Chapter 2

Azalea POV:

My hands didn't start shaking until I was in the car.

I gripped the steering wheel so hard my knuckles turned white. The pain in my chest was excruciating.

It wasn't a heart attack. It was the Mate Bond screaming.

Even though Caleb was a traitorous coward, my soul still recognized him as Mate. Leaving him felt like tearing my own skin off, strip by strip.

My phone buzzed on the passenger seat.

Caleb: You are making a huge mistake. Come back now before you embarrass yourself further.

I ignored it. I merged onto the highway, the city lights blurring into streaks of neon blood.

Another buzz.

Caleb: Kimberly thinks you're having a breakdown. She's right. I've called the Pack doctors. They are waiting for you at the Sanctuary. Go there. Now.

I let out a bitter, choked laugh.

The Sanctuary. It sounded peaceful, but it was a prison. It was the mental ward where they locked up "defective" wolves who went feral.

If I went there, he would have power of attorney. He would take my shares, my land, my money. He would declare me incompetent.

He wasn't just cheating. He was planning a coup.

My vision blurred with tears. The pain in my gut twisted, a visceral cramping that made me gasp for air.

I needed an anchor.

I dialed the one number I knew by heart.

"Azalea?" The voice on the other end was sharp, alert.

"Azura," I choked out. "I... I left him."

"Where are you?" Azura didn't ask why. She didn't ask for details. She was a high-ranking Beta, a warrior born and bred. Her instinct was to protect.

"I'm on the I-95. Heading north. I don't know where to go."

"Come to my apartment. I'm already putting the kettle on. And Azalea?"

"Yes?"

"If he follows you, I will rip his throat out."

I hung up. The threat gave me a tiny sliver of comfort.

Another text came through. This one wasn't from Caleb.

Kimberly: Don't forget your medication, sweetie. You know how you get when you're hysterical. I'll take good care of the Pack while you recover.

I stared at the screen. The audacity. The sheer, venomous confidence.

My thumb hovered over the screen.

Reply: Don't.

Then, I blocked her. I blocked Caleb. I blocked the house landline.

I pulled up to Azura's building twenty minutes later. The moment I stepped out of the car, the night air hit me. It smelled of exhaust and freedom.

Azura was waiting in the lobby. She was tall, with muscles that rippled under her tank top. When she saw me, her face softened.

She opened her arms, and I collapsed into them.

She smelled like sage and earth-a grounding, stable scent. It silenced the chaotic noise in my head.

"I've got you," she whispered, stroking my hair. "You're safe."

We went upstairs. She sat me down and shoved a mug of hot tea into my hands.

"He wants to commit me," I said, my voice hollow. "He wants to say I'm crazy so he can keep the inheritance."

Azura's eyes darkened. She bared her teeth, her canines extending slightly. "Over my dead body."

She pulled out her tablet. "I've already messaged Elder Thomas. He knows the law better than anyone. If Caleb wants a war, we'll give him a war."

I looked out the window. From here, I could see the distant lights of the Nexus Tower. It looked like a jagged tooth biting into the sky.

"I don't just want a divorce, Azura," I whispered.

The pain in my chest was changing. It was hardening. The grief was crystallizing into something sharp and cold.

"What do you want?" she asked.

I touched the empty spot on my neck where a Mate Mark should have been. Caleb had never marked me. He said he was waiting for me to Shift, but now I knew the truth. He was ashamed of me.

"I want to burn it down," I said. "I want him to lose everything he built on my back."

Azura grinned. It was a terrifying, beautiful sight.

"Good," she said. "Let's get to work."