Kelsey POV
Aria was preening.
She traced the fresh, bleeding bite mark on her neck with the tips of her fingers, handling the wound as if it were a diamond necklace.
"You lost, Luna," she hissed as she walked past me, leaning heavily against Bennett’s side. "He chose me."
I didn’t respond.
The air in the Pack House felt thick, cloying. It was like inhaling warm syrup. I couldn't breathe. I needed to get out.
I slipped through the French doors and into the back garden.
The night air hit me—cool, sharp, cleansing.
I walked numbly to the old gazebo hidden behind a towering wall of ivy. It used to be my sanctuary, the one place where I could think.
I sat on the cold stone bench, my hands resting limp in my lap.
I waited for the tears.
I waited for the crushing weight of heartbreak to buckle my knees.
But there was only... silence.
The Mind-Link was dead.
The constant, low-frequency hum of Bennett’s presence in the back of my mind was gone. It felt like the moment a noisy, rattling fan finally cuts out, leaving the room in sudden, startling stillness.
Peace.
I closed my eyes, forcing myself to remember. The way he used to smile at me across a crowded room. The way he held me together when my mother died.
*Why?* I asked the universe, the silence stretching out around me. *Why did it end like this?*
"Are you insane, Bennett?"
The voice startled me.
It was Mark, the Beta. They were walking on the gravel path just on the other side of the ivy wall.
"Marking her in public? Like that?" Mark sounded furious, his voice low and tight. "The Elders are going to have a stroke. And Kelsey... you destroyed her."
I held my breath, my heart hammering against my ribs.
"Kelsey is playing games," Bennett’s voice drifted over the wall, dismissive and arrogant. I heard the metallic *clink* of a flask being unscrewed. "Did you see her face? So calm. So high and mighty. She’s doing it to get a reaction out of me. It’s a control tactic."
"A control tactic?" Mark scoffed. "She looked like she was saying goodbye, Bennett."
"No," Bennett laughed darkly. "She’s trying to make me jealous. She thinks if she acts like she doesn't care, I'll come running back to claim her."
"And Aria?"
"Aria is... useful," Bennett said.
I froze.
"She’s fertile," he continued, his tone clinical. "She gives me what I need physically. The lust, Mark... it’s blinding. But she’s not Luna material. Not really."
My blood ran cold in my veins.
"So what’s the plan?" Mark asked, his hesitation palpable.
"Aria breeds the heir," Bennett said. His voice was casual, as if he were discussing livestock rather than a person. "Once the pup is weaned, I’ll set her up in that villa in Italy. She’ll be comfortable. Out of the way."
"And Kelsey?"
"Kelsey will break," Bennett said with terrifying confidence. "She loves me too much. She’ll see that I’m the Alpha. She’ll see that she has nowhere else to go."
He took a swig from the flask.
"She’ll come back, crawling. And I’ll forgive her. I’ll let her raise the pup as her own. She’ll be the perfect, dutiful Luna again."
I clamped a hand over my mouth to stop the bile from rising in my throat.
It was a blueprint.
A calculated, monstrous blueprint. He wasn't just cheating; he was orchestrating my life, my pain, and my future, all to serve his ego.
He thought I was a puppet.
He thought my pain was a performance for his benefit.
The last thread of affection I held for him didn't snap with a bang. It dissolved, disintegrating into nothingness, leaving only ice in its wake.
I stood up silently.
I didn't need to hear anymore.
I went back to the shed, grabbed my suitcase, and headed straight for the main house. I needed my documents from the safe in the office. I needed my passport.
I walked into the office, the door clicking shut behind me.
Bennett was there.
He was standing by the mahogany desk, holding a stack of papers. Resting on top was my passport.
"Going somewhere?" he asked, a smug smile playing on his lips.
"Give me my passport, Bennett," I said, my voice steady.
"A vacation?" he mused, tapping the document against his chin thoughtfully. "Paris? You always wanted to go to Paris. But you can't go alone, Kelsey. It’s dangerous for a lone wolf."
"I am leaving the pack," I stated.
He laughed, a sharp, barking sound. "Stop it. This dramatic act is boring me. You’re not leaving. You’re my Luna. You belong here."
He tossed the passport onto the desk.
Before I could reach for it, he slammed his hand down over it, trapping it beneath his palm.
"You stay," he commanded.
He used the Alpha voice.
The command hit me like a physical wave, a heavy pressure designed to force submission. My wolf whimpered, instinctively wanting to bare its throat. It was biology. Alpha commands Luna.
But I wasn't his Luna anymore.
Not in my heart. And with the bond silent, his voice lacked its anchor.
I gritted my teeth, fighting the biological urge to kneel. I focused on the ice spreading through my veins, the cold clarity of his betrayal.
"No," I said.
Bennett blinked, his smug expression faltering. "What?"
I lunged forward.
