I lifted my foot and stepped right over the scrap of black lace.

The sickeningly sweet scent of vanilla and rose clung to the air near my ankles, but I didn't stop. I left Kael sputtering in the hallway and strode directly into our bedroom. My worn leather suitcase sat on the top shelf of the closet. I dragged it down, threw it onto the mattress, and popped the latches open.

"Are you seriously doing this?" Kael demanded. The rubber tires of his wheelchair squeaked against the hardwood floor as he rolled into the room. "Throwing a tantrum over a piece of laundry?"

I ignored him. I pulled a stack of faded sweaters from the dresser and dropped them into the open case.

"Stop ignoring me, Elara!" He slammed his palm against the armrest. "Where do you think you are going? You don't have a dime to your name. You don't have a pack. You don't even have a wolf!"

"I am leaving," I said, grabbing a handful of socks and tossing them in next.

"You are making a fool of yourself." Kael rolled closer, parking his chair right beside the bed. He reached out and grabbed a gray shirt from my hands, tossing it onto the floor. "Put the clothes back. Stop this ridiculous act. You expect me to beg you to stay? Over a maid's jealousy?"

I bent down, picked up the shirt, and folded it neatly before placing it inside the suitcase.

"You think this scares me?" Kael scoffed, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. "You will be sleeping on the streets by nightfall. The nearest town is fifty miles away. You can't survive out there alone."

"That is not your concern anymore."

"It is my concern when my mate acts like a spoiled child on the eve of my Alpha ceremony," he growled. "I offered you a place here. I offered you an allowance. You should be thanking me."

"Thanking you," I repeated, closing a side compartment. "For cheating on me in your study. For replacing me with a pureblood. You are right, Kael. I should write you a thank-you note."

He gritted his teeth. "I am doing what is best for the pack. Selene brings political power. You bring nothing."

The bedroom door swung open before I could answer.

Selene strolled in. She paused just inside the threshold, a smug smile playing on her lips.

My eyes locked onto her shoulders. She wore a heavy, silver-knit winter cloak. The thick yarn shimmered under the bedroom lights, the intricate braided pattern unmistakable.

I recognized every stitch.

I had knitted that cloak last winter. My fingers had cramped and bled from working the stiff, enchanted thread, weaving protective runes into the lining to keep Kael warm during the brutal mountain frosts. When it went missing from the closet, Kael told me he had used it to line a wooden box for a pregnant stray dog behind the kitchens.

Selene gripped the edges of the silver fabric and spun in a slow circle.

"Kael, honey," Selene purred, feigning innocence. "Does this look good on me? I thought I might wear it to the ceremony tomorrow night. The forecast says it will snow."

Kael shifted uncomfortably in his wheelchair. He shot a quick, nervous glance in my direction, likely expecting me to scream or throw something.

I just picked up my toothbrush from the bathroom counter and dropped it into a plastic pouch.

Selene stopped twirling and faked a gasp, pressing a manicured hand to her chest. "Oh, Elara! I didn't see you there. Are you cleaning out your closet? Making room for my things?"

"I am packing," I said flatly.

Selene stepped closer, running her fingers over the silver yarn draped across her collarbone. "I just love this cloak. Kael gave it to me last winter. He said it was far too beautiful to sit in a dark closet. It keeps me so warm."

"I know," I replied, zipping the plastic pouch.

Kael frowned, clearly thrown off by my calm tone. "Elara..."

"You told me you gave it to a stray dog," I said, looking directly at Kael.

Selene's smug smile faltered. "Excuse me?"

"I said," I turned my gaze to Selene, scanning her from head to toe, "it is a perfect fit for a stray."

"How dare you!" Selene snapped, taking a step toward me. Her eyes flashed a dangerous, predatory yellow. "I am a pureblood. I am the future Luna of this pack. You are just a wolfless servant."

"Then you should easily find your own clothes," I said.

I grabbed my winter boots from the corner of the room and shoved them into the last empty space in the suitcase.

