I blinked once, the corner of my mouth curving upward—not in amusement, but in cruel understanding. She didn’t even realize Kael and her “ideal Alpha” were one and the same.

Poor Kael. Loyal, reckless, bleeding Kael—he’d carved himself open for someone who saw him as nothing more than a novelty.

I turned away before bile rose in my throat. I didn’t bother seeking out my father. Instead, I walked through the sleeping compound, out into the cemetery where the yew trees whispered under moonlight.

My mother’s gravestone gleamed silver. I knelt beside it, tracing the carved letters.

“I won’t end up like you,” I whispered. “You waited for love until it killed you. I’ll survive, even if it means alone.”

At dawn, a message came through—a transfer notification. Gold. Enough to buy a lifetime of silence. Half the Solari treasury wired to my account. Payment for my obedience. For my departure.

I accepted it.

And with that, I cut every tie—Solari, Elowen, Kael, all of them.

The next morning, as I sealed the last box of my things, Kael appeared at the door. I handed him a small parcel.

“Give this to Elowen,” I said.

He eyed it warily. “What’s inside?”

“My old paints and brushes,” I replied. “She wants to be me so desperately—she might as well have the leftovers.”

He didn’t yet know that I’d already filed the paperwork assigning him as her wolf knight. He belonged to her now. He always had.

“And you?” he asked quietly, tightening his hold on the box.

“I’ll be fine,” I said with a small, unbothered smile. “Moving out isn’t as hard as people think.”

It was a lie. But it was also the last thing I’d ever say to him.

When he turned back, bandages stiff and blood crusted at the edges, his voice was low. “Where are you moving? Give me your address. I’ll come by once I deliver this.”

I met his gaze, unreadable. “I’ll tell you later.”

But there was no later.

As soon as he left, I took out my phone, broke the SIM card clean in half, and tossed it through the open window of the moving car. The wind caught it, carrying it into the trees—scattering every trace of me.

By the time he returned, I was already gone.