“You can keep them,” I said plainly. “Alden. Draven. All of it. I’ve already moved forward. I have another bond waiting.”
She burst into laughter, sharp and mocking, the kind that once tore at my confidence.
“Don’t tell me you’re truly entering a Moonbond Ceremony,” she sneered. “You?”
Her words dripped poison. “Who would claim you as a mate? You are cold. Hard. Demanding. You are not Luna material. You are wearing around the neck.”
I smiled. Small. Controlled. Burning.
“Maybe,” I said. “But I remain a she-wolf with an Alpha blood of Obsidian Fang Pack. I still carry a bloodline. A name. A pack that wanted me, not one that took me out of pity.”
Her color drained.
“And let this be clear,” I continued, stepping close enough for her to smell my scent, “everything you have, the sanctum, their care, your place, exists because I brought you in. I shielded you. Fed you. Gave you a den. And you repaid me by trying to replace me as Luna.”
She opened her mouth, but I was finished listening.
I dropped the roses onto her lap.
“Recover well,” I said calmly and turned away.
Right on cue, the sobbing began. Loud. Broken. Crafted for sympathy. She had always been skilled at that, using tears like armor.
I did not look back.
I left her chamber and walked into the passageway, ready to leave all of it behind. Ready to breathe air free of betrayal.
But fate was predictable.
Heavy footsteps rushed toward me. Draven. Alden.
“Liora!” Draven growled, gripping my arm. “What did you say to her?”
“Why is she sobbing like that?” Alden demanded, breath tight, eyes darting to the room, then to the flowers. “Black roses? Are you provoking us?”
I looked at them. Their faces, angry, defensive, blind. Always ready to guard her. Always ready to turn me into the enemy.
Again.
I slowly removed Draven’s hand from my arm.
“No,” I said quietly.
Then I smiled.
Not the smile they knew.
The smile of a Luna who had already walked away.
“I wish death upon you all.”
“I am wishing death upon you all.”
Alden’s face turned cold. “You do not mean do such things.”
“I do,” I replied without warmth. “Everything I said.”
“You have lost yourself,” he growled. “Do you think this is right? Calling for death because your heart is cold?”
I turned away. I had said what I came to say. There was nothing more left between us.
“Apologize to her,” Alden ordered suddenly. “Now.”