Charlotte POV:
I sat on the edge of the bed, a suitcase open at my feet. Just clothes I bought with my allowance, sketchbooks, and trinkets that didn't belong to the estate.
On the nightstand sat a document I'd printed from the library. Dissolution of Mate Bond. In the human world, divorce papers.
The door handle turned. The air grew heavy—Alpha aura. It felt like walking underwater.
Aiden walked in, smelling of cedar and rain.
"Why is it so quiet?" he asked, loosening his tie. He didn't look at me.
"I was packing," I said.
He turned, eyes narrowing at the suitcase. "Going to the countryside estate? Good. You look like a ghost. The city air doesn't suit you."
He tossed a velvet box onto the bed.
"Happy anniversary," he said. "Or whatever. Haven reminded me."
I opened it. A silver anklet.
My stomach turned. Silver is poison to us. It burns the skin and suppresses the spirit. For someone with a dormant wolf like me, it just made me feel like I had a permanent flu.
"Thanks," I lied, voice hollow.
"Put it on," he commanded. "It has a tracker. With all the Rogues roaming around, I need to know where you are."
It wasn't a gift. It was a shackle.
He hit the shower. His phone lit up on the dresser. I shouldn't have, but the image of him holding Leo burned. I picked it up. Passcode was still the date he took over the Pack.
I opened the Mind-Link logs—modern tech that recorded telepathic conversations.
H: She's so annoying today. Just looking at her makes me sick.
Aiden: Bear with it. Her family's land integration is almost complete.
H: I miss your touch. My heat is coming soon.
Aiden: I'll be there. Just have to deal with the ice block at home first.
I dropped the phone on the duvet like it was hot coal.
Ice block.
Aiden stepped out, towel around his waist. He looked at me, eyes darkening with performative lust.
"Come here," he said.
He reached for me. As his hand touched my arm, a violent shudder ripped through me. Physiological rejection. My skin burned.
"Don't," I gasped, pulling away.
His face hardened. "Don't? You are my Luna. It is your duty to breed."
"I... I don't feel well." My temperature spiked. My body was physically rejecting the bond because the trust was shattered.
Aiden growled. "You are useless, Charlotte. You can't shift. You can't handle business. And now you can't satisfy your Alpha?"
Suddenly, his eyes glazed over. Mind-Link.
"What?" he barked at the air. "Leo? I'm coming."
He grabbed his clothes, dressing frantically.
"Intruders at the border," he lied smoothly. "I have to go."
He left me shivering with heartbreak fever, clutching a silver anklet meant to keep me a prisoner.
As the door slammed, I curled into a ball. The bond between us was fraying like an old rope. And for the first time in years, deep in my soul, I heard a sound.
A whimper. My wolf was crying.