"Kael, are you going to let her speak to me like that?" Selene whined, gripping the back of his wheelchair. "She insulted me."

"Enough, Elara," Kael ordered, his voice hardening. "Apologize to Selene right now."

"No."

I grabbed the two halves of the suitcase and slammed them together. The heavy zippers engaged with a loud, metallic scraping sound. I pulled the tabs all the way around, sealing the bag shut.

"I am packed," I announced.

I lifted the heavy suitcase off the mattress by the top handle. The wheels hit the floor with a solid thud.

Kael stared at me, his jaw slack. He had expected tears. He had expected me to fall to my knees and beg for my place in the pack, or at least fight Selene for his affection. My complete indifference was tearing his ego apart.

"Where do you think you are going?" Kael demanded, his voice rising in panic and fury. "You have no car. You have no money."

"Out of my way," I said.

I walked directly toward the door. Selene stood in my path, glaring at me with her arms crossed over the silver cloak.

"Move," I told her.

"Make me," she sneered.

I didn't stop walking. I drove the hard plastic shell of the suitcase directly into her shins.

Selene yelped, stumbling backward and clutching her leg. "You crazy bitch!"

"Elara!" Kael yelled, spinning his wheelchair around to face me. "Stop this right now! This is an order from your Alpha!"

"You are not my Alpha," I said, stepping past Selene and crossing the threshold into the hallway.

The air outside the bedroom felt lighter. The oppressive weight of the manor, the suffocating stench of Kael's lies, all of it began to peel away from my skin. I didn't look back. I just kept walking, the wheels of my suitcase rumbling against the floorboards.

I heard the frantic squeak of rubber tires behind me.

Kael pushed himself out of the bedroom, desperate to keep up.

"You think you can just walk away from me?" Kael shouted down the hall. "After everything I provided for you?"

I reached the top of the main staircase. I gripped the handle of my bag, ready to carry it down the steps.

Kael lunged forward in his chair. He slammed his hand against the wooden doorframe of the nearest guest room, blocking my path to the stairs. His knuckles were white, his face twisted in absolute rage.

"If you walk out that door today, I will never let you come back!" he roared.

My fingers closed around the freezing brass handle of the front door. Kael leaned heavily against the frame, his arm blocking my exit.

"I said move," I told him, dropping my shoulder and ramming it directly into his bicep.

The impact knocked him off balance. His wheelchair spun slightly, the rubber tires squeaking against the hardwood. I stepped past him, dragging my suitcase over the threshold.

A massive crack of thunder rattled the windows. Rain instantly hammered the manor roof, a sudden deluge washing over the front steps.

Selene hurried out of the bedroom, clutching the silver cloak tightly around her neck. She shrank against the wall, her eyes wide.

"Kael, the storm," she whimpered, pressing a hand to her chest. "You know thunder terrifies my wolf. I can't walk back to my estate in this."

Kael straightened his posture, recovering from my shove. He glared at my back.

"You are not walking anywhere, Selene," Kael said. He shifted his gaze to me, his eyes flaring with the oppressive, golden weight of his Alpha command. "Elara. You will drive Selene home."

The command washed over me, a heavy pressure trying to force my knees to bend. Without my wolf, the aura felt like a physical weight on my chest, but it could not break my mind.

"Your legs work fine," I said, staring at the driveway. "Drive her yourself."

"I am paralyzed!" Kael shouted, slapping his thighs. "And you are my mate. You will take the SUV, you will safely deliver my future Luna to her door, and then you will return this vehicle to my garage. Do you understand me?"

I looked at the matte-black SUV parked at the bottom of the steps. A full tank of gas. Four-wheel drive. The perfect escape vehicle to get me past the territory borders.

"Fine," I said, my voice completely flat. "Give me the keys."

Kael tossed the heavy key fob. I caught it out of the air.

I marched down the steps, ignoring the icy rain soaking through my sweater. I threw my suitcase into the trunk, slammed the hatch, and climbed into the driver's seat. The engine roared to life.

