Aurelia POV:
The next morning, a courier arrived.
I opened the envelope. Inside was a copy of the contract I had tried to give Jacob. It had been ripped into confetti.
But as I held the pieces, a wave of nausea hit me. The paper had been scent-marked. It reeked of Jacob's pheromones-angry, possessive, and spicy. It was a warning. *I am watching.*
I went to the kitchen to make tea, trying to calm the shaking in my hands. Suddenly, a sharp pain pierced my temples. It felt like an ice pick driving into my brain.
*Good morning, incubator.*
The voice echoed inside my skull. It wasn't Jacob. It was Kaleigh.
I dropped the mug. It shattered on the tiles.
*Get out of my head,* I thought, pushing back with my mental shields.
*Jacob gave me access,* she purred. *He opened the pack link for me. He wants me to keep an eye on his investment.*
A ping sounded on my phone. A message from an unknown number.
It was an audio file.
My finger hovered over the play button. I knew I shouldn't. I knew it would hurt. But I pressed it anyway.
Low moans filled the kitchen. The sound of skin slapping against skin. And then, Jacob's voice, rough and breathless.
"My Luna... my only queen..."
I retched. I barely made it to the sink before I vomited.
It wasn't just disgust. It was biological. When a fated mate betrays the bond, the other partner's body rejects it. It feels like poisoning. My stomach cramped, and my skin burned as if I had a fever.
Another message. A photo.
It showed Kaleigh lying in a nest of blankets-blankets that belonged to me. She was wearing my silk robe. She was lying in the Alpha's den, the most sacred space in the house, a place only the true mate should enter.
She looked at the camera with a smirk, her eyes triumphant.
*He never marked you, did he?* Kaleigh's voice slithered through the link again. *Five years of marriage, and no bite mark on your neck. You know why? Because he was saving that spot for me.*
She was right. Jacob had always made excuses. "It's too primitive," he'd said. "We are modern wolves."
It was a lie. He just didn't want to stain his soul with an Omega.
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. The pain was clarifying. It burned away the last shreds of hope.
I closed my eyes and focused on the mental intrusion. I imagined a brick wall. I am an architect. I know how to build walls. I visualized laying each brick, sealing it with mortar, closing off the tunnel she was using.
*You can have him,* I projected back, putting all my hatred into the thought. *He is a broken man for a broken woman. But if you touch my pup, I will tear out your throat.*
I slammed the mental door shut. The silence returned, ringing in my ears.
I went to the bedroom and opened my jewelry box. I took out the silver amulet my mother had given me. It was the only thing I had from her.
Then I went to the closet. Hidden in the back, inside a shoebox, was a small crystal. A Resonance Stone. It was linked to Jacob's energy signature, allowing us to find each other in emergencies.
I took a heavy brass paperweight from the nightstand.
I didn't hesitate. I brought the weight down.
*Crack.*
The crystal shattered into dust.
Instantly, I felt a snap in my chest. The passive connection to Jacob-the one that let him know I was in the house-vanished. To him, I had just disappeared from the radar.
I packed a single bag. No clothes, just cash, my sketchbook, and the silver amulet.
I was leaving the ivory tower.
