Chapter 6

Isla POV

The heavy oak doors clicked shut behind me, sealing me inside the opulent Royal Study. The air was thick with the Alpha King's suffocating aura-a heavy, dominant blend of amber and ambergris that demanded absolute submission from any wolf. Beta Alton Marsh stood silently in the corner, his faint ink scent barely registering under the crushing weight of the King's presence.

I sank to the plush carpet, folding my hands and bowing my head in a flawless display of Pack nobility etiquette.

"Rise, Isla," Alpha King Adrian Reynolds said, his voice softer than I expected. He sat behind his massive mahogany desk, looking at me with a mixture of pity and guilt. "You have suffered a great injustice. I am prepared to offer you a royal title, gold, and a generous estate to ease the burden of this... arrangement."

He thought my silence was sorrow. He thought my perfect posture was the fragile shell of a broken, wolfless girl.

I stood up, keeping my spine perfectly straight. I met his gaze, letting him see the absolute, icy clarity in my blue eyes.

"Your Majesty," I said, my voice steady and calm. "I am not here for gold, nor am I here for titles."

Adrian frowned, his dark brows pulling together. "Then what do you want?"

"I am here to request a Royal Severance Decree," I declared, the words ringing clearly in the quiet study. "I want to officially sever my ties with the Bloodfang Pack, and I ask you to witness my Rejection of Alpha Justin Hayes."

A stunned silence fell over the room. Beta Alton's head snapped up, and Adrian's amber eyes widened in sheer disbelief.

"Are you out of your mind?" Adrian demanded, his Alpha aura flaring in shock. "You are un-Marked, Isla. If you actively sever the bond and leave the Bloodfang Pack as a wolfless female, you will lose all protection. You will be a Rogue. As Co-Luna, your position is at least secure. You have a roof over your head."

"Secure?" I let out a soft, humorless laugh. "My mate's soul is polluted by the scent of another she-wolf. He stood before me reeking of her, demanding I share the sacred bond the Moon Goddess bestowed upon us."

I took a step closer to the desk, allowing a trace of my natural lily and cedar scent to surface-clean, unyielding, and completely untainted by the Hayes family's filth.

"My father, Alpha Arthur Crawford, did not raise me to beg for scraps of affection or share a male's bed," I continued, my dormant White Wolf radiating a silent, fierce pride. "I would rather walk into the wilderness as a Rogue than accept a fractured, disrespectful mate-bond. I will not rot in a Pack that builds its glory on the corpses of my family."

Adrian flinched. The mention of my father and the hidden, bloody truth of the border war struck a nerve deep within his Inner Wolf.

"I will take my dowry and return to the ruins of the Silvermoon Pack," I told him, my vision blurring for a fraction of a second before I forced the tears back. "I will adopt my third brother's orphaned pup, Javion. I will raise him, and I will rebuild my family's legacy. The Crawford bloodline will not end in the shadow of Justin's betrayal."

Adrian stared at me for a long time. The pity in his eyes vanished, replaced by a profound, heavy respect. In that moment, I knew he wasn't looking at a weak, wolfless girl anymore. He was looking at the ghost of his old mentor, Alpha Arthur Crawford.

"You have your father's iron spine," Adrian murmured, his voice thick with emotion. He leaned back in his chair, his black wolf clearly yielding to the sheer force of my resolve. "Very well. I will grant your request. The Royal Severance Decree will be drafted and delivered to the Bloodfang estate in a few days."

I closed my eyes for a brief second, a genuine sense of peace washing over my soul. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

I turned to leave, but his voice stopped me before I reached the door.

"And Isla," Adrian called out, his tone shifting from a weary king to a fierce protector. "If anyone in that Pack dares to lay a hand on you, or tries to touch a single cent of your wealth before you leave... you come straight to this palace. The Royal family will stand behind you."

I offered him a final, respectful nod, and walked out of the study, ready to tear my life out of Justin Hayes's unworthy hands.