Chapter 6

Elara POV

Dessert was a blur of clinking silver and suffocating tension. When we finally relocated to the drawing room, the Pack photographer was already waiting by the massive stone fireplace, his camera lens reflecting the roaring flames.

"A family portrait," Declan announced smoothly, though his Alpha aura pressed down on the room like a physical weight.

Before I could step away, Declan's hand clamped around my waist. He pulled me roughly onto his lap, his fingers digging into my hip. The overwhelming scent of smoked cedarwood and cold steel enveloped me, making my stomach churn. He leaned in, his lips brushing my ear in what looked like a lover's caress.

"*Smile, or your brother gets nothing but a shallow grave,*" he whispered, a low, vibrating growl that sent a spike of pure terror down my spine.

I forced the corners of my mouth up. The camera flashed, immortalizing the lie.

Once the photographer was dismissed, Declan didn't reach for a checkbook. Instead, he pulled a thick, legal document from his jacket and tossed it onto the glass coffee table.

"Sign it," Declan commanded.

Joseph picked it up, his hands shaking violently. "This... this is a loan. The interest rate is-and you want the deed to the house? The cars?"

"I am an Alpha, Joseph, not a charity," Declan said, his voice dropping to a lethal calm. "Any default will be considered an incursion on Blackwood territory. My Warriors will execute the penalty personally. Sign."

Under the crushing weight of Pack violence, Joseph practically sobbed as he scribbled his name. Lydia shot me a look of pure, venomous hatred, blaming me for their ruin, before dragging her trembling son out the heavy oak doors.

As the taillights of their car vanished down the driveway, a sickening wave of disgust washed over me. Declan hadn't just humiliated them; he had chained them. And he had done it to remind me of my place.

"Go to your room, Elara," Declan ordered without looking at me, heading toward his study.

I didn't go to my room. Five minutes later, I was walking barefoot down the Main Hallway, my steps completely silent against the cold marble. I approached the slightly ajar door of the Alpha's Study.

"...I know, baby," Declan's voice drifted through the crack. It was soft. Tender. A tone I had never heard directed at me. "I'll deal with the wolfless problem soon. I promise. You and Ava will be moving into the master suite before the end of the month."

The words pierced my chest like a silver blade. He wasn't just hiding them; he was actively planning to erase me.

I didn't cry. The betrayal burned away the last lingering shreds of my fear, leaving only a cold, sharp clarity. I turned and sprinted silently to the small study in the East Wing.

My hands flew across the keyboard of the hidden computer. I pulled up the digital copy of the Bloodline Continuation Agreement. I deleted the title, replacing it with *Termination of the Bloodline Continuation Agreement*. I adjusted the margins and font to perfectly match the heavy parchment Blood Pacts I had seen stacked on his desk. I printed it, grabbed a red "Sign Here" tab from the drawer, and stuck it to the bottom line.

My heart hammered against my ribs as I crept back to the Alpha's Study.

Declan was standing by the window, his back to the door, still murmuring into his phone. Because I was wolfless, my scent-a faint trace of petrichor and wild freesia-was practically nonexistent. His Alpha senses, completely clouded by his affection for Karly, didn't register my presence.

I slipped through the door like a ghost. The stack of Blood Pacts sat on the corner of his mahogany desk, bound in a loose red ribbon. With trembling fingers, I slid my forged termination agreement right into the middle of the pile.

I retreated into the heavy shadows near the bookshelf just as Declan turned around.

He sighed, rubbing his temples. "I have to go, Karly. I have a mountain of Pack contracts to sign... Yes, I love you too."

He ended the call and dropped into his leather chair. Annoyed and distracted, he grabbed his heavy fountain pen and pulled the stack of Pacts toward him. He didn't read them. He just flipped the pages, signing his name on the red tabs with aggressive, practiced strokes.

*Flip. Sign. Flip. Sign.*

He reached my document. His eyes briefly scanned the dense legal text, but a sudden chime from his phone-a text from Karly-pulled his gaze away. A faint smile touched his lips. Without looking back at the paper, he slashed his signature across the bottom line.

He tossed the paper into the wire tray marked *Completed*.

I stood frozen in the dark, watching the wet ink of his signature gleam under the desk lamp.