Chapter 4

Liv POV

I didn't stop running. The heavy oak doors of the Grand Ballroom slammed shut behind me, cutting off the shocked murmurs, but I could still hear my bridesmaids-Lara, Rose, and Vio-calling my name in a panic. I ignored them, my bare feet sinking into the plush carpet as I sprinted for the elevators.

I slammed my hand against the button. The moment the metal doors slid shut, my knees gave out. I slid down the cold wall, my chest heaving as a violent wave of nausea hit me. My mind was a chaotic warzone. The phantom scent of Aaron's *sunlit grass and musk* twisted sickeningly with the overwhelming, possessive memory of *winter-bitten cedar and ancient leather*.

Kaelon. The Alpha King. My fiancé's father.

I dry-heaved, wrapping my arms around my stomach as the elevator descended.

When the doors dinged open to the freezing, fluorescent-lit expanse of the underground parking lot, I stumbled out. The cold concrete bit into my soles. I collapsed against the hood of the red Ferrari Portofino Aaron had gifted me, the vibrant color looking like a fresh bloodstain in the gray emptiness.

My phone shattered the silence.

*Clara.*

I answered with trembling fingers, a pathetic, lingering part of my soul desperate for a shred of maternal comfort. "Mom-"

"Are you out of your mind?!" Clara's voice shrieked through the speaker, devoid of any warmth. "You publicly humiliated an Alpha heir! Do you have any idea what you've done to the Stone Pack?"

"He was sleeping with Vivienne!" I cried, my voice cracking. "In our suite!"

"And you should have kept your mouth shut!" she snapped, her words dripping with venom. "Vivienne knows her worth, and Aaron is a man with needs. You are a *wolfless Omega*, Olivia. You should have been on your knees thanking the Moon Goddess for the chance to be a Luna. Instead, you threw a tantrum and ruined everything."

The words felt like a physical blow, shattering the last illusion I held about my family.

"You are no longer part of the Stone Pack," Clara hissed, her tone turning to absolute ice. "I have no daughter."

The line went dead.

I stared at the black screen. A hollow, freezing calm washed over me, freezing my tears before they could fall. I looked down at the gleaming red hood of the Ferrari. It wasn't a gift; it was a collar. And I was going to rip it off.

*

The morning sun offered no warmth as I pulled up to the towering iron gates of the Blackwood Estate. The Gothic stone manor loomed like a fortress against the pale sky. I didn't bother knocking. The heavy oak doors were already ajar, the air bleeding out into the courtyard.

The moment I stepped into the grand foyer, the sheer force of the atmospheric pressure nearly brought me to my knees. The air was suffocating, thick with the enraged, dominant scent of *winter-bitten cedar and ancient leather*.

In the center of the black-and-white marble floor, Aaron was on his knees, looking utterly pathetic. Towering over him was Kaelon.

"You didn't just humiliate yourself," Kaelon's voice boomed, laced with a terrifying Alpha's Command that rattled the portraits of past Alphas on the walls. "You humiliated the entire Blackwood Pack!"

I froze, my knuckles turning white as I gripped the Ferrari keys.

At the slight scuff of my bare foot against the marble, Kaelon stopped. He turned slowly. The moment his steel-gray eyes locked onto mine, the furious storm within them vanished. In its place, a terrifying, golden fire ignited in his irises. The oppressive anger in his scent shifted instantly, morphing into something infinitely darker, deeper, and completely predatory.

*Mine.* The unspoken roar of his inner wolf seemed to vibrate through the very floorboards.

Following his father's gaze, Aaron snapped his head toward me. His tear-streaked face twisted, a toxic mix of humiliation, disbelief, and desperate resentment flooding his features as he realized I was standing right in the center of the Alpha's den.