispered. "And I don't want you, Gavyn."

For the first time, I believed it.

Alex POV:

The week leading up to the party was a nightmare. The house was falling apart, the servants were snapping, and Iliana spent her time screaming about flower arrangements.

Gavyn forced me to work, threatening the dungeon if the "First Shift Celebration" wasn't perfect.

The night arrived. The mansion was filled with dignitaries. Champagne flowed.

I stood in the corner in a plain black dress, invisible.

Iliana was the star, wearing a silver gown and the Moonstone Necklace—an ancient artifact meant only for the Alpha's true mate. Legend said it glowed for the worthy.

On Iliana, the stone was dull gray.

"Enjoying the view from the cheap seats?" Iliana appeared beside me, smelling of perfume and rot.

"Lovely party, Iliana."

"It is," she smirked. "And after tonight, you'll be in that shack. Or dead. Who knows?" She fingered the necklace. "This thing is heavy. It chafes."

"It's a sacred relic."

"It's a rock," she scoffed.

We were near the open French doors. Below us lay the artificial lake, dark and deep.

Iliana looked around. Gavyn was occupied.

She reached up and ripped the clasp.

"Oops."

She threw it.

I watched the priceless Moonstone sail over the railing and splash into the water.

"You bitch!" Iliana screamed, her voice shrill enough to cut glass. "Why did you do that?"

The music stopped. Every head turned.

"She threw it!" Iliana sobbed. "She tried to steal it, and when I caught her, she threw it in the lake!"

"That's a lie," I said calmly. "Check the security cameras."

Iliana's eyes flickered.

"Mommy is telling the truth!" Kaylin shouted, face smeared with chocolate. "I saw her! The nanny threw it!"

"Me too!" Kenneth added. "She said she hates us!"

The air left my lungs. The children I nursed through nightmares were condemning me without blinking.

Gavyn marched over, fury radiating off him.

"You destroyed the Moonstone?"

"I didn't. Your 'true mate' tossed it like garbage."

"My children do not lie!" Gavyn roared. The Alpha Command slammed into me. "You are petty. You are jealous. And you have disgraced this pack."

"Check the cameras, Gavyn."

"The cameras on the terrace were disabled for privacy," he said coldly. "Iliana requested it."

Of course.

"Guards!" Gavyn barked.

Two warriors grabbed me.

"You want to find the necklace so badly?" Gavyn sneered. "Then go get it."