“Best night I’ve had.” He winked at Vanya. “No offense, mate. Some she-wolves actually know what an Alpha needs.”
Tears pricked my eyes—I wiped them away, refusing to let them see the fracture. The Rustpire in me stirred—a power I’d buried these past five years.
“I want a dissolution of our bond.” My voice was steel. “Tomorrow.”
Axton barked a laugh, smug and loud. “Tomorrow? Even for you, that’s bold.”
“I have connections. It can be done as soon as possible.” I lifted my chin. “And rest easy—I won’t demand a single lunar coin.”
“No compensation?” His brows rose. “Interesting. I expected a fight.”
“I don’t need the scraps of an unfaithful Alpha.” My lip curled. “Keep your hoard. You’ll need it to maintain your new pet.”
Vanya’s cheeks flushed. “Careful how you talk—”
“Or what?” I snapped. “You’ll bed my mate? Ah—already checked that box.”
Axton strode around the desk, settling into his high-backed Alpha chair. “Perfect. This simplifies everything.”
He tugged Vanya closer, their fingers intertwining. “We can begin shaping our future, right, love?”
“Absolutely.” Vanya’s grin flashed fang. “I’ve always wanted a high-ranking post.”
“And you’ll have it.” Axton stroked her wrist. “Along with everything Isolde never appreciated.”
I watched them—two vipers coiled around each other, convinced they’d claimed victory. How tragically mistaken they were.
I slammed the Alpha carved stone door’s study behind me, the sound echoing through the empty stone corridor as I fled. My breaths came fast, my claws half-extended. Hands trembling, I dug through my satchel for my moon-stone communicator.
Five years. Five years avoiding this number, avoiding my lineage, avoiding the wolf I truly was.
The contact still glowed on the screen: “Father.”
My thumb trembled. Everything I’d escaping from—my birthright, my power, my place in the Rustpire Dominion—it all pulled me back here.
Before I could hesitate, I tapped the call rune. The hollow ring echoed through the silent underground parking caverns beneath Axton’s territory.
One ring. Two. Three—
“Isolde?” My father’s voice—deep, rough, unmistakably Alpha—hit me like a physical strike.
“Father, I—” The word lodged in my throat. Tears spilled freely. “I’m sorry. I made a huge mistake. I wrong about everything.”
Silence followed, thick with five years of distance.