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."

Alex POV:

The night air was biting, but the Lake of Judgment was liquid ice.

"Jump," Gavyn ordered.

We stood at the edge of the stone pier. The party guests watched—some with pity, most with amusement.

"Gavyn, please," I shivered. "The water... it's freezing. And my leg..."

"The necklace, Alex," he said, unmoved. "Don't come up until you have it."

The guards shoved me.

I hit the water.

The cold was a physical blow. The lake was infused with Wolfsbane to prevent prisoners from swimming away. Even though I was "latent," the poison burned.

I kicked downward. My leg throbbed. Thump. Burn. Thump. Burn.

I surfaced, gasping. "I don't see it!"

"Dive again!" Iliana shouted. "It's my legacy!"

I went down again. And again.

My limbs grew heavy. The cold seeped into my core, dulling the inner fire.

On the fourth dive, my fingers brushed metal. The chain.

I grabbed it and kicked toward the surface, vision tunneling. I dragged myself onto the rocky shore, coughing up water, and held up the necklace.

"Here."

Gavyn snatched it. No towel. No hand.

He fastened it around Iliana's neck.

"Beautiful," he murmured.

"Look at her," Kenneth laughed. "She looks like a wet rat."

"A drowned rat," Kaylin corrected.

The crowd chuckled.

Darkness crept in. Shock took over. I collapsed on the stones.

The last thing I heard was champagne corks popping.

I woke up in the pack hospital's general ward.

"Oh, you're awake," a nurse said, chewing gum. "Hypothermia almost took you."

"Where is Gavyn?"

"With the Luna. She was very traumatized by your outburst. He's comforting her."

It had been two days. No one had checked on me.

My phone buzzed.

Gavyn: You have caused enough embarrassment. When discharged, come to the main house. You will apologize to Iliana on your knees. Then you will begin obedience training.

Obedience training. Breaking the mind.

I stared at the screen.

Something inside me snapped. Not a bone, but a chain.

I ripped the IV out. Blood sprayed. I didn't care.

I dressed in my damp clothes and walked out. No one stopped me. To them, I was a ghost.

A black sedan waited at the curb—a human taxi I'd called with my last savings.

"Where to?"

"The Underground Club," I said. "Downtown."

Neutral territory.

As the car pulled away, I looked back at the pack lands.

I reject you, Gavyn.

I touched my chest. My heart beat slower, stronger.

And in the reflection of the window, for a split second, my eyes weren't brown.

They were silver.