Chapter 1

I stood center stage at my own art exhibition, surrounded by the Pack elite who looked at me with nothing but pity.

My husband, the Alpha Prime, was missing.

Then someone pointed at the TV. There was Dante, live on the news, shielding another woman-a leggy Beta named Isabella-from the rain with his own body.

While I stood alone, treated like a defect because I couldn't shift, he was playing the perfect gentleman to his mistress.

That night, I walked into his office with a stack of boring gallery logistics paperwork.

Buried deep on page four was a Severance Bond-an archaic law declaring a mate unwanted property.

Dante didn't even read it. He was too busy laughing with Isabella to notice he was legally signing away his wife.

I took the folder, packed a bag, and vanished into the night, taking the secret of his unborn heir with me.

When he finally tracked me down in the Swiss Alps during a blizzard, he expected a submissive wife ready to return.

Instead, he found a woman who looked him in the eye and said, "You are not needed here."

I thought I was free, until a year later, when our daughter's blood began to burn her alive from the inside.

Her powerful Alpha bloodline was at war with her body, and my magic wasn't enough to save her.

Trembling, I dialed the number I swore I'd never call again.

"Dante," I sobbed. "It's Luna. She's dying."

The man who once treated me like a resource tore through mountains to save us.

But this time, the Alpha Prime didn't come to conquer.

He came to kneel.

Chapter 1

Elara POV:

The gallery reeked. Sure, on the surface it was expensive champagne and Chanel No. 5, but underneath? It smelled like wet dog and condescension.

I stood dead center in the "Blood Moon Gallery," gripping my hands together to stop the shaking. The Pack elite circled like sharks in tuxedos, swirling their drinks. They'd look at my oils-violent, messy depictions of wolf history-and then look at me.

The look. That suffocating, "poor little thing" glance reserved for a defect. An Omega who couldn't shift.

"Nice pictures, Elara," a Gamma woman said, breezing past without breaking stride. She didn't care about the art. She just wanted to be seen being nice to the Alpha's charity case.

I checked my phone. Black screen. Nothing.

*Dante. The curator is starting. Where are you?*

I pushed the thought through the Mind-Link. Usually, a mate bond feels like a live wire-a hum of electricity. Tonight? Dead air. He had the mental wall up. Again.

Inside, my wolf scraped against my ribs, desperate for him. I ignored her.

"Hey, check the TV," someone muttered by the shrimp cocktail.

I turned. The flat-screen on the wall was broadcasting the "Pack Alliance Summit" downtown. Rain lashed the city streets on screen. The camera zoomed in on a black SUV.

Dante.

God, he looked good. Even in pixels, he was lethal. Broad shoulders stretching a custom suit, jaw set like granite. The kind of man who could level a room just by walking into it.

Then the passenger door opened.

Isabella. The neighboring Alpha's daughter. A Beta. Leggy, ambitious, and wearing a dress that cost more than my entire exhibit. She stumbled in her heels. Dante's hand shot out, catching her waist. He pulled her close, shielding her from the rain with his own body. She laughed, leaning into his chest.

He didn't let go.

The chyron scrolled beneath them: *Alpha Sovrano and the Perfect Match?*

The gallery went silent. I could feel the heat of a hundred stares burning into my back. My scent-usually vanilla and jasmine-curdled. It smelled like burnt sugar and shame.

My phone buzzed. Finally.

Dante: *Pack business ran over. Go home.*

That was it. No "Sorry." No "Good luck." Just an order.

I stared at the screen until the pixels blurred. For four years, I swallowed the excuses. Being Alpha Prime of a Chicago business empire meant sacrifice. Since I was the "broken" mate, the one who couldn't shift, I had to be the understanding one.

But he wasn't sacrificing anything. I was.

"He's not coming, little bird."

I flinched. Julian, the Rogue artist I'd hired for framing, was leaning against the emergency exit. He smelled like sage and dirt-a cover for his lack of pack scent.

"Julian," I wiped my eye fast. "You can't be here."

"Neither should you," Julian said, his voice low. "He's eating you alive, Elara. You're not a partner to him. You're a Xanax. He comes to you to calm his wolf down after a fight, and then he leaves. You're a resource."

I wanted to snap at him. I wanted to use my Luna voice. But I didn't have a Luna voice. I was just the Alpha's pet.

My wolf went still.

*Resource.*

On the screen, Dante's hand was still on the small of Isabella's back as he guided her inside.

Something in my chest didn't break. It just... clicked off.

"Julian," I said, my voice steadying. "That lawyer you mentioned. The one who handles 'complicated' exits?"

Julian raised an eyebrow. "The Severance Bond guy? That's archaic law, Elara. It declares a mate unwanted property. No Alpha signs that voluntarily."

"Dante doesn't read what I give him," I said, the realization cold and sharp. "He thinks I'm too stupid to understand contracts. He thinks I just color in lines."

I turned my back on the TV. I turned my back on the room full of pity.

"Give me the number. I'm firing him."

*