Chapter 6

Elara Vance POV:

Days later, the burn of exertion was a welcome fire in my muscles. I ducked under a sweeping punch from Gavin, my feet moving instinctively across the packed earth of the Sterling training grounds. Sweat slicked my skin, and my lungs worked hard, but I felt more alive than I had in years.

Gavin was no longer my adversary. After our trial, he had become my most dedicated training partner. He had a warrior's respect for strength, and I had earned his. The animosity was gone, replaced by the easy camaraderie of soldiers.

Kael often watched our sessions from the sidelines. He rarely interfered, but I could feel his sharp, analytical gaze on me, assessing my every move, my every decision. I was constantly aware that I was still being tested.

We were in the middle of a complex sparring sequence when it happened.

A voice, cold and familiar, sliced into my mind without warning. It was Zane. He was using our mind-link, the bond we had forged seven years ago, a bond I had thought my letter would have formally severed by now.

*"Elara. I need my study organized. Where did you put the old defensive schematics for Moonspring Valley?"*

His tone was just as I remembered: imperious, demanding, and utterly confident of my immediate compliance. He wasn't asking; he was commanding. As if I were still just down the hall, waiting to do his bidding.

The mental intrusion was so abrupt, so jarring, that I froze for a split second. My rhythm broke. Gavin's fist, meant to be blocked, whistled past my ear, the wind of it caressing my cheek.

Lyra erupted in a furious snarl inside my head. *"Tell him to go to hell! We owe him nothing!"*

I sucked in a sharp breath, clamping down on my own surge of white-hot anger. I couldn't afford to react. I couldn't let him know where I was or what I was feeling. Any emotional response would be a crack in my armor.

I shielded my thoughts, projecting an icy calm I did not feel. Then, I sent back a reply, my mental voice flat and devoid of any emotion.

*"Third shelf of the main bookcase. Second archive box from the right."*

In the Blackwood conference room, Zane was in the middle of a war council meeting. He had casually linked me in front of his entire command staff, needing a file and assuming I was available to fetch it, like a well-trained dog.

He received my reply and a flicker of annoyance crossed his face at my cold, clipped tone. But he didn't dwell on it. She's still sulking, he probably thought. He turned to Kian. "Go get it." Then he seamlessly continued the meeting as if nothing had happened.

But on the Sterling training ground, my momentary lapse had not gone unnoticed.

Kael's eyes had narrowed. He'd seen my infinitesimal hesitation, the sudden tension in my shoulders. He caught Gavin's eye and made a subtle gesture, bringing the sparring session to a halt.

He walked over to me, his presence a solid, grounding force. He lowered his voice so only I could hear. "What was that? Blackwood?" He was preternaturally perceptive; he must have felt the faint echo of another Alpha's mental energy.

I gave a stiff nod, my face pale. "It was Zane." The words felt like poison on my tongue. "He... he thinks I'm still there."

In that instant, the full, humiliating truth crashed down on me. It wasn't just that he hadn't processed my departure. He hadn't even noticed it. My letter, my dramatic exit, my entire act of rebellion-it had been so insignificant to him that it hadn't even registered. The indifference was a deeper wound than the betrayal itself.

Kael's amber eyes darkened with understanding. He pieced it together instantly. "Your rejection notice. He never filed it."

A bitter, humorless laugh escaped my lips. "He probably never even read it."

That realization was the final cut. It severed the last, invisible thread of connection I might have felt to my old life. I wasn't a rebel waiting for her freedom to be acknowledged. I was a ghost. A non-entity. Forgotten.

And a ghost has nothing left to lose.

My spine straightened. The last of the hurt burned away, leaving behind something hard and sharp as tempered steel. I looked up at Kael, my eyes clear and fierce.

"Alpha," I said, my voice ringing with newfound resolve. "I think it's time I severed this link for good."

A formal rejection required both parties, but a one-sided block was possible. It would be painful, a psychic tearing, but it was necessary. I would not be his dog on a leash, to be summoned at his whim.