Cole's POV

It's my birthday too.

The words hung in the air, sharp and broken. For a second, just a second, the room went dead silent. Ava looked like a wreck-frosting streaked in her dark hair, that cheap dress clinging to her frame, her blue eyes wide and glistening with shattered hope.

She was beautiful in a tragic sort of way. A part of me wanted to reach out. To wipe the mess off her face.

Mate.

The word echoed in the back of my mind, a primal itch I couldn't scratch.

But then Lexi's hand tightened on my bicep. Her nails dug in, grounding me. Her perfume-sugary and expensive-filled my nose.

I looked down at her. Lexi. The girl who sat by my bedside for three days while I was in a coma. The girl who shared her strength when I was burned and broken. The pack doctor said I would have died without her.

I owed her my life.

And Ava? Ava was just... there. Wolfless. Weak. Gordon's disappointment.

"Enough, Ava," I scoffed, pouring every ounce of cruelty I could muster into my tone. I had to kill this hope now, for both our sakes. "You think just because the Moon Goddess played a cruel joke and paired us, I owe you a party?"

Ava blinked, her face draining of color. She looked like she'd been punched.

"If my father didn't need the political stability to confirm my Alpha succession," I sneered, twisting the knife, "I would have rejected you three years ago."

Her lips parted. A whisper of pain escaped. "What...?"

I slung my arm around Lexi, pulling her flush against my side. I needed the pack to see this. I needed Ava to see this.

"Lexi is the one I want," I said, loud enough for the back of the room to hear. "She saved me. She's strong. She's worthy."

I turned my cold gaze back to Ava. "You? You're nothing but a placeholder. My ticket to the crown. Once I'm Alpha, you're gone."

My wolf, Reaper, snarled in my head. [You idiot! She's our mate! Don't do this!]

Shut up, I commanded. I choose Lexi.

Reaper went silent. The bond between us snapped shut like a coffin lid.

Ava stood there, trembling. Tears finally spilled over, tracking through the frosting on her cheeks.

"I hate you," she whispered.

Then she turned and bolted.

The crowd murmured. Some smirked, but others looked uneasy. I ignored them all.

"Jasper... I mean, Cole," Lexi murmured, looking up at me with those big, wet eyes. "Is she okay? I feel terrible."

I squeezed her shoulder, forcing a smile. "Forget her. You saved me from that fire, Lexi. I swore I'd love you forever. A wolfless nobody isn't going to change that."

Ava's POV

I ran until my lungs felt like they were bleeding.

The woods were dark, the moon obscured by thick, suffocating clouds. Branches whipped my face, tearing at my skin, but the physical pain was a relief compared to the agony in my chest.

I collapsed beneath the old willow tree at the territory line. The mud soaked into my ruined dress.

I had given him everything. Three years. My dignity. My wolf. And to him, I was just a "placeholder." A stepping stone.

I curled into a ball, my forehead pressed against the damp earth.

"Moon Goddess," I sobbed, my voice breaking into ugly, ragged gasps. "Please... if you're real... fix this. Wake my wolf. Take this bond away. I don't want him anymore. I reject him!"

The wind suddenly stopped.

Above me, the clouds tore apart. A beam of silver moonlight slammed into the forest floor, illuminating the clearing in a ghostly white glow.

My heart skipped a beat. Then another.

Heat.

Liquid fire surged through my veins, starting from my core and exploding outward. My bones cracked and shifted. It wasn't pain-it was power.

[Ava.]

The voice rang in my head, clear as a bell, fierce as a storm.

[About damn time.]

A white wolf stepped out of the moonlight in my mind's eye. Tall, regal, with eyes that burned like blue stars.

Nyx? You're back?

[I never left,] she growled, her strength flooding my exhausted limbs. [But that boy? He is dead to us. It's time to leave, Ava.]

I wiped my face. The tears were gone. In their place was a cold, steely resolve.

"You're right," I whispered, standing up. The weakness was gone. "If he treats me like trash, I'll treat him like history."

The next morning, I walked into the Pack Office.

Alpha Vance-Cole's father-was behind his desk, looking gray and sickly. He was the only one who had ever shown me kindness.

"Ava?" He looked up, startled. "You look... different."

"I'm leaving," I said, my voice steady. "I want to file for Rejection."

Ava's POV

"I'm leaving the pack, Alpha Vance."

The words hung in the air, simple and absolute.

Vance frowned, the lines on his forehead deepening. "Did Cole... did he do something again?"

"He's my mate," I said, keeping my face blank. "But I can't force him to not be an asshole."

Vance sighed, leaning back in his leather chair. He looked tired. Dying. "Give him time, Ava. He's young. Stupid."