The rear doors opened. Kael and Selene climbed into the backseat together. Kael dragged his legs in, playing his crippled role to perfection, while Selene huddled against his chest.

"Drive," Kael ordered, pulling the door shut.

I shifted into gear and hit the gas. The tires spun on the wet gravel before catching, launching us down the dark, winding mountain road.

Silence lasted exactly two minutes.

"You smell so fucking good," Kael muttered, burying his face in Selene's neck.

"Kael, stop," Selene giggled, shifting her hips on the leather seat. "She can hear us."

"I don't care what the maid hears," Kael replied. His hand slid loudly over the fabric of her dress. "You are going to be my Luna. Let her listen to how a real Alpha treats his chosen mate."

I kept my eyes locked on the rain-slicked road. The windshield wipers slapped rhythmically back and forth.

"Are you really going to mark me tomorrow?" Selene asked, her voice dropping into a breathless purr.

"I'm going to do a lot more than mark you," Kael said. "I'm going to strip this dress off and claim you in front of the entire pack council. They need to see my teeth sinking into a pureblood neck."

"Oh, Kael," she moaned softly. I glanced in the rearview mirror. Kael had his hand shoved up her thigh, his fingers pressing into her skin.

"Does the wolfless stray even know how to drive?" Selene mocked, staring at the back of my head. "We hit a bump back there."

"She barely knows how to cook," Kael sneered. "Just ignore her, baby. Focus on me."

I pressed the accelerator harder. The SUV tore through the storm, the speedometer climbing past eighty.

"Slow down!" Kael snapped, gripping the grab handle above his head. "Are you trying to kill us?"

I didn't answer. I slammed on the brakes as the wrought-iron gates of Selene's estate appeared in the headlights. The heavy vehicle skidded on the wet pavement, fishtailing wildly before jerking to a violent halt right next to a massive, muddy trench by the curb.

"You stupid bitch!" Selene shrieked, clutching her chest.

"Get out," I said, shifting the car into park.

Kael shoved the rear door open. The rain instantly soaked his hair. He awkwardly lowered himself into his wheelchair, which a guard had rushed out to provide. Selene climbed out after him, holding an expensive leather overnight bag.

"Get my other bags from the trunk, Elara," Selene demanded, standing under the guard's umbrella. "And carry them up the steps. I don't want mud on my shoes."

I reached over to the passenger seat, grabbing the two designer duffel bags Kael had loaded earlier.

I rolled down the passenger window.

"Hey!" Selene yelled.

I shoved both bags through the open window. They plummeted straight into the deep, sludge-filled mud puddle by the curb. Brown water splashed up, soaking Selene's silver cloak and Kael's trousers.

"My clothes!" Selene screamed, dropping her umbrella.

Kael slammed his hands on his armrests. "Elara! Get out of that car right now!"

I rolled the window up, locked the doors, and slammed my foot onto the gas pedal. The tires spun in the mud, spraying a thick layer of wet dirt directly across Kael's face before the SUV launched forward into the night.

Four hours later, I sat on the edge of a sagging mattress in a cheap roadside motel. The neon sign outside blinked a steady, obnoxious red through the thin curtains. My wet clothes lay in a pile by the door.

My phone vibrated on the nightstand.

The screen lit up with an incoming video call. The caller ID read Kael.

I stared at the device. He probably wanted to scream about the stolen car. I reached out and tapped the green accept button.

I didn't see Kael's face.

The camera shook wildly, angled up at the ceiling of my former bedroom in the manor, before dropping down to show pale, sweaty skin.

"Fuck, Kael, put it deeper!" Selene screamed into the microphone.

The screen stabilized. Selene held the phone high above her head, pointing the camera down at her own naked body. Kael knelt between her legs, his hips driving forward with brutal force.

"Look at this, Elara!" Selene panted, her face flushed red, eyes rolling back. "Look at what you couldn't give him!"

Kael's hands gripped Selene's bare breasts, his thumbs pinching her nipples hard. "You like my cock, Selene? Tell the maid how my fucking cock feels."

