Chapter 4

Hayley's Perspective:

The air at forty thousand feet was clean and crisp.

I sat in the leather seat of my charter-not my Gulfstream, but a smaller, faster Learjet.

I swirled the champagne in my glass. It tasted like victory.

The phone on the table buzzed. It had been buzzing for an hour.

I finally picked it up. Forty-seven missed calls from Jackson. Twelve from Cornelia. Five from "Pack Attorney."

Ignoring them all, I dialed another number.

"Council of Wolves, Legal Division. Which pack, please?"

"This is Dr. Hayley Hogan. I'm filing a Clause Seven revocation against Alpha Jackson Dorsey."

Silence on the line for a moment. Clause Seven was rare. It was the "bad faith" clause.

Normally, the male filed against the female for infidelity. A female filing against a male for financial or emotional incompetence was almost unheard of.

"Dr. Hogan... are you sure? This will freeze all assets associated with the mating bond immediately."

"I know," I said. "I want the divorce papers served to him electronically. Serve them now."

"Very well. We'll need a reason to file."

"Adultery," I said. "Embezzlement of pack funds. And..." I paused, looking out the window at the clouds. "Stupidity."

"I'll... I'll mark it as 'irreconcilable differences,' ma'am."

"Do it."

I hung up.

Almost instantly, a searing pain lanced through my chest.

The Bond.

The filing of the legal document had triggered the magical severance.

The golden thread that connected my soul to Jackson's pulled taut.

I gritted my teeth. The pain was visceral, like a hook being yanked from my heart.

But beneath the pain, there was relief.

My phone lit up again. A text from Jackson.

Jackson: Cards aren't working. Hotel canceled our reservations. They said the card we registered was reported stolen. Hayley, fix this NOW! We're stranded!

I smiled and didn't reply.

Instead, I opened the mind-link for the last time.

The connection was fuzzy. He was still trying to block me, but his panic leaked through.

"Hayley! Answer me! Where are you?" His voice echoed in my head.

I took a sip of champagne.

"I'm flying to St. Barts," I projected clearly, cutting through the noise in his mind. "The weather is lovely there this time of year."

"St. Barts? You were supposed to be on a cargo flight! Listen to me, send money. Amber is crying. She's stressed. It's bad for the baby!"

"Jackson, there is no baby," I said. "And even if there were, not my problem."

"You're my mate! You're the Luna! You have responsibilities!"

"My responsibilities ended when you gave my seat to your mistress," I replied. "I've instructed the bank to flag any transactions from your location as fraud. You have no access to the trust or the contingency fund."

"How are we supposed to get home?!" The fear in his voice was delicious.

"Run!" I said. "You're a wolf, right? Use your legs!"

"Hayley, please. Mom's sick. She needs her medication."

"Tell Amber to heal her. Oh, wait. Amber's a thief. She can't heal anything."

"I command you to-"

How cute. He still thought he could command me.

When I loved him, he was an Alpha.

When I took my love back, with interest.

"Goodbye, Jackson."

I closed my eyes and visualized the golden thread in my mind.

Ragged. Ugly. Tainted by his betrayal.

I pictured a silver pair of scissors.

Snip.

The crack was audible in the physical plane. A shockwave rippled through the cabin, rattling the glasses.

The link was gone. The lingering shadow of Jackson in my mind-his moods, his wants, his selfishness-vanished.

Silence. Beautiful, absolute silence.

I let out a long breath, realizing I'd been holding it.

I looked down at my left hand. The diamond that symbolized my oppression glittered.

I walked to the garbage chute and dropped the ring in.

Trash to trash, I whispered mentally.

I went back to my seat. The pilot's voice came over the speaker.

"Dr. Hogan, we're beginning our descent into St. Barts. A car from the Sanctuary will be waiting for you."

"Thank you," I said.

I picked up my phone one last time and opened the banking app.

Dorsey Pack Operating Account: $0.00

Hayley Hogan Personal Trust: $550,000,000.00

I locked the screen.

I didn't need to do anything else to Jackson. When he realized the accounts were zeroed out, he'd implode on his own.

He didn't know yet that he wasn't coming back to a den. He didn't know the deed was in my name.

The best was yet to come.