When I exposed the truth, Ronan scrambled to cover it up.

"That's all in the past. Why bring it up now?"

The pack Elders didn't seem to mind either.

Of course not. After all, she was carrying a pup now.

I lifted my chin, forcing the tears back.

"Ronan, you've loved her for years. Now that you're a powerful Alpha and she's carrying your heir, you brought her back."

"You got your pack Elders to accept her. All of you, letting bygones be bygones. How pathetic can you be?"

A clawed hand cracked across my face.

I stumbled, barely catching myself.

The burning sting on my cheek deepened my despair—but it also hardened something inside me.

"Bonded assets. I'm still entitled to an equal split of our shared territory."

"Ronan, don't push this too far. I've agreed to the Bond Dissolution. But if you think I'm walking away with nothing—"

I swept my gaze around the great hall of the central den.

My voice came out iron-hard: "If you force me to leave empty-handed, I'll die right here in this longhouse."

I'd never been one to make scenes or throw tantrums.

If they hadn't pushed me this far, I would have kept my dignity intact.

But leaving with nothing? That was the one thing I couldn't accept. My parents were in poor health, dependent on expensive healer tinctures and suppressants.

Ronan's eyes went bloodshot at my words, his wolf rising close to the surface.

"It's not leaving with nothing. I'm giving you a hundred thousand gold-marks."

"That's all you're getting. If we're talking about building this territory from nothing, I'm the one who did the real work."

I stared at him, stunned.

He was comparing labor with me?

We were in the den-restoration trade.

When we first started our small crew, we'd gone to clients' dens ourselves—measuring chambers, reinforcing walls with our own claws, hauling heavy stone and timber.

Sure, he was stronger in his shifted form. He'd done more of the physical work.

But I'd handled everything else. Running to the market stalls at dawn, cooking every meal over the fire pit, keeping us fed and functioning through harsh winters.

And now, today, it had become his hard work that mattered—implying I'd contributed nothing.

My voice tore out of me: "Ronan, you're disgusting."

Ronan waved his hand, already done with me. "Mother, Father—throw her out of the den. Bar the gates behind her."