Chapter 3

Kelsey POV

The sky over Paris was a flat, unyielding gray, a perfect mirror to the churning turmoil in my gut.

I sat in the cramped breakroom of the small art gallery where I had found a job sweeping floors and organizing stock. It wasn't glamorous, far from the life I once knew, but it was mine.

I pulled out my phone. I knew I shouldn't look. It was like picking at a festering scab, but the compulsion was stronger than my will.

The video was trending on the Werewolf social network. *Silver Crest Charity Gala.*

I jammed in my earbuds.

The camera panned over the ballroom-the same ballroom where I had almost died weeks ago. It was restored, glittering under the crystal chandeliers, erasing any trace of my pain.

Aria sat at the head table, right where the Luna should sit. She was holding a microphone, her cheeks flushed with wine. She looked smug, preening like a cat that had gotten the cream.

"Oh, stop it," she giggled, waving at someone off-camera. "Everyone keeps asking how Bennett and I are so close."

She leaned in, lowering her voice conspiratorially, as if sharing a secret with the entire world.

"The truth is," she said, "we've been connected since we were kids. Before *she* came along."

My stomach dropped like a stone.

"You know that leather necklace Bennett wears?" Aria continued, twirling a lock of hair around her finger. "The one he says is a family heirloom? I made that for him when we were sixteen. He promised me then that he'd never take it off. And he hasn't."

I froze. The air left my lungs.

The leather cord. Bennett wore it every day. He told me it was from his grandfather. He told me it was a symbol of Alpha protection. I had touched it, revered it, traced the worn leather with my fingertips while he slept.

It was a love token from his mistress.

It was a collar.

I rushed to the small bathroom in the back of the gallery, barely making it to the sink before I dry-heaved. Nothing came up but bile and bitterness.

Everything was a lie. Not just the marriage. The friendship. The history.

He hadn't just neglected me. He had actively mocked me every single day by wearing her promise around his neck while sleeping in my bed.

I splashed cold water on my face. My reflection looked pale, haunted. But my eyes... my eyes were changing. The soft hazel was shifting, swallowed by a rising tide of molten silver.

My wolf was angry. She was scratching at the walls of my mind.

I went back to the video. I had to see it all. I had to drink the poison to the dregs.

"Bennett is so loyal," Aria cooed. "He only married Kelsey because his father forced the alliance. He told me every night, 'Just wait, Aria. Just wait until the pack is stable. Then we can be together properly.'"

The camera shifted. Bennett walked into the frame.

He placed a hand on Aria's shoulder. He looked at her with a softness I had never, ever seen directed at me. It was a look of adoration.

"Aria," he chided gently, but he was smiling. "You're telling secrets."

He didn't deny it.

He didn't say, "That's not true." He didn't defend my honor. He didn't defend our marriage. He just smiled at her like she was a mischievous puppy.

"Whatever makes you happy," he said, kissing the top of her head.

I turned off the phone. The screen went black, and with it, the last of my hope.

The grief that had been weighing me down, the heavy, wet blanket of sadness, suddenly evaporated.

In its place was fire. Scorching, purifying fire.

I wasn't sad anymore. I was disgusted. I felt dirty for ever having loved him. I felt foolish for every tear I had shed over a man who was playing house with another woman the entire time.

"Kelsey?"

I looked up. My boss, Monsieur Dubois, was standing at the door, a broom in his hand. "Are you alright? You look... intense."

"I'm fine, Monsieur," I said. My voice sounded different. Deeper. Resonant. It vibrated in my chest. "I'm just realizing that I've been reading the wrong book my whole life."

"Pardon?"

"I'm done being the victim," I said.

I picked up my phone again. I opened my email. I drafted a message to the Pack Council-not to Bennett, but to the Elders. My thumbs moved with lethal precision.

*Subject: Formal Resignation and Abdication.*

*To the Council of Silver Crest,*

*Effective immediately, I abdicate the position of Luna. I confirm that the mating bond between myself and Alpha Bennett Randolph has been rejected by me due to infidelity and failure of duty. I claim no alimony. I claim no ties. I leave him to his true mate, and the lies they have built their foundation upon.*

*Regards,*

*Kelsey Jensen.*

I hit send. The action felt like dropping a match onto gasoline.

I walked to the window and looked out at the Eiffel Tower piercing the clouds.

My Inner Wolf stood up inside my mind. She was massive. She was snowy white. And she threw back her head and howled, a sound of pure, unadulterated rage that echoed silently through my very soul.

*Let them burn,* she whispered.