Olivia POV
Pain was the only reality. It wasn't just physical; it was a violent tearing, a hollow ache in the empty space where my connection to Michael used to be.
I opened my eyes. The ceiling was high and painted with frescoes of the moon. The sharp, clinical smell of antiseptic clashed with the soothing scent of crushed lavender.
"She's awake."
A cool hand touched my forehead. I blinked, forcing my vision to clear until I focused on the face of Elizabeth Hayes.
My mother.
She was the Luna Dowager, a woman who could make grown Alphas tremble with a single look. Right now, however, the steel in her gaze had softened, and her eyes were red-rimmed.
"Mom?" My voice was like shards of glass.
"I'm here, Liv. You're safe. You're at the Estate."
I tried to sit up, but a sharp cramp in my abdomen stopped me. Breath hitched in my throat as panic clawed at my chest.
"The baby," I gasped, clutching my stomach. "My pup. Is he...?"
A Healer in white robes stepped forward from the shadows. "The pup is holding on, Luna. But the Rejection... the shock to your system was severe. Your Inner Wolf took a heavy blow trying to protect the pregnancy."
I slumped back, tears leaking from my eyes. Michael had almost killed our child.
"He rejected me, Mom," I whispered, the words tasting like ash. "For a Rogue in a red dress."
Elizabeth's expression didn't just harden; it froze into something terrifyingly absolute. "I know. My Warriors brought you home. I saw the marks on your face."
She sat on the edge of the bed and took my hand. Her skin was cool, grounding.
*They will pay for this, Olivia,* she spoke into my mind. Her mental voice was like a steel blade drawn from a sheath. *No one touches a Hayes and survives.*
"He used the Alpha Command on me," I said, the humiliation burning fresh and hot beneath my skin. "He forced me to submit so she could slap me."
The air in the room seemed to drop ten degrees.
"He is a fool," Elizabeth said softly, a dangerous calm settling over her. "He thinks he built that Pack? He thinks he built that business empire? He forgets whose money and influence laid the foundation."
She stood up and walked to the door, her movements sharp and predatory. "Jennings!"
Our family's Beta, a man in a crisp suit who looked more like a ruthless investment banker than a wolf, stepped in. "Yes, Luna Dowager?"
"Cut them off," Elizabeth ordered. Her voice was calm, terrifyingly so. "Freeze the accounts. Recall the loans. Block the trade routes that pass through Hayes territory. If Michael Thorne wants to buy a loaf of bread, I want him to find his credit declined."
"Immediately, Madam," Jennings said, a dark satisfaction glimmering in his eyes as he tapped a command onto his tablet.
I lay there, feeling the phantom pain of the severed bond. It was like losing a limb. But beneath the pain, something else was stirring.
Deep in my core, where my Inner Wolf lay curled and wounded, a new sensation flickered. It wasn't the warm, brown fur of my usual wolf. It was cold. It was bright.
I closed my eyes and saw a flash of white in the darkness of my mind. A pair of ice-blue eyes stared back at me.
*Rest,* the presence seemed to say, its voice echoing like wind over a glacier. *We have work to do.*
"Mom," I whispered. "I feel... different."
Elizabeth looked back at me, her gaze piercing. "You suppressed your power for him, Liv. You tried to make yourself smaller so his fragile ego wouldn't break. But now the bond is gone."
She walked back and kissed my forehead.
"The White Wolf blood doesn't sleep forever, my daughter. It's time to wake up."