"He humiliated me in front of the entire pack last night," I cut in. "He told everyone I was just a placeholder. I'm done, Alpha. Grant my request, or I go Rogue."

Vance hesitated. He knew losing a Beta bloodline member was bad for the pack stats, but he also knew his son was a disaster.

"Actually..." Vance slid a heavy, cream-colored envelope across the desk. It bore a wax seal-a wolf crowned with thorns. The Royal Crest.

"I received a decree this morning." Vance's voice dropped to a whisper. "Alpha King Kaelen demands a bride from the Bloodmoon Pack. Specifically, a daughter of the Beta line."

My stomach turned over.

King Kaelen. The Butcher. The rumors about him were the stuff of nightmares. They said he was cursed by a witch coven-brutal, heartless, and destined to die before his thirtieth birthday. They said his last three fiancées vanished without a trace.

"He wants a bride," Vance continued. "Lexi is the only unmated female in your family. Gordon is... losing his mind."

I stared at the seal. The Butcher King. A death sentence.

Or... an escape route.

"Lexi would never survive a day with him," I said softly. "She's too fragile. Too spoiled."

"Gordon refuses to send her," Vance admitted. "He's threatening war if we force her."

"I'll go."

Vance's head snapped up. "What?"

"I'll marry King Kaelen," I said, my voice hardening. "I'll take Lexi's place."

"Ava, he's a monster. You could die."

"I'm already dead in this pack," I replied. "At least this way, I leave with a crown."

The Ashford Estate smelled of lemon polish and hypocrisy.

My father, Gordon, sat stiffly in his armchair, a glass of scotch sweating in his hand. My stepmother, Janice, was pacing the floor in a silk robe, wringing her hands.

"What?" Gordon's voice thundered when I delivered the news. "You? You'll marry the Butcher in Lexi's place?"

"Yes," I said, standing tall in the center of the room.

"Why?" Janice squinted at me, suspicious. "I thought you were obsessed with Cole."

"I realized I have better taste," I deadpanned. "But I have conditions."

Gordon narrowed his eyes. "You're in no position to bargain, girl."

"Actually, I am. You can either send your precious, perfect Lexi to the monster, or you can send the spare." I took a step forward. "But if I go, I want Mom's inheritance."

Gordon froze. "What inheritance?"

"Don't lie to me!" I slammed my hand on the table. "Ten million dollars. The trust fund Mom left for me that you hid in your offshore accounts. I want it. All of it. Today."

"You ungrateful little-" Gordon started to rise, his face purple.

"Ten million to save Lexi's life?" I laughed, a cold, sharp sound. "That's a bargain, Dad. Unless you think she's cheap?"

Janice grabbed Gordon's arm, her nails digging into his jacket. "Gordon! Pay her! If Lexi goes, she'll be eaten alive! Pay the girl and get her out of here!"

Gordon gritted his teeth, his jaw working furiously. He looked from his weeping wife to me-his "failure" of a daughter who was suddenly holding all the cards.

"Fine," he spat, chugging the rest of his scotch. "I'll transfer the money. But once you leave this house, you are dead to us. Don't come crawling back when Kaelen rips your throat out."

"Don't worry," I smirked, turning on my heel. "I wouldn't dream of it."

I walked out of the study and nearly collided with Lexi, who was lurking in the hallway, eavesdropping. She looked pale, terrifyingly relieved.

"You're... you're really going?" she whispered.

I leaned in close, my lips brushing her ear.

"You're welcome, sister," I hissed. "Enjoy my leftovers. I'm going to be a Luna Queen."

Ava's POV

"Ten million dollars."

The notification on my phone screen glowed like a holy scripture. My mother's inheritance. My freedom. My weapon.

"Darling, once Lexi is Luna, ten million will be pocket change," Janice sniffed, clutching Gordon's arm like a oversized handbag. "But fine. Take it and go."

"Oh, I'm going," I said, pocketing the phone. "But first, I have a tab to run up."

I walked out of the Ashford Estate, the air tasting crisp and expensive. For the first time in three years, I didn't feel like the help. I felt like a hunter.

"The Black Wolf Bar? Really?" Zoe shouted over the thumping bass, looking skeptical. "This place is a dive."

"It's where the pack drinks," I said, sliding onto a barstool. "And tonight, I want an audience."

Zoe, my only friend who hadn't treated me like a leper, looked at me with concern. "Ava, you're picking a fight. Cole is going to be here."

"I'm counting on it."

I signaled the bartender, a burly guy named Rick who usually ignored me. "Two bottles of your most expensive champagne. The vintage stuff you keep in the back for the Alpha."

Rick snorted. "Ava, that bottle is three grand. Unless you're paying with your kidney, I suggest you order a beer."

I didn't blink. I slapped a thick stack of cash-fresh from the bank-onto the sticky counter. "Keep the change."

