Chapter 2

Florence POV:

I woke up feeling like I had been hollowed out with a rusty spoon.

My hip throbbed with a deep, bone-level ache where they had drilled into me. I was back in a recovery room, but it wasn't the VIP suite. It was a storage closet converted into a temporary ward. Mops and buckets lined the far wall.

I tried to sit up and failed. My body was completely drained.

The door opened. Julius walked in.

He looked fresh, showered, and annoyed.

"Finally," he said. "Kenzie is stabilizing. The marrow took."

"Where is Ava?" I whispered, my voice like sandpaper.

"In the nursery. She's fine." He tossed a clipboard onto my legs. "Sign this."

I looked down. It was a Non-Disclosure Agreement. And a transfer of assets.

"What is this?"

"It states that you donated the marrow voluntarily," Julius said, checking his watch. "And that you are transferring your 20% stake in the architecture firm to Kenzie. As a... get-well gift."

I laughed. It hurt my ribs, but I laughed.

"You stole my body parts, Julius. Now you want my life's work?"

"You have no leverage, Florence. Sign it, or I send Ava to a boarding school in the Rogue territories. I hear the survival rate is... low."

Something inside me shattered. Not a bone, but the last tether of affection I held for this man. The ten years of hiding, of pretending to be weak, of loving him... it all turned to ash.

I looked at the pen. I picked it up.

I signed the paper.

"Good girl," Julius smirked, snatching the clipboard. "I, Alpha Julius Carroll, reject you, Florence Horton, as my wife. Pack your things. You have one hour to vacate the premises."

He didn't wait for a reaction. He turned and walked out, eager to get back to his 'Fated Mate'.

The moment the door clicked shut, the air in the room shifted.

"You can come out now," I whispered.

A shadow in the corner detached itself from the darkness. Sarah, the head of my father's Royal Guard.

"Princess," Sarah said, her voice thick with suppressed rage. "The King is two miles out. He wants to level this building."

"No," I said, swinging my legs off the bed. I hissed as pain shot through my hip, but I forced myself to stand. "Not yet. If we strike now, he becomes a martyr. I want him to be nothing."

"Your orders?"

"Get Ava. Get the car. We're leaving."

I limped toward the door. I paused, looking at the empty IV bag hanging by the bed.

"Julius thinks he took everything," I murmured, my eyes flashing silver in the dim light. "He has no idea he just woke up the White Wolf."