Adella POV
The scent of night-blooming tuberose and warm vanilla filled my luxurious Silvermoon penthouse, a stark contrast to the sterile, suffocating air of the Blackwood estate. It had been days since I submitted the Rejection paperwork, yet Kian’s silence was deafening.
I stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking down at the city that had once been my prison.
*“My Lady,”* Elder Magnus’s respectful voice echoed through our mind-link. *“The Blackwood Pack has not responded. They are deliberately stalling the official procedures.”*
A hot spark of anger ignited in my chest. Even now, Kian was trying to exert his dominance, using bureaucratic delays to keep me tethered to him. I was done waiting in the shadows. I grabbed the brown envelope containing the Rejection documents from the counter. I would force the Alpha to face what he was so desperately trying to avoid.
The Blackwood Group tower loomed like a monument to Kian’s ego—cold steel and black glass. But before I could even reach the massive revolving doors, a manicured hand clamped onto my wrist.
"Look who it is," Jean Blackwood sneered, her expensive perfume failing to mask the sour stench of her jealousy. "A discarded Omega, daring to show her face on our territory."
Beside her, Kian’s sister, Kailyn, wrinkled her nose. "Do you smell that, Mother? A pathetic mix of desperation and cheap herbs."
For six years, I had swallowed their venom. Not anymore. I ripped my arm from Jean’s grasp with a sudden, fluid strength that made her stumble backward.
"I'm here to get your Alpha's signature," I said coldly, holding up the envelope. "Once he signs this, I am done with the Blackwood family forever."
Jean’s face contorted into an ugly mask of pure rage. "You ungrateful little bitch!"
Her hand cracked across my cheek. The sharp sound echoed through the marble lobby, freezing the air. But before her triumphant smile could fully form, my White Wolf instincts flared, demanding immediate retribution.
I swung back. My palm connected with her jaw with a sickening crack. Jean shrieked as the force sent her crashing to the polished floor, her designer pearls scattering like teeth.
"Mother!" Kailyn screamed, lunging at me with her claws extended.
She never reached me. A massive, scarred hand caught Kailyn’s arm mid-air, halting her instantly.
I turned to see Kian standing near the entrance, having just stepped out of a sleek Rolls-Royce. His eyes were wide with shock, fixed on the red handprint blooming on my cheek. But it was the imposing older Alpha beside him who had stopped Kailyn. Lord Timothy Carson.
"Blackwood," Lord Timothy’s voice boomed, cold and lethal. "Is this how you allow your family to treat the heir to the Silvermoon Pack? Perhaps our billion-dollar partnership needs to be reconsidered."
The word *heir* dropped like a bomb. The color instantly drained from Kian’s face. Jean and Kailyn froze, their eyes darting between me and the furious Lord Timothy in absolute terror.
Under the crushing weight of Timothy’s glare, Jean and Kailyn muttered trembling, humiliated apologies. I didn't even look at them. I locked eyes with Kian.
"And you, Alpha Blackwood?" I mocked, my voice dripping with disdain. "Your mate is assaulted on your territory, and you just stand there? Or is the Alpha of the Blackwoods just a coward hiding behind women?"
His jaw ticked so hard I thought his teeth might shatter. The Alpha command in his blood fought against the reality of losing his most crucial business alliance. Slowly, agonizingly, the businessman won.
"I'm... sorry," Kian ground out, the words visibly choking him.
I nodded, stepping forward to slap the Rejection envelope hard against his chest. He caught it reflexively. "Don't forget to sign it."
I turned my back on him, accepting Lord Timothy’s offered arm. As we walked out of the glass doors, I could feel Kian’s furious, disbelieving gaze burning into my spine. Let him seethe. Let him order his trackers to dig into my past. They would find nothing but the impenetrable, ancient shields of the Silvermoon Pack, leaving him completely in the dark.
