My heart seized. “Huh?”
“Let’s stop pretending, Isolde.” He leaned against the desk with crossed arms. “I sought you out for a reason. An heiress of the Rustpire Pack? Who wouldn’t chase that prize? And you practically handed yourself over—eager to flee your pack’s ancient wealth and their expectations.”
Each word sliced like a blade dipped in frost. The room spun as five years of memories cracked apart, replaced by calculation.
“You abandoned everything to run away with me. How poetic.” His smirk deepened. “But now? I’m the Alpha of my own kingdom. I have choices.”
His gaze drifted to Vanya, who stood taller, a sly smile curling her lips. “Better choices.”
I gripped the doorframe, grounding myself. “You bonded with me for the Rustpire inheritance?”
“Your pack’s fortune was… enticing. Even if you pretend it doesn’t matter.”
He scoffed. “Trying to live like a common pack wolf. What a waste.”
A twisted laugh burned my throat. He had no clue what being a Rustpire truly meant.
Not the wealth.
The power.
The ancient moon-magic that ran through our blood like molten silver.
“There’s nothing I never gave you,” I whispered.
“No.” His eyes turned glacial. “You trapped me in a dull life, a tiny den, pretending you're normal. Vanya, at least, embraces ambition and understands pack politics.”
“We faced everything together.” My voice cracked. “Five years. A life was built side by side. The pup—”
The memory of that freezing healer’s chamber cut through me. The decision Axton insisted was “for the pack.” The sterile stone. The way he held my hand as we severed the life growing inside me.
Axton’s laugh tore through the room like shattered bone.
“The pup? That was just strategy.”
He leaned back, loosening his mantle. “A child might’ve softened your pack. Might’ve opened their vaults. But when your elders didn’t budge—” He shrugged nonchalantly. “Why keep it, then?”
My knees nearly gave out. I dug my nails deeper into the stone frame.
“And besides—” He shot Vanya a wicked smirk. “That was the night I met this spark. Remember that tavern near the healer’s hall?”
Vanya’s red-painted lips curved. “Oh, very clearly.”
“While you were unconscious from the procedure,” Axton continued, “Vanya and I had… quite the celebration in my inn chamber. Didn’t we?”
The world tilted. That night—while I lay drugged and grieving over our pup—
“You bedded your assistant?” The words stung my tongue. “On the same day I—”