Genevieve POV:
The annual Full Moon Gala. The night of alliances and power plays.
Ignatz had his guards drag me out of the basement, hose me down with freezing water, and shove me into a plain black dress. I was to be a prop. A warning to anyone who defied him.
"Carry the train," Everleigh had ordered, tossing the heavy fabric of her white gown at me.
So here I was, walking five paces behind the happy couple, head bowed, clutching the velvet of the woman who stole my life. The ballroom glittered with crystal and malice.
Whispers followed us like smoke.
"Is that the ex?"
"God, she looks like a corpse."
"I heard she tried to poison the new Luna."
I kept my eyes on the floor. I just needed to survive the night. My father had to be close. He knew where I was.
We reached the raised dais. Ignatz took his throne, pulling Everleigh onto his lap.
"Genevieve," Ignatz announced, his voice amplified by the microphone. "Present the Moonstone."
I stepped forward, my hands trembling as I held out the velvet box containing the Turner heirloom.
Everleigh snatched it. "Finally. It'll look much better on a mother than a barren mule."
The crowd laughed. A cruel, sycophantic sound.
"You may go," Ignatz dismissed me. "Back to your cage."
"No," I said.
The room went dead silent.
I reached into my sash and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper I'd managed to hide.
"Divorce papers," I said, my voice shaking but audible. "And the dissolution of the mating contract."
Ignatz stared at me, jaw tight. "You're making a scene."
"Sign it," I said. "You want her? Take her. Just let me go."
Ignatz stood up, towering over me. He snatched the pen from a nearby table and scribbled his name furiously. "Fine. You are nothing to me."
He grabbed the microphone, his ego bruised.
"Since we are airing dirty laundry," he boomed. "I, Ignatz Turner, Alpha of the Turner Pack..."
The air pressure in the room dropped. He was going to do it.
"...reject you, Genevieve, as my mate and Luna."
The words hit me like a sledgehammer to the chest. The Bond shrieked as it tore. I gasped, clutching my heart, expecting the usual crushing grief.
But instead... I felt relief.
Everleigh laughed. "Look at her. Pathetic."
As I stumbled back, one of Everleigh's minions stuck a foot out.
I tripped.
My head cracked against the marble step of the dais.
Warm blood blinded my left eye. I lay sprawled in front of hundreds of the elite, listening to their laughter.
Ignatz didn't move. He just watched, cold and indifferent.
"Get her out of here," he told the guards. "She's ruining the vibe."
As the darkness crept in again, I heard my wolf howl. It wasn't a sound of mourning. It was a war cry.
