I looked at him.
Oscar stood before me, his chest heaving, his Alpha aura pressing down like a physical weight. His eyes were wild with fury and something else—something that looked like fear.
But I felt nothing.
The bond that had tethered me to him for ten years was already ash in the fireplace behind me. The journal was gone. The vows were gone. All that remained was the formal severing.
I straightened my spine. My voice came out clear and cold, each word precise as a blade.
"I, Adele of the Silverveil Pack, reject you, Oscar, Alpha of the Black Moon Pack, as my fated mate."
The words hung in the air for a heartbeat.
Then the pain hit.
It tore through my chest like claws ripping flesh from bone. A violent, wrenching sensation that made my wolf howl inside my mind. The mate bond—already frayed and dying—snapped completely. Every nerve in my body screamed. My knees wanted to buckle. My lungs forgot how to breathe.
But I didn't look away.
I kept my eyes locked on Oscar's face and watched him stagger backward. His hand flew to his chest. His mouth opened in a silent gasp. He hit the wall hard, his perfect composure shattered.
The pain was worse for him. I could see it. The rejected mate always suffered more.
Good.
I breathed through it. In. Out. The agony rolled through me in waves, but I'd endured worse. I'd survived a miscarriage alone while he paraded another woman at a banquet. This was nothing.
The pain began to fade. Not gone, but manageable. Distant.
Oscar pushed himself off the wall. His face was pale. Sweat beaded on his forehead. But his eyes—his eyes burned with something feral.
"No." His voice was ragged. "You don't get to—"
He lunged.
His hand shot out and gripped my chin, fingers digging into my jaw. He yanked my face up, forcing me to meet his gaze. His Alpha aura flared, desperate and furious, trying to dominate me through sheer will.
"You have no right," he snarled. His breath was hot against my face. "The Moon Goddess bound us. You are mine. You belong to me."
His grip tightened. It hurt.
I held perfectly still.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three.
Then I raised my hand and slapped him across the face.
The crack echoed through the chamber like a gunshot.
Oscar's head snapped to the side. His hand fell away from my chin. He stood there, frozen, his cheek blazing red where my palm had connected.
Silence.
He turned back slowly. His eyes were wide. Disbelieving. Like he couldn't comprehend what had just happened.
I lowered my hand. My palm stung, but it felt good. Righteous.
"I belonged to myself first," I said quietly. "I just forgot for a while."
I turned away from him and crossed to the closet. My movements were calm. Deliberate. I pulled out the travel bag I'd packed three days ago—right after the fitting, right after I'd made my decision. Everything I needed was inside. Documents. Cash. A change of clothes. The essentials of a life I was reclaiming.
Behind me, Oscar made a strangled sound.
"You can't leave." His voice cracked. "You can't just—"
I pulled out my phone and dialed the number I'd saved under a single initial: M. For Marcus. My brother.
He answered on the first ring.
"I'm ready," I said.
That was all. Two words. But they were enough.
"Ten minutes," Marcus replied. His voice was steel. "Hold on."
The line went dead.
I slipped the phone into my pocket and slung the bag over my shoulder.
Oscar was staring at me like I was a stranger. Like he'd never seen me before.
Maybe he hadn't.
"You're making a mistake," he said. His voice shifted, trying for calm. Trying for reason. "Adele, think about this. We can fix this. We can—"
"Gideon!" He suddenly roared, his Alpha tone exploding through the room and down the hallway. "Warriors! Bar the exits! Now!"
I walked toward the door.
Oscar moved to block me, but something stopped him. Maybe it was the look on my face. Maybe it was the fact that his Alpha tone sounded wrong—fractured, less absolute than it had been an hour ago.
The bond was broken. His power over me was gone.
Footsteps thundered in the hallway. Gideon burst through the door, three warriors at his heels. They looked between Oscar and me, confusion written across their faces.
"Don't let her leave," Oscar commanded. His voice was desperate now. Fraying at the edges.
Gideon hesitated.
I met his eyes. The Beta had always been pragmatic. Smart. He'd watched me manage this pack for ten years. He knew where the real power came from.
"Move," I said softly.
Gideon stepped aside.
The warriors followed.
Oscar made a sound like a wounded animal. "You can't do this. You can't just walk away from everything we built."
I paused in the doorway and looked back at him one last time.
"I built it," I said. "You just wore the crown."
Then I walked out.
Behind me, Oscar's roar shook the walls. But I didn't stop. I didn't look back.
I descended the grand staircase, my heels clicking against marble. Pack members emerged from doorways, drawn by the commotion. They stared. Whispered. But no one tried to stop me.
I reached the front entrance just as headlights swept across the driveway.
Three black SUVs pulled up to the pack house. The doors opened. Marcus stepped out first, his Alpha aura a controlled, lethal presence. Behind him came six of the Silverveil Pack's elite guards.
My brother's eyes found mine. He didn't smile. He didn't need to.
He held out his hand.
I took it.
And I walked away from the Black Moon Pack without looking back.