"It's stretching my pussy so wide," Selene moaned loudly, thrusting her hips up to meet his next plunge. "Fuck, yes, Alpha. Ram it into my wet hole. Breed me right here on her side of the bed."

The wet, slapping sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed loudly through my phone speaker.

"I'm going to fill your cunt with my seed," Kael grunted, his face appearing in the frame as he leaned over Selene. Sweat dripped from his forehead onto her collarbone. "I'm going to knot you so hard you won't walk for a week. Fuck, you are dripping for me."

"Give me your knot, Kael!" Selene begged, turning the camera slightly so I could see Kael's thick, rigid length sliding entirely into her dripping wet folds. "Do you see this, Elara? He's balls deep in a real woman. You were just a pathetic, dry hole he used for practice."

Kael slammed his hips down, burying himself completely. Selene let out a high-pitched shriek of pleasure.

"Fuck, I'm close," Kael snarled, his jaw clenching. "I'm going to cum inside your tight pussy, Selene. I'm going to give you my pup."

"Fill me up!" she screamed, her nails digging into his muscular back.

The harsh blue light from the phone screen illuminated my completely expressionless face in the dark motel room.

My thumb hovered silently over the screen record button.

My thumb pressed the screen record button.

The red timer blinked in the top corner of the display, capturing every vulgar word echoing from my former bedroom.

"You like my cock, Selene?" Kael's voice grated through the phone speaker.

"Fill me up!" she screamed back, her face flushed on the screen. "Give me your pup!"

"I'm going to knot you so hard," Kael grunted.

I gave the recording ten seconds of indisputable proof.

"That is enough," I said quietly, tapping the red phone icon.

Silence flooded the cheap motel room.

I popped the SIM card tray open, pulled the plastic chip out, and snapped it in half.

"Track that, Alpha," I muttered, tossing the pieces into the trash.

At dawn, the border market buzzed with transient traders shouting over the roar of diesel generators.

"Fifty dollars for three days of dried meat," a stall owner grunted, tossing a vacuum-sealed bag onto his folding table.

"Make it four days," I said, sliding a crumpled bill across the scratched plastic. "I have a long drive ahead."

"Take it or leave it, stray." He snatched the cash. "Wolfless girls don't get to bargain here."

"I need protein, not an attitude," I countered, tapping the table. "Give me the extra day, or I take my money to the vendor next door."

The owner glared at me, his jaw clenching. "You think you can make demands? I smell the weakness on you."

"And I smell the desperation on you," I replied. "Hand over the food."

He grumbled under his breath, tossing a smaller pouch of jerky onto the pile. "Take it and get out of my sight."

"Pleasure doing business," I said, shoving the bags into my backpack.

I dragged my suitcase to a rusted metal counter. A man with a scarred jaw chewed on a matchstick, eyeing my luggage.

"I need passage out of the territory," I told him, leaning over the counter. "How much for a seat in the next smuggler transport?"

"Depends on who is asking," the man replied, spitting the matchstick onto the dirt. "You smell like an Alpha's property, but you don't have a mark."

"I am a free agent. I just need a ride."

"Two hundred dollars. Cash."

"I only have eighty," I said, sliding the bills forward.

He scoffed, pushing the money back. "Eighty gets you a map and a pat on the back. Get lost, stray."

"I have a silver necklace," I offered, reaching into my pocket. "Solid, enchanted metal. Worth at least five hundred."

"Show me," he demanded, holding out a dirty palm.

"Not until you confirm the transport time."

"Listen here, little girl," he growled, leaning closer. "You don't make the rules in my market."

"And you don't scam me," I shot back, holding my ground.

"Hey, boss!" a voice interrupted.

A young boy ran up to the counter, pointing frantically toward the south entrance. "The Alpha is here! Alpha Kael!"

The scarred man frowned. "What is the Alpha doing in the rogue market?"

