Chapter 7

Elara Nightwind POV:

Ryker sank back into the high-backed chair behind him, the wood groaning under his weight. The fight had gone out of him, replaced by a deep, hollowed-out shock. The council chamber was utterly silent, the air thick with the death of a thirteen-year bond.

His Beta and Gamma exchanged a nervous glance. They understood. It was over. The Alpha had no move left to make.

He lifted his head, the raw anger in his eyes gone. In its place was a profound, aching confusion. He was looking at me, but I knew he was seeing thirteen years of his own blindness.

"My mother..." he began, his voice raspy. "Did she know you would do this?"

It was his last, desperate attempt to find some leverage, to wield the memory of the woman we both loved as a weapon. He needed to believe she wouldn't have approved of this, that I was betraying her, too.

I shook my head. "No. She never knew. My promise to her was real."

"She wanted you to stay! She chose you for me!" he insisted, a raw note of pleading in his voice.

A wave of pity, swift and unwelcome, washed over me. "She chose me because she was the only one who saw my wolf, not just my bloodline," I explained, my voice softening. "She hoped I would temper you, Ryker. That I could help you become a better man."

I paused, letting the truth settle.

"But it is not my job to fix you. I am my own person, not a tool for your self-improvement."

My duty to her is done. Now, I have a duty to myself.

Those words were the final blow. He couldn't use his mother's love as a chain to bind me. He squeezed his eyes shut, a shudder running through his powerful frame. When he opened them again, all that remained was a weary, beaten resignation.

"Fine," he said. Just one word.

It was the sound of surrender.

The Beta and Gamma let out a collective, quiet sigh of relief. A catastrophe for the pack had been averted, even if their Alpha's world had just been shattered.

Ryker's golden eyes searched my face, looking for a sign-any sign-of hesitation, of regret, of lingering affection.

He found nothing but a calm, empty peace.

"What are your terms?" he asked, his voice flat. He expected a list of demands. Land, wealth, a title. A price for his freedom. His lieutenants leaned forward slightly, also expecting me to name my price. They thought this was all an elaborate negotiation for a golden parachute.

I almost smiled at how little they knew me. How little he knew me.

"I have no terms," I said.

The three of them stared at me, dumbfounded.

"What does that mean?" Ryker asked, his brow furrowed in genuine confusion.

"It means I forfeit my claim to everything," I stated, my voice clear and precise. "The lands, the properties, the Luna's private accounts, the jewels... I want none of it."

I let my gaze sweep over each of them before landing back on Ryker.

"I will walk out of Stonecrest with the clothes I am wearing and one other thing: my name."

Elara Nightwind.

If my rejection had been a dagger, those words were the twist. To demand a fortune would have meant the past thirteen years had value, something worth being compensated for. To demand nothing meant it was all worthless. It meant *he* was worthless to me. It was the ultimate statement of indifference.

I saw his jaw tighten, a muscle twitching in his cheek. His hand, resting on the arm of the chair, clenched into a fist. For the first time, I saw a flicker of real, personal pain in his eyes-not wounded pride, but the sharp agony of loss.

He was finally realizing that he wasn't just losing a political arrangement. He was losing a part of his own soul, a part he had never bothered to cherish until the moment it was gone forever.

He pushed himself to his feet, his movements stiff.

"To the Elderstone," he commanded, his voice a low, gravelly rasp. "Now."