Aliana POV:
I didn't need to see any more. I had the smoking gun, the motive, and the weapon.
I drove straight to the one place Ivan wouldn't look for me: a small, cluttered law office above a bakery in the beta district.
"Are you sure about this, Ali?"
Debi, my lawyer and best friend, looked at the documents spread across the coffee table. Her witch eyes were wide with shock.
"Look at the patent draft, Deb," I said, pointing to the clause I'd found in the safe. "They don't just want the land. They want my mind. My research."
Debi scanned the page, her expression darkening. "They are planning to trap you completely. Once you sign the marriage certificate, you become property. Your parents signed off on this?"
"My parents drafted it," I said, my voice dead.
Debi slammed her hand on the table. Sparks of purple magic flew from her fingertips. "That is illegal! It's a violation of the Accords! We can curse them. I can make Ivan's balls shrivel up and fall off."
"Tempting," I said dryly. "But no. I want to hurt them where it truly matters. Their status. Their money. Their pride."
I pushed the paper toward her. "Is it ready?"
"The Severance of Pack Ties," Debi read the title. "Once you sign this and file it with the Council, you are essentially a Rogue. You lose the protection of the Pack. Anyone can attack you."
"I've been attacked by my own Pack for twenty-four years," I said, picking up the pen. "I'll take my chances with the wild."
I signed my name. Aliana Donovan. The ink looked black and final.
"File it the moment the clock strikes ten tonight," I instructed. "That's when the party starts."
"Where will you go?"
"North," I said. "To the Blood Moon territory. They value Healers more than lineage."
I stood up and hugged her. "Thank you, Debi."
"Give them hell, Alpha," she whispered.
"I'm not an Alpha," I corrected her.
"You will be," she smiled mysteriously.