"Buying ceremony gems for his new Luna," the boy panted. "They are at the jeweler's tent right now. She wanted the rare blood-diamonds."

My stomach tightened. I grabbed my eighty dollars and turned away from the counter.

"Where are you going?" the man shouted. "I'll take the necklace!"

"Deal is off," I replied, pulling my suitcase behind me.

I needed to leave before Kael spotted me. I wove through the crowded stalls, keeping my head down.

A sharp, metallic tang sliced through the scent of roasting meat.

Blood.

"Rogues!" a woman shrieked, grabbing her child. "Run!"

A fruit stand exploded into splinters. A mangy brown wolf crashed through the wooden crates, foam dripping from its jaws. Two more rabid wolves tore into the square, snapping at the fleeing crowd.

"Get out of the way!" a smuggler yelled, shoving me hard against a metal support pole.

I pushed off the cold steel, scanning the chaos.

My gaze snagged on a familiar matte-black SUV parked near the jewelers' tents.

"Kael, do something!" Selene's terrified voice pierced the screaming.

I turned. Ten yards away, Selene cowered behind Kael's wheelchair. She clutched a velvet jewelry box, her eyes wide as the largest Rogue locked its bloodshot gaze on her.

"Stay behind me," Kael ordered, gripping his armrests.

"It's going to kill us!" Selene sobbed. "Save me!"

"I said stay back!"

The Rogue lunged, clearing the distance in a single bound, jaws snapping straight for Selene's throat.

Kael vaulted out of the wheelchair.

"He's standing!" a trader gasped from behind a barrel.

The heavy woolen blanket fell to the dirt. Kael's tailored shirt ripped down the seams as his spine elongated. Bones snapped and reshaped in a violent blur. In less than a second, a massive gray wolf stood where the crippled Alpha had been.

He slammed into the Rogue, pinning the beast to the ground and tearing its throat out with one savage bite.

"The Alpha," the scarred man whispered from his counter, his voice trembling. "He healed his legs. He lied to the pack."

The gray wolf stood over the bleeding carcass, panting heavily. He nudged Selene with his snout, checking her for injuries.

"You saved me," Selene cried, throwing her arms around his thick furry neck. "You really are perfect."

He had exposed his greatest political secret just to shield her.

A low growl vibrated against my boots.

I whipped my head around. The second Rogue stalked toward me, yellow eyes fixated on my unprotected neck. It crouched low.

"Kael!" I shouted.

The gray wolf's ears twitched. He looked over his shoulder.

His golden eyes met mine. He saw the rabid beast digging its claws into the dirt, preparing to tear me apart.

"Help her!" a woman screamed from a nearby rooftop. "She's your mate!"

"He doesn't care," I yelled back, never taking my eyes off the Alpha. "Do you, Kael?"

Kael didn't move toward me. He turned his head away, nudging Selene toward the safety of the jewelry tent.

"Let the stray handle herself," Selene sneered, her voice carrying over the panic. "She deserves it."

The Rogue sprang forward.

"Fine," I whispered, planting my feet.

I dug my nails into my palms until the skin broke. I forced the dormant remnants of my Lycan core to ignite, ready to burn my own bloodline into a lethal shockwave.

"Die, you mutt," I hissed through my teeth.

Before the heat could rise in my veins, the air pressure vanished.

A suffocating, heavy aura slammed into the market square.

"What is that?" the scarred man choked out, collapsing to his knees.

"My chest," another trader gasped, clutching his shirt. "I can't breathe."

The pavement cracked under the sheer force of the pheromones. The Rogue froze mid-air, whining in sudden agony, its body slamming hard onto the concrete right at my feet.

A shadow blotted out the morning sun.

A pure black Lycan, easily the size of a small mountain, landed directly on top of the rabid wolf. One massive, razor-sharp paw swiped down, crushing the Rogue's skull with a sickening crunch.

The beast didn't even look at the corpse beneath its claws.

The giant Lycan slowly lifted its head, its terrifying golden eyes locking dead onto the gray wolf cowering in the center of the square.