Rick's eyes bulged. He scrambled to get the bottles.

Zoe's jaw dropped. "Girl, did you rob a bank?"

"Better. I robbed my parents."

Just as the cork popped, the air in the bar shifted. The temperature dropped. The crowd parted like the Red Sea.

Cole walked in, looking like a god of war in a tailored black shirt. And hanging off his arm like a cheap accessory was Lexi.

She was wearing a diamond necklace that caught the strobe lights-a birthday gift, no doubt. She spotted me instantly, her eyes narrowing before masking it with that sickly-sweet smile.

"Ava!" She squealed, dragging Cole toward us. "What a coincidence! Are you spending your severance pay already?"

Cole looked bored, his eyes sliding over me with practiced indifference. "Let's go to the VIP section, Lexi. It smells like desperation here."

"But I want champagne!" Lexi pouted, pointing at my bottle. "And the bartender said that was the last one."

She turned to me, batting her eyelashes. "Ava, be a sweetie and give it to me? It is my birthday weekend, after all. You've never even had champagne before. You wouldn't appreciate it."

"Touch my bottle," I said, voice low and dangerous, "and you'll lose a finger."

The bar went silent. Even the DJ seemed to turn the volume down.

Lexi gasped, clutching her pearls. "Cole! She threatened me!"

Cole stepped forward, his Alpha aura flaring, trying to suffocate me with pressure. "Watch your tone, Ava. You're speaking to your future Luna."

He pulled out a sleek black credit card-the Alpha Heir's unlimited card-and slammed it on the counter.

"Rick," Cole barked. "I'm buying every bottle in this bar. And I'm buying this table. Kick them out."

Rick looked from the cash to the card, sweating. "Alpha Cole... it's a lot of stock..."

"Do it!" Cole roared. He smirked at me, that arrogant, punchable smirk. "You have money for one bottle, Ava? Cute. I have the entire Bloodmoon treasury behind me. You can't compete."

"Is that so?" I stood up. My heels clicked on the floorboards, echoing in the silence.

I pulled out my checkbook. It was old-school, dramatic, and perfect for what I was about to do.

"How much for the bar, Rick?" I asked calmly. "Not the drinks. The building. The land. The business."

Rick choked. "What?"

"Three hundred grand?" I guessed.

"Five hundred!" Cole shouted, his face turning red. "I'll pay five hundred grand right now! I own this place!"

He looked at me, triumphant. "Go home, Ava. You're out of your league."

Lexi giggled. "Yeah, go back to scrubbing floors. You don't have that kind of money."

I laughed. It started low and built into a cackle that made Nyx howl in my head.

"You think this is about money, Cole? This is about value."

I wrote a check, ripped it out, and slammed it onto the counter next to his black card.

"One million dollars," I announced, my voice ringing clear. "For the bar. And for Rick to ban these two idiots for life."

The crowd gasped. Lexi stopped giggling. Cole stared at the check, reading the numbers. His face went pale.

"Where... where did you get this?" Lexi shrieked. "You stole it! You thief!"

"It's my money," I said, leaning in until I was nose-to-nose with her. "Something you'll never have, Lexi. Because everything you own-your clothes, your jewelry, your man-is borrowed."

I looked at Cole. He was shaking, his pride cracking.

"You think you can buy me off?" he snarled. "You're nothing without me! Those earrings you're wearing? I bought them! That dress? I paid for it!"

"You're right."

I reached up and ripped the diamond studs from my ears. They were cheap, tiny things he'd given me for my eighteenth-an afterthought gift.

"Here." I threw them at his chest. They bounced off his shirt.

I kicked off my heels. "These too. The 'Sorry I Cheated' gift." I threw them. one hit his shoulder.

Then I reached for the zipper of my dress.

The crowd held its breath.

"And this?" I pulled the zipper down a few inches, just enough to loosen it, then grabbed the champagne bottle.

"I can buy your dignity, Lexi," I said, my voice ice cold. "But looking at you two... it seems you sold it cheap."

I didn't throw the dress. I threw the champagne.

Splash.

The expensive vintage liquid hit Cole square in the face. It soaked his hair, his shirt, and splattered all over Lexi's perfect blowout.

They stood there, dripping, sticky, and stunned into silence.

"You're banned," I whispered, winking at Rick. "Get them out of my bar."

I grabbed my purse, barefoot and buzzing with adrenaline. Zoe threw a coat over my shoulders, grinning like a maniac.

As I walked to the door, stepping over the puddle of champagne and shattered ego, I turned back one last time.

Cole was wiping the alcohol from his eyes, looking at me with a mix of fury and... fear.

"Two weeks, Cole," I called out. "Enjoy the throne while you can."