Chapter 6

Eleanor POV

The air in the hospital room didn't just shift; it shattered the moment he spoke.

"I believe," the stranger rumbled, his voice vibrating through the floorboards and straight into the marrow of my bones, "the lady is finished with you."

I looked up.

Julian Croft. The Alpha King.

He filled the doorway, a wall of raw, predatory power. But it wasn't fear that seized my throat. It was recognition.

It hit me like a physical blow-a scent that drowned out the antiseptic stench of the hospital and the metallic tang of my own blood. It was the smell of ozone before a storm, the depth of ancient cedar forests, and the sharp, electric promise of rain hitting hot asphalt.

My inner wolf, who had been roaring in triumph just moments ago, suddenly went still. Then, she threw her head back and howled a single, possessive word that echoed in the cavern of my mind.

*Mine!*

My heart hammered against my ribs, not in panic, but in a rhythm that matched the thrumming energy radiating from him. My skin prickled, every nerve ending standing at attention.

Julian stepped into the room. The pressure of his aura was immense, sucking the oxygen from the space and leaving only his dominance behind.

Marcus, still clutching his chest on the floor from the backlash of my rejection, wheezed. "Croft... this is internal pack business."

"Not anymore," Julian said. His eyes, the color of molten gold, didn't leave mine. "She rejected you. The bond is severed. She is a free agent."

He reached the side of my bed. He didn't grab me. He didn't command me. He held out a hand, palm up. An offer.

"Eleanor," he said softly. "Let's get you out of here."

I placed my hand in his.

A shock of electricity, hotter than the silver burn but infinitely more pleasurable, shot up my arm. It was the spark. The Fated Mate spark.

He lifted me effortlessly, cradling me against his chest. I buried my face in his shirt, inhaling that cedar scent. For the first time in years, the constant, low-level anxiety that buzzed in my brain went silent. I was safe.

"My Beta is collecting your things," Julian murmured as he carried me out, stepping over a sobbing Isabelle without a glance.

We drove to the edge of the Thorne territory in a sleek black SUV. I sat wrapped in a blanket, staring out the window as the familiar landscape blurred into a gray smear.

"Stop," I whispered as we passed the design studio. My studio.

Julian signaled the driver immediately. "Wait here."

I got out, my legs shaky. I needed to see it one last time. I needed to say goodbye to the only part of myself I had been allowed to keep.

I walked into the dusty room. It was stripped bare. Julian's men had been efficient. But on the far wall, the large drafting table remained.

It held the master plan for the Pack Lands. Marcus and I had worked on the borders of it together, years ago. He had carved the word *Eternity* into the wood of the table with his claw.

I walked over to it.

Someone had taken a thick black marker and scribbled over the intricate designs. Crude, childish drawings of flowers and hearts defaced the fortifications I had spent months calculating.

*Isabelle.*

It was so small. So incredibly petty. And it broke the last thread of nostalgia I held.

A Beta walked in, holding a small wooden box. His expression was one of quiet sympathy. "Miss Vance? We found this hidden beneath a loose floorboard."

I opened it. Inside was a small, wooden wolf I had carved for Marcus on our first anniversary. He had laughed at it, calling it "cute," and tossed it in a drawer. I had retrieved it later and hidden it away, a secret monument to a dead romance.

I took the carving. It felt cold and dead in my hand.

"He said our love would be solid like oak," I whispered to the empty room.

I squeezed my hand. With the new strength of the White Wolf humming in my veins, the wood didn't stand a chance. It splintered with a sharp *crack*, turning into sawdust that trickled through my fingers.

I turned and walked out. I didn't look back.

But peace was not granted so easily.

Just as I reached Julian's SUV, a familiar, flashy sports car screeched to a halt, tires smoking against the pavement.

Marcus stumbled out, pale and sweating, leaning heavily against the hood. Isabelle was beside him, her face twisted in a sneer.

"Running away with a stranger?" Isabelle taunted, stepping forward. "Croft Alpha, don't you know? She's damaged goods. The Pack threw her away."

Julian growled, a low, menacing sound that made Isabelle flinch visibly. He stepped in front of me, blocking her view.

"Careful," Julian warned, his voice dropping to a dangerous subterranean rumble. "You are speaking to my guest."

Isabelle laughed, reaching into her pocket. "Guest? She's a liar. Look at this."

She pulled out a crumpled photograph. It was old. Me and Marcus, smiling, sitting by the very tree where I had carved that wolf. We looked happy. We looked... hopeful.

"She keeps this under her pillow," Isabelle lied smoothly. "She's obsessed with him."

She shoved the photo at me.

I looked at the girl in the picture. She looked so young. So stupid.

I took the photo.

"That girl is dead," I said.

I ripped the photo in half. Then in quarters. I let the pieces fall into the mud where they belonged.

Isabelle shrieked, outraged that her prop failed to humiliate me. She lunged, her fingers curled into claws.

Before Julian could move, a Thorne Pack warrior intercepted her, holding her back.

Marcus finally pushed off the car. He stumbled toward Isabelle, wrapping his arms around her, shielding her from a threat that didn't exist. He looked at me, his eyes wide, but he didn't move toward me. He moved to *her*.

"Eleanor Vance!" he shouted, his voice cracking with the strain of his broken bond. He tried to summon his Alpha Command, but it sounded weak, hollow-a ghost of authority. "From this moment, you are banished! You are nothing to Thorne Pack! You are nothing to me!"

He was banishing someone who had already left. It was a pathetic attempt to regain control.

I looked at him, huddled over the woman who had poisoned me.

I felt... nothing. No pain. No anger. Just a vast, quiet numbness.

I turned to Julian. "I'm ready."

Julian opened the car door for me. As we drove away, leaving the Thorne lands behind, I felt the heavy chains of my past dissolve into mist.

I was an Omega with no pack. But for the first time in my life, I was free.