Chapter 4

Ava POV

The bathroom smelled of bitter herbs and suffocating steam.

I stirred the dark liquid in the ceramic bowl. It looked like poison. In truth, that is exactly what it was.

My hand hovered over the cup, trembling.

Tears streamed down my face, hot and fast. I wasn't crying for Ethan. I wasn't even crying for myself. I was crying for the innocence I was about to murder.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to the darkness. "I can't let you be his."

I brought the cup to my lips.

And I drank.

It tasted like ash and burning rubber. I gagged, my throat seizing in protest, but I forced it down.

Ten minutes later, the pain hit.

It felt like a serrated knife being twisted inside my womb. I curled up on the cold tile floor, biting into a folded towel to stifle my screams.

Cramps. Blood. Agony.

It went on for hours. Or maybe minutes. Time lost its meaning, dissolving into a blur of red and black.

When it was over, I felt hollow. Physically and spiritually. A part of me was gone forever.

But as I lay there, shivering on the tiles, I felt something else.

The heavy, suffocating weight of the Alpha's command... it was lifting. The chain was broken.

I cleaned myself up. I cleaned the bathroom. I left no trace of the tragedy that had just occurred.

Weakly, I walked into the bedroom. It was empty. Ethan was still with Olivia.

I placed the divorce papers on his pillow. Next to them, I placed the positive pregnancy test, snapped in half.

I took a deep breath, steadying my shaking core. I needed to do this formally. The Moon Goddess needed to hear it.

I stood in the center of the room, closed my eyes, and tapped into the broken, drug-induced bond one last time.

*"I, Ava Miller, reject you, Ethan Cole, as my mate."*

I felt the snap.

It wasn't a clean break. It was like ripping a rusted fishhook out of my soul. I gasped, falling to my knees as the backlash hit me. The pain was blinding, searing my chest.

*Accepted...*

I didn't wait for his response. I knew he felt it. Wherever he was, touching Olivia, he just felt his soul tear open.

Good.

I grabbed my duffel bag. I had packed light. Cash, a raincoat, and the photo of my father.

I walked out of the bedroom. I walked down the grand staircase for the very last time.

Thunder rumbled outside. The sky opened up, rain pouring down in torrential sheets.

I stepped out the front door. The rain was freezing, but it felt like a baptism.

*Ava!*

Ethan's voice exploded in my head. It was panicked. Furious.

*AVA! WHAT DID YOU DO?*

He was trying to use the Alpha Command.

*STOP! I COMMAND YOU TO STOP!*

I paused at the gate. I turned back to the house looming in the dark.

My eyes flashed silver.

*Your command means nothing to me,* I projected back. My mental voice was strong, amplified by the power of the White Wolf.

I visualized a wall of impenetrable steel and slammed it down, severing the Mind-Link.

Silence.

Beautiful, absolute silence.

I pulled my hood up and walked into the storm. I didn't look back. The weak Omega was dead in that bathroom.

The White Wolf was hunting for freedom.